P is for Pedorthist

A snowHead

Over the past few weeks I have had several (well 3) people on here ask me about the training that I have undertaken and the qualification of Certified Pedorthist. Two of them have suggested that I write a piece on the process involved in certification and the training given. The qualification itself is an American certification given by the BCP (board for certification in Pedorthics) and as such has no equivalent in the UK.

I think the best way to describe it is to compare the Pedorthist to the pharmacist, and the Podiatrist to the doctor. In the USA what tends to happen is if you have a foot problem you go to your Podiatrist who examines your foot, makes a diagnosis and writes a prescription for an orthotic, or footwear etc. You then go to the Pedorthist who carries out an evaluation to concur with the Podiatrist and fills the prescription dispensing the orthotic & fitting the shoe then making footwear modifications as required, much the same way as you go to your doctor, get the diagnosis and prescription and then go to the pharmacist who dispenses the medicine. The profession of Pedorthics was started to cater for the diabetic footwear market, with medicare and the other managed care organisations wanting to limit who was allowed to dispense custom shoes to diabetic patients. The industry has grown with now over 2000 C.Ped’s in the USA and 6 in the UK (I was the first to qualify in this country.)

So what are the educational requirements: firstly an awful lot of reading, to achieve the qualification I began studying in 1999, in preparation for the intensive course and examination which I took in 2002. (and that was after 12 years experience in fitting footwear in the ski & outdoor industries) the course itself at the time I took it had a requirement of 120 hrs of lectures + additional lab time, I attended the course in New York with 12 hours a day of lectures & labs on the following, biomechanics, gait analysis, pathology of disease, footwear fitting, footwear modification, fabrication of orthotics, material sciences, ethics & practice management. This course was studied at the New York College of Podiatric Medicine & the Eneslow Pedorthic Institute. Having completed the course you are required to sit an exam which takes place twice a year (shame it meant another trip to NYC) of the 22 that started the course 2 dropped out within the first week due to the pace of the lectures and a further 3 did not sit the exam, of the 17 of the class who did sit the exam 11 passed and the remaining 6 failed (one has since passed, the others gave up) so it is a real walk in the park!!!
In order to stay certified you have to collect continuing educational points by attending seminars and training courses, this keeps you up to date with the latest thinking in the field, but costs $1000’s over each 3 year cycle.

I guess I was a bit lucky with the timing of the course I took, as the training is changing and will by 2010 be a full time two year course with more emphasis on course work and hands on than theory and an exam.

So what does this qualify a Certified Pedorthist to do; well we do not make diagnosis of medical problems, but we are trained to recognise and evaluate biomechanical issues arising in the foot and lower limb, dispense orthotic devices and modify footwear to accommodate deformities caused by disease, trauma or congenital defect. This is not to say that you have to see a podiatrist or a doctor before you can see a Pedorthist, most of the work I carry out is non prescription work, doing gait analysis and biomechanical evaluation, fitting footwear for runners , skiers walkers etc. modifying this footwear and fitting orthotic footbeds. Everything we aim to do is to enhance comfort and performance in sports and to try to limit injury, our client base spans all generations from junior ski racers with fitting problems with their boots all the way to people in their eighties with foot pain who have been referred by their doctor or physiotherapist.

I think that sums up the training, the qualifications and the scope of practice, if anyone has any further questions then ask away and I will try my best to answer them. Little Angel

A snowHead

CEM, After doing all that you should put ya prices up wink

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

spyderjon,

You need to Login to know who's really who.

if you go to http://www.solutions4feet.com/charter.html you will see what we are about.........excellent service for a fair price

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

CEM, Cem so Zipfit liners are fine then wink

Seriously, thanks for that clear explaination, once again my knowledge is broadened by snowHeads! Very Happy

You'll need to Register first of course.

boredsurfin,

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

CEM, you didn't mention the side line you do in reflexology that is the real reason snowbunny goes to see you so regularly for NehNeh

After all it is free

slikedges, if only, very lucritive i believe Little Angel

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

slikedges, CEM, I AM a qualified reflexologist Laughing

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

snowbunny, sez it all!! wink

snow reports

slikedges,

slikedges, snowbunny, bloody hell, iv'e been hijacked by a discussion about a foot fetish

You know it makes sense.

CEM,

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Just to draw everyone's attention back to this thread Little Angel

I visited CEM last week (following an interesting lunch Twisted Evil

) to see if he could help me with a persistent Achilles problem.

An hour later amid much foot observation, measuring, stroking and bending, I came out with very supportive custom footbeds to go in some new cross trainers. I have been following CEM's advise to the letter and.... so far, so good and so MUCH better. The pains in my feet and Achilles are much reduced, although my SO keeps looking at me slightly oddly when I get up in the morning, immediately put on my trainers and start stretching out my calf muscles Shocked

It's only 5 days since I got them so I reckon the improvement so far has been better than I expected.

To sum up, I found CEM to be extremely helpful and informative, and his diagnosis and remedy have already proved to have gone a long way to addressing my particular problem.

Oh, and he's a very nice man too snowHead

Help!!

P is for Pedorthist

snowHeads Forum Index >>> G is for Glossary