Allied Health Professionals?

[AlKlineDPM]

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New to this forum, but not sure why DPM section is listed with Allied Health Professionals? I have a podiatry forum set up for students, professionals and past alumni for Podiatry Only. Enjoy!

*edit: link removed by DrMom*

 

[AlKlineDPM]

According to the AAHP (The Associattion of Allied Health Professionals) , this organization represents a number of health care professionals from various disciplines working within the hospitals, nursing homes and community health agencies within the province.

The following is a list of professions currently represented by AAHP:
Anaesthesia Respiratory Therapist
Audiologist I
Audiologist 11
Auditory-Verbal Therapist
Clinical Dietitian I
Clinical Dietitian II
Clinical Dietitian III
Prosthetist/Orthotist I
Prosthetist/Orthotist II
Prosthetist/Orthotist III
Prosthetist/Orthotist IV
Clinical Pharmacy Specialist
Clinical Pharmacist I
Clinical Pharmacist II
Clinical Pharmacist III
Orthoptist
Respiratory Therapist I
Respiratory Therapist II
Genetic Counsellor I
Genetic Counsellor II
Genetic Counsellor III
Clinical Occupational Therapist I
Clinical Occupational Therapist II
Clinical Occupational Therapist III
Technology Resource Consultant
Clinical Physiotherapist I
Clinical Physiotherapist II
Clinical Physiotherapist III
Kinesiologist
Speech Language Pathologist I
Speech Language Pathologist II
Speech Language Pathologist III
Clinical Sexologist
Psychometrist I
Clinical Psychologist I
Clinical Psychologist II
Clinical Psychologist II
Child Care Services Consultant
Mental Health Counsellor
Child & Adolescent Mental Health Prog. Coord.
Workplace Wellness Program Coord.
Social Worker I
Social Worker II
Social Worker III
Regional Social Work Co-ordinator
Pastoral Care Clinician
Creative Arts Therapists
Ergonomics Coordinator


I don't see "Podiatrists" or "Doctors of Podiatric Medicine" in this list, so I think it would only be right to address this 'discrepency' in this forum and place the DPM in another section along with "other Medical Practices" or in the MD/DO section of this forum.

 

[FoughtFyr]

I don't see "Podiatrists" or "Doctors of Podiatric Medicine" in this list, so I think it would only be right to address this 'discrepency' in this forum and place the DPM in another section along with "other Medical Practices" or in the MD/DO section of this forum.

Well, since you are admittedly new to this forum, I'll tell you a bit of history. In the past, the current "allied health" section of the forum was broken up into many smaller subsections. Thing is, the post counts simply didn't warrant keeping many of them. So they were bunched together here.

That said, the owners of this site owe nothing to any profession. They can subdivide, include or exclude as they see fit. If you don't like it you are free to go elsewhere (such as the forum you listed in your post). That is not to say you aren't welcome here, but rather to point out that these forums are not some government run program mandated to be fair to all. They are an independant resource that has grown from a small site for DO and pre-DO students into a large online community of (mainly) MD/DO residents, students, and premeds. The owners and moderators have been extremely good at cultivating those areas of the site with adequate traffic and trimming those without - creating a very successful online community.

BTW - The AAHP (The Association of Allied Health Professionals) is a trade union in Canada. I'm not sure their's is the definition many would use.

Welcome to SDN - I hope you find what you are looking for.

- H

 

[AlKlineDPM]

That said, the owners of this site owe nothing to any profession. They can subdivide, include or exclude as they see fit. If you don't like it you are free to go elsewhere (such as the forum you listed in your post). That is not to say you aren't welcome here, but rather to point out that these forums are not some government run program mandated to be fair to all. They are an independant resource that has grown from a small site for DO and pre-DO students into a large online community of (mainly) MD/DO residents, students, and premeds. The owners and moderators have been extremely good at cultivating those areas of the site with adequate traffic and trimming those without - creating a very successful online community.

- H

"Owe nothing to any profession?" I can't really agree with you on those reasons alone and there is no need to get defensive about this point. I merely pointed out that the forum has subdivided DOCTORS OF PODIATRIC MEDICINE AND SURGERY in the wrong place. To be honest, I barely did "find what I was looking for". In fact, to find this section and listed DPM's was kind of difficult (I had to scroll through the section 3 or 4 times before I found the DPM listing under ALLIED HEALTH?

The reason you may not have had the hits to your forum may be in the reason that some podiatrists CAN'T find the DPM listing?

