|
|
|
|
|
Search
04/23/2024 Allen M. Jacobs, DPM
The Future of Podiatry
A recent article published in KevinMD.com, written
by a St. Louis plastic surgeon, Dr. Samer Cabbabe,
caught my attention. I would suggest that his
discussion on the corporatization of medicine is
thought provoking. Many of his conclusions are, in
my opinion, applicable to podiatry. Dr. Cabbabe
concludes his article with certain recommendations
for the future of quality medical care. I will
paraphrase some of these with podiatry relevance
and additionally share my personal opinions.
1. Curriculum changes are needed to focus on non-
clinical aspects of medicine, including insurance,
leadership, business, and other political aspects
of medical care delivery. Medicine is a business,
and practice survival as well as decision-making
regarding employment require knowledge and good
information. The business of medicine must be taken
seriously by the colleges and residencies.
2. The author suggests that medical schools be
shortened to a 3 year curriculum, and/or an
increase in 6 year combined college and medical
school programs be considered. This would result in
decreased debt to the student. In my opinion, there
is no reason for podiatry to not consider this
pathway. The necessary regulatory mandates should
be reconsidered. I believe this may be useful in
attracting students to podiatry.
3. The benefits of podiatry as the provider of foot
and ankle services should be heavily marketed. It
has not been. Many state societies (and the APMA)
have large coffers sitting in the bank doing little
but collecting interest. Why not a campaign
advocating the benefits of podiatry care in areas
such as diabetic foot, geriatric care, wound care,
sports medicine, foot surgery? Increasingly, NPs,
PAs, PCPs, PTs, CPEDs, DCs, and of course
orthopedists are attempting to provide such care.
Absent surgery by the foot and ankle orthopedist,
these alternative providers do so at the expense of
patients, who receive inferior care by these
providers and suffer the resultant complications
and sequela. More money must be spent to lobby for
podiatry-led foot care. It should be done so in an
effective manner.
4. State societies must take the lead in marketing
and protecting and advancing podiatry interests.
Sadly, is clear that the APMA is incapable of doing
so. All politics are local as they say. Studies
which demonstrate the benefits of podiatry are
published, cited in PM news, read by a few. Then
what ? We pat OURSELVES on the back, and nothing
changes.
5. There are only so many podiatry jobs in VA's,
orthopedic groups, medical groups and health care
systems. Perhaps the declining number of applicants
to our colleges and therefore future graduates will
solve this problem with employment available for
all the decreasing number of graduates. However,
there will be increasing needs for podiatry
services (e.g.: ageing population, diabetes,
increasing sports participation, PAD) and as a
result we shall either provide the needed care or
abrogate this care to others. We will need more
primary care podiatrists, not 100% "surgeons".
I suggest rethinking of the mandatory 3 year
medical/surgical residency model. 3 years of
podiatry college, 2 years medical residency or 3
year surgical residency +/- fellowship. The medical
(primary care) residencies should be increasingly
office based, as are family medicine residencies.
We should consider the dental model.
The theoretical is not practical. The average PA or
NP in many states have an average salary higher
than the average podiatrist according to some
studies. Alternatively, we as a profession can
elect to surrender primary care foot services to
others and hold ourselves out as surgeons only. To
some extent, we are already traveling this road,
which I believe to be a mistake.
6. We must increase instruction in the ethical
practice of medicine. This must begin in the
colleges and be reinforced during residency
training and continue at our CME programs. It is
past time that the states and CPME and APA restrict
corporate influence and allow advocacy of unproved
techniques and devices and medications to be
presented to students, residents, and
practitioners. APMA officers and BOD members, as
well as any organization providing CPMA approved
CME, should not be allowed to maintain conflicting
interests in determining CME content. The overt
dominance of industry in our CME programs is at
this point not acceptable.
Allen M. Jacobs, DPM
Other messages in this thread:
12/29/2025
RESPONSES/COMMENTS (THE FUTURE OF PODIATRY)
From: Lawrence B. Harkless, DPM,
For the record, I was not part of who approached ACGME. I am for the exploration. Why? During my 30-year career at University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, all programs were accredited By ACGME. My goal was to earn the respect of all disciplines and be treated similarly. All departments had one thing in common: weekly case conference, grand rounds or a combination of both to hold everyone accountable for one word learning. Every level of learner was present students (UME). residents .and fellows (GME) faculty, private practitioners, retirees (CME). Hence there was a culture of learning with accountability and transparency. I had conferences 6-9 AM for 30 years. Everyone was learning how to learn to become their best. Be Behave Become.
