Foot Health During The COVID-19 Crisis: An Audit Of A Partnership Between Primary Care Physicians And A University Podiatric Medicine Clinic In Canada
DOI: 10.56885/773810fpfbpu
By Virginie Blanchette* PhD DPM, Yassin Andoulsi DPM (c), Marie-Philippe Mercier DPM MSc, Olivier Hue PhD and Magali Brousseau-Foley MD DPM Phd (c)
Abstract: This is an audit of a partnership formed between the university podiatry clinic located in Trois-Rivières, Québec, Canada and regional primary care physicians’ groups affiliated with the Centre de santé et de services sociaux de la Mauricie-et-Centre-du-Québec (Québec, Canada), in the months following the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis. Podiatric medicine is not generally part of the public health system in Québec. However, the data from this audit enabled the creation of an initial overview of this partnership, including a referral form and the approach used to reach specific indicators.This provided insight into foot health needs in primary care to maximize students’ training, foot health and limb preservation. Indeed, our data shows that we have partially achieved our objectives and that we need to improve our audit practices and data while charting a better course for the future.