It would be very simple to place DPM's under "DOCTORS IN OTHER HEALTH PROFESSIONS".

I just used the AAHP as an example, but I'm sure if you look it up, ALLIED HEALTH PROFESSIONALS does not include the practice of PODIATRIC MEDICINE AND SURGERY.

You have a great forum here. I've visited many health related forums and have put a few together myself. You must remember too, that the history of our profession is 'laced' with ignorance and mis-understanding. Let's not perpetuate this in a simple forum by mis-classifying our profession.

Regards
Al Kline DPM

 

[FoughtFyr]

The reason you may not have had the hits to your forum may be in the reason that some podiatrists CAN'T find the DPM listing?

Regards
Al Kline DPM

Except that the DPMs used to have their very own forum here. Easy to find, just not often visited. The "allied health" forum (perhaps a bad name) was created rather than eliminate many less used forums altogether.

And it is not that I am defensive, it is just that it interests me how one (or even a few) individual(s) can newly arrive at a very successful site and say "you are doing it all wrong" and "you are being unfair". What does "fairness" have to do with anything? If the owner of the site wants he could remove any reference at all to DPMs in the title of any forum here. If that offends his users to the point that traffic declines, well, that is his choice. If you notice, chiropractors are not listed (a bone of contention among many here). To me the answer to them is the same as to you - SDN is the resource that it is. If it meets your needs, wonderful. If it doesn't, well we all have choices in how to spend our on-line time.

BTW - It is not "my" forum. I am neither an owner, nor a mod. But I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night!

- H

 

[chicoborja]

The following is a list of professions currently represented by AAHP:

Kinesiologist
Speech Language Pathologist I
Speech Language Pathologist II
Speech Language Pathologist III
Clinical Sexologist
Psychometrist I
Clinical Psychologist I
Clinical Psychologist II
Clinical Psychologist II

I think I might have to change fields

 

[rpkall]

I saw that on there...

I wonder what kind of coursework would be required for that. I wonder if there's lab classes.

Is that the Mrs. Focker character played by Barbara Streisand in that movie?

For the others on this thread: for goodness sakes, there should be a foot doctor section again, but they should have to get a whole bunch of people together who actually want to start one--not just one or two who will lose interest after 3 weeks. Maybe try petitioning the administrators of the website, or at least start a real dialogue with them about getting your own section again. If there's a place to post pictures of people's asses on this board, I think there can be a place to post crap about *feet*.

 

[sunnyjohn]

BTW - It is not "my" forum. I am neither an owner, nor a mod. But I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night!

- H

L-O-friggin'-L

 

[dpmjeff77]

Can the moderator of this site ( or owner ) please just make a DPM section...its probably not that hard...I don't see that many people in the residency threads, I bet that we can make some noise in the DPM thread if there was one still ???

Can I get someone to second that motion ??

JEFF

 

[krabmas]

👍 I most definitely second that 👍

 

[AlKlineDPM]

"you are doing it all wrong" and "you are being unfair".
- H

Since you are not a moderator and owner of this site, I won't be getting into a posting war with you here. I find it interesting that you have such a strong opinion about this? Who said anything about "being unfair". I think enough has probably been said about my point in this posting. It's very simple to just place DPM in "Doctors in Other Health Professions" section. DPM's do not belong in the 'Allied Health Professions" section of this forum, plain and simple. I don't think it really has to do with how many people are visiting, etc. Until I hear from the moderator or author of this forum, I'll keep any further opinions about this site to myself.

 

[efs]

I have been browsing this forum off and on for somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 years. About 2 years ago they revamped it and several forums were moved/joined/etc. The DPM forum was one of them.

I think you are right, in that it probably better fits under Doctors in other Fields or some such thing rather than Allied Health Professionals. That is not my call, and was a decision made by those that run this forum. In any case, I don't think it much matters.

Traffic probably has a large part to do with it. The old DPM forum might go days to weeks with minimal to no posting. A large portion of the posts were also not by DPMs but rather those with disparaging remarks, clueless questions, or unrelated posts. Unlike the majority of the other forums on this board, there just were not very many DPMs/students/residents posting or responding. There are roughly 5-600 students per class, and if you consider those in residency as well we are probably talking about a potential maximum of 3-4000 with a direct interest. Most of those are not aware of this forum.

Those of us in residency have found little benefit from the forum, and obviously have other more pressing matters than to spend time here. As I moved from being a student to being a resident, there was much less time available and I found myself even looking at the forum much less frequently. Often there was nothing to even bother responding to, so no more reason to bother looking. I do still check from time to time, but still nothing much worth responding to.

