Do Podiatrists Face Less Discrimination From Orthopedic Surgeons These Days?

I am involved with two residency programs in the Indianapolis area as an attending foot and ankle surgeon. The residents primarily do surgery with me and occasionally come to my office as well. I have long enjoyed teaching both residents and students over the course of my career. I have always thought it was imperative to give back to those coming up and share my knowledge and experience as those ahead of me have done. I believe the training you receive during your residency more often than not sets the stage for your entire career. I also understand that we all have different levels of comfort in our teaching styles. For example, some are more inclined than others to “hand over the knife” in surgery. 

The other thing I have noticed over the years being involved with the residency programs is the participation of orthopedics in the training of podiatric residents, which has been mostly positive. Dating back to my residency, my involvement with orthopedic surgeons was primarily assisting on their knee, hip, shoulder and trauma cases with an occasional foot case sprinkled in. I have seen the residents’ training over the years become more involved with orthopedics and I think that is a great thing. The more exposure young physicians have during training, the more rounded they become.

It has gotten to the point that in one of the programs here, the residents work closely with a foot and ankle orthopedic surgeon. I asked the orthopedic surgeon to lecture at our state conference this month to try to build some bridges with the orthopedic foot and ankle community in central Indiana. He agreed and the audience received his lectures well, and I felt that he had indeed built some bridges. His participation with podiatric residency training opened a door and I took advantage of that.

There is a very interesting dynamic because I would say the relationship between foot and ankle orthopedic surgeons and podiatry in central Indiana has been pretty much awful. There has been tremendous conflict that essentially stems from the large orthopedic group that dominates central Indiana, specifically its foot and ankle orthopedic surgeons. Although the foot and ankle orthopedic surgeon who works alongside of the podiatry residency program is not part of this group, I have been encouraged by what I consider progress.

Recently, the orthopedic surgeon and I both proctored a cadaver workshop for the residents and students from the one residency program he works with directly. He does not go to the other hospital that has a podiatric residency program and therefore those residents unfortunately do not get to work with him. I was even more encouraged watching him fully engaged in teaching the podiatric residents and students. It is obvious he really cares about their education. The sad part of all this is he is scheduled to retire next fall.

The flipside of this story is the other podiatric residency program in Indianapolis. This program is in a much bigger hospital that unfortunately is dominated by the large orthopedic group I mentioned earlier. None of the orthopedic surgeons from this group will even let these residents scrub their cases, let alone actually do anything.

This egotistical, bigoted stance infuriates me when I see how it can and should be. It is not 1990 when I did my residency and these residents deserve better. This program could be so much better than it is if orthopedics would participate in the training. I know certain parts of the country are better than others on this topic but central Indiana is often extremely slow to change on issues like this. The hospital is equally at fault here as well. It is happy to accept the money for having a podiatric residency program but could give a damn about the quality of education these residents receive. What hypocrisy this religious institution displays especially considering their motto: “The Spirit of Caring.” Where is the administration’s caring for the podiatric resident’s education? I am sure they “care” about the money the residency program generates. There is a lot of “caring” there.

Unfortunately, discrimination against podiatry still exists but I see less and less of it all the time. We must continue the fight and as Gandhi said, “first they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” I love many of Gandhi’s quotes and this one particularly applies. We are fighting the good fight and we are winning, albeit not as quickly as many of us would like. I have hope as I have glimpsed the harmony that can and does exist.