Educational

Next One Day Class in Portland, OR

Posted by casey1313 on in Educational 0 Comment

I’m pleased to announce that the next One day class I am teaching is in Portland, OR on Saturday May 16, 2015. See our Education Page for more information and to Register. Here is a brief outline of what is covered:

The QUADRASTEP SYSTEM® is based on a clinical algorithm identifying 24 unique foot-types. These 24 foot-types are subdivided into 6 groupings of 4, known as “quads.” Each quad has its own very specific foot and gait characteristics. A patient’s foot-type (quad-type) influences not only their gait, but the conditions that may afflict them throughout their lives.

This one-day program examines pathological gait conditions, resulting from the occurrence of rearfoot varus deformities (compensated and uncompensated), forefoot varus and forefoot valgus deformities, as well as their combined effects. The student will learn to perform visual static and dynamic gait analysis, interpreting key weight-bearing compensations, in order to differentially interpret a patient’s foot type. Students are taught how to implement the QUADRASTEP SYSTEM® algorithmic process to classify an individual’s foot into one of 6 major foot, or “Quad”, types. Students will come to understand how the specific gait sequencing of each foot type may predispose an individual to a certain set of pathologies.

This updated program provides an in-depth review of the 6 main foot types (Quads) in greater detail than has ever been provided before. The new material and course format provides a comprehensive introduction to practitioners who are new to the QUADRASTEP SYSTEM® while still being suitable and providing new material for anyone who has attended our classes previously.

This course provides the attendee an over-view of normal and pathological foot biomechanics, an introduction to a simple, inexpensive method of video gait analysis and a common sense approach to foot orthotic selection and design.  It includes reviewing the normal development of a child’s foot, as well as Developmental Flat Foot and torsional deformities in children.

If you are interested in hosting a course for us, please get in touch with me!

Welcome to our new Blog: Kylie’s Corner!

Posted by casey1313 on in Educational, Foot Typing 0 Comment

kylie picI’m excited to do my inaugural blog post about Foot typing and functional foot orthoses. For those people who don’t know me. I Graduated as an Australian Podiatrist in 1994 and I am also a US Certified Pedorthist. My specialty is biomechanics and functional foot orthoses. I have been working part-time for the QUADRASTEP SYSTEM® as a biomechanics instructor for the past couple of years and I have recently become their Education Coordinator.

I first heard about foot typing and the QUADRASTEP SYSTEM® when I was attending a Podiatry convention in Las Vegas about 4 years ago and I heard a lecture by Dr. Louis DeCaro, DPM and he kept referring to foot typing and how all the patients he sees get assigned a foot type. I was fascinated by this concept and liked the idea of having a standardized assessment model for patients. One of my pet peeves is the fact that if a patient goes to see a foot practitioner for foot orthoses and then sees someone else that patient can end up being prescribed and dispensed different types of orthotics for the same condition! This is very confusing for patients. It is a different story in the world of Optometry, for example. It doesn’t matter where you go and who you see, anywhere in the world, if you need eye glasses you are going to get the same glasses prescription no matter where you go.

Anyway time went on and I happened to see Dr DeCaro lecture at another convention and in this lecture he went into the Basics of how foot typing works and doing the assessment on the QUADRASTEP SYSTEM®. My first thought and initial reaction was that I wished I had of known about this when I was in Podiatry school it would have made my life much easier. I made a decision at that point that I really wanted to find out more about this and be able to teach it to others and I’m pleased to say that I have been able to do just that in recent years. Since I’ve been teaching the one day class on Functional Gait Analysis, which I now like to call Biomechanics Made Easy, it has been my intention to make the understanding of prescribing and dispensing functional foot orthoses much easier plus more fun and rewarding. I know the way I was taught biomechanics in Podiatry school was very confusing and there is a lot of misconceptions and conflicting information which just adds to the confusion. Roberta Nole, who invented the QUADRASTEP SYSTEM® and foot typing algorithym, is a modern day genius in my opinion.