More and more people are getting active these days. Every day, we're
out playing tennis or cycling to work. We hardly ever stop to think how much
our active lifestyle depends on having healthy feet.
We willingly blow our paycheck on a pair of jogging runners, but few of
us realize that these shoes are designed to protect a highly complex structure
with 26 bones, 33 joints and more than 100 muscles.
Dr. David Sabet knows. He's seen his share of sports-related foot
injuries. Sabet is a podiatrist. He has his own private practice. "Here, everybody's
into athletics. I see lots of joggers, soccer players and football players.
Some of the more common injuries are heel pain and sprained ankles."
Although podiatry doesn't have the glamour and prestige of surgery
and certain other medical professions, Sabet loves his work. "The field of
podiatry is broad enough that you don't have to specialize. I do a lot
of sports medicine, but I don't have to specialize in it."
Another advantage is the mix of office work and surgery. On any given day,
Sabet might do everything from prescribing drugs for an infected toenail to
performing surgery to removing a painful bunion.
"I've always said I could never be a surgeon on call 24 hours a day,
or a dermatologist always working in the office -- in podiatry, you get the
best of both worlds."
Like many podiatrists, Dr. Darryl Gurevitch spends a big chunk of his time
treating seniors. He sees patients in his office. He also visits nursing homes
and makes the occasional house call to patients who aren't mobile.
Gurevitch always knew he wanted to follow in his father's footsteps
and pursue a medical career. After obtaining a science degree, he enrolled
in the California College of Podiatric Medicine in San Francisco.
He now runs a group practice with three other podiatrists, including his
brother. "The joke in our family is that I do the left foot and my brother
does the right."
But he has one problem. "People don't always understand how important
foot care is. For example, they may ask why an elderly person needs me to
cut their toenails. But someone who can't bend down or see too well has
a real medical need."
He adds that diabetic foot care actually saves the health-care
system dollars, since early treatment of diabetic ulcers can prevent costly
surgery and amputations.
Gurevitch has no other complaints. "I love my work. It's a great thing
to be able to help people." Unlike other medical specialties, podiatrists
can often relieve a patient's pain on the first visit, and that's
"very gratifying."
Dr. Ellen Cohen-Sobel likes helping people, too. Cohen-Sobel is an associate
professor at a college of podiatry. She divides her time between treating
patients and teaching students. The college regularly holds clinics, where
Cohen-Sobel provides relief for patients suffering from anything from club
foot to arthritis.
"I think the elderly really need help," she says. "It's very satisfying
to see them mobile and in good health -- often, what we do can actually help
them live longer."
Cohen-Sobel says her position at the college has given her the opportunity
to research and write about podiatry-related issues. She recently completed
a study examining how effective foot insoles are in the workplace. She has
collaborated on several projects with her colleagues at the college. Two of
the projects have won major awards.
Cohen-Sobel is also a contributing editor to Podiatry Today magazine. She's
in the top 10 percent of the most published authors on podiatric issues in
the U.S. In one issue of Podiatry Today, she wrote about helping children
with genetic foot disorders.
"It's a topic I became interested in while researching my doctoral
dissertation on children with inherited birth defects," she says.
For Cohen-Sobel, the worst part of her job is when she can't help
someone. "Sometimes people have problems that just don't get better,
such as diabetic ulcers that are hard to heal. Patients feel better and start
walking again, and then the ulcers come back. It can get to be an endless
cycle."
Dr. Nancy O'Neil admits that burnout can be a real problem for podiatrists.
"Some days, it seems you just give and give and give," she says.
A podiatrist and a mother of three, O'Neil works half-days at a clinic
so that she can spend time with her growing family. However, early in her
career, she put in long hours and often traveled to rural areas to help people
who normally wouldn't have access to a podiatrist.
Nowadays, the biggest challenge for O'Neil is trying to balance home
and work commitments. "I feel guilty over not being able to spend more time
at the clinic."