About Foot & Ankle Specialists

Wondering who to see with a foot or ankle injury or disorder? You have a choice of specialists: a podiatrist or an orthopedic surgeon who is fellowship-trained in ankle and foot treatment. While they offer many of the same services, they also differ in some areas.

Summit Orthopedics has both a podiatrist and an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in foot and ankle care. The differences in the type of injuries and disorders they treat and how they treat them are rooted in their education and training.

Orthopedic Surgeons

Orthopedic surgeons who specialize in foot and ankle treatment undergo advanced training in this field after general training on the body’s entire muscle and skeletal system. They believe in generalizing before specializing, looking at the body as a whole.

They attend four years in a college or university, four years in medical school, and five years in an orthopedic residency program. They then undergo specialized education and training in foot and ankle surgery.

At Summit Orthopedics, Daren J. Wickum, M.D., is an orthopedic surgeon specializing in foot and ankle injuries, which entails treating a broad range of conditions from bunions and hammertoes to major reconstruction and total ankle replacements.

Podiatrists

Podiatrists treat all types of foot problems. They study for four years in a college or university and four years at a podiatric college, where they study a spectrum of foot conditions including corns, ingrown toenails, and proper foot mechanics.

Podiatrists graduate as a doctor of podiatric medicine, or D.P.M.

Bryan S. Russell, D.P.M., performs nonoperative evaluations and also has a special interest in foot and ankle trauma and foot and ankle reconstruction, having undergone three years of podiatric foot and ankle surgery training.