04/01/2023    Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD

Are you in favor of a single unified certifying board for podiatrists?

I'm not sure how a single board for certification
in podiatry would actually work out. Does that
mean that after some unequal training everybody
would be approved by the "American Board of
Podiatry" a hypothetical name, to perform whatever
procedures he or she felt was within their
personal scope of competency? Would that mean
that after a weekend course in ankle arthroscopy a
podiatrist could perform arthroscopies at their
hospital? A Lis Franc fracture dislocation could
technically be called a forefoot surgical problem
in some circles. Several of you know how
difficult an ORIF of that condition can be and
maybe have seen a mal-union of an improperly
fixated Lis Franc during your career.

Is the purpose of one certifying board to allow a
podiatrist to operate on whatever they felt
capable of doing? Or is it to equate the training
of a podiatrist who has performed 700 foot and
ankle surgeries during a three year residency with
someone who has done one or two forefoot cases a
week? If the problem is lack of access to
certification, are we really saying we are going
to form yet another board, albeit a "unified
board" so everyone can do what they want?

Non-maleficence is implicit in the mission
statement of a certifying board. To be board
certified is an assurance to the public that as
far as the board can ascertain one is capable of
treating the public at or above the standard of
care.

Radiology has only one board, but within the
American Board of Radiology (ABR) there are
certificates for board certification in diagnostic
radiology, interventional radiology, medical
physics with three specialty areas of diagnostic
medical physics, nuclear medical physics and
therapeutic medical physics, and lastly radiation
oncology. Residency lengths can be up to seven
years. No label or sticker here. On their home
page ABR advises medical students who didn't match
into a radiology residency to " Use the extra year
to invest in yourself" before applying next year.

One other thing I'm wondering about is how a
medical specialty within a discipline can certify
a person as a surgeon. Does the American Board of
Internal Medicine have the power, or right, to
suddenly certify an internist a general surgeon?
It's ludicrous.

Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD, Columbus, OH

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