How to Pick a Good Podiatrist: What to Look For
Choosing a podiatrist, in person or online? Here's how to check qualifications, spot a properly built programme, and avoid red flags before you book or buy.
SPORTS PODIATRYCHRONIC ANKLE INSTABILITYFOOT AND ANKLE
Scott Rayment
8/23/20264 min read
Choosing a podiatrist used to mean picking whoever was closest to home. That's changed. Telehealth and online, self-paced programs are now genuine options alongside in-clinic care, which means the real question isn't just "who's nearby," it's "who's qualified, and how do I check that before I commit?"
For the broader question of what actually separates a specialist from general care, see What's the Difference Between a Podiatrist and a Foot and Ankle Specialist?
Here's how to evaluate a podiatrist properly, whether you're booking in-person or considering an online provider.
Can You Trust an Online Provider for Something Like Chronic Ankle Instability?
A lot of podiatry genuinely relies on hands-on physical and clinical examination. That hasn't gone away. But COVID accelerated a real shift across allied health, including podiatry, toward telehealth: detailed history-taking via consultation, and objective assessment through video, using functional tests and validated measures that don't require physical contact.
Chronic ankle instability (CAI) is well suited to this model. Much of what needs to be assessed, questionnaires, functional tests, specific measurements, can be done by the person themselves using validated tools. CAI is often a functional pathology rather than a purely pain-driven one, which means the objective side of assessment doesn't always depend on in-person palpation the way a painful, inflamed joint might. (For more on why CAI develops and persists, see Why Your Ankle Keeps Rolling.
That doesn't mean every condition suits an online-only approach. But for structured, criteria-based rehabilitation of ankle instability specifically, a well-built online program with tracked checkpoints can offer a genuinely comparable pathway to in-person programming, without needing to walk through a clinic door.
What Separates a Legitimate Online Program From a Generic PDF
The honest answer: before you buy, you can't fully audit the program itself. You might see snippets or previews, but you won't get the full picture until you've paid. So the one thing you can judiciously check beforehand is who built it.
Look specifically for:
A registered health professional, not just someone using a health-sounding title on social media. Made-up titles with no regulatory backing are common online, and they're easy to miss unless you check.
A verifiable governing body registration. In Australia, that's the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA), and podiatrists specifically are also often registered with the Australian Podiatry Association (APodA).
Transparency. A legitimate practitioner won't be cagey about their registration status or shy away from you checking it.
How to Check a Practitioner's Registration
This takes about two minutes and it's public information:
Go to the AHPRA public register (ahpra.gov.au) and search the practitioner's name.
Confirm their registration is current and check what profession and specific registration type is listed.
In Australia, you can also cross-check membership with the Australian Podiatry Association (podiatry.org.au).
If you're outside Australia, look for your country's equivalent health practitioner regulator, most countries have one, though the name and process will differ.
If a provider isn't listed, or the details don't match what they're claiming, that's worth pausing over before you buy or book.
What a Structured Program Looks Like
Using the DynamicStep Foot and Ankle Performance Course as an example: it's a 12-week program built around three phases, Stabilise (Weeks 1-3), Load (Weeks 4-8), and Perform (Weeks 9-12), designed for people dealing with recurrent ankle sprains or chronic ankle instability.
The base PDF package ($79 AUD) is a complete 44-page manual. It covers what CAI actually is, what the program involves, what each checkpoint requires, and exercise cards for every phase, each linked via QR code to a demonstration video with technique cues. The Full Package ($109 AUD) adds an interactive desktop and mobile-optimised HTML version, so you can navigate between phases, track progress, and access the program from any device without printing.
The program is genuinely usable outside competitive sport too. It's built with athletes in mind, but the underlying principles (restoring range of motion, rebuilding strength and balance, then progressing to reactive and sport-specific loading) apply to anyone wanting better ankle function in daily life.
Why the Checkpoint System Matters
This is the part that separates a properly built program from a rushed one: adaptability. A generic program applies the same broad protocol to everyone regardless of their current strength, mobility, activity level, or degree of instability. A properly built one uses validated, specific criteria to determine whether someone is actually ready to progress, not just how many weeks have passed.
As a concrete example, moving from Phase 1 to Phase 2 in the DynamicStep program involves checking:
Range of motion, using a knee-to-wall test
Strength and balance measures
Pain levels, confirming there's no pain or only minimal pain depending on the activity
Functional day-to-day checks, how the ankle is actually holding up outside structured exercise
Each phase has its own specific checkpoint criteria. Phase 2 to Phase 3, for example, shifts toward strength and plyometric-based measures and reactive (rather than static) balance testing. These checkpoints are reproducible at home, so progression is based on demonstrated readiness, not a calendar.
The Bottom Line
Whether you're booking in-clinic or starting an online program, the fastest, most reliable check you can run is on the person behind the care, not the marketing around it. Confirm registration, look for a structured and criteria-based approach rather than a generic one, and don't be afraid to ask exactly how progression is measured before you commit.
Results vary based on individual presentation. A structured program is only as good as its fit for your specific situation, if you're unsure where you're starting from, a proper assessment is the place to begin.
