When vascular conditions involve the blood supply to the foot, ankle and related structures of the lower leg, a specialist known as a podiatrist is consulted. Podiatrists are uniquely qualified to diagnose and treat conditions in the foot and ankle specifically based on their education, training and experience.
Podiatrists have a "DPM" after their name instead of the "DO" and "MD" that one is used to seeing at the end of a doctor's name. This stands for doctor of podiatric medicine, which means he or she has received medical education and training comparable to other medical doctors (four years of undergraduate education, four years of graduate education at an accredited podiatric medical college and two or three years of hospital residency training), according to the American Podiatric Medical Association.
In addition to their private practices, podiatrists at Capital Health are also part of the Heart and Vascular Institute and collaborate with other medical specialists as part of our multidisciplinary model of full body heart and vascular testing and treatment.