07/21/2025    Amol Saxena, DPM, MPH

Educational Fallout and Uncomfortable Truths (Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD)

I have only met Dr. Tomczak once (I believe at a
meeting in Canada in 2003) and view him as a
podiatrist dedicated to helping the profession
advance. As he and others have related, the truth
is hard for many to accept. So what if MDs read
this? He is suggesting ways to improve the
profession going forward and this may be
unpleasant for many to hear as well as change. I
have motivated over 30 students to become DPMs but
have noticed various things has decreased the
interest in the profession including limited
license, difficulty in achieving board
certification, paying off student loans. Is it a
rewarding profession: yes. Can you make a good
living now, i.e. pay off your loans (look at the
Big Beautiful Bill restrictions on educational
loans and would podiatry even count?), buy a
house, provide for a family including their
education and retire comfortably: depends, but
much more difficult for the current graduates.

I continue to mentor younger DPMs and help them
publish valuable research as they don't seem to
get the support to do this elsewhere. I sponsored
two $5,000 scholarships/yr for five years to
students in their third year of DPM school
involved in research and/or sports medicine. Zero
ever published their research. Research is
probably the one thing that gives our profession
credibility. You can witness this on this outlet
by podiatrists involved in diabetic foot and I
would also point out this is an "uncontentious
space" as compared to reconstructive rearfoot
surgery.

The podiatry profession has a lot to offer. I have
been involved in education internationally (El
Salvador in February, Czech Republic in June,
India in September and Germany in December) and
the groups interested are MDs trying to learn
"podiatry". This why I believe Dr. Tomczak and
others including myself feel the path forward
should involve a medical degree. PM News polls
have indicated this for years. It has nothing to
do about insecurity; it has to do with our passion
to ensure the future of the profession. Everyone
surely must agree the applicant pool is too low as
well as the academic abilities. Dr. Tomczak
appears to have the ability to do the research
(again "research" comes up) on the data. He & I,
along with others have offered to help but we may
be tugboats unable to right the ship. I applaud PM
News for not stifling the messengers.

Amol Saxena, DPM, MPH, Palo Alto, CA

Other messages in this thread:

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07/17/2025    John S. Steinberg, DPM

Educational Fallout and Uncomfortable Truths (Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD)

Ah the beauty and the challenge of open authorship
forums such as PM News. Congratulations to Barry
Block and his now 22,465 daily subscribers…BUT
with this media comes responsibility and a duty
for honesty.

We need to STOP publishing extremist statements
and misinformation. We don’t want to hear it
anymore. The notes of alarm that use terms such as
‘shrapnel, blast radius, and grenades’ seem
determined to misrepresent the truth and create
negativity about this great profession. I suggest
that rather than seeking to frighten readers about
podiatry for some unknown cause, we should instead
put our efforts into productive communication.

My son will apply to podiatric medical school this
fall. He will be the 4th generation of Steinberg
DPMs. My grandfather graduated from NYCPM in 1931.
My brother, father and 3 cousins are all
podiatrists…and guess what…we all have made a
great living and enjoyed a rewarding profession
that helps people every day. That seems to be the
prevailing sentiment with about every podiatrist
that I speak with around the country.

Sure, not all podiatrists are rich and put in
total ankle replacements for a living. However,
this profession has never been in a better
position for success. We have advanced our
education and scope of practice…we are on staff at
major academic medical centers…graduates from my
residency and many, many others get offers of
starting salaries that begin at $250k and range up
to over $400k.

Let’s all please stop using half-truths and
misinformation to scare our profession and those
who may want to join us. Instead, I’m going to
continue to devote my attention and energy to help
further elevate the meaning and prestige of the
DPM degree. Maybe others could join and direct
your energy this same direction?

John S. Steinberg, DPM, Washington, DC

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07/16/2025    Lawrence Oloff, DPM

Educational Fallout and Uncomfortable Truths (Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD)

Rod, thank you for your continued devotion to
podiatric medicine, but I do have some concerns
about your statements. First off is your
information about the number of [podiatry]
schools. When you stated there are "25 or 30" ,
actually there are 11, and one of these schools is
a public institution. While I agree with your
premise on the number schools, I think it is
important to be accurate about what you state.
Also, my understanding is that CPME only has the
ability to decide whether or not a school meets
their criteria. I do not believe it has the
ability to tell a school to open or not. I would
like to hear from a higher authority on whether my
information is correct. If it is, then how do you
influence a private entity from opening a school
if we have no jurisdiction over that decision?

I always wondered whether all these posts are
social media or whether they are accessible online
by the public. Maybe someone can answer that. Your
information you keep posting is interesting but
its extensiveness and persistence sometimes feels
like a diatribe against podiatry. If this is all
passion, then I would rather have you take all
this energy and apply it in a more constructive
venue, maybe as a voice to CPME and AACPM? You
would be a valuable resource to them.

Your opinions feel a bit like a Yelp review. Yelp
often serves as a platform where negative stuff
prevails. I remember passing by a neighborhood
restaurant in San Francisco that had opened a year
ago. Although always busy, the restaurant
announced its closing. There was a note on the
window stating how the few negative reviews
unfortunately resulted in them closing down.
Posted on the window were a number of patrons
thanking them and pleading with them not to close.

Your latest post starts off with the crisis in
enrollment. Instead of focusing on the poor
quality of students like you did, I would like to
hear more about recruitment. More students
applications would solve these issues. I am
interested in what APMA has started concerning
this. More is needed. Podiatry remains an unknown
entity to the high schools, colleges, and health
science career advisors.

Lawrence Oloff, DPM, Burlingame, CA