Through the Eyes of a Student Podiatrist
An interview with
Jocelyn Kelly
Interviewed by: Shanterian King
Jocelyn Kelly, is a medical student studying the field of podiatry.
She attends Temple School of Podiatric Medicine, located in
Her inspiration: Jocelyn always had an
interest in becoming a doctor, primarliy a
pediatrician. However, during her sophmore year of
college she decided to explore the various fields of medicine to ensure her
happiness. She then visited three of the colleges of podiatric medicine and shadowed two
different podiatrist to explore the field. At the time, her mother was also
seeing a podiatrist. All of these factors helped to peak her interest in
podiatry.
What are the
educational/ certification requirements of a podiatrist?
A podiatrist must earn a degree from one of the eight
colleges of podiatric medicine, complete at least one year of residency ( however, it is most common to do 3 years), and become
licensed to practic in the state of their choice. One
must also effectively pass
a 3-part exam given after the 2nd year, during the 4th year, and
after graduation.
What is a podiatrist
and what do podiatrist encounter on a daily basis?
A podiatrist is a surgeon of the foot and ankle. Most
podiatrist have a patient base of middle to late age individuals, as this is
the time when many people begin to experience foot pain. Podiatrist
also care for a large portion fo diabetic
population because the mechanics of this disease affect the feet first.
What classes are you
currently enrolled in? Do any of your classes relate to biology? If so, please explain?
Reconstructive surgery, First Ray Surgery,
Dermatology, Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, Traumatology. At this point all of
my classes relate to biology because I am learning to sustain life both before
and after surgical correction. The internal medicine class would relate the
most to biology because it is the study of any and all diseases that affect the
body.
What is the basic
structure of the foot? About how many bones and muscles are located in the
foot?
There are 26-28 bones in the foot. The addition comes in
when some count the 2 sesamoid bones underneath the
first metatarsal. There are 20 muscles in the foot not including the numerous
muscle tendons that come from the leg down and attach in the foot. The foot
bones are broken down into forefoot, midfoot, and hindfoot.
What are some common
diseases of the foot? What are some symptoms of these diseases? Are they
hereditary?
The disease, per se, that occur
in the foot are not really common unless you have a predisposing disease like
diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, or a neuromuscular condition. However, some common
syndromes we see are planter fasciaitis( or heel pain), Achilles, tendonitis or rupture, fungal
skin infections, bunion or hammertoe formation and ankle sprains and fractures.
If there is a cure,
what is done? What medicines are commonly used?
Many of the osseous(bony)
malformations are due to the biochemical structure of the foot. If there is
pain then anti-flammatory medications or
corticosteroid imjections (any of the steroid
hormones produced by the adrenal cortex) can be given. For the dematologic conditions, various creams, lotions, and oral
medication are used to kill the microbial agent.
If a person has an
oddly-shaped foot, how would they buy their shoes? Would they have to see a
podiatrist regularly?
Many biochemical and structural conditions can be
corrected with orthotics, which are custom-made
insoles for the shoes that correct the imbalance. If this is unsuccessful, than
corrective surgery is usually the next option. The individual would most likely
visit a podiatrist regularly to ensure the sucess of
whichever therapy is used.
Are foot shapes passed
down through heredity? Is there a defective gene that causes oddly-shaped feet?
Foot type is hereditary just like every other feature of
our body. Thus, if your parents have flat feet then mosy
likely you will, too unless it is corrected during childhood. There is no one
identifiable defective gene that relates solely to the foot. However, such
conditions such as clubfoot may have a genetic correlation yielding
mal-development of osseous(bony) and muscular
structures.
How are calluses and
bunions formed? Can they cause serious damage? How can they be removed?
Calluses and corns are formed by hardened skin the body
produces to protect that portion of the bone that is experiencing abnormally
high pressure. These are usually signs of biochemical malformations of the
feet. The calluses can be removed by debridement(surgical removal) with a blade, but the best way to stop
the formation is to correct the underlying osseous problem. Normally, they will
not cause serious damage but can be painful if the skin gets too thick.
However, ina neuropathic(suffering from nerve disease) patient, like an uncontrolled
diabetic, they may not feel any pain and the skin could break down into an
ulcer(a break in skin with a loss of surface tissue). The ulcer, if untreated,
can lead to a whole host of other problems like bone infection,
gang greene, or even amputation. Now a bunion is a
completely different entity. A bunion occurs when the first metatarsal(foot
bone) moves awatpy from the foot towards the midline
of the body. Sequentially, the big toe will move toward the other toes because
of the pull from muscles and ligaments. Bunions occurs
in a misaligned foot, most commnly in flat feet. They
don't cause serious damage but can be painful because of shoe pressure and are
cosmetically disliked. They can be corrected by various surgical methods.
Bibliography
Kelly, Jocelyn
Internet interview
2005 October 30
www.apma.org
www.podiatrychannel.com
www.podiatrynetwork.com
www.premierpodiatry.com
insert: http://www.footdr.com/bunion-a.jpg
caption: Here is a picture of
what a bunion looks like via X-rays. As you can see, a bunion does have a major
impact on the bones.
