Is it Podiatrist or Is it Foot & Ankle Surgeon

[cool_vkb]

I had this discussion with someone who goes to College with me. She asked me what are my professional plans. And i said iam going to Podiatric School. being from India she also had no idea what Podiatry is so i said her in simple words i will be a Foot & Ankle Surgeon. Hearing this, my another Pre-Med jumped in our discussion rudely and started explaining me that it is highly unethical for me to call myself a Foot & Ankle Surgeon as it confuses people that iam an MD. He said a Podiatrist who is perfroming Surgeries should call himself Podiatric Surgeon but not Foot & Ankle Surgeon as mostly F &A Orthos uses that to refere themselves. And he started giving explanations on this and that and all crap. But anyways my Question was,

Is it really that Podiatrists dont call themselves as Foot & Ankle surgeons and rather use Podiatric Surgeon on their business card or name plate.etc.

I mean whats the difference between "Podiatric" and "Foot & Ankle". They both are basically same right!

Those who are in practice or those who are in the clerkships or residencies. Can you please shed some light on this. plzzzzzzz.

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[jonwill]

I had this discussion with someone who goes to College with me. She asked me what are my professional plans. And i said iam going to Podiatric School. being from India she also had no idea what Podiatry is so i said her in simple words i will be a Foot & Ankle Surgeon. Hearing this, my another Pre-Med jumped in our discussion rudely and started explaining me that it is highly unethical for me to call myself a Foot & Ankle Surgeon as it confuses people that iam an MD. He said a Podiatrist who is perfroming Surgeries should call himself Podiatric Surgeon but not Foot & Ankle Surgeon as mostly F &A Orthos uses that to refere themselves. And he started giving explanations on this and that and all crap. But anyways my Question was,

Is it really that Podiatrists dont call themselves as Foot & Ankle surgeons and rather use Podiatric Surgeon on their business card or name plate.etc.

I mean whats the difference between "Podiatric" and "Foot & Ankle". They both are basically same right!

Those who are in practice or those who are in the clerkships or residencies. Can you please shed some light on this. plzzzzzzz.

I think the key word above is "pre-med". Aside from that, I think these are two distinct entities. I say this because there are podiatrists that are not foot and ankle surgeons. However, I don't think that your description was at all misleading, especially for simplification. Many podiatrists are foot and ankle surgeons. And on that note, foot and ankle fellows usually introduce themselves as orthopaedic surgeons.

In the meantime, your pre-med friend may be interested to know that one of the main certifying boards for podiatrists is called the "American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons". This is currently the only board certification for foot ankle surgeons. Ortho has no such board.

 

[cool_vkb]

I think the key word above is "pre-med". Aside from that, I think these are two distinct entities. I say this because there are podiatrists that are not foot and ankle surgeons. However, I don't think that your description was at all misleading, especially for simplification. Many podiatrists are foot and ankle surgeons. And on that note, foot and ankle fellows usually introduce themselves as orthopaedic surgeons.

In the meantime, your pre-med friend may be interested to know that one of the main certifying boards for podiatrists is called the "American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons". This is currently the only board certification for foot ankle surgeons. Ortho has no such board.

I dont know man! may be its just my bad luck , i have one of the most sadist Pre-meds in my batch. Most of them are indians. So its more worse as they all think we are a big family and they get involved in every single thing. I really hate that. Cant wait to start Pod school and be in the company of the enlightened ones . hallay loooya!

 

[Podman]

i personally prefer podiatrist. It avoids confusion and defines who i am. However, when people don't understand what my training or specialty, I respectfully take this opportunity to enlighten them about our education, training, and clinical specialty of physicans and surgeons of the foot and ankle.

I only see a problem with referring to oneself as "Foot and ankle surgeon", if he/she does not indicate their podiatric degree or training. In other words:

Dr. John Doe, Doctor of Podiatric Medicine
Foot and ankle surgeon

Although in reality and practical terms, you would most likely see this:

Dr. John Doe, DPM
Podiatric surgery

and that would be ok, because you indicate your degree and thereby avoid confusion of being mistaken for a foot and ankle orthopod. Though, I tend to agree with jonwill that many of them refer to themselves as orthopoedic surgeons anyway. But in principle, it is always important to not mislead your colleagues or your patients.

