06/26/2024    Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD

A Rose by Any Other Name…

I hope all who read the letter by ACFAS and APMA
have also looked at the history of the resolutions
and position papers. It seems that in 2020 someone
came up with the idea that if students of podiatric
medicine, could pass USMLE they should be
classified as physicians.

Out of the right side of their mouths the MD
officials are pushing our students to take the
USMLE and out of the left side they are saying MD
and DO passers of USMLE can call themselves
“physicians.” What seems very odd is that DOs can
still take their COMLEX exam and be licensed as
physicians.

This whole ploy is the biggest example of
obfuscation I have ever seen. AOFAS would rather
partner with Reiki practitioners than with us. MDs
and DOs have not always been in the same foxholes.
There were exclusive DO hospitals and MDs didn’t
work there. Suddenly, there was a need for sub-
specialist in DO hospitals. MDs who were trained
in burn care were needed at DO hospitals, so they
got on board as courtesy staff. Then there was one
of the first mass shooting in the country. It
happened at Cherry Hill Medical Mall. First
responders took victims to Cherry Hill Medical
Center, where there were not enough mass trauma DOs
to care for folks. There was cash to be made in DO
hospitals and MDs showed up.

DOs were the first to allow DPMs on staff. They saw
us as cash cows to help keep the doors of DO
hospitals open. Of course, we were second class
citizens, just like DOs felt when they encountered
MDs or applied for privileges. There was a time
when DO graduates had to do a DO internship in
order to get privileges at any DO hospital
anywhere. Anyway, DOs felt they were being looked
down upon by MDs, DOs sort of look down on us.
There are no more purely DO hospitals, so what’s
the purpose of the statement?

MDs have stated a DO can be called a physician if
he or she passes COMLEX. I’ve seen them both tests,
ans DPMs would rather take COMLEX for as long as it
is around rather than USMLE.

My next comment goes to the APMA for clearing the
air about our education compared to MD/DO med
school and residencies. Facebook and X are the
first place I would look for reliable information
about my tarsal coalition and who to best operate
on it if I were 11 years old and in middle school.
How embarrassing. Put real ads in Time magazine,
Conde Nast, and Cosmopolitan.

Lastly, what is all the big deal about being called
a physician instead of a doctor. In 47 years I
have never introduced myself as “doctor” let alone
a “physician.” Shakespeare said it best,” A Rose
by any other name would smell as sweet.” Patients
know if you are a rose “doctor” or a stink weed
“physician.”

Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD, Columbus, OH

There are no more messages in this thread.