There is definately a potential here, but with the numbers it is not a priority.

I commend you for starting another forum, but I think you will find that the results are similar to those previously seen here. Keep in mind that the internet, and this forum are not the end-all/be-all. DPM students do have active chains of communication, but it is usually within the school, class, or with others whom they have had face to face contact with.

Best wishes to all.

 

[cg2a93]

Doc, I have been on this forum since its inception ( I had a different screen name ) I actually pettion SDN to start the very first Podiatry section on this board which they graciously did. I have to tell you... we got very few post. The second time we got very few posts and a large portion of them were trolls spreading misinformation.
From the standpoint of just saving space it made sense to combine Podiatry with other professions.
I agree, we Pods are not allied health professionals( not that there is anything wrong with being in a allied health field), but keep in mind this forum was started to give Osteopaths a forum not Pods.

C Woodly DPM

 

[AlKlineDPM]

I see that this is a great forum, and has lots of traffic. Maybe the lack of interest and traffic may be a sign of disarray in our own profession or maybe not? But I still find it hard to believe that they would throw the DPM in an Allied Health Section just because of traffic? There is nothing wrong with the Allied Health Profession, but if I wanted to be an Allied Health Professional, I would'nt have spent over $100,000 to go to Podiatry School for 4 years, take a bunch of surgical boards, spend waking hours studying for medical school entrance exams, going to residency and spending hours in the ER treating diabetic foot infections, getting certified in different surgical procedures, being able to write prescriptions, admit people into hospitals and becoming a bonefied foot Surgeon. I guess I just have a bad case of "pride" in my own profession.

 

[dpmjeff77]

It seems as though you have every right to be upset. And I am too, eventhough I will be just an entering freshman, I do believe that the DPMs have the skill and professionalism to be placed in the other forum.

Thank you

Jeff

 

[lawguil]

I see that this is a great forum, and has lots of traffic. Maybe the lack of interest and traffic may be a sign of disarray in our own profession or maybe not? But I still find it hard to believe that they would throw the DPM in an Allied Health Section just because of traffic? There is nothing wrong with the Allied Health Profession, but if I wanted to be an Allied Health Professional, I would'nt have spent over $100,000 to go to Podiatry School for 4 years, take a bunch of surgical boards, spend waking hours studying for medical school entrance exams, going to residency and spending hours in the ER treating diabetic foot infections, getting certified in different surgical procedures, being able to write prescriptions, admit people into hospitals and becoming a bonefied foot Surgeon. I guess I just have a bad case of "pride" in my own profession.

It appears that a lot of "physician wannabee's" have the same problem. Keep your head about yourself. Keep in mind that by becoming a DPM, you have done nothing extraordinary. Trust me, when you get around to saying that you have no interest in being a physician, everybody already understands that you’re suffering from the infectious physician wannabeism disease. There is no denying it. Many health professions are going through this identity crisis (physical therapist, pharmacist, DPM, DC, PsyD, RN's, NP's). You name it; they have caught the physician wannabeism disease. Unfortunately, at this point it appears to be a terminal disease with only one treatment - medical school. It seems to be the only way to enlighten these poor unsuspecting fools about there misguided affection and "pride" for a particular health field. Good luck and I hope you someday find the appropriate treatment for your disease. (Consider yourself lucky being a DPM, because nurses seem to be experiencing the worst cases with very little success with any treatment). 😳

 

[DRJME]

I agree that DPMs do not belong in the Allied Health section, but WE all need to consider that fact that WE all found each other. I understand that pride is a difficult thing to set aside, but does it really matter that DPM is in this section?? I think WE should be thankful that there is a listing for DPMs and that we have started a chain of communication, albeit not the best quality of communication at this point.

AlKlineDPM- As future students, current students, residents, and DPMs we all know what it takes to be a DPM. You should have pride for your profession, but what I think you have is a case of prejudice for other professions, such as RNs, NPs, PAs, and PTs!

We, the entire medical community, are here to help patients. I think that we can all get along for the betterment of the medical field.

