PODIATRISTS ARE HEALTH PRACTITIONERS:

Podiatrists are health professionals responsible for various forms of foot-related care and treatment, apart from medical forms. They are authorised to undertake clinical and para-clinical examinations for the purposes of identifying various foot-related ailments and pathologies. Podiatrists need to be clinically skilled, so as to be capable of differentiating local ailments of the foot treatable with podiatry practices, from systemic illnesses that need to be referred to a doctor. They can also prevent complications relating to foot-health problems and detect symptoms of general systemic pathologies or problems linked to the lower limb and which may be manifested at foot level.
Podiatric care may be educative, preventative or curative, and can necessitate long-term treatment or concern research. 

Podiatrists operating in France are authorised to treat epidermal and ungual ailments of the foot, without recourse to a medical prescription. After undertaking a full podiatric diagnosis via an in-depth clinical assessment, podiatrists have access to a variety of specific therapies. These range from common care to the prescription and preparation of devices designed to prevent and treat foot ailments, bearing in mind that the origins of these ailments are often remote from the foot.

The podiatrist’s competencies are perfectly delineated by France’s Public Health Code and by ministerial decrees. Following the entry into force of a new law in France, the profession has recently elected its own order, namely the Conseils Régionaux et le Conseil National de l’Ordre des Pédicures-Podologues. The new law and the elected body ensure that the profession is associated with an ethical dimension and a code of good practice.

PODIATRISTS FORM PART OF A MEDICAL TEAM:

When the treatment required by the patient falls outside the scope of the podiatrist’s competencies, he/she must be capable of suitably directing his/her patient to a doctor or specialist. A large number of medical and surgical specialities require podiatrists to work in close collaboration with a patient-care team. This approach avoids having to treat patients when complications have already appeared and reduces the risk of belated diagnoses that are harmful to the patient.