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07/23/2025 Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD
Student Enrollment
I keep obsessing about the enrollment problem at
the podiatry schools being a recognition problem
and how the Foundation for Podiatric Education
(FPE) and Feet on the Street will directly address
these perceived causes of low enrollment. I wonder
if we’re not jumping on the first possible cause
and missing some deeper issues. Let me use a
clinical example as, I think, a useful analogy.
Suppose a young family practice physician is
moonlighting on weekends doing telemedicine. On
Saturday morning a patient tells the young doc
that he has been working out a lot lately and has
two problems. He thinks he strained some abdominal
muscles doing core exercises and he has developed
a fever and feels somewhat nauseated. The doctor
asks some rudimentary questions then decides to
simply tell the patient to take acetaminophen and
he will prescribe a couple days of hydrocodone and
cyclobenzaprine for the muscle spasm. The doctor
does not hear from the patient so he tries to
phone the patient Sunday night only to find out
the patient’s appendix burst, he had emergency
surgery and is on IV antibiotics for sepsis.
The doctor treated the symptoms the patient
complained of but did not dig deep enough. A CBC
would have revealed a white count of 13,000 and a
shift to the left which should have directed the
doctor to order more testing and referral to a
facility equipped to properly diagnose and
potentially handle a more serious problem. For
what it’s worth, the doctor allowed the patient to
make the diagnosis for him or her.
I’m not so sure the low admission numbers are
simply a matter of recognition of podiatry by the
college students. We used to enroll 600 or more
students a year and if we estimate an acceptance
rate of 70% that would mean about 850 students
applied to podiatry schools. Maybe it was more.
AACPM is pretty closed about how many students
apply and what the acceptance rate is. In the year
2000 there were 19 osteopathic medical schools and
124 allopathic medical schools. In the year 2000
there were about 60 medical schools in the
Caribbean and the chances of jumping through all
the hoops and obtaining a residency in the US was
about 25%.
In 2025, there are 37 osteopathic medical schools
and 155 allopathic medical schools and at least 50
Caribbean medical schools. Caribbean medical
schools have a much better reputation and for
students that pass USMLE the match rate for
obtaining a residency is about 55% although some
schools advertise a 95% match rate. I think the
problem is a lack of choices when one opts for a
career in podiatry. Remember the overwhelming
results in the PM News survey. Sure, there’s
sports medicine, pediatrics, and the whole wound
care limb salvage world. But all of these restrict
the doctor with a limited license and to a certain
part of the body.
There are 1,100 fellowship-trained orthopedic foot
and ankle surgeons and another 2,400 orthopedic
surgeons who list an interest in foot and ankle
surgery but are not fellowship trained in the US.
The difference between podiatry and orthopedic
foot and ankle surgeons is that after 5 years of
orthopedic residencies, these young men and women
actively choose foot and ankle surgery. There are
only 48 ACGME accredited foot and ankle
fellowships and probably 30 more fellowships that
are office based. It appears that not all the foot
fellowships match because AOFAS does not release
statistics. If the fellowships were so highly
sought after, AOFAS would proudly publicize the
fact. That in itself is speculation and I hate
speculating, but there are unfilled programs.
It does appear there are too few programs to
satisfy the need for foot and ankle DO/MD foot
practitioners. The main difference between the
orthopedic and podiatric foot surgeons is the
unlimited license the orthopedic surgeon holds.
For that reason I have advocated the DO degree
with a new residency in foot and ankle to fill the
need. Recognition of the new program by college
students might be a challenge and of course, an MD
could opt for the foot and ankle residency program
after medical school. You can’t limit the new
specialty to just DO graduates. The program does
fill the void in foot and ankle specialists who
fall into that 2,400 orthopedic surgeons who did
not match in an ACGME accredited program.
It appears that becoming a practitioner who cares
for foot and ankle pathology is both desired and
desirable. Let’s not be the last to recognize
that. Podiatrists would be intrinsically involved
in early training insuring the transition of
podiatric philosophy into this new sub-specialty.
What we don’t want is another medical tradition
imparting its philosophy on a specialty that
belongs to us.
Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD, Columbus, OH
Other messages in this thread:
07/23/2025
RESPONSES/COMMENTS (STUDENT ENROLLMENT)
From: Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD
I keep obsessing about the enrollment problem at the podiatry schools being a recognition problem and how the Foundation for Podiatric Education (FPE) and Feet on the Street will directly address these perceived causes of low enrollment. I wonder if we’re not jumping on the first possible cause and missing some deeper issues. Let me use a clinical example as, I think, a useful analogy.
