As a boy Marco Vargas knew he wanted to be a doctor, but he couldn’t decide on an area of specialization.

Growing up in Pinecrest, Vargas played football for Palmetto Senior High, graduating in 1977. He went to the University of the South and then to the University of Florida where his athletic endeavors gave him an up-close understanding of foot and ankle injuries.

"When I was at the University of Florida I visited a podiatrist for treatment of an injury and it really interested me," he explained. "So, I found out more about the field and decided that this was what I wanted to do."

He went on to podiatry school at Barry University in Miami Shores — one of only seven podiatric colleges in the country — and graduated in 1997, This was followed by a two-year surgical residency at Anaheim General Hospital in Anaheim, CA.

Now, he has opened the Sunset Sports Medicine clinic at 9380 Sunset Dr. (SW 72nd Street), for the treatment of foot and ankle injuries. He specializes in surgery to correct and ease the pain from those injuries.

"I tend to be more on the conservative side in my treatment of injury," Dr. Vargas said. "I was an athletic trainer as an undergraduate, so I believe in taping and strapping and doing everything possible to avoid surgery."

Dr. Vargas, 29, said the most common ailments he sees are bunions, hammer toes, claw toes and neuromas. He said he treats many diabetic people who have problems with their feet because of poor blood circulation. He also does laser treatment to remove varicose veins.

Dr. Vargas has many athletes as patients and is one of the physicians who treat the players on the Miami Fusion soccer team.

"We make orthotics to help control the motion of the foot," he said. "It gives extra padding and protection to the foot and absorbs shock."

Dr. Vargas, whose father is Colombian, spent six years of his early childhood in South America and he speaks fluent Spanish. He and his wife, Caridad, are residents of Pinecrest. They have been married for two years.

"I’m from this area, I grew up in the Palmetto-Southwood-Pinecrest area," he said. "It’s like coming home and opening a business."