Lawrence B. Harkless, DPM, San Antonio, TX
12/15/2025
RESPONSES/COMMENTS (THE FUTURE OF PODIATRY)
From: Charles Lombardi, DPM, Robert G. Smith DPM, MSc, RPh
Lee Rogers, Patrick DeHeer, and Larry Harkless approached ACGME and not as stated in Dr. Tomczak's letter. Please make a correction.
Charles Lombardi, DPM, Bayside, NY
As a daily reader and consumer of the news, advertisements, and fascinating accounts of accomplishments reported in PM News, even before my graduation from a podiatric medical college, I have enjoyed the content and witness that as a profession ideas, opinions, and point of views can be translated and defined as a geometric area of a circle (360 degrees) over time ever expanding in size but consistently a circle. Thank you, Dr. Block, for a great account, these many years.
The year 2025 has ushered in some previous views and introduced some new ones that have given this reader cause for pause as 2026 begins to peak over the horizon. The changes to the healthcare arena will be paramount as they will change for patients, care givers, and all providers uniformly. Over the years, I have held the belief that a podiatrist, podiatric physician, and podiatric physician and surgeon with head held high embodies parity with all those who...
Editor's note: Dr. Smith's extended-length letter can be read here.
12/13/2025
RESPONSES/COMMENTS (THE FUTURE OF PODIATRY)
From: Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD
The question is not, “Who are we?,” but should be, “Whom do we want to become? “Who we are is too much of what we used to be, practitioners who could only use a scalpel parallel to the skin, then experts in soft tissue surgery followed by forefoot bone surgery, then a Kirschner wire. Being a podiatrist was like landing on Iwo Jima and fighting for every inch of the foot. ACGME has now asked us, not we asked them, if ACGME would like to look at our post-graduate training to see if we are on par with MD and DO residencies.
They are asking us; something we never thought would happen. There is a chance ACGME learns something from us and vice versa. What we cannot do is shun them by rejecting that once in maybe a lifetime offer because we have become complacent in our own apathy. It’s no time to reminisce about how much we made last year or how happy we were because we were elected secretary of the hospital staff because we got an MPH at the same time we earned a DPM degree and because...
Editor's note: Dr. Tomczak's extended-length letter can be read here.
12/10/2025
RESPONSES/COMMENTS (THE FUTURE OF PODIATRY) - PART 1C
From: Carl Solomon, DPM
Regarding determining where to open a practice, it's easy. Get on the phone and sample some practices in the areas of interest. Ask each of them how soon you can get an appointment for (take your pick)...a painful bump behind the big toe, a recurrent corn on a crooked toe, a non-infected recurring ingrown nail, whatever. If they're eager to get you right in, that's not where you want to open up. If they're booked up for the next week or two, you've found your spot.
Carl Solomon, DPM, (Retired) Dallas, TX
12/10/2025
RESPONSES/COMMENTS (THE FUTURE OF PODIATRY) - PART 1B
From: Stephen Peslar, BSc, DCh
Many years ago, I was watching Jay Leno. He was on campus at UCLA and asked the university students, "What is a podiatrist?" One student answered, “Is it someone who sexually abuses children?” None of the university students were able to correctly answer Leno’s question, “What is a podiatrist?”
During one episode of The Brian Keith Show, Dr. Sean Jamison (played by Brian Keith), a pediatrician was running a free clinic for children in Hawaii. A senior comes to Dr. Jamison’s free clinic with foot problems. Dr. Jamison explains that the senior should be going to a podiatrist, not a pediatrician. The senior tells him that he’s a pedestrian and that pediatricians should be treating pedestrians. It's obvious that podiatrists must do more PR to educate the public about their specialty and scope of practice.
Stephen Peslar, BSc, DCh, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
12/10/2025
RESPONSES/COMMENTS (THE FUTURE OF PODIATRY) - PART 1A
From: Denis Leblang, DPM
The first day we were in general podiatry clinic in 1977, Monte Tuchman, DPM told us the definition of a podiatrist. He said that we are physicians and surgeons of the foot. This is what I told my patients and to anyone who asked me what a podiatrist does. End of story. This is what we do. Now, it extends to physicians and surgeons of the foot and ankle.