Suppose a young family practice physician is moonlighting on weekends doing telemedicine. On Saturday morning, a patient tells the young doc that he has been working out a lot lately and has two problems. He thinks he strained some abdominal muscles doing core exercises and he has developed a fever and feels somewhat nauseated. The doctor asks some rudimentary questions then decides to simply tell the patient to take acetaminophen and he will prescribe a couple days of hydrocodone and cyclobenzaprine for the muscle spasm. The doctor does not hear from the patient so he tries to phone the patient Sunday night only to find out the patient’s appendix burst,...
Editor's note: Dr. Tomczak's extended-length letter can be read here.
06/30/2025 Douglas Richie, DPM
Student Enrollment Should be Two-Sided (Bret M. Ribotsky, DPM)
I read with great disappointment Dr. Ribotsky’s
characterization of the current student
recruitment campaign at the schools of podiatric
medicine across the United States. Dr. Ribotsky
described the role of podiatrists in mentoring
prospective students as “unpaid marketing
representatives for private businesses, without
receiving any professional development
opportunities or other forms of remuneration in
return.” He proposes that podiatric physicians who
participate in a recruitment and mentoring program
for pre-medical students “invest considerable time
and effort in activities that primarily benefit
private educational institutions financially.”
I believe that Dr. Ribotsky has confused the
current recruiting campaign of podiatric medical
schools with his own previous efforts to recruit
vendors to support his for-profit seminars. His
philosophy of the need for “mutual benefits” for
all parties may have been a strategy to get
commercial companies to invest in his seminars,
but this has little relevance to the current
podiatry student recruitment campaign. His
characterization that student recruitment
“primarily benefits private educational
institutions financially” misses the purposeful
value of this campaign and the critical need to
increase the number of qualified applicants to
podiatric medical schools.
All of the schools of podiatric medicine in the
United States are non-profit institutions. The
need to boost applicants is not bent on profits
but instead is critically important to the
survival of the schools and our profession. If
the trend in decline in numbers of qualified
applicants continues, all the podiatric medical
schools in this country could close and our DPM
degree will become obsolete.
Contrary to what Dr. Ribotsky asserts, practicing
DPM’s are being encouraged to help contribute to
the student recruitment process in very simple and
time efficient ways. Whether engaging in
conversation with high school or college students
or allowing these aspiring people to shadow in
podiatric practice, the time commitment is minimal
and potentially rewarding. Further participation
at local university career fairs or pre-med clubs
may require a few hours of volunteer time from a
podiatric physician. How many podiatrists
already willingly volunteer to participate in
community health screenings or running events?
Beyond supporting a recruitment campaign many of
us regularly fulfill an even more important
obligation to the schools of podiatric medicine
which provided us a rich learning experience and a
wonderful career. Across the country, thousands of
DPMS willingly contribute financially to their
alma mater podiatry schools. The voluntary
contributions of grateful alumni are essential to
the financial well-being of all these non-profit
institutions. We make these contributions
willingly without demand for payback or “mutual
benefits.” Incidentally, most of the podiatry
schools provide ongoing professional development
opportunities for their contributing alumnae,
often at considerable discount.
In a recent LinkedIn post, my esteemed colleague,
Luke Cicchinelli recently quoted Denzel Washington
who said “First part of your life, you Learn, Second
part of your life, you Earn, third part of your
life, you Return.” I hope that my colleagues will
see the wisdom of this message and seize the
opportunity to give back to our schools of
podiatric medicine---with no strings attached.
Douglas Richie, DPM
Member, Board of Regents at Samuel Merritt
University, College of Podiatric Medicine
06/27/2025 Bret M. Ribotsky, DPM
Student Enrollment Should be Two-Sided
I am writing to express my concerns regarding the
increasing requests for individual practitioners
to dedicate significant time to marketing and
college visits aimed at increasing recruitment
into podiatric medical schools. While I understand
the importance of maintaining strong enrollment in
our profession’s educational institutions, I find
the current approach to be fundamentally one-
sided. These requests ask practicing podiatrists
to invest considerable time and effort in
activities that primarily benefit private
educational institutions financially through
increased student enrollment.
What troubles me the most is the apparent
unwillingness of these schools to reciprocate with
meaningful benefits for the general membership of
practicing podiatrists. If we are truly expected
to function as a collaborative “village” where
everyone works together for the betterment of the
profession, then this relationship should be
mutually beneficial.
As a constructive suggestion, I propose that
schools demonstrate their commitment to the
broader podiatric community by offering valuable
resources to practicing physicians. For instance,
allowing general podiatrists to access refresher
courses—such as biomechanics classes—at no cost
would provide tangible value to those being asked
to volunteer their time for recruitment efforts.
