About Us
Overview
Due to our dedication to the population of patients with diabetes in South Texas, the Podiatry Division of the UT Health – San Antonio is widely recognized as a global leader in diabetic foot treatments, research, and education.
Our care of the patient with diabetes is a multi-disciplinary approach. Acting in concert with members of other medical and surgical specialties, we strive to optimize patient care in a team environment. Faculty at UTHSA have specific expertise in the diagnosis, medical treatments, and surgical reconstruction of the Charcot foot.
The Division’s research has resulted in multiple studies published in a variety of books and journals and presented at meetings around the world. The UT Diabetic Foot Ulcer Classification and the UT Diabetic Foot Risk Categories are widely used standards for risk assessment.
History of the Division of Podiatry
The podiatry clinic began at San Antonio’s oldest hospital, Robert B. Green Hospital, in 1954. In 1972, residency program began with a single resident, Dr. Jerry Patterson who served patients in San Antonio for 40 years until his retirement. From 1972 until 1986, the Division of Podiatry was part of the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA).
In 1986, the Division of Podiatry was moved into the Department of Orthopaedics, where it currently resides. The Division popularized the use of the total contact cast in diabetic foot ulcers after visiting the leprosy hospital in Carville, Louisiana in 1982 and learning the technique from Dr. Paul Wilson Brand. In 1983, the Division and Residency program started a training and clinical relationship with the Audie L. Murphy Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
The Division produced several pivotal studies and publications in the 1990s, describing the pathophysiology of the diabetic foot and the risk stratification of patients with and without diabetic foot ulcers. In 1992, the first podiatry resident accepted into a 3rd year of training was Dr. Lawrence A. Lavery. In 1995, Dr. David G. Armstrong started his fellowship at UTHSCSA.
In the late 1990s, the Division’s partnership with KCI, Inc created our understanding of the use of Wound VAC negative pressure in the diabetic foot. In 1999, the Division opened a podiatry clinic at the new Texas Diabetes Institute, where it still operates today.
Notable Contributions
Dr. Louis T. Bogy, DPM
Chief of Podiatry, 1972-1986
Louis T. Bogy, DPM, started a foot clinic in 1954 at the Robert B. Green Hospital in San Antonio. From that humble beginning, Dr. Bogy developed and led clinical and teaching activities at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and within the community for more than four decades. He was named Chairman Emeritus upon his retirement from the UTHSCSA, and remained a mainstay of the podiatric community until his death in 2004.
Through Dr. Bogy’s leadership, the program has grown from one resident in 1972 to fourteen in 2005. More than thirty years of podiatric medical care has been provided to the citizens of Bexar County due to Dr. Bogy‘s persistence and devotion. His vision and belief that the profession of podiatric medicine should be an equal player in a state-supported health science center fueled his efforts to create such a program, and his determination to obtain increased state funding was vital to sustaining and growing the program. Dr. Bogy‘s belief in podiatric medicine’s role in the mainstream of medicine has been embodied in the services provided to the South Texas diabetic population, services that continue to decrease the lower extremity amputation rate.
Dr. Lawrence B. Harkless, DPM
Chief of Podiatry, 1986-2007
A Native Texan, Dr. Harkless graduated from the California College of Podiatric Medicine in San Francisco. He completed his internship at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and his residency in podiatric surgery at Atlanta Hospital and Medical Center in Atlanta, GA. Dr. Harkless was formerly the Louis T. Bogy Professor of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and is one of the world’s leading experts in the diabetic foot. He has been a mentor to many hundreds of podiatric residents, interns and students, a pioneer in integrating podiatric medicine into mainstream medicine, a dedicated diabetes educator and a diabetic foot researcher.
Some of his many notable accomplishments included a founding member of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) Council on Foot Care and past member of the ADA Board of Directors; Past-Chair of the Texas Diabetes Council; Past-President of the National Podiatric Medical Association and the Texas Podiatric Medical Association; Distinguished Practitioner in the National Academics of Practice; Recipient of the Professional Service Award from the Texas Legislature; Recipient of the APMA’s Distinguished Service Citation; Recipient of the UTHSCSA President’s Excellence Award in Teaching and Wall of Honor at the Texas Diabetes Institute.
After 30 years of commitment to academic excellence and teaching, Dr Harkless moved in early 2007 to serve as the Founding Dean for the College of Podiatric Medicine at the Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, California.