Overview
Podiatric medicine is a branch of the medical sciences devoted to the study of human movement, with the medical care of the foot and ankle as its primary focus. A doctor of podiatric medicine is to the foot what a dentist is to the mouth or an ophthalmologist to the eye - a specialist who has undergone lengthy, thorough study to become uniquely well-qualified to treat a specific part of the body.
A Doctor of Podiatric Medicine (DPM) specializes in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of foot disorders, diseases and injuries. A DPM makes independent judgments and performs or orders all necessary diagnostic tests. They perform surgery; administer medications, including DEA-restricted medications; and prescribe physical therapy regimens.
DPMs often detect serious health problems that may otherwise go unnoticed, because a number of diseases manifest first through symptoms of the lower extremities (i.e., diabetes, arthritis, heart disease, or kidney disease). To learn how diabetes affects foot health, watch "Jordan's Story," a video created by the American Podiatric Medical Association. Podiatric physicians are educated in state-of-the-art techniques involving surgery, orthopedics, dermatology, physical medicine and rehabilitation.
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Podiatrist 14 May 2008 [pdf, 169 KB]
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