The current model essentially asks practicing
physicians to serve as unpaid marketing
representatives for private businesses without
receiving any professional development
opportunities or other forms of remuneration in
return. This approach fails to recognize the value
of practitioners’ time and expertise while
expecting them to contribute to the financial
success of these institutions.
I believe that for any recruitment collaboration
to be successful and sustainable, it must be
structured as a genuine partnership that provides
mutual benefits. Schools that wish to engage
practicing podiatrists in recruitment activities
should be prepared to offer meaningful value in
return, whether through continuing education
opportunities, research collaborations, or other
professional development resources.
I hope this perspective will be considered as we
move forward with discussions about how best to
support both the educational institutions and the
practicing members of our profession.
Bret M. Ribotsky, DPM, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
06/03/2025 Mark Jones, DPM
New Student Enrollment Campaign (John S. Steinberg, DPM)
I have served as a medical director for a large
physician group as well as the podiatry directory
in the hospital's Orthopedic & Spine center. I
assisted in group development and physician
recruitment and contracting. When contracting, we
reviewed MGMA data which is designed around group
model compensation. Their data does not reflect
accurate private practice model salaries. In
other words, MGMA tabulates for compensation
taking into account downstream revenues. Where an
MGMA compensated podiatrist would be at a higher
tier (300k+) vs the independent podiatrist range
of 150-200K. MGMA assumes, estimated, avg of 100k
loss per provider on the professional component
service given high cost of overhead in a system
practice.
Therefore, in all truth, the group model
compensates on downstream revenue (i.e., OR
revenue, MRI revenue, Admission revenue, etc.).
Unless a private physician has access to
investment in a surgical center or the like,
compensation for private practice physicians
cannot keep pace. As far as recruiting, one need
only look at our ACFAS jobs board and see the
number of Ortho Foot & Ankle positions available
(DPMs need not apply) to see the disparity in
salaries offered. Ortho F&A are more than 2x the
group model compensation for a surgical DPM. It
is true that training is not apples to apples, but
the cases being performed are.
Podiatry has both an identity problem and a
compensation problem. We all know that surgery is
not fairly compensated and according to even
orthopedic numbers, over the last 20 years foot
and ankle surgical reimbursement is down almost
47%. In fact, clinical practice revenue often does
exceed surgical practice revenue when in solo
practice (without the downstream revenue access).
So, why would one go into podiatry when it's much
more lucrative to follow the orthopedic route. My
guess is that as the future moves on the DPM
degree will be forced to focus mostly on surgery
and wound care as second tier providers (NPs and
the like) will encroach on routine foot care and
non-surgical care. In the end, it's
simple...follow the money.
Mark Jones, DPM, Hammond, IN
06/02/2025 Burton Katzen, DPM
New Student Enrollment Campaign (Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD
I applaud the new student recruitment program, and
I wish everyone involved much success. However, my
question is, how do you overcome certain facts
when talking to prospective students, such as the
fact that many government workers are making more
than the average podiatrist with benefits and
retirement, the fact that the average CRNA salary
is $180-220 thousand dollars, and the fact that
many physician assistants have starting salaries
at around $150-175 thousand dollars per year, and
all of the above with less years of education and
debt, less responsibility and less hours.
My love for podiatry began as a summer job in 1967
while working in Dr. Charlie Turchin’s office.
What attracted me enough to forgo my last two
years in college was the variety of a podiatric
practice (surgery, routine care affording
immediate pain relief, sports medicine,
pediatrics, wound care, etc.), plus the fact that
I could begin practicing a medical profession
before I was in my 30s. When the 3-year surgical
residency became mandatory, my first thought was
why would the average student considering podiatry
for the above reasons be forced into spending
seven years following a path they might have no
interest in, all without the probable possibility
of earning what we did in the “good ole days”, and
less than other allied medical professions and
even some postal workers.
Also, do we now need the number of schools we
have? Anyway, I wish everyone the best of luck in
the recruitment program, but I would like to see
the plan, possibly instituting different residency
track’s requiring less time.
As former president of the TUSPM alumni board and
longtime board member, it is very sad to see the
application pool at Temple and all the other
schools. I love our profession, and with the aging
population, we should be inundated with
applications.
