I see red flags!!!!!

Your comment,"Cuts to hospital chiropody programs, which served as 3rd year placement have created some issues especially in ensuring students are able to pursue placements within the GTA." Sends out red flags. Cuts to hospital chiropody programs! I don't believe it! Where's the public outcry? At a time when there are more seniors and people with diabetes than ever and these groups require chiropody at monthly or bi-monthly intervals and there are cuts to the hospital chiropody programs!!!! Who's decision is behind it? What about all the cost savings that chiropody is supposed to provide to the health care system? The cuts are happening when the government is preaching prevention and then saying watch how we help with prevention, we will cut funding for chiropody so that the people requiring routine chiropody care don't get it and then lower extremity amputations increase logrithmically. That's prevention???? Imagine if the government was promoting anti-obeisty campaign and at the same time cut the PST on all meals sold at fast food chains.

Either there is a extreme and severe shortage of chiropodists or there isn't. I have to favor the latter. That's why funding for chiropody is being cut. MDs and MD specialists, NPs, RNs, RPNs, health care aids can do all or part of what a chiropodist does. So there are over 100,000 foot care providers in Ontario and that's why cuts can be made to the chiropody prgram and not even a whimper of complaint comes from the public. 15 years ago there were over 200 chiropodists employed in hospitals and now, today, how many are there? Maybe 50? And there's no public outcry???

The lack of out cry clearly underlines the fact that there is no lack of foot care providers in Ontario. Recently, the government tried to drastically reduce funding for MDs in private practise. I phoned and sent emails to complain and so did the public. So instead of the government painting MDs as very rich, greedy and overpaid smart people, the government didn't drastically reduce funding as much as they had intended and even allowed family members to join MDs' professional corporations to spread the income around and reduce the total taxable income. If chiropody is really in demand and there is a severe shortage of chiropodists, then the government should allow chiropodists to include family members in their professional corporations. Will this happen? No. In fact, the demand for MDs is so great that a new medical school was funded in northern Ontario. But after more than 20 years since it's inception, the only chiropody training in the most populated province in Canada is still at the Michener and no other chiropody program has been set up in Canada. This is happening while there is a supposed extreme and severe shortage of chiropodists? The funding situation clearly indicates how important the government regards chiropody. The old saying, "put your money where your mouth is" applies and the government is clearly funding other medical professionals BUT NOT CHIROPODISTS.