Denis Leblang, DPM, Congers, NY
12/09/2025
RESPONSES/COMMENTS (THE FUTURE OF PODIATRY) - PART 1B
From: Robert Kornfeld, DPM
I graduated NYCPM in 1980. Back then, podiatry wasn’t at all happy with what it was but also had no clear plan to make things different. I won’t go into what didn’t happen over the past 45 years. Suffice it to say there is a large number of podiatrists today (way too many) who are loathe to identify themselves as podiatrists. They are “foot and ankle surgeons”. That says a lot about the morale of this profession and how our colleagues feel about their status among MDs and DOs.
Now there’s talk about the DO degree as if that will solve all the problems our profession faces. I’m not going to say it’s a bad idea. In fact, I think it would be a good one. But it won’t change things for many years to come and does not address our challenges now. We have an obligation to every DPM practicing in the U.S. today to do something now. Something that will change things for the better. I opine we have wasted decades worrying...
Editor's note: Dr. Kornfeld's extended-length letter can be read here.
12/09/2025
RESPONSES/COMMENTS (THE FUTURE OF PODIATRY) - PART 1A
From: Elliot Udell, DPM
Dr. Kesselman brought back fond memories of when I first started my podiatry practices. I had asked the former owner of what is now Henry Schein, where to open up. "Should I open up in an area where there are no podiatrists or in an area that may have many podiatrists?" He strongly advised me to open my first office in an area with many podiatrists, for the very reasons Dr. Kesselman stated. If there are no podiatrists, the community does not know what a podiatrist is. But in a community with many podiatrists, there might be some competition, yet the community is at least aware of how a podiatrist can address their foot problems.
I opened in three locations. I opened two where I was the only "kid on the block" and one where there were lots of colleagues. The adviser was right: I did better in the podiatry-busy area and had to wait many years to build a practice in the two areas where I was the only podiatrist.
Elliot Udell, DPM, Hicksville, NY
12/08/2025
RESPONSES/COMMENTS (THE FUTURE OF PODIATRY)
RE: Who Are We?
From: Paul Kesselman, DPM
Recently, I came across an old You Bet Your Life TV show with probably the best comedian ever to live. This show aired from 1950-1961. Groucho Marx asked the contestants what a podiatrist was? The contestants were confused and had no idea, finally muttering something akin to a pediatrician. Today, while most lay people may say they know what a podiatrist is, and may say a foot doctor, they still may not know what we do. When I was in practice, there was not a day that didn't go by, especially back in the good old 1980s when patients would say, "I didn't know podiatrists did......" Is that still true? Perhaps it is.
Today, we appear to also be faced with a barrage of internal questions, where we ourselves can't agree on how to define ourselves. If we cannot make peace with ourselves, then what can we expect from others? We need some cool heads to come together and face this head on and resolve this. No name calling.
We need real solutions from across the spectrum of podiatric practice. If we are not unified, we will destroy ourselves. We won't need the insurance industry or the medical community to do it for us.
Paul Kesselman, DPM, Oceanside, NY
12/05/2025
RESPONSES/COMMENTS (THE FUTURE OF PODIATRY)
From: Amol Saxena, DPM, MPH
Great letter Dr. Diresta.
In summary, limiting the future is not a good way of preserving the past.
Amol Saxena, DPM, MPH, Palo Alto, CA
12/04/2025
RESPONSES/COMMENTS (THE FUTURE OF PODIATRY)
From: James DiResta, DPM, MPH
I believe a large majority of podiatrists are concerned about our survival as a profession if we fail to make a move to a plenary license. Our effort to bring the DPM to parity with MD/DO degree colleagues has run its course. The obstacles that have been placed in front of that effort are insurmountable. The recent postings concerning the need for podiatry to move from our DPM degree to a DO degree is well received and it does not come at the expense of stripping our identity as podiatrists. It simply moves us to our rightful place at the table. There are many well trained and successful podiatrists who oppose this transition as they fear they will be excluded from obtaining this level of parity for themselves and that the newly ordained podiatrists will have a level of training and degree that is superior to theirs.
The answer to this concern is obvious. You're correct but there is a big BUT here as the transition will take...
Editor's note: Dr. DiResta's extended-length letter can be read here.
