Podiatrist Job Description

A podiatrist is a doctor of podiatric medicine (DPM) who examines, treats and operates on the foot, ankle and lower leg. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) sums up the job as medical and surgical care for people with foot, ankle and lower leg problems. Its duty list starts with medical histories, physical exams, x-rays and lab tests, and runs through orthotics, prescriptions and surgery. The title is the same whether the podiatrist runs a solo office, works inside a multispecialty group or holds operating privileges at a hospital.

Clinic days. A clinic schedule mixes short visits with longer workups. One room holds a patient with an ingrown toenail that needs a partial nail avulsion under a digital block. The next holds a runner with heel pain whose exam and radiographs point to plantar fasciitis, and who leaves with a stretching plan, a night splint and a cast or scan for custom orthotics. Then a patient with diabetes arrives for a monofilament test, a pulse check and a look between the toes. BLS lists calluses, ingrown toenails, heel spurs, arthritis and arch problems among the conditions podiatrists treat, along with foot and leg problems linked to diabetes and obesity. When the exam turns up something outside the foot, such as diabetes or vascular disease, the podiatrist refers the patient to another physician.

Surgery. Surgical work covers bunion correction, hammertoe repair, fracture fixation and tendon repair, and for surgeons trained in it, rearfoot and ankle reconstruction. According to BLS, some podiatrists spend most of their time in surgery, while others choose a focus such as sports medicine, pediatrics or diabetic foot care. Each case runs from pre-operative clearance and consent through the procedure itself to follow-up visits that track bone healing and the patient's return to normal shoes.

Wound care. A diabetic foot ulcer pulls the podiatrist into serial sharp debridement, offloading with a total contact cast or walking boot, cultures and imaging when infection is suspected, and coordination with vascular surgery, infectious disease and endocrinology. Advanced wound products are part of that work, so Medicare's rules for paying for them matter to any office that applies them (see Career Outlook below).

Charts and the business side. Every visit ends in a note and a claim: an evaluation and management level, procedure codes, modifiers and diagnosis codes that support medical necessity. BLS notes that podiatrists who own their practice also spend time on business tasks such as hiring employees and managing inventory. In a private office that can mean payer contracts, a durable medical equipment line for braces and diabetic shoes, and supervision of medical assistants and front-desk staff. Some podiatrists practice in group settings alongside other physicians and specialists, and the day-to-day team, as BLS describes it, can include physician assistants, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, medical assistants and dietitians.

The route to practice has three fixed parts: a four-year Doctor of Podiatric Medicine degree, a hospital-based residency and a state license. BLS notes that podiatric programs require at least three years of undergraduate study, and that nearly all applicants hold a bachelor's degree in healthcare, biology or physical science. Prerequisites include laboratory courses in biology, chemistry and physics plus general coursework such as English. Applicants usually submit Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores and letters of recommendation, and some note time spent shadowing a podiatrist.

Podiatric medical school. The Council on Podiatric Medical Education (CPME) accredits the colleges that grant the DPM, and its college list named eleven accredited colleges when checked on Nov. 10, 2026. Coursework mirrors other medical degrees, with anatomy, physiology, pharmacology and pathology, and students build supervised experience through clinical rotations.

Licensing exams. The American Podiatric Medical Licensing Examination (APMLE), from the National Board of Podiatric Medical Examiners (NBPME), comes in three parts. Part I opens to second-year students, Part II to students in the second semester of the fourth year who have passed Part I, and Part III only after Parts I and II are passed. Only students and graduates of CPME-accredited colleges are eligible.

Residency. BLS describes a three-year podiatric medicine and surgery residency (PMSR) as a requirement after the DPM. CPME's residency standards, document CPME 320, require every applicant to have passed all components of APMLE Parts I and II before the residency begins, and a program may run past 36 months only with Council approval. Sponsors must be a hospital, academic health center, health system or CPME-accredited college. Since July 1, 2025, CPME has used the label "CPME-accredited" for these programs in place of "CPME-approved." BLS notes that some podiatrists add fellowship training in areas such as podiatric wound care, diabetic foot care or limb preservation.

