From birth, our instincts tell us first to crawl and then to stand up and walk. We can’t wait to walk, skip, skate, hop, jump, run, dance and perform other feats with our feet. We are part of a world on the move . . . on our feet. Feet carry the load of our bodies and that makes them vulnerable to many problems and conditions. It does not matter whether one is male or female, or age 16 or 60, eventually most everyone has a complaint about their feet and needs to see a foot specialist. From bunions and calluses to ingrown toenails and hammer-toes, and from infections and injuries to sprains and fractures, foot care is an increasingly important part of overall wellbeing and a growing part of the healthcare system. When feet hurt, it seems like everything else hurts.

To help care for and overcome these many problems, there is a medical specialist who is educated, trained, licensed and certified for the care and the treatment of the foot and the ankle. A podiatrist is a Doctor of Podiatric Medicine (DPM) qualified through education and training to diagnose and treat conditions of the foot and ankle, or perform surgery on the foot, ankle and related structures of the leg. The education and training are lengthy and arduous, and includes a college degree, followed by a four-year degree from an accredited podiatric medical school, and then a two-to-three-year residency either in podiatric medicine or podiatric surgery. There are nine accredited schools of podiatric medicine in the United States. Finally, there is licensure that requires taking and passing national and state examinations. Podiatric foot and ankle surgeons must be certified by the American Board of Podiatric Surgery (ABPS).