Tim Sprinkle

West coast DPM takes on the major leagues

APMA News - American Podiatric Medical Association
July 2004

California podiatrist Michael DiGiacomo, DPM was just a few years out of residency when he got the call. It was 1983, Levi Strauss president Walter Haas Jr. had recently purchased the Oakland Athletics baseball team "because somebody had to", and he had a problem.

"They got in there and discovered that they had a completely fragmented care team," Dr. DiGiacomo says. "Players were all going to different podiatrists outside the organization and there was no unified plan to take care of them."

And so the owners went about assembling a group of local specialists that would be on call for the team. DiGiacomo, who had previously worked with several of the A's physical therapists, came up for the podiatrist job, and before long he was on the phone being asked if he was interested in working with the organization. It was his proverbial call up to the major leagues.

"I said 'you've got to be kidding me, of course I'm interested," he says now. "They sent me down to spring training to check out some of the players, and from then on I was the team podiatrist."

He worked with the A's until the team was sold in 1999: conducting spring training physicals, treating individual injuries, and helping athletes with chronic foot problems. Since then, he has been serving in a similar capacity with the Golden State Warriors basketball team. He calls his athletic work "rewarding," although, as it's all on top of his full-time practice responsibilities, it can be a little draining.

But, his experiences working with professional athletes have trickled down to the rest of his practice. Like many podiatrists, Dr. DiGiacomo treats many overweight patients struggling with diabetes-related foot problems. As a result, and as a testament to his own personal commitment to fitness, he spends a lot of time helping patients understand the importance of weight management in terms of foot health.

"Obese patients often come to me saying that they're stuck in a cycle: their feet hurt, so they can't walk, so they get heavier," he says. "I ask them what they consider the most important part of weight loss, and they'll invariably say exercise. But that's wrong, diet is far more important."

The facts are there, Dr. DiGiacomo explains. If an obese person can work out for 30-40 minutes, they'll burn between 200 and 300 calories. Considering that you have to burn 3,500 calories to lose a pound of weight, "think about how many times you'd need to work out to burn off those calories. The easy way to lose that weight is not to eat those calories in the first place."

"I've been practicing for 27 years and have noticed people getting heavier and heavier," he says. "It didn't used to be that way, but diabetes is becoming so prevalent now that you can't ignore it."

Dr. DiGiacomo graduated from the University of Iowa before moving on to the Illinois (now Scholl) College of Podiatric Medicine. He completed his surgical residency at Levine General Hospital in Hayward, California (with a second year at Kaiser Permanente) before going into private practice.

"I've been blessed," he says, "but podiatry really is an exciting career field. It takes a lot of energy and stamina, but I've found that the work is really rewarding."

These days, Dr. DiGiacomo is working to create "Centers of Excellence" - "model academic health centers designed to provide integrated and comprehensive services" - at the Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in the Oakland/Berkeley area. He's serving as vice-chair of the fundraising foundation and is in the middle of a $25-million capital campaign that hopes to establish standard-setting treatment centers in orthopedics, cardiac surgery, breast health, women's health and infant care.

"The goal is to create a magnet center that will receive patients from all over," he says, "offering the highest level specialized care in the area."