Questions about profession

[Rad 1]

Would someone in the field of podiatry talk about if you have prescribing rights (if so, to what extent, etc.) and how about ordering of diagnostic imaging studies. Somebody asked me the other day about the above topics and I couldn't answer b/c I'm not familiar w/ your training and scope of practice. Any comments would be appreciated. Thank you.

Rad 1, MS III
OUCOM

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[Toejam]

I'm a DPM and we have all the same rights and responsibilities as an MD or DO. The only difference that I'm aware of is that we need an MD or DO to "co-admit" a patient into the hospital. The patient is still our responsibility, but we need a medical doctor to do a full H & P on the patient.

Podiatrists have the same exact D.E.A license as an MD/DO, which means we can prescribe anything including morphine and oxycontin.

DPM's can also order any sort of imaging modality. We can order MRI's, CT's, X-rays, bone scans, etc.

 

[efs]

What part of the H & P can we not do? Same Physical Diagnosis course? I must have slept through a class or two then. I'm not sure I recall which part we weren't taught.

I do realize that podiatry patients are typically co-admitted with IM or FP for management of their medical problems, but I did not know this was required. (A majority of podiatric surgeries can be done on an outpatient basis. Most of those who are admitted have significant co-morbidities.)

If I am wrong, please enlighten me.

 

[Toejam]

If a patient is to be admitted to a hospital overnight (not as an outpatient meaning that they're leaving the same day) you need an MD or DO to co-admit. As a DPM, you do not have the legal right to be MEDICALLY responsible for the patient while they are in the hospital. You are only responsible for their lower extremity care. As a matter of fact, if you're going to treat a nursing home patient (i.e., cut their nails and calluses), you need to get the OK from an MD/DO.

E- This is one of the reasons why I'm going to be an MD/DO. I wonder, too, why I took all of those phys diag classes and took care of all of those patient during my residency.

As my friend, John, once said, we're the bastard children of medicine.

 

[Rad 1]

Thank you for your replies.