12/02/2025
RESPONSES/COMMENTS (THE FUTURE OF PODIATRY)
From: Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD
About 50 years ago, I was asked to speak to the state medical board of Ohio. I think I was a second year student at OCPM and the purpose of my address was to help convince the medical board that podiatry should be under the aegis of the medical board and that the podiatry board subsequently be disbanded. One of the members of the medical board asked me why podiatry should be under the medical board. I replied that our education was not equal to an MD's education and oversight by the medical board would help us attain credibility in the eyes of the public. By being under the guidance of the medical board, I was saying we want to be held to the same standards as MDs. I could have just as easily said that podiatric education is different than an MD’s education and the profession should remain under a podiatric board because it would make more sense to be judged by a peer who had navigated the same education and training, but we knew we would never be equal. Naturally, I had been coached up on what to say and the podiatry board was disbanded and podiatry was under the all-seeing eye of the medical board.
Twenty-five years later, I was asked to give my opinion to the medical board on whether or not the practice of podiatry should include ankle surgery. This was...
Editor's note: Dr. Tomczak's extended-length letter can be read here.
12/01/2025
RESPONSES/COMMENTS (THE FUTURE OF PODIATRY)
RE: De-Extinction (John S. Steinberg, DPM)
From: H. David Gottlieb, DPM
Beginning with the early years of PM News, there have been naysayers lamenting the demise of the podiatric profession. At one time, I was one of them. On this Thanksgiving evening, I am thankful that all the gloom and doom has been for naught.
As Dr. John Steinberg, and others, have pointed out our graduating residents work in every practice setting there is: independent, group single-specialty, multi-specialty, as part of orthopedic practices, hospital, clinic, and others as befit their training and desired setting. They command high salaries, even those who opt for nursing home centered care. They also chair committees where they work and/or...
Editor's note: Dr. Gottlieb's extended-length letter can be read here.
11/25/2025
RESPONSES/COMMENTS (THE FUTURE OF PODIATRY)
From: Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD
John, thank you from the bottom of my, everyone else’s, presumed dark and nefarious heart. I will shock you by telling you that we are very, very close to feeling the same way about podiatry. The profession has been wonderful to us, our families and the public, especially those facing an amputation because a wound was mismanaged or not managed at all.
I was not exuberant about private practice for the singular reason that I was alone. When an exceptional case presented and the x-rays viewed, I’d look at them and say, “Wow, look at this!” and there was no one to share my excitement with. I entered academia after less than seven years in private practice to teach at Des Moines which was one of the best decisions of my life. I looked forward to every day as I did at Ohio State and breaking a glass ceiling in Columbus and furthering the profession in unchartered...
Editor's note: Dr. Tomczak's extended-length letter can be read here.
11/24/2025
RESPONSES/COMMENTS (THE FUTURE OF PODIATRY)
From: John S. Steinberg, DPM
It is a shame that a few of our own are filled with such negativity and doom. The almost daily posts to this platform seem determined to cast a dark shadow on the profession that has given almost all of us so much reward and fulfillment. How about some facts? Just about every door is open to a DPM now, we practice in every academic and group practice setting, and we dominate the field of foot and ankle surgery throughout the country. The ACFAS salary survey puts us at $446K average earnings for fellows and the APMA Marit salary survey shows $304K average earnings across the entire profession. Hardly seems like a story of doom and gloom to me!
Yes, we do have a student recruitment problem which really is a visibility, branding, and awareness issue. We are working aggressively to fix that and we will fix it.
I don’t have the time to write lengthy essays on a daily basis to counter the negativity on this platform. Rather, I fill my day with the medicine, surgery, teaching and research that fulfill me. To the naysayers, check out this recent publication from ACFAS for more facts: DPM Surgical Pathway
John S. Steinberg, DPM, Washington, DC
11/22/2025
RESPONSES/COMMENTS (THE FUTURE OF PODIATRY)
From: Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD
De-extinction is the cutting edge of science, resurrecting vanished species using powerful gene-editing tools. With well preserved DNA from fossils giving us a clear blueprint of an extinct species, extinct species resurrection is possible. Or so says John Kennedy Philip in the most recent issue Philosophy Now.(1) The concept is that given the appropriate DNA, a living organism can be recreated. As of now, tabloid TV has reported celebrities cloning pets for a mere $50,000, but none have been extinct.
Imagine podiatry as a species. If a species does not evolve according to the mandates of an environment that is changing around them, there are several possible sequels. Most of them revolve around a decline in the health or viability of the species (read podiatry for the word species from now on) or even its extinction. In this article, the author speaks to the recreation of Dire Wolves from discovered DNA. If the recreation was not identical, but close, would it be close enough to call it the same species?