 

[densmore22]

Just for edification, the APMSA and the APMA are/have been talking about a possible "upgrade" in our nomenclature. i.e. chiropodist --> podiatrist --> foot and ankle physicians. I think foot and ankle physician is what has been thrown around as no orthopedic surgeon refers to themselves by this term where foot and ankle surgeon can be a bit ambiguous. When this is occuring, I do not know, but when the accredidation committee came in Oct/Nov and I (an APMSA delegate) talked with them about this, they were looking into an official name change/endorsement for a name change. Personally, I try to say Podiatric Physician, this term is also being thrown in as an option too. I feel it gives a definitive answer (Podiatric) along with a scientific aspect (physician). My $.02.

 

[jonwill]

Just for edification, the APMSA and the APMA are/have been talking about a possible "upgrade" in our nomenclature. i.e. chiropodist --> podiatrist --> foot and ankle physicians. I think foot and ankle physician is what has been thrown around as no orthopedic surgeon refers to themselves by this term where foot and ankle surgeon can be a bit ambiguous. When this is occuring, I do not know, but when the accredidation committee came in Oct/Nov and I (an APMSA delegate) talked with them about this, they were looking into an official name change/endorsement for a name change. Personally, I try to say Podiatric Physician, this term is also being thrown in as an option too. I feel it gives a definitive answer (Podiatric) along with a scientific aspect (physician). My $.02.

They were always throwing around "PMD" at the meetings that I was at. Podiatrist or Podiatric Physician is just fine. That is like a neurologist introducing himself as a brain physician, or a cardiologist introducing himself as a heart physician, or a urologist introducing himself as, nevermind, you get my point

 

[Feli]

I agree that podiatrist is the best. But Foot and ankle specialist might be the best way to phrase it for people who ask, "what is a podiatrist?" That describes exactly what all DPMs are trained for.

Saying DPMs are F&A surgeons is not a great idea because, for most DPMs, surgery is not the majority of their practice and the vast majority of podiatric patients are not surgical.

 

[Northerner]

Personally, I try to say Podiatric Physician, this term is also being thrown in as an option too. I feel it gives a definitive answer (Podiatric) along with a scientific aspect (physician). My $.02.

What's wrong with "podiatrist"? Using someone else's example from earlier, you don't hear neurologists calling themselves "neurological physicians" or cardiologists calling themselves "cardiological physicians". Are people really that confused about what a podiatrist is? Adding the "physician" on the end and trying to change the degree to "PMD" to look more like "MD" just smells of insecurity.

 

[jonwill]

What's wrong with "podiatrist"? Using someone else's example from earlier, you don't hear neurologists calling themselves "neurological physicians" or cardiologists calling themselves "cardiological physicians". Are people really that confused about what a podiatrist is? Adding the "physician" on the end and trying to change the degree to "PMD" to look more like "MD" just smells of insecurity.

DEFINITELY

 

[densmore22]

What's wrong with "podiatrist"? Using someone else's example from earlier, you don't hear neurologists calling themselves "neurological physicians" or cardiologists calling themselves "cardiological physicians". Are people really that confused about what a podiatrist is? Adding the "physician" on the end and trying to change the degree to "PMD" to look more like "MD" just smells of insecurity.

I use podiatrist or podiatric physician. I could care less what initials are behind my name. Someone asked, so I stated, plain and simple, but can we please not get into the "we're not real doctor" debate again, it's been beaten to DEATH and you like to instigate it and we all know your thoughts and how you feel on the subject.

 

[OSUDDS]

What's wrong with "podiatrist"? Using someone else's example from earlier, you don't hear neurologists calling themselves "neurological physicians" or cardiologists calling themselves "cardiological physicians". Are people really that confused about what a podiatrist is? Adding the "physician" on the end and trying to change the degree to "PMD" to look more like "MD" just smells of insecurity.

are you talking about the DMD?

 

[jonwill]

are you talking about the DMD?

No, there was actually a small movement (and probably still is) to have the degree changed from DPM to PMD (Podiatric Medical Doctor).