Scope of Practice
 

Hello all,
I went online to see what the scope of practice was for podiatrists in Massachusetts (where I eventually want to end up) and found a link to write legislators to encourage them to pass a bill that would allow pods to include the ankle in the scope of practice. I will post the link here for anyone else that is interested...I don't know if other states have the same thing. I hope anyone else that might end up in MA will go to the link and send the letter - it was very easy and fast. If the link does not work PM me.

http://www.congressweb.com/cweb4/index.cfm?orgcode=MPMS

Ya, there are a few "hold out" states left. Go get em :thumbup:

Would you happen to know which ones? Thanks!

Hello, I thought MASS changed the scope last year to include the ankle? That's what I was getting on these forums. I would definitely like to know for sure. For the scope of practice, I can e-mail you a list of the scopes of every state if you would like. It mentions all the laws about what can be treated (foot/ankle/lower leg/etc), amputation stuff, gen anesthesia, and more. It is definitely handy to have. Just PM if you want it.

For the hold out states, I believe New York has one of the most limited scopes of practice...the foot only and no cutting on the maleoli. Connecticut HAD a similiar scope to NY until this year I believe, when they included non-surgical treatment of the ankle as well. The lawmakers are working on the surgery aspect of the ankle soon. I believe a few of the "deep south" states have similiar limited scopes, I think Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi. I think alaska is somewhat similiar. After being on these forums for a while, I had the understanding that 39 states include the ankle in their scope of practice. The scope of practice issue is kind of annoying in the sense that one state could have a completely different scope from its neighbor (New York and Jersey, Vermont, Penn). Another issue is amputation especially if you are interested in diabetic limb salvage. For example, Arizona has a liberal scope of practice (foot, ankle, lower leg) but doesn't allow any amputations.
Delaware and Vermont has pretty liberal scopes but they even allow for a full foot amputation. Have you heard of resolution 2015? Its supposed to create a national scope of practice for pods (also wants to make them equal to MD's and DO's). Definitely can help get rid of a lot of confusion.

If one does a three year PM and S residency, they will be exposed to at least forefoot, rearfoot, and ankle pathology but the catch is, one may not be able to perform surgery on the ankle if they decide to practice in a state that prohibits it. Sorry about the long message. I didn't fully understand how there could be such big differences in state to state scopes.