Somehow podiatry came up ( I have no background in medicine) and I was wondering why in the world are feet doctors a specialty compared to a general surgeon or someone that might fix a broken arm or hand issues?
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I’m only commenting here because I saw the top comments are not very correct. I’m a 3rd year medical student in the US interested in surgery. General surgery is the specialty that does surgery in the abdominal cavity but you have to start in general surgery to go into heart, lungs, cancer surgery etc. Plastics, ENT, orthopedic surgery all have their own training that doesnt require general surgery residency. Orthopedic doctors do surgery on all bones, tendons and ligaments. If you tear your ACL, lis franc, or your labrum or break any bones in your foot or body from football, rugby or baseball you def will be going to an orthopedic surgeon. Podiatrists do not go to MD or DO school like all other physicians, they go to podiatry school and they perform very minor surgery like in grown toe nails. What they do is still very important and they make a very decent living.
I’m only commenting here because I saw the top comments are not very correct. I’m a 3rd year medical student in the US interested in surgery. General surgery is the specialty that does surgery in the abdominal cavity but you have to start in general surgery to go into heart, lungs, cancer surgery etc. Plastics, ENT, orthopedic surgery all have their own training that doesnt require general surgery residency. Orthopedic doctors do surgery on all bones, tendons and ligaments. If you tear your ACL, lis franc, or your labrum or break any bones in your foot or body from football, rugby or baseball you def will be going to an orthopedic surgeon. Podiatrists do not go to MD or DO school like all other physicians, they go to podiatry school and they perform very minor surgery like in grown toe nails. What they do is still very important and they make a very decent living.
Podiatrists don’t go to medical school. They go to podiatry school. Ortho surgeons go to med school and can sub specialize in foot/ankle but a lot do not because podiatrists exist. There is overlap in medicine, which is a good thing overall for science
I’m only commenting here because I saw the top comments are not very correct. I’m a 3rd year medical student in the US interested in surgery. General surgery is the specialty that does surgery in the abdominal cavity but you have to start in general surgery to go into heart, lungs, cancer surgery etc. Plastics, ENT, orthopedic surgery all have their own training that doesnt require general surgery residency. Orthopedic doctors do surgery on all bones, tendons and ligaments. If you tear your ACL, lis franc, or your labrum or break any bones in your foot or body from football, rugby or baseball you def will be going to an orthopedic surgeon. Podiatrists do not go to MD or DO school like all other physicians, they go to podiatry school and they perform very minor surgery like in grown toe nails. What they do is still very important and they make a very decent living.
There are often hand specialists too, I think they’re just slightly less common—I know people that have seen them following hand injuries. Most people born with chronic structural hand issues seem to have them elsewhere in their body too in a way that people with chronic structural foot issues (e.g. bunions, flat feet, hammer toe) don’t seem to as much
There are often hand specialists too, I think they’re just slightly less common—I know people that have seen them following hand injuries. Most people born with chronic structural hand issues seem to have them elsewhere in their body too in a way that people with chronic structural foot issues (e.g. bunions, flat feet, hammer toe) don’t seem to as much
There are often hand specialists too, I think they’re just slightly less common—I know people that have seen them following hand injuries. Most people born with chronic structural hand issues seem to have them elsewhere in their body too in a way that people with chronic structural foot issues (e.g. bunions, flat feet, hammer toe) don’t seem to as much
There was (is?) a show called My Feet Are Killing Me, which shows various podiatrists often performing surgery. It is grisly in there. But the thing that struck me the most was how often these doctors struggled during surgery, and how often things didn’t go as planned. I think I’d try to find an orthopedic surgeon to deal with my feet before going to a podiatrist. Not even sure if they do that here in the US.
There was (is?) a show called My Feet Are Killing Me, which shows various podiatrists often performing surgery. It is grisly in there. But the thing that struck me the most was how often these doctors struggled during surgery, and how often things didn’t go as planned. I think I’d try to find an orthopedic surgeon to deal with my feet before going to a podiatrist. Not even sure if they do that here in the US.
There was (is?) a show called My Feet Are Killing Me, which shows various podiatrists often performing surgery. It is grisly in there. But the thing that struck me the most was how often these doctors struggled during surgery, and how often things didn’t go as planned. I think I’d try to find an orthopedic surgeon to deal with my feet before going to a podiatrist. Not even sure if they do that here in the US.
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