 

[DRJME]

It appears that a lot of "physician wannabee's" have the same problem. Keep your head about yourself. Keep in mind that by becoming a DPM, you have done nothing extraordinary. Trust me, when you get around to saying that you have no interest in being a physician, everybody already understands that you’re suffering from the infectious physician wannabeism disease. There is no denying it. Many health professions are going through this identity crisis (physical therapist, pharmacist, DPM, DC, PsyD, RN's, NP's). You name it; they have caught the physician wannabeism disease. Unfortunately, at this point it appears to be a terminal disease with only one treatment - medical school. It seems to be the only way to enlighten these poor unsuspecting fools about there misguided affection and "pride" for a particular health field. Good luck and I hope you someday find the appropriate treatment for your disease. (Consider yourself lucky being a DPM, because nurses seem to be experiencing the worst cases with very little success with any treatment). 😳

WOW this is extremely harsh and uncalled for!! There is absolutely no need for such comments. If you have criticism that is fine, but please state it in an appropriate manner.

 

[deleted6669]

a DPM is as much a "doctor in other fields" as an optometrist or a dentist. they should not be in the allied health section. they possess a legitimate doctorate in a health care field and receive extensive training including a 3-4 yr residency. this is very different then the newly emerging "doctorates" offered as terminal degrees for fields that generally award a masters. there is no masters in podiatry. it is a doctorate level education and if you had worked with podiatrists you would know why. these guys are foot and ankle SURGEONS and should be treated as such. podiatrists and pod residents have helped me out on many occassions and I think we should recognize them for what they are.

 

[dpmjeff77]

a DPM is as much a "doctor in other fields" as an optometrist or a dentist. they should not be in the allied health section. they possess a legitimate doctorate in a health care field and receive extensive training including a 3-4 yr residency. this is very different then the newly emerging "doctorates" offered as terminal degrees for fields that generally award a masters. there is no masters in podiatry. it is a doctorate level education and if you had worked with podiatrists you would know why. these guys are foot and ankle SURGEONS and should be treated as such. podiatrists and pod residents have helped me out on many occassions and I think we should recognize them for what they are.

THANK YOU emedpa !!! 👍 👍 👍

 

[50960]

I think most rational folks will agree with emedpa on this issue. Well put. 🙂

 

[AlKlineDPM]

Wow, I'm glad everyone is responding in such a diverse manner. I'm glad I got everyone thinking about this.

Trust me, there is no "physician wannabee" here. I chose podiatry as my life-profession. I have great respect for RN's, PT's and other professionals in the Allied Health Field. I work with them everyday and some of my best friends are therapists whom I rely on daily for their skill treating certain foot ailments. We all work together in our community for the betterment of the patient.

 

[FoughtFyr]

Wow, I'm glad everyone is responding in such a diverse manner. I'm glad I got everyone thinking about this.

Trust me, there is no "physician wannabee" here. I chose podiatry as my life-profession. I have great respect for RN's, PT's and other professionals in the Allied Health Field. I work with them everyday and some of my best friends are therapists whom I rely on daily for their skill treating certain foot ailments. We all work together in our community for the betterment of the patient.

Please know that I have a full and deep respect for podiatry as a profession. I do believe that as a working definition in real life you are "doctors in other health professions" not "allied health". My argument with you is in your insistence that the owners or moderators change things around. Simply put, the moderators agreed to collect a large number of little used forums and consolidate them here (as opposed to closing them altogether). I think that maintaining a forum for DPMs is a good thing. I think it matters far less where it is located. I firmly believe that if this area becomes "podiatry central", a new forum should be created. I just don't think that time has come yet. I am sorry that you find the title offensive. Maybe rewording it to be "Podiatry and Allied Health" would be appropriate.

- H

 

[deleted6669]

"Maybe rewording it to be "Podiatry and Allied Health" would be appropriate."

Sounds reasonable. I understand that based on # of posts it does not make sense to have a dpm forum here so this is a good compromise.

 

[AlKlineDPM]

"Maybe rewording it to be "Podiatry and Allied Health" would be appropriate."

Sounds reasonable. I understand that based on # of posts it does not make sense to have a dpm forum here so this is a good compromise.

You have made a great point about DPM's being listed in the "Other Doctors section", but as you can see from 'Lawguil' comments, the ignorance abounds. I've already spoke to one moderator and it doesn't look like these folks are easy to change. The forum was founded by a physician and was mainly a DO forum, so there ya go. Also, any forum links I've posted for podiatry, has been removed. Go figure? Let's just say that this forum has its own agenda.

 

[rn29306]

Please God, someone give him his own forum

 

[AlKlineDPM]

Please God, someone give him his own forum

I don't think GOD will even give us our own forum here . . . lol. 😉

 

[rn29306]

You have a legit concern, hope it gets addressed in the proper manner.
Couldn't help a friendly jab though..

