Answered
Are podiatrists real physicians?
Podiatrist are physician, formerly known as chiropodists in the US. there is no such thing as chiropody in America. Podiatrists attend four years of undergraduate education …to obtain a bachelors degree, specializing in a premedical curriculum. they then taket he medical college admissions test (MCAT) and if accepted, attend four years of podiatric medical education at one of the countries 9 colleges of podiatric medicine. they take the same basic science courses as MD students for the first two years (biochemistry, gross anatomy, physiology, histology, pharm etc), often sitting side by side with medical students, and for the remaining 2years emphasize the lower extremity (radiology, surgery, medicine) instead of taking courses like ob/gyn and psychiatry. they thus aren't trained as a full physician in the sense that they take every course that medical students take, they are trained as podiatric physicians and are under a limited scope, but have full jurisdiction over the medical and surgical treatment of the foot and ankle. after taking and passing the nation podiatric medical board exams they graduate with a D.P.M., or, Doctor of Podiatric medicine, and must complete a three year surgical residency. they learn the techniques of performing vascular surgery for diabetics etc, orthopedic techniques, ankle reconstructions, calcaneal recontstructions etc, and a multitude of other complex reconstructive surgeries of the vasculature, tendenous, and osseus tissues of the foot and ankle. they also learn the medicine required for post operative care, medical treatments to prevent or postpone surgical intervention, anesthesia (not general, but localized), and learn to be experts in the radiological interpretation of the foot and ankle. they also learn to take full physical exams and order/interpret lab tests. they also rotate through orthopedics, plastic surgery, general surgery, vascular surgery, trauma, ER, pediatrics etc. upon completion of residency, they have the option to complete fellowships in orthopedic foot and ankle surgery which is offered to both D.P.M.'s and MD/DO's. the newely trained podiatrists in America take positions in orthopedic groups, multispecialty groups, hospitals, and private practices and are generally considered to be podiatric surgeons first and foremost--they do the majority of foot and ankle sugeries in America. the average salary of a podiatric surgeon is $176,000 according to the American podiatric medical society. (MORE)