the.com/podiatry
The medical specialty that takes your feet more seriously than you ever have.
means The branch of medicine devoted to diagnosing and treating conditions of the feet, ankles, and lower legs.
from Built from Greek pous/pod- ('foot') plus -iatria ('healing, medical treatment'), the same '-iatry' family that gives us psychiatry and pediatrics. The term itself is a 20th-century coinage, created in the US to replace the older word 'chiropody,' as the profession sought a name that sounded more clinical and less like a folk trade.
- foot bones
- 26 bones per foot, 52 total, quarter of your skeleton
- training
- requires its own doctoral degree, not just med school minor
- daily load
- feet absorb forces equal to several times body weight walking
- scope
- covers ankles too, not just toes and heels