Has anyone heard of this?

bocajuniors · Jun 12, 2007

I was talking with someone the other day and they found i was going to pod school. the person congratulated me and then thought that their gp is a podiatrist. i've never heard of that. has anyone? and is it possible?

brizant · Jun 12, 2007

we specialize in the lower extremities..obviously. there are some superficial derm stuff that a gp will do, but there's an obvious difference...and as you will find out, pods are still getting their names out there, and are not as well known in some areas where there aren't as many...

bocajuniors · Jun 12, 2007

i know that's what podiatrists do and i know that a lot of people will use specialists as gp's/ for example i know people who use dermatologists to write rxs for muscle pain or an antibiotic for an upper respiratory infection. my question is can podiatrists do this? i know most get dea numbers so legally they can, but is it considered unethical?

Maximus1984 · Jun 12, 2007

As far as I know, podiatrists have a different scope of practice for each state which defines the area they are allowed to practice on a human (for instance, florida is up to the tibial tuberosity while arkansas is considered forefoot, rearfoot, and ankle only). I'm only just starting my second year, but as i understand is that if there is some kind of bacterial infection in the foot then they can prescribe antibiotics but i don't think they're allowed to for something that doesn't involve the lower leg.

cool_vkb · Jun 12, 2007

Wow who are you guys! 😕 Where are my good old pod mentors feelgood, krambas, jonwill, dpmgrad, feli.

Hello can someone reply. i was actually suprised seeing this thread. I doubled check if this is Pod forum or not because i saw so many new names in one single thread🙂 :laugh:

bocajuniors · Jun 12, 2007

why were you suprised by this thread?

krabmas · Jun 12, 2007

Maximus1984 said:
As far as I know, podiatrists have a different scope of practice for each state which defines the area they are allowed to practice on a human (for instance, florida is up to the tibial tuberosity while arkansas is considered forefoot, rearfoot, and ankle only). I'm only just starting my second year, but as i understand is that if there is some kind of bacterial infection in the foot then they can prescribe antibiotics but i don't think they're allowed to for something that doesn't involve the lower leg.

Just like the derm may rx for muscle pain the pod can also write scrips for any drug. The thing that gets fuzzy is what is the drug being rx for? There are many off label uses for drugs so pods may rx a chemotheraputic agent (cream) for skin discoloration if that drug happens to work for the latter condition as well.

Sometimes pods rx abx for family members or allergy medicine as well. It is not illegal but it is fuzzy. Some people will absolutly not rx out of the scope, others will for certain situations. You have to decide and live with your decisions and the consiquences that may follow.

As for the patient thinking that the pod is her GP. Does the pod practice in a rural area where there are no other docs? The pod may get away with doing more in this case. But for mast cases the pod is not the GP. The pod is not trained to be a GP even the ones that went to integrated schools. We are by training foot and ankle specialists.

jonwill · Jun 12, 2007

bocajuniors said:
i know that's what podiatrists do and i know that a lot of people will use specialists as gp's/ for example i know people who use dermatologists to write rxs for muscle pain or an antibiotic for an upper respiratory infection. my question is can podiatrists do this? i know most get dea numbers so legally they can, but is it considered unethical?

It is always unethical to treat someone out of scope. Especially with today's legal system, ANY DOCTOR could get in a lot of trouble for this. GP's have a very broad spectrum of training so they can get away with what they feel comfortable doing. But for specialists, that is obviously not the case.

That being said, I have seen it done. A lot of it just depends on circumstance. A few brows are going to be raised if a podiatrist is consistantly writing for atenolol or a statin (unless inpatient). While writing for pain meds, antibiotics, steroids, and muscle relaxants won't turn any heads (we always write for these), I wouldn't suggest doing it regularly for out of scope issues, even if they seem fairly clear cut.

bocajuniors · Jun 12, 2007

thanks for the heads up. i was thinking that that person just goes for foot care and says "hey can you write me some rxs for some mateinance meds" and the pod probably does. its no biggie for me as long as i won't lose my license for writing an rx for my sick family member.

cool_vkb · Jun 12, 2007

bocajuniors said:
why were you suprised by this thread?

I was suprised because all of sudden 6 new members were in the thread and i havent seen them at all on the forum. and i didnt found even a single old member. So i was thinking may be i came in the wrong forum🙂

later i saw the joining date on the profiles and figured out you guys joined in recently.

NatCh · Jun 12, 2007

bocajuniors said:
I was talking with someone the other day and they found i was going to pod school. the person congratulated me and then thought that their gp is a podiatrist. i've never heard of that. has anyone? and is it possible?

Does that Podiatrist also have a DO or MD degree? If that doctor was trained in both Medicine and Podiatry, then he or she may be both a Primary Care Provider and a Podiatrist.

Nat

NatCh · Jun 12, 2007

bocajuniors said:
thanks for the heads up. i was thinking that that person just goes for foot care and says "hey can you write me some rxs for some mateinance meds" and the pod probably does. its no biggie for me as long as i won't lose my license for writing an rx for my sick family member.

Writing prescriptions without having a proper doctor/patient relationship is one of the biggest reasons doctors get in trouble with their state board. If you are going to write a script for a friend, colleague, or family member you should have a proper chart with an H&P and progress notes in case you come under scrutiny. You do not have to bill them if you don't want to, but you must establish a proper relationship.

Nat

jonwill · Jun 12, 2007

NatCh said:
Writing prescriptions without having a proper doctor/patient relationship is one of the biggest reasons doctors get in trouble with their state board. If you are going to write a script for a friend, colleague, or family member you should have a proper chart with an H&P and progress notes in case you come under scrutiny. You do not have to bill them if you don't want to, but you must establish a proper relationship.

Nat

I totally agree.

krabmas · Jun 12, 2007

NatCh said:
Writing prescriptions without having a proper doctor/patient relationship is one of the biggest reasons doctors get in trouble with their state board. If you are going to write a script for a friend, colleague, or family member you should have a proper chart with an H&P and progress notes in case you come under scrutiny. You do not have to bill them if you don't want to, but you must establish a proper relationship.

Nat

agree as well.

you never know what type of reaction your other wise "healthy" family member may have to the drug or even what other drugs that "healthy" family member or friend is taking. Not everyone is completely honest about their health.

bocajuniors · Jun 13, 2007

NatCh said:
Writing prescriptions without having a proper doctor/patient relationship is one of the biggest reasons doctors get in trouble with their state board. If you are going to write a script for a friend, colleague, or family member you should have a proper chart with an H&P and progress notes in case you come under scrutiny. You do not have to bill them if you don't want to, but you must establish a proper relationship.

Nat

definitely a good idea thanks for the input

Toxic Avenger · Jun 17, 2007

On several occasions, I've had people respond to the term "podiatry" with "oh, that must be great to work with kids."

Unless the doc had a dual degree, my bet is that the person on the other end misunderstood.

jonwill · Jun 17, 2007

Toxic Avenger said:
On several occasions, I've had people respond to the term "podiatry" with "oh, that must be great to work with kids."

Unless the doc had a dual degree, my bet is that the person on the other end misunderstood.

When my family and I were getting ready to leave NM for podiatry school, a good friend of mine threw us a going away party. One of my buddies at the party said that that morning, he went to get a haircut. The lady asked him if he had any plans for the day. He said, "I have a friend going away to podiatry school so we're having a party for him tonight". The lady got a disgruntled look on her face and stated, "I'm sorry but anyone that is willing to work with peoples butts all day is just doing it for the money."

Podiatrist = Proctologist??? :laugh:

Has anyone heard of this?

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