(intro music)
- I'm Dr. Edward Schwartz,
and I've been a member of Coordinated Health
for now, almost 18 years.
I see patients in Bethlehem,
at our Schoenersville Road office,
and I also see patients in Allentown on Wednesday,
and I see patients twice a month
in our Lehighton office.
I chose podiatry because I always knew
I wanted to get into medicine,
and when I was in high school and getting into college,
I was playing a lot of baseball,
and I had a very serious foot and ankle injury.
I was treated by some sports medicine people
that specialized in the foot and ankle,
and that kind of opened some doors for me
and gave me some ideas.
I'm a native of the Lehigh Valley.
I attended high school at Northampton.
I then went to college at East Stroudsburg University.
I was a Biology major there.
I did my medical education at
the Pennsylvania College of Podiatric Medicine.
Upon graduating from PCPM,
I did a residency in podiatric surgery,
and then I did a sports medicine fellowship.
I got into sports medicine because
I had an interest in treating people
who wanted to get better.
Young people who are energetic,
and really wanted to improve their health,
and improve their condition so they could get back,
return back to the sport that they were playing.
My fellowship opened a lot of doors
in terms of treating athletes,
from the level of the high school athlete
to the professional athlete.
Then, when I went into private practice,
I was lucky enough to have some opportunities
here in the valley,
to treat athletes at Lehigh University,
and Moravian College,
and a variety of the high schools in the area.
People that exercise, really,
the two big things that they can do to help themselves,
are to wear an appropriate shoe that's in good shape,
and also, stretching.
Stretching is something that most of us
don't think about doing.
We typically don't have to do it when we're a teenager,
but as we get in toward middle age,
stretching becomes an integral part
of keeping your body at a condition,
or in a shape that you can continue to exercise.
My practice, over the last 20-some years,
has been a real variety.
I see some geriatric patients
for problems dealing with aging in terms of the foot.
The bulk of my practice is for foot surgery,
in terms of bunion surgery, hammer toe surgery.
Common problems, over-use type of problems
related to the foot.
My interest in bunion surgery has evolved
because it's such an intricate part of the foot.
The results of bunion surgery
are really based on how well someone
could balance the soft tissue structures
in addition to the bone correction that's necessary.
My hobbies include photography,
and I use some of that with my work.
In terms of illustrating certain problems,
taking pictures in the operating room,
things like that that we use
for demonstration, educational purposes.
My other big hobbies are fly fishing and biking.
I like to work out a couple times a week.
My family, and gardening are things
I enjoy doing, as well.
Foot and ankle team here at Coordinated Health
includes eight individuals
with a tremendous amount of experience.
We have people that have been in practice
for over 20 years.
People that have treated complex
foot and ankle problems, to the most simplest of things.
We have a multitude of office locations,
we have two hospitals.
We have a musculoskeletal team,
that if an individual would need physical therapy,
we have it on-site.
If they need an imaging test done,
like an MRI or a CAT scan,
we have that on site.
It makes the whole patient experience that much easier
for the individual.
And quite frankly, easier for us as physicians.
We also treat conditions
from one end of the spectrum to the other.
From simple problems to extremely complex issues.
Diabetic foot care to ankle replacements.
We use each other as a resource.
The nice thing here about Coordinated Health
is we now have all our imaging on digital systems,
so I can call up Dr. McCarroll
at our eastern office and say,
"Hey, take a look at this x-ray, what do you think?"
Or, I can call Dr. Loftus in Allentown and say,
"I saw one of your patients who happened
"to stop by here today."
So, we have the resources here,
and the framework of this organization
allow us to do a lot of in-house consulting.
Growing up here in the Lehigh Valley
has given me the opportunity to come back
and provide care for a lot of the athletes in the area.
From the grade school and high school athlete,
all the way to the college athlete.
I've been on part of the sports medicine team
at Lehigh University now for 20-some years.
We help out as well with the athletes
at Moravian College and Lafayette University,
as well as a variety of different
high schools in the area.
I always enjoy it when I get to see
a high school athlete that comes from
the same high school that I went to,
and played on some of the same teams that I've played.
Probably, I would say nine out of ten
patients that we see, two of the things
that we're surely gonna talk about,
are their shoe, the type of shoe that they're wearing,
and also, stretching,
stretching your Achilles tendon.
The earlier we see a problem, the better.
If the patient's starting to have pain or symptoms
that's lasting for more than a day or two,
it's not going away,
then they really should have it checked.
Because chances are, if you catch it early enough,
their treatment protocol,
or their overall prognosis
is gonna be that much better,
and they'll be back to doing the things
that they want to do that much quicker.
Foot and ankle team at Coordinated Health,
in my opinion, is the top-notch group of people.
In my opinion, it's the best group of people
in the Lehigh Valley, or in this region.
I think that a person coming to Coordinated Health
with a foot or ankle problem
is gonna be in really good hands.
(outro music)