VA Medical Center in Washington DC

The VA Medical Center in Washington DC is a 180 bed hospital with a emphasis on patient care, research and education.  Podiatry has been an active part of this medical center for the past 25 years.  Currently, there are four podiatrists on staff.  Chuck Shuman and Janette Thompson are full-time podiatrists. 

Ian Beiser and Mike Stempel are part time.  Dr. Shuman is the chief of the section and is actively involved in research, patient care, education and computerization.  He is currently the representative of the medical staff to the medical executive committee as well as vice president of the Assembly of Physicians and Dentists.  Dr. Shuman is a member of the board of directors of the institute for Clinical Research.  He and Dr. Beiser recently published a chapter for a textbook on Geriatric Medicine for George Washington University.  Dr. Thompson has specialized in diabetic salvage foot surgery.  She is actively involved in research and resident training.

Presently there is a two year residency at the Washington DC VA.  Two first year RPR residents who then enter the PSR program in their second year.

The podiatry section has a workload of 7000 outpatient visits yearly as well as inpatient responsibilities. 

The VAMC Washington DC is well on its way towards the totally electronic medical record.  Within a very short period of time all patient records will be electronically entered and stored.  Currently all orders and most progress notes are entered on workstations.  X-rays and other images are viewed on computer screens.   When a chart is viewed it viewed using a computer mediated graphic user interface.   Dr. Shuman has been actively involved with the development and deployment of this system.