What makes you a sports podiatrist?

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Hi all, just curious as to what qualifications are required before you can advertise as a sports pod? Sports and biomechanics is something I have a great interest in and would like to further my knowledge in this area. However as regular podiatrists should we not be able to treat PTs with sports injuries?

 

There are none. Anyone podiatrist can claim they are one.

 

Thanks, I was under the influence that you needed some form of training in sports medicine or the like.

 

Therein is the problem.... you don't!

 

probably would help though!

 

It is my opinion that to call yourself a sports podiatrist you should have several years experience with both recreational and professional/elite sportsmen or some postgraduate qualifications in the area of musculoskeletal medicine (or ideally both!). Not just 2 or 3 years of say NHS experience and then start using the title once you pick up some private work (as appears to be the trend in the UK currently). As Craig says - it's not illegal to do so. But that doesn't make it right!

 

That was my initial thought, but I wasn't sure if there was a specific post grad that had to be completed. I feel that the general public would have similar views to yours. Thanks for your input.

 

Things may have changed from when I trained in the UK. As a Podiatrist, I was expected to be able to diagnoses and manage an injury whether it was caused by kicking a foot ball or walking a dog. This professional expectation was not dependent on where I worked.

 

Stick to what you are good at, or undertake some appropriate training. Why would anyone call themselves a sports Podiatrist unless they have done some postgrad in the area, or have some bulk of clinical experience related to sport? You would be setting yourself up to look rather stupid if you can't diagnose or treat the problems you encounter. Word travels fast around sports clubs, running clubs etc. If you are good you will get more clients, if you are not then you are unlikely to be successful.

 

to be considered as a sports podiatrist in the NHS area i work the podiatrist would have to done considerable post grad courses and work solely in that area with a team eg physio solely for sports and have considerable experience in that area

 

I should add that if you don't have the knowledge and skills to back up calling yourself a sports podiatrist, as well as looking stupid if you can't diagnose or treat the injury/pathology, you would be misrepresenting yourself and doing your patients a disservice. At the end of the day you are there to help your patient recover and hopefully return to activity/fitness asap. There are postgrad courses in the UK and many short sports medicine modules that can be done.

 

I totally agree, however unfortunately for me I'm not even able to call myself a podiatrist yet. Final year student!

 

The last "sports podiatry" course I took was in podiatry school, about 31 years ago. I have, on occasion, attended lectures on sports injuries and sports medicine over the last three decades, and these have been helpful.

However, if someone asked me what made me feel that I had the right to call myself a sports podiatrist, I would say the following:

1. I was an athlete all my life and think this gave me a deeper understanding of the psychology and lifestyle of athletes and also gave me a great desire to possess the knowledge and clinical skills to be able to return these fellow athletes back to participate in the the sports they love.

2. I made it a point in my early career to learn as much about foot and lower extremity biomechanics as possible since sports podiatry is just a sub-specialty of foot and lower extremity biomechanics.

3. I read every paper that I could get my hands on during my student, fellowship and early practice career on specific foot and lower extremity sports injuries, their etiologies and their treatments.

4. As a podiatry student and Biomechanics Fellow, I spent many weekends doing free screening exams at races and also worked selling running shoes for a few summers which gave me a good background in common running injuries and gave me better knowledge of how proper shoe fit and design can prevent and/or heal injuries.

5. I volunteered to give sports biomechanics lectures during my podiatry student, fellowship and early practice career which eventually led to me being invited to lecture at seminars on sports biomechanics topics.

6. I volunteered to write articles on sports biomechanics/injuries which forced me to do extra research on each subject I was writing on, ultimately resulting in greater knowledge in sports injuries affecting the foot and lower extremity.

For myself, and many other sports podiatrists, it is this type of devotion to a subject which will, over time, allow a podiatrist to be considered to possess a certain expertise in a subject, such as sports podiatry. It is not easy, but if it is something you love to do anyway, it also is not all that hard either.

Hope this helps.:drinks

 

Very helpful, thanks.