The terms podiatry and chiropody are usually basically interchangeable and also refer to the same. Podiatry is that discipline that are responsible for the diagnosis, treatment as well as prevention of the foot as well as related problems. The range and just what podiatrists can perform with their day to day work are very different in various countries. In times past the discipline had been called chiropody and chiropodists managed both the feet and hands as chiro- indicates hands and pod- suggests foot. After a period of time they just treated the feet and had been accredited generally in most nations around the world by regulatory government bodies to manage the feet only. Eventually the title was changed to podiatry for the reason that profession matured and developed. The USA had been the very first to switch the term over 50 or so yrs back. Countries like Australia and New Zealand switched the title 20 or so yrs ago. The UK switched more recently. Various other countries are in various stages of continuing growth of the profession and what that line of work is mostly called in those countries. The terms chiropodist and chiropody are almost by no means heard in the US, Australia or New Zealand, even so the terms are still in frequent use in the United Kingdom.
As podiatry evolved in some nations and also the name began to change, there was ego pushed assertions in which podiatry was superior to chiropody while in simple fact at the government regulating level there was no distinction. Podiatry as a discipline continued to change and expand and embrace more complex diagnostic and treatment methods. Despite claims to the contrary podiatry is simply not a thing much better than chiropody, it is only part of the organic development and change in the extent of practice in which almost any discipline undergoes.
That scope of practice is quite various in different nations. In the United States, the podiatry degree is a post-graduate degree and then a 3 year post degree residency, so podiatry practitioners in the USA have got full medical along with surgical extent of practice to take care of pretty much all disorders of the foot and ankle. In The UK and in Australia, the podiatry qualification is an undergrad education to get registered and practice as a podiatrist, however, podiatrists there may well then sign-up in post-graduate surgical programs to expand their scope of practice into surgery. In some European countries, the podiatry course is only a two year diploma and their range of what they can do is restricted simply to the treating of superficial skin and also nail conditions. Accessibility to pharmaceuticals furthermore is different from place to place and often echos the nature and breadth of what the profession are able to do in that country. In most nations podiatrists use the same techniques to deal with the majority of foot conditions for example the use of superficial skin along with nail methods, foot orthoses for musculoskeletal disorders along with physical exercise therapies if indicated. What various nations around the world use their breadth of what they can do is just different. Those with a very limited scope of practice undertake how they work very well but they are looked down upon in many ego influenced remarks that they're some form of lessor practitioner. This is unfortunate. Every single line of work in each and every country evolves and develops and shifts after some time and the profession of podiatry is not any different to others.