Will we learn basic emergency/ family medicine training

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I spent some time in Asia visiting family, and basically I was curious,

I had numerous times people asked me medical related questions

Someone had a general rhino virus cold
I had a grandparent lose his balance and fall a few times
Someone with pain in their knee joints (probably because they are obese)

Will we learn how to perform basic physical exams that a primary care physician can
Check reflexes, listen to heartbeat, blood pressure etc?
Prescribe simple medications for things like colds and fevers?

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Not a Pod student, yet, but, we would know about those illnesses because we would take the same Pathology/Pharmacology/Micro/Immuno classes as MD/DO students. So, you would know about the diseases and their treatments for sure. The clinical exams such as checking vitals, reflexes, etc, I believe we may learn them in 2nd year or 1st depending on the school you're attending. Also, remember, we rotate in EM & IM and the APMLE part 2 has a clinical science portion for physical exams.

I will let another person comment on the prescribing meds question because I know as a Pod you can prescribe them (at least here in NY) but I do not think you should because they are mostly for the patients PCP. I mean if the fever is related to a skin infection in the lower extremity then as Pod you might be fine, otherwise, leave it for the PCP.

In other words, you wouldn't expect your ophthalmologist to prescribe fever and flu meds. Right?
 
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I spent some time in Asia visiting family, and basically I was curious,

I had numerous times people asked me medical related questions

Someone had a general rhino virus cold
I had a grandparent lose his balance and fall a few times
Someone with pain in their knee joints (probably because they are obese)

Will we learn how to perform basic physical exams that a primary care physician can
Check reflexes, listen to heartbeat, blood pressure etc?
Prescribe simple medications for things like colds and fevers?

Yes, during your first year at KSUCPM (I just know the schedule for Kent, not sure when the other schools learn this) you will take a physical diagnosis class where you will learn how to give a full physical, check pulses, etc. You will also take a separate summer course just for the lower extremity. In your second year you will learn ALS skills like intubation, CPR, etc. as well as pharmacology and pathology. There is obviously more emphasis on the lower limb but you are receiving training to become a physician.

As for prescriptions I am not exactly sure but a quick google implies that it varies by state.
 
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Yes, you will learn a lot of that stuff but you will really use it on family medicine or inpatient medicine rotations. As a practitioner, you'll probably want to avoid doing things that are outside of the pretty narrow scope of podiatry, for both legal and medical reasons.
 
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Yes, like what the others said. As a student you will need to learn the full body anatomy and perform H&Ps that are not just limited to podiatry. As a resident you will have internal medication/family medicine rotations in which you will treat patients with pneumonia/UTI/strokes, etc. As a practitioner you can prescribe any medications that are within your scope of practice. But there is no restriction on medications that you can prescribe. Depending on the hospital, sometimes podiatry is the admitting service meaning they will perform the work-up for patients. Many times you will do your own pre-op H&P.
 
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Yes, during your first year at KSUCPM (I just know the schedule for Kent, not sure when the other schools learn this) you will take a physical diagnosis class where you will learn how to give a full physical, check pulses, etc. You will also take a separate summer course just for the lower extremity. In your second year you will learn ALS skills like intubation, CPR, etc. as well as pharmacology and pathology. There is obviously more emphasis on the lower limb but you are receiving training to become a physician.

As for prescriptions I am not exactly sure but a quick google implies that it varies by state.


What about training for things we cant operate on but are still lower extremity. Like if someone complains about knee pain, would we be able to diagnose if its osteoarthritis of the knee, or gout, etc?
 
What about training for things we cant operate on but are still lower extremity. Like if someone complains about knee pain, would we be able to diagnose if its osteoarthritis of the knee, or gout, etc?
At KSUCPM you'll get your first taste of that in the summer of your first year where you'll take Lower Extremity Physical Assessment. You'll continue to learn more from the second year on and by the time you're a third and fourth year you'll be rotating in the clinic learning how to do that.
 
What about training for things we cant operate on but are still lower extremity. Like if someone complains about knee pain, would we be able to diagnose if its osteoarthritis of the knee, or gout, etc?
Yes.

Also, podiatrists treat gout.

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Yes gout of the knee.
That depends on the scope of practice in whichever state you wind up in. In Florida, the scope includes the "diagnosis or medical, surgical, palliative, and mechanical treatment of ailments of the human foot and leg" and the "leg" has been interpreted by the state to mean the entire lower limb—anatomically the leg is only that part of the lower limb below the knee and does not include the thigh. They then specifically limit surgical treatments to below the knee.

So, for instance, in Florida there are podiatrists doing knee injections for OA and so you could probably easily get away with nonsurgically treating gouty arthritis of the knee somewhere with such a broad scope.

There are a few states with similar scopes but the majority would restrict you to treating pathologies below the knee, although in most cases you could probably still diagnose pathologies above the knee for the purposes of documentation or referrals. But still, don't go into podiatry expecting to be treating knees all day.
 
I spent some time in Asia visiting family, and basically I was curious,

I had numerous times people asked me medical related questions

Someone had a general rhino virus cold
I had a grandparent lose his balance and fall a few times
Someone with pain in their knee joints (probably because they are obese)

Will we learn how to perform basic physical exams that a primary care physician can
Check reflexes, listen to heartbeat, blood pressure etc?
Prescribe simple medications for things like colds and fevers?
If you are curious about what is currently taught in podiatric medical schools, scroll through this curricular guide. The curricular guide is put together and maintained by faculty at the nine podiatric medical schools and represents a compilation of the nine curriculums. While each school may have a slightly different curriculum, the curricular guide still gives a good idea as to the depth and breadth of topics that you will learn about.

http://www.aacpm.org/wp-content/uploads/2016AACPMCurricularGuide.pdf
 
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