Why AHPRA’s review of the safety of podiatric surgeons isn’t reassuring

Sixty-six per cent of notifications related to nine podiatric surgeons who had all received three or more notifications.

Across the vast universe of healthcare, there remain some obscure planets which have remained largely unexplored.

One is the planet home to the podiatric surgeon, a rare and exotic breed given they are operating on people without having gone through medical school, never mind making that long and arduous journey to qualify as a normal surgeon.

Last year, a few media stories surfaced about bad things happening — one patient claiming in a 60 Minutes exposé that her foot surgery to fix corns on her toes had gone horribly wrong.

“He came out in his white coat, saying he’s a doctor and a surgeon. So of course you think it’s a medical doctor you are conversing with,” she said.