^Yep, basically correct...
I say "
Podiatry Surgery" a lot when dealing with ERs, family docs, etc on the phone. It sounds a bit simplistic or even wrong to podiatrists, but you would be surprised how effective it is at getting the point across fast and even starting the occasional, "what kinds of surgery does podiatry do here" convos. Nobody generally knows wtf "podiatric" is... is it pediatric? As for "podiatric medical school," is that some mispronunciation of podunk medical school? "Podiatric surgery" is the same... uh, what? The stuff with "podiatric": medicine, surgery, school, physician, etc are sorta just mumbo jumbo to them...
Everybody knows powe-diatry is feet, though.
Everybody knows what surgery is too.
Most people know some podiatrists do surgery (or you can quick school 'em this way).
Soooo, you simply put them together and you've got.... (drumroll) ... a
podiatry doc/dept (smallish smoke poof) ... who does
surgery! (medium smoke poof)
I usually just use my full name ("James Smith"... no Dr or dept) when answering my cell for professional or unknown calls on the caller ID (usually for an on-call or my office, occasionally a surgical patient); using that in place of "hello" sounds sharp and professional. I think that's how James Bond and Ethan Hunt and Batman and stuff answer their phone... but I probably have a bit better voice tonality. The hospital/office callers know who they're trying to reach, so I am just confirming it promptly so they can present the patient or start to ask their question. If you say "on call doctor" or "podiatry" or whatever when they call your phone, that will just lead to follow up question of "I was calling for [name]" or "can I talk to Dr. X?" When it is not your own phone, saying "podiatry surgery" to answer the general office phone or "name from Podiatry Surgery" to identify yourself when you are calling to another doc/dept quickly gets the point across that they've reached the podiatry/podiatrist, but it also hints that you have surgical capabilities at the same time.
...As was said, different places use different semantics. It is dealers' choice. You are what you repeatedly do, and your facility will come to realize that. There are some podiatry schools where the clerk students seem hell bent on saying "medical school" at every chance they get, and I correct them to "you mean podiatry school" just to watch them cringe (I really couldn't care less, but it's too fun!). At the end of the day, it the set of skills you have is what matters. Words are just a way of communication.
For my EMR templates or my biz cards or my name badges or email sig, I usually use "Foot and Ankle" or "Foot and Ankle Clinic" or "Foot and Ankle Surgeon," and I use "name, DPM, xxxx" as appropriate best suffix based on your board qual/cert status. I don't do monogramed tops or coats... seems a bit ridiculous to me when they are designed to be cheap and discarded. A normal white coat with badge works fine, and you can just put the money you save to student loans or cash stock account. You can use the
Dr. James T. Smith OR the format James T. Smith,
DPM, xxx... but never both Dr and the xxx ...that's incorrect and also just makes you look like an insecure tool (as does using more than two suffixes, imo). The written stuff has more room for creativity and length, but in the verbal communications, you need it quick and to the point, tough. Answering the phone "Yello, Dr. Bigshot, double board certified podiatric surgery and medicine specialist of the ankle and foot speaking" ...doesn't make much sense and will only lead to time waste.
