02/10/2025    Lee C. Rogers, DPM

Why Podiatry School Applicants Remain Low (Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD)

I have read the comments from my colleagues with
interest. I would point out that this is a topic
that has received much attention from the
profession's leadership and deliberative bodies.
It has been addressed at the APMA House of
Delegates in the past several years and it is
discussed at almost every BOT meeting. The APMA
has been taking action to increase the number of
applicants. While it is not the APMA's "job" to
boost school enrollment, the APMA (and its
components) fully understands the connection
between reduced qualified applicants and reduced
membership and the imminent threat to the
profession.

The APMA has raised money to help better the brand
of podiatry as a career choice through a separate
foundation. Certainly, the entity primarily tasked
with increasing applicants and enrollment is the
AACPM. They have also taken this threat seriously
and started the "Feet on the Street" campaign,
funded by many interested parties in the
profession. These efforts have shown some success.
But we can't expect an immediate reversal. APMA
and AACPM are engaged in multi-year strategies.

While we can't positively identify the real cause
of the disinterest in the profession, and we can
all speculate about the effect of factors such as
the Student Doctor Network, economic changes that
impact the ROI of podiatry, uncertainty of success
in practice, or lack of professional identity.
It's worth noting that we're focused on the US,
but there is also a global enrollment crisis
occurring. Almost every country is experiencing a
similar downturn in podiatry enrollment. And this
is true even of countries where the education is
fully subsidized by the government, such as
Belgium, which has seen a '50% reduction in
enrollment. The UK's enrollment issues could be
attributed to the change in government funding for
podiatry education and services.

I applaud the few individuals that have sounded
the alarm over this issue and taken action, often
against headwinds in our own profession. I would
encourage those who have good ideas to help both
of the APMA and AACPM efforts. Volunteer your time
on a committee, offer to host an interested
student, or make a donation. The only way out of
this slump is through it, and to do it united.

Lee C. Rogers, DPM, San Antonio, TX

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