01/31/2025    Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD

Why Podiatry School Applicants Remain Low (Elliot Udell, DPM)

I agree with everyone who claims that podiatry is
not well known to the public or to
premed students. All the letter writers are
correct in suggesting that podiatrists need to
expose themselves! There are no state laws thar
forbid any podiatrist from exposing himself or
herself to the public. Conway McLean, DPM posts
the multiple talks he gives in PM News as do
podiatrists almost every day. They should be
praised. You may say these aren’t directed toward
premed students, but I might suggest that exposure
to potential patients may ultimately
result in Aunt Hortense telling her nephew or
niece Lindsey, “there was this nicest foot
doctor who gave a talk about heel spurs to our
senior citizens’ lunch group.” Trickle
down exposure of the profession. Any podiatrist
can make arrangements to show up for
a meeting with a thumb drive and give a talk. APMA
is not going to pay for one of their
executives to fly out to present to 20 people, but
we can all give that presentation.

APMA has canned lectures you can use.

It’s tough to talk an organic chemistry professor
at Penn State to give up an hour of his
200 student class time to someone he doesn’t know
to talk about something he never
heard of. But when I was in Des Moines we were
able to schedule time at the community college to
talk to students with no trouble. We even had to
carry a big slide tray back then, but we did it.

No podiatrist needs any special training. Pretend
you’re talking to a patient. Bring some
business cards, tell the audience you will let
them come to the office to see what you do
as a podiatrist. Just tell them to dress like you
are dressed when you are giving your
talk. If you’re worried about the future
enrollment, take an hour and give a presentation.
Remember, 95% of life is showing up. Get involved,
be positive. If talking to a group
makes you nervous, pretend you’re talking to
patients. Make it a whole family who
brought in a six-year-old that trips over his feet
and you have to talk to the mother,
father, grandmother, sister and the kid who
doesn’t want something in his shoes the
other kids will laugh at.

Young people in private practice can look at the
hour as a practice builder and a future
profession builder. You do have the time, now
muster the commitment.

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

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