Best of luck to you.

 

[KmB247]

Please God, someone give him his own forum

I don't think GOD will even give us our own forum here . . . lol. 😉

Ironically enough he does have his own forum.

I also support moving the DPM's into the "Other doctors forum"

Hey, why did the mods remove the link to Dr. Kline's forum ???

 

[Freeeedom!]

One does realize that they will get their own forum and then there will be 3 or 4 posts about toe jam seperated by a couple of months of plantar wart debate then it will all be quiet again.

 

[AlKlineDPM]

One does realize that they will get their own forum and then there will be 3 or 4 posts about toe jam seperated by a couple of months of plantar wart debate then it will all be quiet again.

Well, if you go to most podiatry forums, there is some great discussions on common foot problems. Also, it's a great place for people to just discuss the latest treatment techniques and 'latest happenings'.

 

[rdennisjr]

Hey all - sorry for the slow reply to this issue but I've been at a CME conference....in short however, I'll bring the issue up with the big-dogs and will let you all know how the discussion goes...

Dennis

 

[diabeticfootdr]

Hey all - sorry for the slow reply to this issue but I've been at a CME conference....in short however, I'll bring the issue up with the big-dogs and will let you all know how the discussion goes...

Dennis

Thanks Dennis,

I also support this move to "doctors in other fields".

LCR

 

[lawguil]

You have made a great point about DPM's being listed in the "Other Doctors section", but as you can see from 'Lawguil' comments, the ignorance abounds. I've already spoke to one moderator and it doesn't look like these folks are easy to change. The forum was founded by a physician and was mainly a DO forum, so there ya go. Also, any forum links I've posted for podiatry, has been removed. Go figure? Let's just say that this forum has its own agenda.

ALKline, Sorry for the post. I'm aware of podiatry training and education and actually agree that they are one of the few doctoring professions. I guess I was a little annoyed when you talked about:

"spending over $100,000 to go to Podiatry School for 4 years, take a bunch of surgical boards, spend waking hours studying for medical school entrance exams, going to residency and spending hours in the ER treating diabetic foot infections, getting certified in different surgical procedures, being able to write prescriptions, admit people into hospitals and becoming a bonefied foot Surgeon. I guess I just have a bad case of "pride" in my own profession."

I agree that if there is enough interest there should be a podiatry move. The problem is that everybody already knows that it will likely crash and burn on this forum since this is a pre-medical/DO,MD site. It's been tried before without success. As you can see, combining the allied health and doctoring professions have made for some very interesting debate and a successful section? Again, I really didn't mean to come off as somebody completely ignorant about DPM's. I was merely shedding some not so comical light on many of the so called doctoring professions and people/professions that would rather be compared to a physician when they have never attended medical school. Sorry that I showed my ignorance, L.

 

[AlKlineDPM]

Hey all - sorry for the slow reply to this issue but I've been at a CME conference....in short however, I'll bring the issue up with the big-dogs and will let you all know how the discussion goes...

Dennis

Thanks for your effort. This is , after all, the 'Student Doctor Network' and it would be a great introduction to most students who know nothing of podiatry to understand that DPMS are classified and licensed as a Doctorate Degree and not an 'Allied Health Profession'. This would provide people a huge understanding to the field of podiatry and may actually provide legitimacy to the profression in this forum as a 'Doctorate Program'.

 

[KmB247]

I agree that if there is enough interest there should be a podiatry move. The problem is that everybody already knows that it will likely crash and burn on this forum since this is a pre-medical/DO,MD site. It's been tried before without success.

Perhaps there are more people interested in discussing DPM's, and their roles in the medical community, then there was before???

Can someone please explain how DVM's are grouped into "Doctors in Other Health Professions" and DPM's are not. Certainly the DPM has more to offer the MD/DO community and their patients (or future patients).

I strongly agree with AlKline that putting the DPM's in the other doctors forum will shed more light on the role DPM's have and perhaps attract more traffic than it does buried in the Allied Health and Medical Backgrounds forum.

I was merely shedding some not so comical light on many of the so called doctoring professions and people/professions that would rather be compared to a physician when they have never attended medical school. Sorry that I showed my ignorance, L.

I think all we are asking for is to allow us to be recognized by the rest of the community for what we are. I certainly believe that we are qualified to be considered Doctors in Other Health Professions, especially considering the current company that forum keeps.

 

[AlKlineDPM]

Good point Kevin, Hopefully we will hear something soon?