Sport

Podiatry, sport and exercise: where to from here?

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5 min. reading time

John is a podiatrist in private practice in Melbourne, PhD candidate at La Trobe University and recently completed the Certified Sports Podiatrist pathway. If he could have an ideal day it would start with a nice coffee, include some reading and finish with a game of golf.

Certified sports podiatrist John Osborne explains why he thinks even more podiatrists need to become leaders in the management of lower leg conditions within the sporting world.

“Podiatry is in a fantastic position to establish ourselves as the leaders of foot and ankle pathology, especially in the world of sport and exercise.”

If you read people’s biographies, nearly every podiatrist mentions a love of sport, exercise or musculosketal medicine; something that is often reflected in education choices when it comes to Continuing Professional Development.

We are in this together

Our passion for sport should drive us to truly be the leaders and experts for the management of lower leg conditions. If we are all delivering consistent quality, that will drive the quality of podiatry care and our recognition as the experts for lower limb pathology.

The potential we share

We have a huge number of injuries that we can have influence on and we can use this passion and belief to deliver the best quality of outcomes for our patients. In fact, according to the National Collegiate Athletic Association injury surveillance system for 2000–2001¹, amongst collegiate soccer, field hockey, basketball, and lacrosse athletes the most common injury sites were the ankle, knee, and lower leg.

The most common injury types were muscle strains, ligament sprains, and contusions. We know that there is a very clear need for our skills as leaders in this context and we now need to make sure this message is abundantly clear further afield.

Science comes first

However, if we are going to be experts, we need to be able to step up to that plate and engage with the science that has provided us with the opportunities that exist.

A short while ago, I was talking to a clinician about what makes a good specialist.

We reasoned that experts:

Possess the ability to synthesise the science ...
Then apply it simply and without bias to our patient ...
While simultaneously putting the patient’s global needs at the forefront of the decision-making process, and;
Incorporating our experience and understanding as part of this process.

Plans for 2021

As section editor for the Sports section in STRIDE there are lots of areas that I want to share with you over the coming year. I want to push for us to be experts and leaders when it comes to foot and ankle pathology.

We have made significant gains, and many would say that we have already achieved this outcome, yet I believe that there is more to be done.

"If you read people’s biographies nearly every podiatrist mentions a love of sport, exercise or musculosketal medicine; something that is often reflected in education choices when it comes to Continuing Professional Development."

Here’s what I want to achieve over the next year with you via STRIDE.

Inspire you
I want to deliver content that will provide all readers insight into sports and exercise podiatry practice and hopefully elevate everyone’s knowledge to make us all better podiatrists. I too, am always learning and I see any positive learning experience as a reciprocal undertaking.
Integrate the science
I want to see us, as podiatrists, better integrate the science into our practice. This starts with better understanding the pros and cons of any diagnostic pathway or choice of treatment. By translating the science in this way we can collectively ensure we are even practitioners; creating a path for us to truly be the leaders of foot and ankle pathology.
Be challenged
There can be progress in discomfort when it comes to challenging our own approach to how we diagnose and treat our patients so let’s embrace this over the year ahead.
Showcase the talents in podiatry
We have a diverse range of expertise and capabilities in our profession from the academic experts in biomechanical phenomena, foot orthoses, foot and ankle pathology to clinicians that have applied these resources practically and had incredible outcomes and experiences. I want to expose these talents in a variety of ways while attempting to help you synthesise the information.
Explore more
Together we can achieve a deeper understanding of the foot and ankle anatomy, pathology and management and I want to take the time to explore areas that we may otherwise not find the time to reflect on. It is my intention for this space in STRIDE to be a place for such exploration.

"I want to see us, as podiatrists, better integrate the science into our practice. This starts with better understanding the pros and cons of any diagnostic pathway or choice of treatment."

STRIDE magazine is the podiatry publication for podiatrists. With that in mind, if there is anything you want to see discussed, please contact me at john@theagilefoot.com.au or you can ‘social media’ me @theagilefoot. If you don’t ask for it, I can’t provide it.

Podiatry, sport and exercise: where to from here?

We are in this together

The potential we share

Science comes first

Plans for 2021

Footnote

1. National Collegiate Athletic Association. Injury surveillance system. Washington: NCAA, 2002.