2010 Wyoming Statutes
Title 33 - Professions And Occupations
Chapter 9 - Podiatrists

CHAPTER 9 - PODIATRISTS

 

33-9-101. Definitions.

 

(a) As used in this act:

 

(i) "Podiatry" means the diagnosis or the medical, mechanical or surgical treatment of the ailments of the human foot, ankle and tendons that insert into the foot. Surgical treatment of the ankle and tendons that insert into the foot shall be limited to licensed podiatrists who have completed a podiatric surgical residency training program as approved by the board through rule and regulation. Podiatry also includes the fitting or the recommending of appliances, devices or shoes for the correction or relief of minor foot ailments. The practice of podiatric medicine shall include the amputation of the toes or other parts of the foot but shall not include the amputation of the foot or leg in its entirety. A podiatrist may not administer any anesthetic other than local. A general anesthesia shall be administered in a hospital by an anesthesiologist or certified nurse anesthetist authorized under the laws of this state to administer anesthesia. Podiatrists are permitted to use and to prescribe drugs and controlled substances as may be necessary in the practice of podiatry.

 

33-9-102. Board of registration in podiatry.

 

 

(a) There is created and established the state board of registration in podiatry which shall be composed of three (3) practicing podiatrists of integrity and ability, who shall be residents of the state of Wyoming and who shall have practiced podiatry continuously in the state for a period of two (2) years immediately prior to their appointment. The members of the board shall be appointed by the governor. Annually, the governor shall appoint one (1) member who shall be a licensed podiatrist possessing the qualifications above specified, who shall serve for a period of three (3) years or until his successor has been appointed. The governor may remove any board member as provided in W.S. 9-1-202.

 

(b) Any vacancy which occurs on the board shall be filled by an appointment of the governor and the podiatrist so appointed shall hold office until the expiration of the term. Members of the board shall elect one (1) member as president and one (1) member as secretary-treasurer.

 

33-9-103. License required to practice.

 

It is unlawful for a person to profess to be a podiatrist, to practice or assume the duties incident to podiatry or to advertise in any form or hold himself out to the public as a podiatrist, or in a sign or advertisement to use the word "podiatrist", "foot correctionist", "foot expert", "foot specialist", "chiropodist" or any other term or designation indicating to the public that he is holding himself out as a podiatrist or foot correctionist in any manner, without first obtaining from the board a license authorizing the practice of podiatry in this state under this act.

 

33-9-104. Applications for licenses.

 

Persons who wish to practice podiatry in this state shall make application on a form authorized and furnished by the board for a license to practice podiatry. This application shall be granted to an applicant after he has furnished satisfactory proof that he has satisfactorily completed two (2) years in a recognized college of liberal arts or of the sciences, and that he is a graduate of a regularly established school of podiatry recognized by the American Podiatric Medical Association or its successor and the board which requires as a prerequisite to graduation the completion of at least three thousand three hundred sixty (3,360) scholastic hours of classroom work. A school of podiatry shall not be accredited by the board if it does not require for graduation at least four (4) years of instruction in the study of podiatry. Every applicant for a license to practice podiatry shall have successfully completed a residency approved by the board through rules and regulations. This requirement applies only to applicants who graduate from podiatric college after July 1, 2005. After the application has been accepted by the board, together with the payment of the license fee, the applicant must pass a satisfactory examination as prepared under the rules and regulations of the board.

 

33-9-105. Examinations.

 

Examinations of applicants for a license to practice podiatry shall be in the English language and shall include both clinical and written tests as the board shall determine. The examinations shall embrace the subjects of histology, surgery, hygiene, dermatology, anatomy, physiology, chemistry, bacteriology, pathology, diagnosis and treatment, pharmacology, therapeutics, clinical podiatry and such other subjects as the board may prescribe, a knowledge of which is commonly and generally required by the practitioners of podiatry. This section shall not be construed to require of the applicant a medical or surgical education. The minimum requirements for a license to practice under W.S. 33-9-101 through 33-9-114 is a general passing grade average of seventy-five percent (75%) in all of the subjects involved and not less than sixty percent (60%) in any one (1) subject. At the time of making application to practice, an examination and license fee in amounts established by the board pursuant to W.S. 33-1-201 shall be paid to the board. An applicant failing in the examination and being refused a license is entitled, within six (6) months of the refusal, to a reexamination, but only two (2) such reexaminations shall be granted to any one (1) applicant. The board may make such rules and regulations governing the conduct of the examinations as shall be necessary, and willful violation of such rules and regulations shall subject the applicant to the cancellation of the examination and loss of the fee.

 

33-9-106. Registration with county clerk.

 

Every person to whom a certificate of registration and license has been issued under this act, within one (1) month from the date of receipt of the certification of registration and license, shall deliver the certificate to the county clerk of the county in which the person has his legal residence or usual place of business, and pay a recording fee of two dollars ($2.00). The county clerk to whom such certificate is presented shall register the name and address of the person designated in the certificate together with the date and number inscribed thereon, and this record shall be open to public inspection.

 

33-9-107. Licensing matters.

