Biomechanics / Prosthetics Research

[Nucleophobe]

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Hello all,

I've been researching opportunities to couple biomechanical / prosthetics research to medicine but have not been able to find very much information about work in the field of podiatry. I found some schools that do gait analysis and what not, but there weren't too many details.

I'm a mechanical engineering undergrad and would love to work in medicine while performing some type of mechanical research on the side. I talked to a professor recently who leads research in trauma, hip replacements, and other orthopaedic advancements and found it a great fit for my goals.

Do podiatrists do much with reconstructive surgery (prosthetic joints, pins & plates, etc.) on the lower extremities or does an orthopaedic surgeon usually do that type of work? Could one earn a DPM/MS or DPM/PhD in such research? If so, what are the salaries like?

The move from an MD to a DPM for me would mostly be for family lifestyle reasons. I shadowed a surgeon last week (incredible) but spending some time with the residents made me rethink everything a little. I'd like to see my wife and kids on a more regular basis.

Thanks

 

[Sabin]

😛

 

[Nucleophobe]

Thanks Sabin.

Would there be any schools with a particular knack in biomechanical and orthopaedic studies? There are only nine to research, I know. However I thought others first-hand experience with the programs might be more helpful.

Any links to such research would be greatly appreciated likewise. 😀

Cheers

 

[doc1107]

Dr. Najafi out of the CLEAR lab at Scholl is a very accomplished researcher in the field of biomechanics. In 2010 Dr. Najafi and a current P3 student published a study on a new cutting edge body sensor worn device that can allow one to accurately measure postural sway of center of mass compared to center of pressure (which is the gold standard). This allows for an even more accurate way to objectively measure deficiencies in balance performance. http://rfupodiatry.com/wordpress/?p=332

Dr. Najafi has a PhD in biomechanics from Harvard and has another PhD in biomechanical engineering.

Common misconception. Dr. Najafi did a post doc at Harvard. That does not mean he has a PhD from Harvard. Basically, he worked at Harvard under a professor. Higher ranked than a graduate student but lower ranked than a professor.

 

[SCPMAmb1]

Common misconception. Dr. Najafi did a post doc at Harvard. That does not mean he has a PhD from Harvard. Basically, he worked at Harvard under a professor. Higher ranked than a graduate student but lower ranked than a professor.

This is true, Dr. Najafi does not have a PhD from Harvard in biomechanics. Regardless, the man's past research experience and current knowledge base is impressive. Any student who is fortunate enough to land a summer research fellowship position with him will most likely get published. He is always doing fantastic things in the gait lab at Scholl.

The CLEAR lab also has strong ties to the Southern Arizona Limb Salvage Alliance (SALSA) which is run by Dr. Armstrong. Dr. Wu, the director of the CLEAR lab, also does a significant amount of diabetic wound care research herself.

As you can see there are plenty of resources for Scholl students to work with if they are interested in doing research.

 

[AttackNME]

I'm not as great a spokesman as these guys but TUSPM has a gait lab run by Dr. Jinsup Song and a quick search on pubmed shows some of his studies:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=jinsup%20song

Working with him at the gait lab is Dr. James Furmato who has an engineering background before finishing his DPM degree. They have pretty much all the equipment you need to do any biomechanical study you want.