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odiatric medical and surgical training has become ever more uniform, standard, and quality driven as the years has moved on. I see more and more of my colleagues graduating from 3 year surgical programs with strong surgical and medical skills. Now we in the podiatric community are aware that we are the foremost physicians of the foot and ankle with more comprehensive training than orthopedists. On the converse side of our increasingly uniform training, the concerned residency graduate may ask, “How am I competitively versus other podiatrists?” I would advise you not to worry; you have unique skills and beneficial knowledge that will hold you in good stead as a new practicing podiatrist. |
Jarrod Shapiro, DPM
Joined Mountain View Medical
&
Surgical Associates of
Madras, Oregon July 2008 |
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It’s not only about what surgical procedures you may bring. Performing endoscopic and arthroscopic procedures rather than open ones is useful, but there are many other ways your training will apply. Here's a quick example:
| I’m employed by a small rural hospital with an adjoining provider-based clinic. When cellulitic patients are admitted to the hospital they’re started most often on Unasyn (sometimes Zosyn). The other doctors are completely in the dark about Ertapenem (Invanz), which also means they’ve never read the SIDESTEP study. In fact the only penem class drug on formulary is Meropenem (which they don’t use for much of anything). I had a conversation with the hospital pharmacist, where I educated him about the multiple uses of Invanz for non-MRSA infections. Of course, his eyes lit up when he realized the QD dosing of Invanz made it a cheaper option than QID Unasyn or Zosyn. I will be presenting this information to the hospital Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee next month. This knowledge, obtained simply by staying current in the podiatric field, will improve patient care, while saving the hospital money. |
As a final thought, keep one thing in mind. In general, other medical specialties do not know how to treat pathology of the foot and ankle. I’ve seen literally hundreds of venous ulcers over the past 5 years, for instance, that had been improperly treated by their PCP prior to referral. How many “cellulitis” diagnoses do we see in the hospitals that are in fact venous stasis dermatitis?
Each of us has our own strengths on top of our training. Be aware of the alternate perspective you bring as a podiatrist and make sure the rest of your community knows it too. The rest will fall into place.
Keep writing in with your comments. Best wishes.
Jarrod Shapiro, DPM
PRESENT New Docs Editor
[email protected]
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