This weekend Dr. Segler was invited to speak at the
International Foot & Ankle Foundation (IFAF) conference in South Lake Tahoe, CA. The group of attendees includes podiatrists, sport medicine specialists and foot surgeons from all over the United States.
The IFAF is a premier nonprofit educational organization established in 1979 dedicated to providing the highest level of continuing medical education programs in exciting venues around the world and providing increased revenue to help support continuing education, research, the Swedish Podiatric Surgical Residency Program, the Franciscan Foot and Ankle Institute and the NW Podiatric Surgical Biomechanics Research Laboratory in Seattle, Washington.
Dr. Segler has become one of the featured speakers at IFAF events around the country.
On Friday Feb 1, 2013 he was lecturing on
"Barefoot Running: Good Idea or Bad." The talk centered on his experience with elite triathletes, serious marathon runners and recreational runners with whom he has worked in the San Francisco Bay area. Dr. Segler explained that the key to understanding the trend is to appreciate the goals of runners embarking upon a minimalist path, while appreciating the potential biomechanical limitations and training pitfalls that can lead to running injury. He endorses natural running form as a cross-training tool for many runners and triathletes.
Dr. Segler was asked, “Do you feel that you are helping other physicians here at the conference by sharing your experience in treating runners and helping them address the unique biomechanics of running injuries?”
Dr. Segler replied, “Well, I certainly do feel honored that the IFAF has invited to me speak about my experience, but I personally really feel that I am the one learning and gaining the most at these events. When invited to share the stage with a panel of experts like this it forces me to pay very close attention to my work and my knowledge base. I actually have textbooks in my office written by the IFAF faculty who are also lecturing here. These are the people I have admired since I was in medical school. The expectations are high and those expectations force an attention to detail that requires learning.”
Dr. Christoper Segler is a 10-time Ironman Triathlon finisher who combines his personal experience as a runner and triathlete with his nationally recognized expertise as a running injury specialist in order to help injured runners return to running as quickly as possible. He practices podiatric sports medicine in San Francisco. Being passionate about running and the benefits it brings to athletes, he believes that all injured runners should think it is a reasonable goal to return to running. He believes that it is the physician's job to determine the patient specific goal of the patient and help achieve that goal not just find a different activity. He believes that running injuries are not a sign that running should be abandoned as an activity, but that there is a problem that has simply not been identified and adequately addressed. you can learn more about running injuries and even view the PDF of the lecture Dr. Segler gave at Lake Tahoe by visiting www.DocOnTheRun.com