The podiatry we practice today is not the podiatry we practiced in 1980, nor was it the podiatry our fathers practiced in in 1960. For NPs and PAs jumping on board, they are practicing a version of podiatry we are familiar with but recognize as a throwback to...
Editor's note: Dr. Tomczak's extended-length letter can be read here.
11/06/2025
RESPONSES/COMMENTS (THE FUTURE OF PODIATRY)
From: Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD
Dr. Secord, it sure seems like you have had more than what should be a fair share of trouble come your way down there in McAllen, TX. I wouldn’t guess there are that many orthopedic surgeons down there, and you’ve scared them off with your offer to step outside for a good ol’ Philadelphia curb stomping, if there are curbs in McAllen. Regardless, Dale Carnegie would be proud of your approach to resolving any differences between yourself and them bone doctors. I seem to recall you are also a chiropractor. Might that be a source of contention? I don’t know many orthopedic surgeons who think very highly of chiropractors. Come to think of it, even DOs think chiropractors are off the reservation, but that’s another turf war. Something about high velocity cervical manipulation to 75-year-old ladies causing paralysis.
No current podiatrist or even future podiatrist will ever be grandfathered into the DO or MD community. My treatise deals with the current decline in podiatry students matriculating in all the schools and the increase of DO seats available because of the increase in DO schools to thirty something from nine. I am theorizing that many current DPM students were not able to gain admission into allopathic or osteopathic institutions, but now they will. To maintain podiatry as a specialty, I am saying at sometime in the future, DO graduates may be able to match into a podiatry residency after a one-year general internship which would earn them a plenary medical license. None of this will happen overnight and there will be a period of overlap with both DPM and DO podiatrists.
Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD, Columbus, OH
11/04/2025
RESPONSES/COMMENTS (THE FUTURE OF PODIATRY)
From: David Secord, DPM
I greatly admire the time and effort Dr. Tomczak puts into his messages to us. I'm sure that he will be remembered as a sage voice among us. As such, here's my two cents, for what it's worth:
I am of course as old as dirt and don’t really have a dog in this fight. I’m only still working because I lost everything I owned in combination with the Christus Spohn crucifixion and the 2008 banking-housing collapse given to us by the Community Reinvestment Act. Although I’ve taken the USMLE I, II, and III practice exams and passed with flying colors, we are at least a decade away from our two, divergent paths.
One will be obsolescence (brought about by Topor-induced, entrenched fiefdoms, no one will surrender); or common sense (add the classes and residency rotations to become on par with our other allopathic...
Editor's note: Dr. Secord's extended-length letter can be read here.
11/03/2025
RESPONSES/COMMENTS (THE FUTURE OF PODIATRY)
RE: Podiatric Obfuscation
From: Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD
Obfuscation is the ability to make things obscure or unclear. A wonderful example is Mark Twain popularized the quote, “There are lies, damned lies, and statistics.” Simply put, it is obscuring the facts, and maybe even talking about statistics and probability. There are two classic ways to look at probability. One is the frequentist view which tells us that if we flip a coin 100 times, when we’re done, we will end up with a 50:50 ratio or close to it of heads and tails. The other method is called the Bayesian or belief-based method of looking at the facts that we know right now or interpreting part of the facts to influence what we are going to say. We are merely leaving out some important details. A hot topic for another posting might be, “Are podiatric seminars science-based or influencer-based experiences.” You get the idea.
An alternative way of describing Bayesian statistics is to say, “Probability probably wouldn’t exist if we had all the probable information.” So, probability gives us a way to think about things when we don’t have all the...
Editor's note: Dr. Tomczak's extended-length letter can be read here.
10/22/2025
RESPONSES/COMMENTS (THE FUTURE OF PODIATRY) - PART 1B
From: Daniel Chaskin, DPM
It seems to me that if a podiatric resident did not eat lunch yet, this is a valid complaint. As a podiatrist in private practice, I have the right to choose not to have lunch if my patient load gets too crowded. I choose to ensure my schedule does not interfere with my lunchtime. Podiatric residents should have the right to choose to eat lunch without being criticized for being hungry.
Furthermore, they should get as much sleep as needed to maximize their ability to work without making podiatric medical mistakes. Sleep is important for anyone to function to the best of their ability. If every residency director allowed residents to get up to 8 hours of sleep when needed, enough time to eat, perhaps patient care given by podiatric residents would improve.
