How should you respond to people who say an MD or DO can do whatever a podiatrist can?

[Windom Earle]

Isn't it kinda true?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Mad Jack]

I really wouldn't feel comfortable doing many things pods do, even if I legally can.

 

[SnozzBerry]

“Yeah, but why would they want to?”

 

[Windom Earle]

“Yeah, but why would they want to?”

Maybe, but I have a hard time believing that an MD or DO would not treat someone if they had a foot problem.

 

[Mad Jack]

Maybe, but I have a hard time believing that an MD or DO would not treat someone if they had a foot problem.

I'm not even kidding when I say that if we see anything that is not the most basic of foot issues, we're like, "you should see a podiatrist or an orthopedic foot specialist." For the same reason I technically can manage, say, paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, but still refer out to a cardiologist because they are the experts in the area and I simply won't be as good at their job as they are.

 

[msion]

You will be surprised at the kind of stuff that gets dumped onto podiatry. This is especially true if you are in a large healthcare system with internal referrals (HMO networks/Kaiser, VA, etc.) From derm issues to infectious disease; from endocrine to neuro issues, you name it. In derm a lot of the manifestations of common pathologies are way different in the lower extremities and don't resemble classic textbook appearances. The biopsy results often come back normal. So they were sent to podiatry for another evaluation. Most docs are salaried in these hospital systems so won't mind sending the patients to podiatry.

 

[GypsyHummus]

Would you ever do an ingrown toenail or corns/calluses?

I'm not even kidding when I say that if we see anything that is not the most basic of foot issues, we're like, "you should see a podiatrist or an orthopedic foot specialist." For the same reason I technically can manage, say, paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, but still refer out to a cardiologist because they are the experts in the area and I simply won't be as good at their job as they are.

 

[Mad Jack]

Would you ever do an ingrown toenail or corns/calluses?

Oh god no. If I was going in to primary care, I still don't know if I'd do ingrown toenails, as I've seen them botched and I never want to be that guy.

 

[ldsrmdude]

Isn't it kinda true?

This seems to be an issue in the minds of pod students and pre-pods mostly. I think as you go along in training you either stop caring what other people think or realize how little some people know.

There is a lot of overlap with a few different specialties. You find your niche and work in that niche and everyone gets along for the most part.

 

[Windom Earle]

I'm not even kidding when I say that if we see anything that is not the most basic of foot issues, we're like, "you should see a podiatrist or an orthopedic foot specialist." .

Devil's advocate: Why would someone choose to go to a podiatrist instead of an orthopedic foot specialist then?

 

[ftdoc11]

Devil's advocate: Why would someone choose to go to a podiatrist instead of an orthopedic foot specialist then?

Because they googled "foot doctor nearby" and the first one who popped up with good reviews that took their insurance happened to be an MD/DO or DPM. Rarely do I meet anyone outside of the medical professions (and even many people in healthcare) who are even aware that podiatrists are not a MD/DO. In the eyes of nearly everyone but pre-pods/meds, if you walk around in a white coat and people call you "doctor", then you're just "the [insert specialty here] doctor".

 

[Mad Jack]

Devil's advocate: Why would someone choose to go to a podiatrist instead of an orthopedic foot specialist then?

Because orthopods aren't any good at wound care, vascular issues, nails, etc. Orthopods tend to focus on surgical issues and push everything else off to others. Podiatrists take a more all-inclusive view of the foot.

 

[GypsyHummus]

One could say that DPMs are more "Holistic" and treat the whole foot and not just the symptoms. DPMs treat the patient like a person with a foot, rather than just organ systems connected to a foot.

This is why DPM admissions tend to be lower, as DPM schools tend to look at the overall applicant instead of just numbers. They "look at the whole application".

DPMs take a special course in Podiopathic manipulative medicine and learn that if you manually wiggle certain toes, it relives pressure to the respiratory system. It has to be said in conjunction with "this little piggy", otherwise it produces only placebo effects.

(joking)

Because orthopods aren't any good at wound care, vascular issues, nails, etc. Orthopods tend to focus on surgical issues and push everything else off to others. Podiatrists take a more all-inclusive view of the foot.

 

[Windom Earle]

Because orthopods aren't any good at wound care, vascular issues, nails, etc. Orthopods tend to focus on surgical issues and push everything else off to others. Podiatrists take a more all-inclusive view of the foot.

Will all due respect, that seems like a reach, for at least the wound care part. We need an MD or DO here to confirm.

 

[josebiwasabi]

Will all due respect, that seems like a reach, for at least the wound care part. We need an MD or DO here to confirm.

Do you think ortho sees and treats wounds apart from surgical site dehiscence with any regularity?

 

[Mad Jack]

Will all due respect, that seems like a reach, for at least the wound care part. We need an MD or DO here to confirm.

I am a bone wizard, frand

 

[Mad Jack]

Do you think ortho sees and treats wounds apart from surgical site dehiscence with any regularity?

Ortho basically only deals with things they can surgically manage. If it won't require surgical intervention, it gets bounced out to a wound care clinic, PT, OT, neurology, or sports med, depending on the nature of the issue.

 

[MidnightSun32]

Ortho basically only deals with things they can surgically manage. If it won't require surgical intervention, it gets bounced out to a wound care clinic, PT, OT, neurology, or sports med, depending on the nature of the issue.

This describes the ortho I work for very well--- I don't know how many times I've had to tell the receptionist what can be scheduled and what should never end up on his schedule, like anything diabetic foot related. He sees limited foot cases (he'll do the occasional bunion and foot/ankle fx, etc). If the patient keeps coming back (not improving) and it's not something he thinks needs surgery or he doesn't want to operate on them, he often refers it out to a DPM or F&A ortho if insurance won't cover podiatry. If something requiring wound care comes in, they get sent to the wound care clinic. He tells me all the time that he's surprised I want to go into podiatry and asks if I'm sure because he says it's just not something he could do.

 

[Cranjis McBasketball]

Will all due respect, that seems like a reach, for at least the wound care part. We need an MD or DO here to confirm.

@Mad Jack is a DO

 

[de Ribas]

Will all due respect, that seems like a reach, for at least the wound care part. We need an MD or DO here to confirm.

I thought Mad Jack is MD/DO.

 

[NITRAS]

Our podiatrist are easier to work with than ortho, are very good, and intervene quicker. I call them first.

 

[Podstar]

I would not respond and continue on about my day.