About Podiatry
Chiropody or Podiatry? What’s The Difference?
The short answer - nothing. Chiropody is the old-fashioned term for medical foot care, however chiropodist was easily confused with chiropractor. Podiatry is the modern term and is now used widely.
A podiatrist specialises in the medical care of the foot and leg. This may include providing foot care and footwear advice, nail care, the removal of corns and callus, treatment of verrucae, nail surgery, wound care, or the assessment and treatment of musculoskeletal problems affecting the foot and leg of both children and adults. Podiatrists can prescribe and manufacture foot orthoses (insoles) to treat foot and leg problems. Some podiatrists undertake additional training to become surgeons and are able to carry out operations such as corrective surgery for bunions. Podiatrists may work in a team with other allied health professionals (e.g. physiotherapists), nurses and doctors to provide care for a patient.
Chiropodist and Podiatrist are both legally protected titles. This means that a person must have completed the relevant qualification and be registered with the Health Care Professionals Council (HCPC) regulatory body in order to call themselves a chiropodist or podiatrist and work in the UK. You can check the HCPC register to make sure that a health care professional such as a podiatrist is registered and qualified to practice.
In the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and across Europe, podiatrists complete a Bachelor of Science degree course in order to qualify. In the USA, podiatrists complete a medical degree before they specialise in podiatry.
Podiatrists are not medical doctors (unless they have trained in the USA); however, some may have completed a PhD in an area related to podiatry so are academic doctors and therefore allowed to use the title Dr. They will be flattered to hear someone ask about the research they carried out whilst studying for the PhD (or since), so don’t be shy!
What about Foot Health Practitioners?
A Foot Health Practitioner (FHP) can provide foot care such as nail cutting or corn or callus removal, as well as give advice about basic foot care. They can provide a vital role in providing foot care to people who lack the mobility to manage their feet themselves and who may not be provided with a service by the NHS. An FHP is not qualified to provide care to people with health problems affecting their feet (such as complications from diabetes) or to carry out specialist foot care such as biomechanical assessment for orthoses, nail surgery or wound care, and would be expected to identify these concerns and refer to a podiatrist.
The training for FHPs varies and they can potentially complete a Foot Health course in 2 weeks before starting to provide care to people, although this depends on the course undertaken.
FHP is not a protected title and registration is voluntary rather than mandatory. The Accredited Register of Foot Health Practitioners has been approved by the Professionals Standards Agency; like the HCPC register, you can check if an FHP is listed. A practitioner must have completed a level 4 Diploma in Foot Health Practice in order to register.