Everything You Need To Know About Becoming A Podiatrist

by Aritra Agarwal Marketing Manger

A foot and ankle surgeon, also called a podiatrist, is a physician devoted to the treatment of disorders of the ankle, foot, and lower extremity. Various terms are in use for a podiatrist, i.e., podiatric surgeon, doctor of podiatric medicine, etc.

The Podiatric doctors of the United States practice on feet, ankles, and lower extremities. The preliminary education of nearly all podiatrists includes four years in an ascribed medical school specialized in the respective field, followed by three to four years of hospital-based surgical residency. Almost in all fifty states, podiatrists are licensed, even though each state has its requirements of licensing. The scope of practice varies from residency training or from state to state.

Downtown Podiatrists

In numerous countries, Podiatrists are known to be specialized in the lower extremity, specifically the foot. Surgeons of these countries specialize in the non-surgical treatment and diagnosis of foot pathology. In the following years, these practitioners will further specialize in performing reconstructive foot and ankle surgery.

In contrast, downtown podiatrists holding a degree of DPM( Doctor of podiatric medicine) complete surgical residencies, thus all of the surgeons are trained for treatments of the foot and ankle. The average salary of Downtown podiatrists, Canada, is approximately $198000 as of September 2018, also depending upon the years of practice.

First-year salaries of these surgeons are significantly less. It usually ranges from $120000 to $180000 with performance along with productive incentives. Revenues of private practicing for a solo podiatrist vary widely, with the most solo practices grossing from $200000 to $600000 and before overhead.

Podiatrist surgeons treat a wide variety of lower extremity and foot conditions through surgical and non-surgical approaches. The ABPM (American Board Of Podiatric Medicine) offers board certification and qualification processes in podiatric medicine and orthopedics. Few subspecialties of the podiatry include:

Podiatric medicine.
Podiatric orthopaedics.
General podiatry.
Reconstructive surgery.
Neuropodiatry.
Podiatric rheumatology.
High-risk wound care.
Podiatric dermatology.
Podiatric diabetology.
Forensic podiatry.

Podiatric surgery relates with the treatment and diagnosis of disorders related to foot and ankle such as structural deformities including flat feet, high arches, bone spurs, bunions and hammertoes, heel pain, skin and nail conditions, nerve entrapment, joint degeneration and arthrosis, trauma including dislocations and fractures, congenital deformities, total or Hemi joint replacements, total ankle replacements, ankle fractures.

Downtown podiatrist helps in dealing with situations resulting from joint and bone disorders such as arthritis and muscular pathologies and soft-tissue as well as neurological and circulatory diseases.

They are also able to treat and diagnose any complications of the above that affect the lower limb, including nail and skin disorders, calluses, corns, and ingrown toenails. Foot infections and injuries resulted from sport or any other activities are also diagnosed and treated by the podiatrists.

The work of podiatry assistants as a part of the podiatric meds team is both clinical and non-clinical settings. Few common pathways to becoming a podiatric assistant include - Podiatric nurse, podiatry support worker, foot carer/nurse, podiatry technician, and many more.