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The term 'chiropodist' was dead and buried, like a zillion yrs ago in Australia and I have not heard the term used for longer than I can remember......HOWEVER... was just doing some keyword research for the good wife's clinic and was surprised:

There are ~12100 searches on Google per month for the term 'location' Podiatrist BUT, there are 1300 for 'location' Chiropodist .... ie 1300 people per month are still looking for a chiropodist!!!!

 

I just checked the USA stats ....
podiatrist 90,500
chiropodist 4,400

.....even in the USA, 4400 people a month are still looking for a chiropodist

In Ontario, where the term 'chiropodist' is still wdiely used:
podiatrist 4,400
chiropodist 2,900

 

I would bet everything I own on the people googling Chiropodist being English ex pats in Ozzy. I work in both Ozzy and New Zealand and the only people who still refer to me as a chiropodist are my English patients

 

I have a feeling that it might yet become fashionable again! What goes round...

 

Yeah, kind of like 8-track tape players and pet rocks??....not...chiropodist will not be coming back as a term for a foot specialist for many years to come...if ever...

 

Possibly - but it's just a name; just like podiatrist. Or podologist. It doesn't really matter what you call yourself - it's what you do that is important. It may be unfashionable today to refer to yourself as chiropodist - at least in the USA and Oz, but many in the UK still prefer the term - and if there is an advantage or merit in doing so, it will surely prevail.

I still have an 8 track tape player and a good deck to play my vinyl records on. My Mac has an entire orchestra linked into a recording deck - with 39 varieties of 'guitars' which play whatever music I write. But I still prefer playing the old acoustic manually. Must be old fashioned, I guess!

 

Yeah, but do you still have your pet rock?....:cool:

 

Of course - and I still manage to play with it most nights too! :drinks

 

Just checked the UK figures:
podiatrist 18,100
chiropodist 27,100

 

I still have patients referring to Podiatrists as Chiropodists although less than when I first started my career. And no they are not all expats! I think part of my experience may be related to spending most of my career in regional areas where my predecessors and some current colleagues have continued to call themselves Podiatrist/Chiropodist until relatively recent times. Also yellow pages and medicare epc forms have perpetuated the term long beyond where we have been ready to step into the future/present!

 

I am concerned as to what exactly Mark Russell plays with most nights.... I'm just frightened I may get an answer.......

 

Ah, that would be telling. But it would bring a tear to your eye, Nick!

 

Probably...best we move on then....

 

The folks at AHPRA have protected both the titles Chiropodist and Podiatrist So others must have done some homework also.

 

A lot of the oldies still say 'chiropodist'.

Just don't call me a 'pedicurist'!!

 

Half of Ireland has immigrated to Oz, and very few of them have heard the word podiatrist. I'm currently working both titles - pain.

 

Really interesting stats! Interestingly Google isn't helping us in the UK to make the transition. On our Google + page if you're in the US we are a Podiatrist but that changes to Chiropodist if you're viewing from the UK.

 

I sit on a Healthwatch podiatry workgroup here in the UK, and there are some people that have got really confused about this, mostly the old dears. Because the NHS doesn't do routine toe nail cutting anymore, but many years ago when they did it was called chiropody, they think that podiatry is done by the NHS and is about feet, and if you want your toe nails cut you go to a chiropodist. Then they wonder why they can't find a chiropodist.

 

I dont think it helps that in the UK Doctors & Nurses still refer to us as Chiropdists and in some nhs clinics still expect us to cut nails and deliver basic foot care.
I especially like the patients who after i have refused to cut there nails advise that "they will speak to their doctor about this" Oh yeah i forgot because its your doctor that runs my clinic..:mad::mad:

Do you think the Podiatry profession gets the respect it deserves?

ross

 

Quite possibly. Respect can only be earned, never demanded.

The onus is on us as a profession to educate both patients and other health professionals on the change of title and scope of practice. No one else will, why should they?

Bel