Caron Crop

Caron Orelowitz

Step + Stride Podiatry

Caron Orelowitz MNZM qualified as a podiatrist in 1995, at the Witwatersand Technikon in Johannesburg, South Africa. She came to New Zealand in 1997 and began working as a locum for several podiatrists, which is when she came across Formthotics. Up to that point, she had had no experience with prefabricated orthoses, as choices were very limited in South Africa, at that time. She has been practising as a podiatrist in NZ for the past 24 years, mainly in private practice, but also in the DHB’s, and she has been using Formthotics for many of her patients, ever since. Caron currently has her own clinic, Step + Stride Podiatry which is a member of the Resonance Podiatry Group. The practice has recently been awarded Allied Health Services Sector Standard 8171.

Caron completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Sports and Exercise Medicine at Otago University in 2016 and is currently working on a Masters of Philosophy looking at children’s perceptions of injuries.

In the 2021 Queen’s Birthday Honours list, she was awarded a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for services to podiatry. She is the first in the profession to have been recognised with such an award.

Caron was a member of the board of Podiatry NZ for 14 years and still advises the board, even though she is no longer on the board. She was heavily involved in the creation of the Podiatry NZ handbook, which is a comprehensive document, designed to provide all the tools needed to work as a podiatrist in NZ. It also provides a framework for podiatrists to build on as they prepare for Allied Health Services Sector Standards 8171 certification.

When New Zealand went into lockdown in March 2020, due to Covid-19, Caron immediately began working with Podiatry NZ to create an online education programme, consisting of 22 webinars.

As well as her private practice, at Step + Stride Podiatry, Caron works and has worked at both Waitemata and Auckland DHB’s, in the High-Risk Foot Clinics, focusing on diabetes and “at-risk” feet. She also flies to Great Barrier Island to offer podiatric services to the islanders.

Caron has in the past supported the Sanitarium Weetbix Kiwi Kids TRYathlon, using her specialisms of paediatric podiatry and sports podiatry, for the benefit of the community.

Caron is a true leader in the New Zealand podiatry profession and Formthotics are immensely proud to be working with her.

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Questions & Answers

Q. Why did you choose podiatry?
A. I always wanted to do something where I could help people. When I was young, on the odd occasion, I would go with my grandmother to the chiropodist to have her feet done, but I never thought anything of it then. Many years later, my brother, who was very sporty, was having problems with his knees. Eventually, my parents took him to an orthopaedic surgeon who made him walk up and down a passageway and said that he needed to see a podiatrist as the way he was walking was causing the knee problems.
Q. Who has been your main inspiration in podiatry?
A. Funny you should ask. A couple of years after arriving in New Zealand, I attended a Foot Science Course and met Lisa Whiteman. She was just so inspirational.
Q. What is the most common condition you treat?
A. I see a variety of conditions. I guess it also depends on the time of year and what sports are being played. I guess each sport brings its own unique injuries.
Q. What has been the most unusual condition you have seen?
A. As a student, we were treating patients with ectrodactyly. They were from a tribe in a remote area of Southern Africa.
Ectrodactyly - the absence of one or more central digits of the hand or foot. It is also known as a split hand or split foot malformation.
Q. What is your favourite treatment that gets the best result?
A. Any treatment which gives a good result is my favourite.
Q. What advice would you give your newly qualified self?
A. Do you really want to know? It would possibly be - learn as much as you can.
Q. What are you most proud of in your career?
A. I guess recently being awarded a New Zealand Order of Merit for services to podiatry and a Life Membership of PodiatryNZ would be the recent highlights. I think that seeing the relief on patients’ faces when you have successfully managed to improve their wellbeing would be next.
Q. What would people be surprised to know about you?
A. I have a passion for photography. Even though I hate being in photos, I really love taking them.
Q. What’s the funniest thing that has happened with a patient?
A. I was working in a remote location and a patient with diabetes came in with no shoes. When examining his feet I noticed he had lawn cuttings on his feet. My comment to him was: “Oh, I see you have grass on your feet, you are obviously walking barefoot outside”. His reply was, “Yes, I have been cultivating my crop”. I was referring to grass as in lawn and he was referring to another type……… Let’s leave it there.
Q. What can a new podiatrist do to connect with the profession?
A. Spend as much time as possible observing podiatrists. Join PodiatryNZ.
Q. Who’s the most famous person you have treated, you are allowed to mention?
A. I have treated many famous people. Some years ago, on one particular day, I had a Dame, a Sir and a Lord. I was just waiting for the Queen to arrive.