Setting Up of Foot and Ankle Practice

Chapter
16

Setting Up of Foot and Ankle Practice

Tomorrow belongs to foot and ankle orthopedics!

Why Choose Foot and Ankle?

♦ It is the specialty where every orthopedic subspecialty comes into action. The spectrum of foot and ankle consists of traumatic conditions, cold orthopedics, pediatric orthopedics, sports orthopedics, arthroscopy and endoscopy, arthroplasty, and deformity corrections.

♦ With increase in lifestyle diseases in addition to increased longevity, well-being of foot and ankle has become mandatory.

♦ Even in developing countries, people have started using footwear obliging orthopedic surgeons to solve issues related to same.

♦ Aggressive sports population competing globally demand great need for care of foot and ankle.

♦ Ratio of specialized foot and ankle surgeons versus total number of orthopedic specialists is too small.

Making of a Foot and Ankle Surgeon

♦ After qualifying as an orthopedic surgeon, further exposure in foot and ankle surgery is a must.

♦ Looking at the scarce opportunities in the developing countries, advanced training in the Western as well as Eastern world is a must.

♦ Specialized training must focus on orthotics, footwear, and physiotherapy as conservative care has a great role play in foot and ankle.

♦ Hands-on training in a cadaver laboratory is a must and so is hands-on exposure of an oculomotor laboratory for performing arthroscopy, endoscopy, and tendoscopy.

♦ There is a great scope for foot and ankle practice in the developing countries because of a huge number of suffering cases.

♦ However, foot and ankle surgeons of developing countries comes across many challenges such as ignorance; delayed presentations; poorly managed cases; limited resources; and nonavailability of proper instruments, equipment, and implants.

♦ There always is a great platform for practicing indigenous techniques and developing newer innovations!