License and board certification. Every state licenses podiatrists, and BLS notes that some states add requirements beyond the qualifying exam. Board certification is optional. CPME recognizes two specialty boards: the American Board of Podiatric Medicine (ABPM) for podiatric orthopedics and primary podiatric medicine, and the American Board of Foot and Ankle Surgery (ABFAS) for podiatric surgery. ABFAS awards separate certifications in foot surgery and in reconstructive rearfoot/ankle (RRA) surgery. Prescribing controlled substances generally requires a registration with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Skills that carry the job. As a rough guide, residency is where a new podiatrist builds the case log, casting technique, injection and nerve block skills, and the image reading used every clinic day. BLS singles out communication, compassion, critical thinking, attention to detail and interpersonal skill, since much of the day is spent explaining a diagnosis to a patient in pain and coordinating with the rest of a care team.

BLS projects employment of podiatrists to grow 2 percent from 2025 to 2035, which it rates slower than the average for all occupations. The occupation held about 10,000 jobs in 2025 and is projected to reach 10,200 in 2035. Even with that slow growth, BLS expects about 200 openings a year on average over the decade, most of them from the need to replace podiatrists who retire or move into other occupations.

The demand case BLS makes has two sides. On one side, the U.S. population continues to age and to see more chronic disease such as diabetes and obesity, so people will keep having mobility and foot problems that podiatrists treat. On the other, BLS expects demand to be limited because many patients may get these services from a physician who is not a podiatrist or from another appropriate caregiver. For a new graduate, the BLS figures point to openings that come mainly from replacement rather than from new positions.

Pay. The May 2025 median wage for podiatrists was $160,300. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $66,010, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $309,670. Setting moves the middle of that spread. BLS reports these May 2025 medians by industry:

• Federal government, excluding postal service: $222,550
• Offices of physicians: $207,240
• Offices of other health practitioners, where BLS counts offices of podiatry: $132,900
• Hospitals (state, local and private): $132,290

Wound care payment. Medicare changed how it pays for skin substitutes, which CMS describes as wound care products. Before 2026, CMS paid most of them as if they were biologicals under the average sales price method, with a separate billing code and payment limit for each product. In the calendar year 2026 Physician Fee Schedule final rule (CMS-1832-F), released Oct. 31, 2025, CMS finalized paying for these products as incident-to supplies when they are used in a covered application procedure, in the physician office (non-facility) setting and the hospital outpatient department alike, at a single payment rate. A podiatry office that applies skin substitutes to diabetic foot ulcers in its own rooms falls under that office-setting rule, so the product side of a wound visit is now paid as a supply rather than priced product by product.

What to check as a job seeker. The core of the work, a hands-on exam, casting, injections and surgery, is done in person. Around it, the practical questions for any opening are which of the settings above is hiring in the region, how much of the schedule is surgery versus clinic, how the employer staffs and bills its wound service under the supply rule, and how it handles coding, prior authorization and appeals when a payer pushes back on a claim.

Dear Dr. Alvarez,

I am applying for the staff Podiatrist position with Riverbend Orthopedic and Podiatry Group. I finish my podiatric medicine and surgery residency at St. Brendan Medical Center in June, and I have passed Parts I and II of the APMLE, with Part III scheduled before my start date. I intend to sit for board qualification with ABFAS as soon as I am eligible.

My residency split time between a busy hospital clinic, the operating room and a limb preservation service. In clinic I saw everything from plantar fasciitis and ingrown nails to Charcot midfoot collapse, and I learned to keep a short visit on time without rushing the patient through the explanation. In the operating room I served as primary surgeon on bunion corrections, hammertoe repairs, ankle fracture fixation and Achilles repairs, and I assisted on several rearfoot fusions.

The limb preservation rotation is where I found the work I want to keep doing. I ran a weekly diabetic foot ulcer clinic with our vascular and infectious disease colleagues, handled debridement and total contact casting, and wrote the shared care plans that kept everyone on the same page. I also took on the coding review for that clinic, which taught me to write notes that hold up when a payer asks questions.

Your group's combination of an orthopedic surgery practice and an in-house wound clinic is the reason I am writing. I would bring surgical training that fits your foot and ankle schedule and a real interest in growing the wound service. I am also comfortable with casting for custom orthotics and fitting diabetic shoes, which I understand your clinic offers.

Thank you for your time. I would welcome the chance to visit the practice and meet the team.

Sincerely, Jordan Patel, DPM