For federal recognition of foot care training, further training as a podiatrist with a federal certificate of competence must be completed; a certificate course is not sufficient.

The terms "pedicure" or "pedicure" refer to cosmetic foot care that treats and cares for healthy and "unproblematic" feet. Podiatry or medical foot care, on the other hand, deals with foot problems such as ingrown nails, diabetic feet, corns and nail loss. A foot care training course can therefore focus on cosmetic and/or medical issues.

In further training courses in cosmetic foot care, you will learn how to advise patients, for example on foot complaints, how to apply foot baths and foot massages and how to carry out nail and foot treatments. The painting and care of toenails is also taught in a pedicure course, as are often various wellness treatments. You will also learn the essentials about the anatomy of the feet, hygiene and the equipment and instruments to be used.

A cosmetic pedicurist performs the following tasks in pedicure jobs:

• Take care of your feet with a relaxing foot bath and scrub
• Shorten nails
• Cuticle treatment
• Remove calluses
• Foot massage
• Embellish nails with color and nail art creations on request
• sell nourishing and beautifying products for nails and feet

It is an advantage if participants in the foot care course already have experience in cosmetics, wellness, care or healthcare, but this is not a prerequisite.

You should have these personal qualities for cosmetic foot care training with a diploma:

• careful and clean way of working
• Sense of hygiene
• Service orientation
• Be customer-oriented
• Beauty flair

Depending on the school, a pedicure training course can last between two and 20 days. Please enquire directly with the beauty schools or pedicure schools about the scope and content of the course so that you can be sure that you will actually receive the pedicure training you want.

Basic courses in the field of cosmetic foot care are suitable for career changers as well as those returning to the field, but also for massage therapists, medical professionals, beauticians or people from the wellness and beauty sector. Previous knowledge is therefore not essential for training at a pedicure school.

As each school sets its own course dates, a chiropody course can be attended as a block course, a weekend seminar, an evening course or a day course, depending on the training provider. In principle, you can therefore continue to work and, depending on the type of course you choose, complete your training as a chiropodist in your free time.

There are schools where you do not bring any models and which provide you with 20 or more foot models. However, there are also courses where participants have to organize their own models and bring them to each lesson. Always ask about this detail before booking a course so that you know what to expect!