Podiatrist
health profession that prevents, diagnoses and treats foot problems
A podiatrist ( poh-DY-ə-trist) is a medical professional devoted to the treatment of disorders of the foot, ankle, and related structures of the leg. The term originated in North America but has now become the accepted term in the English-speaking world for all practitioners of podiatric medicine. In the United States, the term chiropodist is still occasionally used, but is now regarded as antiquated.
In the United States, podiatrists are educated and licensed as Doctors of Podiatric Medicine (DPM). The DPM superseded the historical DSC (Doctor of Surgical Chiropody) degree in the 1960s. The preparatory education of most podiatric physicians—similar to the paths of traditional physicians (MD or DO)—includes four years of undergraduate work, followed by four years in an accredited podiatric medical school, followed by a three- or four-year hospital-based podiatry residency. Optional one- to two-year fellowship in foot and ankle reconstruction, surgical limb salvage, sports medicine, plastic surgery, pediatric foot and ankle surgery, and wound care is also available. Podiatric medical residencies and fellowships are accredited by the Council on Podiatric Medical Education (CPME). The overall scope of podiatric practice varies from state to state with a common focus on foot and ankle surgery.
In many countries, the term podiatrist refers to allied health professionals who specialize in the treatment of the lower extremity, particularly the foot.
The public source identifies “Podiatrist” as health profession that prevents, diagnoses and treats foot problems. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Podiatrist, health and profession.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q52875. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Podiatrist” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.