The foot is just like every other part of our body and may be subject to any one of the various sorts of arthritis. Rheumatology is the healthcare speciality which manages those different arthritis ailments. When considering the foot there are lots of podiatrists which have a specialised involvement with rheumatology or the joint disease problems that affect the foot. One of the experts is Professor Debbie Turner, PhD who is the Director of Academic Program for Podiatric Medicine at the Western Sydney Collage. Debbie was not long ago a guest on the Facebook livestream, PodChatLive to go over podiatry and rheumatology. PodChatLive is a regular live show that has on a selection of different guests to go over a wide range of issues of relevancy to podiatry and the foot. In the chat with Debbie Turner she gave the audience a flavor with just what the role of a Podiatrist inside a specialist Rheumatology program really should be structured. She described the pathologies frequently seen in the foot in rheumatology clinics and her procedure for the assessment and treatments for these types of clients. Debbie furthermore provided some good information for clinicians that do not work in Rheumatology, but may very well be neglecting conditions due to their ability to masquerade as musculoskeletal concerns.
Debbie Turner initially qualified as a podiatrist in 1996 and has constantly worked clinically and developed an expert range of clinical practice in the aspects of gait investigation and imaging. She gained an Arthritis Research UK academic fellowship in 2007 and then initiated learning musculoskeletal ultrasound and injection therapy of the foot. The employment of an incorporated imaging in addition to biomechanical strategy to understanding chronic conditions such as diabetes and inflammatory joint disease continues to be the target of her research activity. She has published frequently in the field of rheumatology and has helped to create capability in podiatry investigation by means of PhD oversight.