 

A license issued under W.S. 33-9-101 through 33-9-114 shall be designated a "registered podiatrist's license" and may not contain any abbreviations thereof nor any other designation or title except that a statement of limitation shall be contained in the license referring to the licensee as a "registered podiatrist - practice limited to the foot and ankle", so as not to mislead the public with respect to their right to treat other portions of the body. A renewal license fee in an amount established by the board pursuant to W.S. 33-1-201 shall be due to the board annually on July 1 each year, and if not paid within three (3) months the license shall be revoked and may be reissued only upon an additional application and payment of a fee in an amount established by the board pursuant to W.S. 33-1-201. Application for renewal shall be accompanied by evidence satisfactory to the board of compliance with participation in continuing education activities as established by rules and regulations of the board. The board may waive the continuing education requirement for the first renewal of a license. Licenses shall be conspicuously displayed by podiatrists at their offices or other places of practice.

 

33-9-108. Disposition of fees.

 

All fees and money shall be received and collected as provided by law. The state treasurer shall place ten percent (10%) of the money in the general fund of the state and the remainder in a separate account which shall be subject at all times to warrant of the state auditor drawn upon vouchers issued and signed by the president and the secretary-treasurer of the board.

 

33-9-109. Exemptions.

 

 

(a) This act does not apply to the commissioned podiatrists of the United States armed services in the actual performance of their official duties, to physicians or surgeons, to osteopathic physicians and surgeons regularly licensed under the laws of Wyoming, nor to any visiting podiatrist called into consultation in this state from another state where he is duly qualified under the laws of that state to practice podiatry.

 

(b) This act shall not prohibit the fitting, recommending, advertising, adjusting or sale of corrective shoes, arch supports or similar mechanical appliances or foot remedies by retail dealers or manufacturers.

 

33-9-110. Revocation of license.

 

(a) After notice and opportunity for hearing under the terms of the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act, the board may revoke or refuse to renew a license granted under this act to any person otherwise qualified who is guilty of any of the following violations:

 

(i) Obtaining a license by fraudulent representation;

 

(ii) Incompetency in practice;

 

(iii) Use of untruthful or improbable statements to patients or in his advertisements;

 

(iv) Alcoholism or habitual use of controlled substance;

 

(v) Unprofessional conduct;

 

(vi) Selling or giving away alcohol or controlled substances for illegal purposes, but the board may reissue a license after six (6) months if in its judgment the act, acts or conditions of disqualification have been remedied; or

 

(vii) Failure to furnish evidence showing the satisfaction of the requirements of continuing education required by the board.

 

(b) Upon receipt from the department of family services of a certified copy of an order from a court to withhold, suspend or otherwise restrict a license issued by the board, the board shall notify the party named in the court order of the withholding, suspension or restriction of the license in accordance with the terms of the court order. No appeal under the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act shall be allowed for a license withheld, suspended or restricted under this subsection.

 

33-9-111. Reciprocal licenses.

 

The applicant may be registered and given a certificate or registration and license if he presents satisfactory proof of the endorsement from his state board of having practiced podiatry, and the possession of a certificate of podiatry qualification or license issued to the applicant at least one (1) year prior to filing of application for reciprocal privileges. The certificate upon which reciprocity is requested shall have been issued in the United States or within any foreign country where the requirements for the certificate of qualification or license of the applicant at the date of application are deemed by the board to be equivalent to those of this act, and the state or country from which the applicant has received a license has like reciprocal privileges with the state of Wyoming, and the applicant has passed that state or country's examination in clinical podiatry. The fee for registration of applicants for reciprocity and for the endorsement of reciprocity to another state shall be in amounts established by the board pursuant to W.S. 33-1-201.

 

33-9-112. Compensation of board.

 

Each member of the board shall receive reimbursement for per diem, mileage and expenses for attending meetings, in the same manner and amount as state employees. Any incidental expenses necessarily incurred by the board or any member, if approved by the board, shall be paid from the state treasury, but only from the fees received under the provisions of this act that are paid into the state treasury by the board.

 

33-9-113. Penalties.

 

Any person violating any of the provisions of this act is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars ($100.00) or imprisonment for not more than six (6) months, or both, for each offense.

 

33-9-114. Education and training standards for unlicensed podiatric personnel exposing ionizing radiation; mandatory machine inspections; exemptions.

 

(a) Any person employed by or assisting a podiatrist licensed under this chapter shall in addition to any other requirements imposed by rule and regulation of the board of registration in podiatry, successfully complete minimum safety education and training requirements specified under this section prior to operating any machine source of ionizing radiation or administering radiation to any patient.

 

(b) Education and training required under subsection (a) of this section shall consist of not less than twenty (20) hours of educational instruction or supervised training in the following areas:

 

(i) Podiatric nomenclature;

 

(ii) Machine operation exposure factor;

 

(iii) Operator and patient safety;

 

(iv) Practical or clinical experience in the following:

 

(A) Foot and ankle techniques for exposing radiographs;

 

(B) Film handling and storage;

 

(C) Processing procedures; and

 

(D) Patient record documentation for radiographs.

 

(c) Education and training required under this section shall be obtained from board approved programs only. Written verification of required educational curricula and training protocol shall be in a form prescribed by rule and regulation of the board. Nothing in this subsection prohibits on the job training by a licensed podiatrist.

 

(d) Any licensed podiatrist using an x-ray machine shall have that machine inspected by a qualified radiation expert periodically as determined by the board.

 

(e) The board shall promulgate reasonable rules and regulations necessary to implement and administer this section.

 

(f) Subsection (a) of this section shall not apply to any person licensed as a radiologic technologist or radiologic technician under W.S. 33-37-101 through 33-37-113.