Why do podiatry schools exist if ortho surgeons and vascular surgeons...

[postbacpremed87]

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can do their work. Endocrinologists/primary care docs can witness a patient's problem with diabetes and deal with it. Several urgent care docs can deal with ingrown toenails...(went to urgent clinic for mine, not a podiatrist). Vascular surgeons can amputate if it came to that. Orthopedic surgeons can deal with fractures of the lower extremity. Why do podiatrists exist? No bashing here. This is pure curiosity.

 

[CodeBlu]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podiatry

 

[MSU2009]

can do their work. Endocrinologists/primary care docs can witness a patient's problem with diabetes and deal with it. Several urgent care docs can deal with ingrown toenails...(went to urgent clinic for mine, not a podiatrist). Vascular surgeons can amputate if it came to that. Orthopedic surgeons can deal with fractures of the lower extremity. Why do podiatrists exist? No bashing here. This is pure curiosity.

Ask this question again in 15 years when an aging population is still overtaxing already busy specialists.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

They do things that those doctors don't? I mean, who do you go if you've got a wart or severe athletes foot or posture related problem or any of those other non-invasive things?

Ingrown toe nails aren't that difficult to treat if they aren't too severe. Hell you probably can go see a pedicurist and they'll treat it...

 

[gettheleadout]

Because, like the mouth, the foot is a very complicated piece of anatomy worth having a specialized field dedicated to it.

 

[postbacpremed87]

They do things that those doctors don't? I mean, who do you go if you've got a wart or severe athletes foot or posture related problem or any of those other non-invasive things?

Ingrown toe nails aren't that difficult to treat if they aren't too severe. Hell you probably can go see a pedicurist and they'll treat it...

Don't they have pressurized cryogen wart be gone in drug stores?

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Don't they have pressurized cryogen wart be gone in drug stores?

I guess, by the time I went to see a podiatrist about mine it nearly made walking impossible ( It might not have been a wart but some sort of fungal infection in the superficial skin, I really don't know ). So, I don't think a topical solution would have been appropriate.

Either way... there are probably a lot of others foot related pathology which only podiatrists can treat effectively/economically.

 

[Musclemass]

Same answer as to why are there chiropractors or os..... oops, stopped myself. A legacy of health practices in days past, the existences of which the medical establishment (as a profession, not necessarily all its member as individuals) has come to mostly accept.

Foot + ankle is a very small orthopedic subspecialty. There aren't enough of them to handle the many problems podiatrists can capably treat. And many of the conditions that are bread and butter to a podiatrist are things that foot/ankle orthopods don't have much interest in.

 

[JESSFALLING]

chiropractors or os..... oops, stopped myself.

 

[iqe2010]

This one time I was referred to a podiatrist because my pcp didn't know what was wrong with my toes.

They serve a purpose.

 

[DVolle]

If you've dealt with a prohibitively chronic foot and ankle problem since you were a child, you understand why podiatry exists.

 

[HumbleMD]

Get a better attitude. Welcome to the team-oriented, multidisciplinary world of healthcare in 2011. Docs, nurses, NPs, PAs, Pharmacists, OTs, PTs, Social workers, and more, all have a vital role in delivering healthcare.

That, and have YOU ever tried to get the on-call ortho to debride your patient's foot ulcer? It's not exactly a surgery they're dying to do...

 

[Mbeas]

Get a better attitude. Welcome to the team-oriented, multidisciplinary world of healthcare in 2011. Docs, nurses, NPs, PAs, Pharmacists, OTs, PTs, Social workers, and more, all have a vital role in delivering healthcare.

👍👍👍

I swear; some people are so naive.

 

[CodeBlu]

Get a better attitude. Welcome to the team-oriented, multidisciplinary world of healthcare in 2011. Docs, nurses, NPs, PAs, Pharmacists, OTs, PTs, Social workers, and more, all have a vital role in delivering healthcare.

That, and have YOU ever tried to get the on-call ortho to debride your patient's foot ulcer? It's not exactly a surgery they're dying to do...