Daniel Chaskin, DPM, Ridgewood, NY
10/22/2025
RESPONSES/COMMENTS (THE FUTURE OF PODIATRY) - PART 1B
From: H. David Gottlieb, DPM
My experience interacting with externship over the last 20 years is that there has always been a mix of student intellect, abilities, and desire to excel. Over the last few years, I have seen a widening of the bell curve. The best students on the whole are better and the students at the bottom even worse. Additionally, the students who have been accepted to 'my' program in Baltimore have all shown either above average to exceptional intellectual ability.
Over 20 years, I have noted changes in overall attitudes towards work both from CPME requirements as well as in generational shifts. CPME is now mandating, on average, limited working hours very different from the past. The days of allowing residents to work 16 or 18 hour days are over. Do I agree with that? No. But, you know, it is what it is. I learned to deal with it (with a head shake nearly every day). I suggest others do as well. The work gets done, cases are covered.
Stop beating up on our future. Learn to adjust to reality or YOU will be the one left behind (and consider self-pay practice as was done years ago).
H. David Gottlieb, DPM, Baltimore, MD
10/21/2025
RESPONSES/COMMENTS (THE FUTURE OF PODIATRY)
From: Ivar E. Roth, DPM, MPH
Wow, Dr. Feinman hit the nail on the head with his assessment of the quality of students rotating through his program. How sad, but according to my inside sources this is a reality.
Besides poorly qualified students being accepted into the schools, the complacency factor is a whole other matter. There needs to be a shake-up or Dr. Feinman is correct that patients will request other providers, and our reputation will take a dump as a profession.
Ivar E. Roth, DPM, MPH, Newport Beach, CA
10/20/2025
RESPONSES/COMMENTS (THE FUTURE OF PODIATRY)
RE: We Need New Leadership and a New Direction
From: Ross B. Feinman, DPM
Unfortunately, in the last five years, the talent coming out of the podiatry schools is dismal at best! It's time that the schools either be consolidated and half of them closed, or let the MD or DO schools take them over. For far too long, these schools have been run as a business rather than a beacon of higher education. There are too many schools and the students who are coming to the hospitals and rotating are sadly not qualified to work at a sub shop. There are a few exceptions; some of the students that I have had the chance to work with have shown some aptitude, some eagerness to learn, but for the most part, they're looking at their phones the whole time waiting to get done, lack preparation before any cases, and complain that they haven't eaten lunch yet!
The profession is at a crucial time right now. If something doesn't change soon, orthopedists and PAs are going to overtake our profession. In the past, we heard all these ramblings of ortho and nurse practitioners. We weren't as concerned at the time because we were the most qualified to treat the foot and ankle, but if you take a look at the graduates coming out, I can't blame patients if they want to seek other practitioners! It's the 4th quarter and we're down a lot of points with time running out. We need new leadership and a new direction, or all the hard and innovative work of the past will crumble like a house of cards.
Ross B. Feinman, DPM, Walled Lake, MI
10/16/2025
RESPONSES/COMMENTS (THE FUTURE OF PODIATRY)
From: Ivar E. Roth DPM, MPH
I have mentioned this before; the reason for the low student retention numbers of the matriculating classes in general is that the schools basically are allowing everyone in, and if the student can pass, they move on and, if not, they drop out. It really is that simple.
Ivar E. Roth DPM, MPH, Newport Beach, CA
10/14/2025
RESPONSES/COMMENTS (THE FUTURE OF PODIATRY)
RE: Obituary for the DPM Degree
From: Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD
The obituary can now be completed and a necrology constructed. It’s time to sit Shiva, recite the Kaddish, and assemble the musicians for Mozart’s Requiem. The mourning is not for podiatry, it is too strong, stronger than the 70 or 80 years of Psalm 90. The mourning is for the DPM degree. Podiatry is a philosophy much stronger than three initials and will continue to be with us for a long time.
But what we have learned in the last months is that the youth opting for our profession want a plenary license, not the parochial one we have possessed and have thrived under. They want a seat at the adult medical table. How do we know this? Eighty-seven percent (87%) of the podiatrists who answered the survey in PM News stated concerning a professional degree they wanted the option of having a DO degree to practice podiatry or at least have the option of choosing podiatry as physicians with a DO degree. Only 13% said...
Editor's note: Dr. Tomczak's extended-length letter can be read here.
|
| |
|
|
|
