05/14/2021    Frank Kase, DPM

AMA To Consider Resolution With Goal of Allowing DPMS to Take USMLE Exams

For those of you who have taken the time to read
the white paper as well as the Resolution I think
you will find that many of the comments that have
been made by some PM News readers are incorrect,
let me give you some of the tenets of the
Resolution:

1. The document has been developed to allow
GRADUATES of a CPME approved podiatric medical
schools to have access to take the USMLE.
Remember that the NBME controls who can sit for
the USMLE, and at this time podiatric medical
students are prohibited from sitting for the
exam. The resolution asks for the AMA to evaluate
if the CPME is COMPARABLE to the LCME not to
replace the CPME. It says GRADUATES, without
specifying present students and residents. So
potentially, anyone who is a graduate from a CPME
accredited podiatric medical college, would be
eligible to sit for the Exam; no one is left
behind.

2. There has been again misrepresentation that in
order for a podiatric physician or student to be
able to sit for and pass all three parts of the
USMLE that they graduate from an LCME approved
college that is 100% false

3. There has been speculation that Podiatry
residency programs must be ACGME approved. That
too is not correct. One of our goals is that the
residencies are considered COMPARABLE not equal
to.

4. Our board certification process will not be
changing. Submission and hopefully passage of
this resolution at the AMA House of Delegates is
the next step in the evolution of our specialty.
Passage of this resolution and the eventuality of
our podiatric medical students being able to sit
for and pass the USMLE, the standard exam for
recognition and eventual licensure as a
physician, is the best chance for ensuring the
success and future of our schools and the new
generation of physicians with a specialty in
podiatric medicine and surgery.

Please read the documents and white paper and be
sure that you understand them. Do not be swayed
by those who have obviously misinterpreted or do
not understand the content of the documents. Our
specialty will continue to thrive and flourish
and this resolution will only positively impact
its future and its members.
Thank you for listening.

Frank Kase, DPM, Burbank, CA

Other messages in this thread:

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05/14/2021    Bryan C. Markinson, DPM

AMA To Consider Resolution With Goal of Allowing DPMS to Take USMLE Exams From:(Allen Jacobs, DPM)

Since the backslapping, and kudos, and
misinterpretation and queries about existing DPMs
taking the USMLE have begun, I feel compelled to
state my take on it. Dr. Allen Jacobs' very
accurate, but hidden assessment is one I 100%
agree with. The AAOS and AOFAS seems to have put
APMA and ACFAS into a full nelson without any
resistance whatsoever and forced them to cry
"uncle." Any DPM with an iota of self-respect
must condemn this statement in its entirety. For
those who support it ask yourselves the
following:

1) What do you think will happen if the AMA takes
up this resolution to "study" our education from
the top down to see how it compares to MD/DO?
I'll tell you....it will be disemboweled pure and
simple. You will see how the retrofit about
simple addition of gynecology and psychology
class that we have been espousing, will be the
laughing stock of the medical community. Front
and center you will see that the differences in
the educational experience of a DPM will be hung
out to dry publicly simply on how it does not
match up. No mention will be made about anything
good we hold as the domain of the DPM specialty
training.

2) What makes you think that the NBME and the
LCME will take on the project? If they do, the
resolution already states that curriculum change
will have to result in equal, not be "like."
What DPM courses will be sacrificed to
accommodate this? The second two years of
podiatric medical education will be decimated.
(See question 1)

3) Why would any talented college student commit
to an MD curriculum AND a limited license to
practice podiatry?

4) Have you taken a look at what else the AMA
HOD has in store for us...mainly that you can't
refer to yourself ever as a physician...thanks so
much to all of our graduates in the past few
years who have insisted on saying they went to
"medical school" unchecked, unimpeded, not asked
to stop.

5) Has the AACPM signed on this or even been
consulted? Doubt it.

Also, consider this, the amount of retrofitting
and change will be so monumental as to nullify
this plan at its outset, and the "you can’t call
yourself doctor" will pass and they will lobby
every state legislature to follow it.

Have I misunderstood? I don't think so. If I
have, then the ACFAS and APMA need to clarify.

Bryan C. Markinson, DPM, NY, NY

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05/10/2021    Lawrence Oloff, DPM

AMA To Consider Resolution With Goal of Allowing DPMS to Take USMLE Exams (Bret Ribotsjy, DPM)

I just read the white paper from APMA. I am
familiar with similar efforts by CPMA. As with
Dr. Ribotsky, I too am trying to understand what
this agreement accomplishes. I keep hearing
mention made that this is important to Podiatry
if we are to gain acceptance by MDs. I thought
that Podiatry acceptance by MDs was obtained by
providing good medical care. Isn’t that how we
gain the greatest acceptance? A limited license
will still label Podiatry as different. I think
it is a mistake to throw out all the advances
made in postgraduate education which defines
podiatry as it exists today.

I remember when I was Dean at the California
College many years ago, a group from the state
came in to compare Podiatry education with
Allopathic Medical education. The capsular
version of their results was that the educational
process was essentially the same, with the only
major exceptions being women’s medicine and
behavioral medicine. That was it. If the
profession feels that it is important for the AMA
to call us limited physicians, then add these
courses. Make our medicine courses more robust.
After that, who now decides which courses are
thrown out to make room for more courses on
psychiatry? Should we cancel biomechanics?

Dr. Ribotsky brings out some good points. I would
add this: what has been proposed is a slippery
slope. Examinations often steer the education
process. Faculty from colleges presently sit on
our examination committees. These same faculty
take back to their respective college
perspectives on examinations and how curriculum
should be fashioned for students to successfully
complete those exams. This is the case of the
tail wagging the dog - doctors being trained to
pass an examination, not trained on what makes
the best doctor. This is just the way of the
world. Will podiatry faculty be sitting on USMLE
examination committees? If not, then our students
will be disadvantaged when they take the
examinations. Also, it takes time for curriculum
to adjust to a new exam. I would not be surprised
if our students did poorly the first few years or
longer after the change to the USMLE. This
performance would in no way reflect the quality
of our students, but rather the inability of our
college faculty to adjust to the new examination
in a timely fashion. Would this poor performance
record by our students than be negatively used
against us by adversaries? I just feel
uncomfortable that this has not been thought out
deep enough.

We all have had podiatry insecurities at some
time. I remember when I was a second year
student, and was feeling those insecurities about
podiatry. I applied to medical school and was
accepted. For many reasons I turned that down. I
am happy that I made that decision. You want to
be accepted and treated like any other physician,
the bottom line is just do good work.

Lawrence Oloff, DPM, Daly City, CA