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fter presenting on diabetic foot surgery at an interdisciplinary wound healing conference some time ago in Chicago, an audience member with a question started by saying "I'm Just a General Surgeon�". At first I thought he was being sarcastic, but he was completely serious and went on to state "I don't have the training that you all do in Podiatry�but I want to know more about those surgeries that can prevent ulcers from coming back." What he was getting at was how to perform curative and prophylactic diabetic foot offloading procedures such as tendo-achilles lengthenings, metatarsal osteotomies, tendon transfers, and other mechanically corrective procedures.
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by John Steinberg, DPM
PRESENT Editor • Assistant Professor,
Department of Plastic Surgery
Georgetown University
School of Medicine
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We are all aware that our profession of Podiatric Medicine continues to grow, mature, and expand into new horizons. Standing on the professional and scientific accomplishments of those ahead of us, we are certain to see continued successes and advancements in the years to come. These opportunities will continue to present themselves and are readily evident in the current practice environment which welcomes our expertise more so than ever. This includes numerous academic medical centers, the NIH, the ADA, and countless other examples that in the past would not have welcomed DPM participation.
It just struck me as funny that we have come so far that an MD with six years of post graduate training in abdominal and major organ surgery would open a question to me with "I’m just a General Surgeon."
The future seems brighter and brighter but it is dependent on those daily interactions that mean so much…
Please send your thoughts and comments to be published in our next RI edition of Letters to the Editor.
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Sincerely,
John Steinberg, DPM
PRESENT Editor
Assistant Professor,
Department of Plastic Surgery
Georgetown University School of Medicine
[email protected]
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