What Podiatrists or Podiatric Physicians Do?

1. Diagnose foot and ankle problems

• Patient histories
• Physical examinations
• X-rays or other studies
• Blood, tissue and other clinical laboratory studies

2. Prevent foot and ankle problems (e.g. patient education, screening examinations).

3. Treat foot and ankle problems

• Prescribe and administer medications (e.g. antibiotics, narcotics, anti-inflammatories, etc.)
• Treat fractures, dislocations and soft tissue injuries of the foot and ankle (e.g. casts, suture wounds, etc.)
• Employ or prescribe physical therapeutic modalities
• Prescribe or dispense devices designed to accomodate foot deformities or place the foot in a more effective position. These may reduce or eliminate foot and ankle pain or slow down the natural history of certain foot problems (e.g. orthotic devices, prosthetic devices, special inserts to prevent excessive pressure on certain areas of the foot to avoid or eliminate ulceration often seen in such conditions as diabetes).
• Perform surgery on skin and other soft tissues as well as bone and joint surgery of the foot and ankle.

4. Identify signs and symptoms which may be manifestations of systemic or generalized disease.

• Ankle swelling (e.g. heart disease, kidney disorders, etc.)
• Skin ulcers, numbness, tingling, frequent infection (e.g. diabetes)
• Malignant tumors (e.g. AIDS, melanoma, etc.)
• Joint pain (e.g. rheumatoid arthritis and other collagen diseases, scleroderma, gout, etc.)
• Calf and foot pain after walking and relieved after rest (e.g. occlusion of blood vessels or arterior sclerosis).
• High blood pressure
• Abnormal blood tests (e.g. high blood sugar due to diabetes, fast sedimentation rate due to infection, tumor, etc.)

Typical Education of the Podiatric Physician

Pre-professional (Pre-medical) preparation - four years of college with laboratory courses in biology, chemistry, organic chemistry and physics.

Complete Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT)

Four years of Podiatric Medical School including basic medical sciences of the entire body including: Gross Anatomy, Biochemistry, Physiology, Pharmacology, Microbiology, Pathology and clinical sciences including general and podiatric medicine and surgery in hospitals and outpatient clinics.

A graduate may choose one to three years post doctoral hospital based residency training in podiatric surgery, podiatric orthopedics or general podiatric medicine or may work with a practicing Podiatric physician for a period of time.

Highest Risk Groups for Foot Problems

• Financially disadvantaged
• Elderly
• Women: 4 to 1 when compared to men
• Persons with diabetes
• Persons with poor circulation

Foot Facts and Figures

• Each foot contains 26 bones
• More than 20 muscles control the function of the foot.
• There are more than 33 joints in the foot.
• More than 100 ligaments hold the foot together.
• The average person walks about 80,000 to 115,000 miles in a lifetime or 8,000 steps daily.
• The average foot absorbs 4-5 pounds per square inch of force per step.
• More than half of the approximately 125,000 lower extremity amputations are due to the complications of diabetes. 50-70 % of these amputations can be prevented by proper podiatric care.
• Athlete's foot is not funny - these fungus conditions can lead to serious secondary bacterial infections, a limb threatening hazzard in diabetes and those with circulatory problems.

Common Causes of Foot Problems

• Heredity
• Injury (acute and chronic)
• Improper care (e.g. ill fitting shoes, "bathroom surgery", poor hygiene).
• Arthritis of various sorts (e.g. osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, etc.)
• Circulatory problems
• Biomechanical (improper function of the foot can cause many aches, pains or deformities)
• Smoking (e.g. effect on circulation).
• Systemic diseases (e.g. diabetes)

Frequent Problems Affecting the Foot of Diabetics

• Pain
• Numbness (lack of sensitivity to pain, heat, cold)
• Tingling
• Coldness
• Swelling
• Dry or excessively moist skin
• Infection, ulcer, gangrene, amputation