Flat-Footed

[rrreagan]

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Hi, I'm pretty severely flat-footed.

Are there suitable medical careers for me besides Radiology and Psychiatry?

 

[Adcadet]

I too am flat footed. As an MS1 I've only sat through lecture, so I'm not sure how my feet will hold up after 12 hours on myfeet. I figure I'll see during years 3 and 4. I know gross anatomy was pretty painful at time. On the other hand, working in a clinic for 4 hours has never been a problem.

 

[missMD]

I am also flat footed. I have not been on rotations yet but have been in jobs where I've been on my feet ALL night. You should be fine in any specialty you choose. The important thing to remember is to choose a comfortable pair of shoes. You could also invest in a pair of orthopedic shoes before 3rd year starts. Even then, recognize that at the end of the day our feet are going to hurt more than the person who has an arch. So you will just have to build up a higher tolorance for the pain as well as give yourself footrubs at night before bed.

 

[Bevo]

not yet to that point, nor did I really think about it. My feet kill after 3 hours of anatomy lab right now. Get tons of blisters too walking around this island. Stopped wearing sandles and sticking to my sneakers(?). Helps some.

Used to wearing these rockport shoes, but they're too big and heavy for this island and lifestyle.

 

[Adcadet]

Originally posted by lmbebo
not yet to that point, nor did I really think about it. My feet kill after 3 hours of anatomy lab right now. Get tons of blisters too walking around this island. Stopped wearing sandles and sticking to my sneakers(?). Helps some.

Used to wearing these rockport shoes, but they're too big and heavy for this island and lifestyle.

after living with flat feet for so many years, I never even consider wearing sandles or shoes without my inserts. At this point, not wearing my inserts would be like putting my right shoe on my left foot and vice-versa.

 

[rrreagan]

Thanks for the encouragment.

I didn't do too well in my Surgery clerkship, thanks in large part to my inability/unwillingness to stand around all day.

What exactly is the preoccupation that doctors have with standing around?

There's nothing more annoying to me than standing around all day just because my professors are doing the same.

For example, in Internal Medicine, rounds are invariably done standing-up because tradition dictates that we stand around in front of the patient's door for 20 minutes, discussing every aspect of his case.

Couldn't this discussion just as easily be done with everyone <b>comfortably sitting down?</b>

Similarly, couldn't the surgeons do more procedures and operations <b>sitting down</b> instead of <b>standing up?</b>

 

[sacrament]

Originally posted by rrreagan

Similarly, couldn't the surgeons do more procedures and operations <b>sitting down</b> instead of <b>standing up?</b>

I have often wondered this. I realize that with most OR set-ups, there would be some logistical issues involved, but still... I can think of a million ways to achieve the same visual perspective, physical access, etc. while sitting down. But I'm not a surgeon, so I speak from ignorance.

 

[dara678]

Why do people with flat feet have problems standing for a long time?

I'm a pre-MS1, so please forgive my ignorance ...

 

[rrreagan]

While standing, one has to support one's entire body weight on one's feet alone.

While running, moving, etc. the body weight can be be supported by the knees, back, and other body parts.

Furthermore, in Surgery, one has to be perfectly still at all times.
Flat-footed people <b> can't </b> support the entire body weight on our feet, so we might have a tendency to move around or rock in place so as to keep the weight of our feet.

 

[thackl]

I'll give my best udergrad guess at this. The typical foot is like a spring and has (medial, lateral and tranverse) arches that esentially do flatten out under load and distribute all the body wieght when standing upright (knees locked). Flat footed people do not get the even distribution and expirience pain in the areas of higher stress concentration (I'm guessing the calcaneus and metatarsals).

 

[Winged Scapula]

I have seen my fair share of Fred Flintstone footed surgery residents and they don't seem to suffer anymore than the rest of us with our graceful arches. 😉 If you have the right shoes, your lack of arches shouldn't matter much.

As for sitting down, I agree there are some cases conducive to it (ie, hand, face, extremity) but when you need to look deep in the body cavity of a gastric bypass patient or get some leverage on an Ortho case, nothing beats standing.

 

[djwdv]

flat feet usually means you can have serious knee problems, esp. if you are a girl because your lack of arches cause your knees to pronate inwards. this is worse for a girl because girl's have hips and if you are j.lo hippy (like me) pronated knees do not tract correctly and you can shred your cartilage.

take it from someone who has had 2 arthroscopic surgeries and has been told to not stand for a long time. orthotics/shoes help some, but sitting every so often is even better!!! i'm not sure how i'm going to survive surgery, but psych is one of my interests so thankfully, i have that to fall back on (no pun intended).

 

[A.D.O.R.]

ophthalmology is also an option.