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Dr. William F. Buffone | What is a Podiatrist? | What is Board Certification?
About Podiatrists
Podiatrists specialize in diagnosing and treating disorders of the foot, ankle, and lower leg. A podiatrist holds a doctor of podiatric medicine (D.P.M.) degree, which is a 4-year degree received from one of seven podiatric medical schools in the United States. These schools offer courses similar to the ones given at medical schools where graduates earn M.D.s to become medical doctors.
Podiatrists need to have expertise in orthopedics, radiography, sports medicine, dermatology, and surgery. Some of the conditions that podiatrists treat are ankle injuries, bunions, calluses, neuromas, running injuries, and toe deformities. They are often the first health professionals to diagnose vascular problems that have previously gone unrecognized. Podiatrists also contribute significantly to the areas of diabetic foot care and wound healing.
What Is Board Certification?
Dr. Buffone has dual certification in surgical and nonsurgical foot care.
Dr. Buffone is certified in Foot Surgery by the American Board of Podiatric Surgery.
Podiatrists certified by this board have:
- Completed a residency in podiatric surgery
- Passed written and oral examination in podiatric surgery
- Completed peer review of surgical cases performed while in private practice.
Dr. Buffone is certified in Podiatric Orthopedics and Primary Podiatric Medicine by the American Board of Podiatric Othopedics and Primary Podiatric Medicine.
Podiatrists certified by this board have passed written and oral examinations in:
- Trauma
- Physical therapy
- Sports medicine
- Biomechanics
- Infectious disease
- Radiology
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- Neurology
- Orthopedics
- Podiatric medicine
- Prosthetics
- Dermatology
- Vascular disease
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A board certified podiatrist completes the following educational training:
- Baccalaureate degree in premedicine from an accredited university
- Medical College Admissions Test
- Doctor of podiatric medicine degree from one of seven nationally accredited podiatric medical schools
- Medical rotations that are the same as in medical school
- Clinical rotations in teaching hospitals with foot and ankle concentration
- In depth clinical study of foot and ankle pathology
- One to three years of podiatric surgical residency training
- Six months to one year of fellowship training for foot and ankle subspecialty
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