During the Special Olympics Fit Feet, my classmates and I along with some of the upperclassmen volunteered at the Special Olympics Southern California Fall Games. This took place at the Fountain Valley Recreation Center & Sports Park, on November 11th. We screened and evaluated ankles, feet, lower extremity biomechanics for more than a hundred athletes who compete in various sports, such as soccer, softball, tennis, volleyball, and golf.
As first year students, we were anxious to get started, since this is our first podiatric volunteering experience, we were uncertain of what needed to be done. Fortunately, we had Dr. J Chen and Dr. Chandler Hubbard who gave us great guidance, on how to the measure feet, screen for abnormalities, and evaluating the gait of our patients.
Many of the Special Olympic athletes suffer from foot and ankle pain or deformities that greatly impact their overall performance in their individual sports. Therefore, it is importance that we work together as a team to assists athletes in diagnosis and evaluations of the different issues they encounter regarding the foot and ankle. After identifying the issue, we made the appropriate recommendations for proper footwear and when necessary, we would refer them to local podiatrists/primary care physicians. As a bonus, once the foot assessment was complete, each of our patients received a free Fit Feet wristband and a pair of socks. “Fit Feet is an amazing opportunity for all of those in our community, students and professionals alike. To be able to give the athletes the chance to compete and have fun all while ensuring that their feet are being taken care of is truly a gift,” said Dr. Hubbard.
After a couple of patients, we were able to perform a quick screening and evaluation of foot, ankle, and lower extremity biomechanics. Once we got into the rhythm, we were able to learn the different patient symptoms and abnormalities in real life, rather than just in the academic setting. This was the most exciting part of the whole experience because we were able to identify the different issues with skin, gait and various other symptoms. We were also able to explain these issues to the patients and their symptoms. “Overall, I felt like I learned a lot about podiatric medicine, today,” stated Branda Bui, DPM 2022.
Many of these athletes suffered through various foot and ankle pain, as students we work together alongside various residents in assistance for the special athletes. So that they are given necessary requirements providing them with socks and the appropriate care.
Such experiences allow for us as students to have an opportunity to apply much of what we had learned outside the classroom and to reflect on our empathy and compassion towards others who are underserved in our community. This helped the athletes in ways that may not have be known in the beginning providing recommendation to quality healthcare and recommendations for new footwear.We help to evaluate different problems with the foot such as foot ulcers, xerosis cutis, polydactyly, misaligned toes, and various other foot deformities.
