10/08/2014    James McGuire, DPM

APMA Enters into Agreement With PFA (Robert Scott Steinberg, DPM, Frank Spinosa, DPM)

As the medical advisor to the Pedorthic Footcare
Association I have watched with interest the
letter war between the APMA and some members who
feel the upcoming inclusion of the PFA at the
National meeting in Orlando is a sellout and
dangerous to the profession. I am always dismayed
when podiatric physicians behave like the
orthopods of yesteryear and lash out at anyone
who threatens their perception of exclusivity in
the area of foot care services.

Thirty-three years ago when I was graduating from
podiatric medical school the paranoid orthopod
was enemy number one based on their insecure
attempts to prevent podiatric medicine from
expanding in education and scope. Their attempts
failed and today many podiatric physicians are
integral members of orthopedic practices or in
healthy competition with orthopedic foot and
ankle specialists who, despite Dr. Gould’s
attempts to marginalize podiatric medicine, have
not become the recognized specialists in lower
extremity foot and ankle healthcare they claim to
be. This has happened because of our knowledge
and our integrity as practitioners despite
attempts by the “opposition” to deny our
abilities.

Today some podiatrists are failing to resist a
knee-jerk reaction to lash out at pedorthists who
they perceive as direct competitors and instead
embrace a developing specialty in the delivery of
prescription footwear and foot and ankle
orthoses. Thirty-three years ago podiatric
medicine was the undisputed leader of foot
orthotic delivery.

Elevated by the running boom and the undeniable
benefit that patients were getting from custom
foot orthoses, podiatric physicians were sought
out for their expertise in diagnosis and
manufacture of biomechanically based orthotic
devices for the foot and ankle. We did such a
good job selling and providing product that we
created a market larger than we alone could
service. That left a door open for many other
health care providers to walk through; among them
physical therapists, athletic trainers, and
certified pedorthists, etc. Newsflash; the horse
is out of the barn on orthotics and podiatric
medicine is now just one of many providers of
prescription, custom fit, or OTC orthotic devices
and footwear.

Come to think of it, years ago most prescription
and custom made shoes were not provided by
podiatric physicians, but we have moved into and
captured a large share of that market from the
pedorthists. We have both been forced to compete
and provide a superior service or each of us will
lose out. Healthy competition is good for
patients and frankly for us as well. We have had
to become better “experts” and our orthotics
better products in order to survive. It does us
no good to hide our heads in the sand and close
our meetings and discussions off to other
professionals like pedorthists who will just seek
information and collaboration elsewhere, further
marginalizing podiatric medicine. No, we should
embrace and even enfold professions like
pedorthics that seek to partner with us in any
aspect of lower extremity health care delivery.

Pedorthists can be one of our greatest allies,
either in mutual collaboration or partnership
arrangements where they behave as physician
extenders. I have come to greatly appreciate this
organization and the profession it represents in
my three years as medical advisor. I have been to
every national meeting and sat in on numerous
board meetings and never once have I heard anyone
in leadership speak negatively about podiatric
medicine.

They have worked diligently as did podiatric
medicine to increase their education and
credentials so that they could better serve their
patients and their referral sources. They have
looked eagerly for an opportunity to collaborate
with podiatric medicine they have seen as a
strong strategic partner in future foot care and
footwear delivery. They diligently desire to
increase their utility by increasing their
education and thereby gain the respect and
confidence of podiatric physicians and other
healthcare providers as well as the general
public. If we ignore or much worse reject
pedorthists in some vain attempt to maintain an
imaginary exclusivity in foot orthotic delivery
we do so to our own peril. I look forward to a
vibrant and robust APMA National meeting this
coming year with the addition of the PFA and all
its exhibitors and participants. “Quo plures, eo
feliciores” or “the more the merrier.”

James McGuire, DPM, Philadelphia, PA,
jimnanmcguire@gmail.com

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10/04/2014    Keith L. Gurnick, DPM

APMA Enters into Agreement With PFA (Robert Scott Steinberg, DPM, Frank Spinosa, DPM)

As a dues paying member of the APMA, California
Podiatric Medical Association, Los Angeles County
Podiatric Medical Society every year for the past
32+ years, I believe this is yet another
example of the elected leadership of our
national, state and local associations selling
out for the almighty dollar and putting the
financial interest of the governing bodies far
ahead of the best long term interest of the
membership.

Financially, this will bring in money for display
booths at conventions, advertisements in journals
and on-line and allow the PFA to state in their
advertisements that they have either an
affiliation with or endorsement of the APMA.

What good does that do for me as a podiatrist?
This "collaborative" agreement with the
Prescription FootCare Association, an association
composed of mostly pedorthists who are direct
competitors of podiatrists. They state their
mission statement on their website:

http://www.pedorthics.org/?page=AboutPFA

http://www.pedorthics.org/?page=MISSIONSTATEMENT

This is their mission statement directly from
their website: ISN'T THIS ALSO EXACTLY WHAT WE
DO?

The Pedorthic Footcare Association (PFA), founded
in 1958, is the not-for-profit professional
association which represents the interests of the
certified and/or licensed pedorthist and supports
the pedorthic profession at large. Through PFA's
efforts, pedorthics – the management and
treatment of conditions of the foot, ankle, and
lower extremities Requiring fitting, fabricating,
and adjusting of pedorthic devices – is a well-
established allied health profession which makes
an invaluable contribution to public health.

Keith L. Gurnick, DPM, Los Angeles, CA,
KEITHGRNK@AOL.COM