06/25/2022    Allen Jacobs, DPM

Two Tales from the Same Hospital

Here are two true stories from the same hospital.

In the 1980s, we were starting a podiatry residency
in Deaconess Hospital. At the time, it was
considered the most “conservative” Hospital in St.
Louis, had a large and old orthopedic presence, and
board certification in all specialties was required
for membership. I remember a vascular surgeon
laughing in my face when I told him that we would
be building a podiatry department and residency
there. “Jacobs, they won’t even let me on staff
there” he told me.

When the program started, in addition to
orthopedics, internal medicine, which had an ACGME
program there, were the biggest obstacles to
referrals. The leader of the opposition was a mean
and nasty but brilliant ID doctor. He was generally
acknowledged as the best in St. Louis, was the “go
to” ID guy, and was frequently critical of what he
perceived as the inadequacies of his own MD
colleagues. For several years we did chart wars
(the days of the metal chart covers and hand-
written notes). And we battled. Finally, over time,
he accepted podiatry input and actually came to
value and trust our input in decision-making.

One day, in the doctor’s lounge, he came up to me
while I was getting the mandatory hospital coffee.
He said, “I just want you to know that you should
be an MD.” I appreciated what he was trying to say,
but, being me, I responded “no, you need to learn
to respect the DPM degree.”

The opposite also happened at the same hospital. I
was serving on the hospital credentials committee.
A rather prominent DO orthopedic surgeon applied
for staff. The credentials committee chairperson,
an Ivy League trained neurologist (complete with
bowtie) wished to reject his application, noted
that he did an osteopathic orthopedic residency,
not an ACGME residency. I supported the applicant,
saying that in my opinion, you judge each applicant
individually, not by degree. Having developed a
successful podiatry program and residency at the
hospital, I stupidly thought that I was the classic
“in like Flynn”. The chairperson looked at me and
said, “Jacobs, I understand that you are good at
what you do. But remember, you are a technician.
You are a good technician. But you are a
technician. MD is a “learn-ed” academic
profession.”

Allen Jacobs, DPM, St. Louis, MO

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