INTRODUCTION

Dr. Richard Blake brings more than four decades of clinical experience in biomechanics and sports medicine to KevinRoot Medical.

After 41 years in practice, his passion for understanding movement - and helping patients stay active - continues through his role as Medical Director.

Throughout his career, Dr. Blake has combined hands-on patient care with education, teaching biomechanics at the San Francisco and Oakland podiatry schools since 1979 and mentoring future clinicians through workshops and lectures. As Past President of the American Academy of Podiatric Sports Medicine, he has helped shape how biomechanics is taught and applied in clinical practice.

At KevinRoot Medical, Dr. Blake’s focus is simple: support clinicians with practical, experience-driven guidance. He shares weekly clinical insights, answers biomechanical questions from practitioners, and develops educational courses designed to translate theory into better patient outcomes.

A lifelong learner and educator, Dr. Blake believes that understanding biomechanics doesn’t just improve treatment - it builds confidence, clarity, and better care for patients everywhere.

Q&A

What first drew you to biomechanics, and why has it remained such an important part of your work throughout your career?

In college I was an athlete and ran local races. I was pre-med, but had not decided what type of medicine I would practice. At one of these races, a friend of mine told me that a running podiatrist, Dr. Harry Hlavac was there and I should introduce myself. That brief conversation changed my life. I first visited his office and then Dr. Steven Subotnick’s practice, I was hooked on sports medicine and biomechanics. Biomechanics, coupled with sports medicine principles, has been the focus of my career. I have had the humbling experience of seeing this work help thousands of my patients over the years. It is a great and usually fun way of practicing a small part of medicine.

After years in clinical practice, what do you believe matters most when treating patients with foot, gait, or movement-related issues?

What matters most is that you care for your patients who come in every imaginable type of packaging. When you care, you do not accept without some further work, subpar results in your treatment. This sparks you to learn more, experiment more. You develop many solutions to their problems. You individualize treatments instead of relying always on protocols. In terms of feet and motion-related issues, you try different shoes, orthoses, modifications, taping, exercises, etc.

How has a deeper understanding of biomechanics changed outcomes for your patients over time?

In school, I learned the basics of biomechanics and orthotic therapy. These basics still guide my daily decision-making. It is my foundation, and so valuable. Only from this foundation, could I evaluate other orthotic types and every new shoe that comes on the market. Only from this foundation, could I be self critical of my work, and make changes at times. Only from this foundation, could I evaluate new theories and find the pros and cons of how they would help me. With understanding biomechanics deeper and deeper, I understand its strengths, and know when I have to try other treatment modalities.

What motivated you to continue your professional work with KevinRoot Medical after retiring from - or stepping back from - full-time practice?

I have a 47 year relationship with a great human being Jeffrey Root, and his wife Kathy Root. It started with meeting his renowned father, Dr. Merton Root, whom I was blessed to know for 20 years before his passing. When Mert died, Jeff, Kathy, and Mert’s wife Elaine, ran the Root Functional Orthotic Laboratory flawlessly. Even 20 years ago, I had hoped some day to work with them in some capacity. Then came along Kevin Rosenbloom and Jacob Karp whom I met at the Western Podiatry meeting some 10 years ago. They were innovative, very educational minded, and smart. We had a good conversation about biomechanics, and I could tell that they loved it. I started consulting for KevinRoot Medical in 2023, just before I had heart surgery. I found out that Kevin, his wife Lisa, Jacob, and their entire staff, were good people. People that you would do anything for. They care so you care. They love so you love. It has been my honor to be a part of this team of theirs.

What challenges do you commonly see clinicians facing today when prescribing orthotics or managing complex biomechanical cases?

There are many challenges in biomechanics which affect clinicians and their patients. One is the need to experiment which may not be paid for. One is the clinician’s skill set, and fear of deviating from their normal Rx. Another is communication between the lab and doctor where mis-communication can happen, especially in complex situations. At KevinRoot Medical, they have developed a robust web platform to reduce communication errors, educate doctors on almost infinite possibilities in prescribing, and even education by Dr. Kesselman regarding billing. I believe 99% of issues/orders are efficiently handled.

How do you see your role at KevinRoot Medical in helping clinicians feel more confident and supported in their treatment decisions?

My role now at KevinRoot Medical is educational. The weekly blog posts I write usually take 20 minutes for someone to read, and they are even now allowing the clinician to watch on video with subtitles. I try to introduce clinicians not only to orthotic variations, but also help them learn a variety of foot related topics.

What kind of practical guidance, insights, or support can clinicians expect from you when working with our lab?

When I do help Dr. Stefan Feldman with calls to doctors, I try to glean the most I can about the patient and what they are trying to accomplish with the orthotic device being prescribed. At times, we ask for photos of the patient standing, or the top and bottom of previous orthotic devices that they like. During these calls, there is never a rush on my side, or any questions can be answered. I have not yet felt that KevinRoot Medical could not offer a good product to help the patient.

Why do you believe ongoing education in biomechanics is important - even for experienced clinicians?

Having been in private practice for 42 years full time, we all get stale, and want to stay in our comfort zone. The reading we do, and the seminars we go to, can be so inspiring. There is such a vast array of orthotic choices, shoe selection, new insights into keeping our patients moving, advances in medicine, that these educational opportunities are so valuable to wake us up. I always come back from seminars with one or two things that may change my approach. At KRM, we are developing online courses, along with our weekly blog posts to educate and yes, wake us up some.

In your opinion, what separates an orthotic that truly helps patients from one that simply fills a shoe?

In essence, an orthotic device should make a patient more stable as its primary goal. Yet, there may be secondary goals cushioning, off weighting, affecting the knee, immobilizing a segment, preventing ankle sprains, etc. You can not say that a good orthotic device is one that eliminates pain completely, although it is a good wish for all. You can say that a good orthotic device makes the patient more stable and may be attempting a secondary or tertiary goal. Now do you make someone stable? You typically have to look at them walking and standing and/or running and decide how they are not stable, and can you attempt to fix that. Common instabilities that orthotic devices can work with are medial instability, lateral instability, poor shock absorption, sagittal instability or rigidity, and limb length discrepancy.

What would you like clinicians to know before choosing KevinRoot Medical as their lab partner?

I would love it if clinicians could personally meet the people of KevinRoot Medical (Isabel, Fran, Victor, Kevin, Jeff, Kathy, and Jacob), have lunch with them, and personally realize how much they care about their product. With caring as the foundation, and an incredible array of high quality products to offer, clinicians will love KRM as I do.

Dr. Richard Blake
Medical Director, KevinRoot Medical