This.

and yes... ortho's can be mean.

 

[Musclemass]

Get a better attitude. .

Get a clue. Let's turn this around. You suffer (fill in the blank)

a)a broken ankle
b)multiple bone fractures in foot from something falling on it
c)torn ligaments
d) your choice

Are you going to an orthopedic surgeon or the podiatrist in the local strip mall who specializes in corns and bunions?

As I said, there are things they do well. They don't have the background and training that a F+A surgeon does, and many don't care to limit what they do because too much money is involved with the more significant procedures. That's the danger.

 

[willen101383]

Hell, I am a DO student and I dont understand the need for it at all (in this day in age).

 

[MeowMeowCAT]

MD/DO rejects.

 

[HumbleMD]

Get a clue. Let's turn this around. You suffer (fill in the blank)

a)a broken ankle
b)multiple bone fractures in foot from something falling on it
c)torn ligaments
d) your choice

Are you going to an orthopedic surgeon or the podiatrist in the local strip mall who specializes in corns and bunions?

As I said, there are things they do well. They don't have the background and training that a F+A surgeon does, and many don't care to limit what they do because too much money is involved with the more significant procedures. That's the danger.

Calm down honey-child. I didn't say I think they should be preferred for advanced surgeries or proceed on their slow migration up the ankle. If I had bunions, I just might go to podiatrist - I bet I could get an appointment quicker. And we all know orthopedic surgeons NEVER operate when they shouldn't for cash (cough:themajorityofbackpain:cough).

The bigger issue here is being accepting of allied health professionals. Are we going to give them all the turf? Of course not, but the AMA lobby is luckily richer and more powerful than the others.

As an OBGYN, for instance, I fully endorse Nurse Midwives running an uncomplicated delivery. Do I want them running a crash section for a shoulder dystocia? Of course not, that's what the MD is for.

 

[Slack3r]

Of course not, but the AMA lobby is luckily richer and more powerful than the others.

LOLOLOLOL, I think you meant to say the ANA.

 

[gettheleadout]

MD/DO rejects.

Classy.

LOLOLOLOL, I think you meant to say the ANA.

lol for real.

 

[Morsetlis]

To be honest, there are few podiatry schools.

 

[ToldYouSo]

Get a clue. Let's turn this around. You suffer (fill in the blank)

a)a broken ankle
b)multiple bone fractures in foot from something falling on it
c)torn ligaments
d) your choice

Are you going to an orthopedic surgeon or the podiatrist in the local strip mall who specializes in corns and bunions?

As I said, there are things they do well. They don't have the background and training that a F+A surgeon does, and many don't care to limit what they do because too much money is involved with the more significant procedures. That's the danger.

I'm pretty sure all pods nowadays are required to do a 3 year foot and ankle surgery residency, they are the experts when it comes to feet, yes even moreso then F+A orthopods.

 

[JESSFALLING]

Hell, I am a DO student and I dont understand the need for it at all (in this day in age).

Ha ha.....agreed. OMT training, beyond a very brief introduction, should be reserved for MS4/PGY electives...because, by then, at least you should have an idea if you might use OMT in your future practice.

 

[gettheleadout]

Ha ha.....agreed. OMT training, beyond a very brief introduction, should be reserved for MS4/PGY electives...because, by then, at least you should have an idea if you might use OMT in your future practice.

That doesn't sound like a bad idea, but it kind of runs counter to the DO "philosophy."

 

[willen101383]

That doesn't sound like a bad idea, but it kind of runs counter to the DO "philosophy."

Yeah...well the thing with the AOA is that they are seemingly keeping DOs from moving forward. I just recently got a survey form some DO OMM dept head at another school on "why is OMM not being used." Rather than realize that most DO students dont see a role for OMM, they are continuing to focus on bringing OMM back...rather than scaling back the curriculum or making it some sort of elective. There simply really isnt a role for OMM in MOST modern day practice. There I said it.

Now back to your regularly scheduled thread.