Practicing in Alabama

[JewOnThis]

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I am looking to relocate to Alabama for spouse's job. I remembered reading somewhere that there's no ankle surgery privilege in this state, but are podiatrists still allowed to treat achilles tendon and soft tissue/wounds at the ankle joint?

Also anyone has experience in practicing in this state, please chime in. I would love to hear some pros/cons.

 

[JewOnThis]

He no longer practices in Alabama. Last I heard, he moved to WV .

 

[FnA Man]

He no longer practices in Alabama. Last I heard, he moved to WV .

Yes, He has moved to Huntington, WV "Dr. James L. Thomas, DPM is a Professor and Chief of the Foot and Ankle Surgical Division at the Joan C Edwards School of Medicine at Marshall University"... My undergrad Alumni .

 

[Adam Smasher]

The APMA has a nice resource for questions like this here: APMA Scope-of-Practice Map | APMA Working for You | APMA

It's members only but if you're a student/resident you can join for free. Anyway, I checked it out and Alabama has a pretty firmly delineated boundary. Usually podiatrists would try to argue that a structure inserts into the foot therefore it's part of the foot and within our legal scope. Alabama's law explicitly defines a boundary at the talar dome and the Achilles tendon is part of the leg and not the foot.

 

[pacpod]

I grew up in AL and they are quite strict. It is hard to get an expanded scope with names like Kirschner and Gould having associations with the state.


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[Creflo]

I also grew up there, have been away in pod school, residency, and now working in another state so I'm not a contemporary on the subject. When I was there it was basically a forefoot state. I imagine that hasn't changed too much. Not sure what all Dr. Thomas did there, but I would imagine he was subject to same laws as others.

 

[bunNfxr]

If you happen to near the TN, FL or GA borders, you may want to get a license and surgical privileges in those states. Not Sure about Mississippi.

 

[JewOnThis]

Thanks for the info. Im definitely not looking forward to moving....

 

[JewOnThis]

So, I just had a good talk with a practicing Alabama podiatrist regarding surgery. Apparently, there's a couple of podiatrists who do some ankle work without issues for MANY years.

If possible, I would like some input from anyone who has trained in the more restrictive states.