Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #101661

James Losito, DPM¹, Chih Yen, DPM², and Avila T. Jackson, PMSIII¹. (1) Podiatric Medicine/Surgery, Barry University Graduate Medical Sciences, 11300 NE 2nd ave, Miami, FL 33161, (2) Podiatric Medicine/Surgery, Barry University School of Graduate Medical Sciences, 11300 NE 2nd Ave., Miami Shores, FL 33161, 305-859-7777, chih_j_yen@yahoo.com

Podopediatrics is a subspecialty in the field of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery which is not well known by the public. Many congenital and growth conditions that affect children often lead to severe foot and ankle problems in adulthood. Barry University School of Graduate Medical Science's Podiatric Medicine and Surgery Program has partaken in the development of a community project with the goals of: 1) Training podiatric medical students and resident physicians in Podopediatrics, 2) Providing free pediatric foot and ankle screening services to disadvantaged youths, 3) Educating the community about various lower extremity congenital and growth abnormalities in the pediatric population.

Barry University provides podopediatric screening services to Gratigny Elementary Full Service School, a member of The Miami-Dade County Public School System. This collaboration has been established since 1997 to serve the largely Haitian-American school populations. This community project reaches out to hundreds of children and offers of public health education in Podopediatrics. This presentation will summarize the work from the past four years. The efforts and design of this community project should be a model for those interested in promoting Podopediatrics as a part of podiatric public health.

Learning Objectives:

• Describes the efforts and services provided by podopediatrics to disadvantaged youths, in a largely Haitian-American school population. With these modalities, various podopediatrics deformities can be identified at an early age and appropriate podiatric medical treatment can be initiated.

Keywords: Child/Adolescent Mental Health, Pediatrics

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.