Burton Katzen, DPM (retired), West Palm Beach, FL
06/02/2025 Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD
New Student Enrollment Campaign (Patrick DeHeer, DPM)
I just wanted to clarify a few things about my
position regarding podiatric education and
podiatric practice. The practice starts with the
education. Back in 1986 I thought students at CPMS
in Des Moines were bright and were not really
being challenged. Ironically, they didn’t score
well on my surgical examinations. I enrolled in an
education class at Drake University, literally
down the street. Six years later, I had a
doctorate in Adult Education. During that
adventure, I suggested to Len Levy ,DPM, the dean
that we experiment with a dual degree program for
a dozen top students. We met with Larry Jacobson,
DO the dean of the DO college and were able to
implement the program. Everything was going well
for the twelve students until the university board
and the osteopathic counterpart of AACPM
discovered our more or less covert experiment.
You’d have thought the Orthodox Rabbinic
leadership found out we were having Catholic mass
at the Temple Beth Israel on weekends. The dozen
dual degree students were forced to pick one
program and stick with it. No one could be
enrolled in two professional degrees at the same
time. Eleven of the 12 students stuck with
osteopathy and the program was never mentioned
again except as a footnote. There would be no
ecumenism in the degree hunt.
I have loved podiatry since day one and have never
needed to have a plenary license to keep patients
safe or me happy. It appears that is changing and
this younger generation is not satisfied with
merely a DPM degree. It would be easy to dismiss
their thoughts as erroneous thinking, but our
profession, its very existence, is being
threatened. We can see this in the results of the
DO/DPM survey in PMNews and by the declining
enrollment in the burgeoning number of podiatry
schools with dwindling enrollment. I have never
wanted to see podiatric extinction, but because I
want to examine the issue more closely and find a
solution to the problem, some podiatrists have
accused me of podiatric mutiny.
The truth be told, I know none of these folks and
if they walked into my den right now I would not
recognize them. They have been quick to jump to
superlative erroneous conclusions based on my
writings and their fears. It’s similar to the
COVID epidemic where essential questions have
still gone unanswered. For some reason many
podiatrists are afraid to perform a thorough
examination of the newest generation’s attitude
that is jeopardizing our future.
Podiatry has never had a student enrollment
campaign constructed by professionals to the
extent we are seeing today. I get the sense that
the campaign is treating symptoms and not the
disease itself. What is the real cause for the
disequilibrium in potential podiatry students?
What I know from my years at CPMS, Drake, OSU, and
foreign med schools is that we are trying to fix
the problem with more schools and hopefully
convincing students we have a winning profession
because we have a slick technicolor new website.
How do we introduce students to the new website at
this late date? It’s easy to blame the next guy
for our failures when in reality the only failure
from the top of the APMA leadership down to the
solo practitioner of 20 years is this generation
is different than we are. To summarize the problem
and solution with the single conditional sentence,
“If they just did it the way I did it they will
soon see this is the correct way.” Doesn’t work
anymore. Today’s 30 year old is a million years
different than our 30 years when we started
practice.
When I went on vacation I started to go into
withdrawal about a week away from patients. You
know, calling in just to see how things are, just
wondering how Monday’s schedule looked when I knew
how it looked, how’s Mrs. Jone’s post op
cellulitis doing when I know the podiatrist
covering for me is completely capable of managing
a minor infection. I just wanted to be sure I
wasn’t being replaced, that I was still needed as
much as I needed the practice. Yes I was addicted
to podiatry and rationalized it by telling people
how much I loved what I did for a living and if
you love your job you never work a day in your
life. Some would call this a “positive addiction.”
Then I developed a respiratory latex allergy after
25 years in the OR. I had two anaphylactoid
reactions in the OR and after the second one I
lost my OR privileges lying on the floor trying to
tell the resident what to do. OSU was remarkable,
tried my own latex free room. Unfortunately,
terminally clean didn’t scrub the air, the EPA
came in and told us the only place on earth with
more latex in the air was Chuck E. Cheese. My own
latex antibodies were 34 times normal and it would
take about 10 years before the air would be clean
enough to work in or, work in a brand new hospital
that had never seen latex.
The disability policy said I had to look for a new
profession and medical school was it. It didn’t
mention how hard it would be to relearn the Krebs
Cycle while depressed. No one wanted a 62-year-old
PGY 1 so medical education was my path to Social
Security. You would be surprised at the number of
MD students who had never heard of podiatry. From
their earliest days they were going to be an MD,
or a DO if they weren’t accepted into an MD
program or enter a Caribbean medical school and
take their chances with the residency match.
I still missed podiatry. I opened a new practice
and interviewed recent DPM graduates. They wanted
a cash only practice, more salary than I could
afford because of the huge loans that were
accruing interest. Some MD students expected their
parents to remortgage a home that was paid off
with a promise of future returns on the loans.
They would rather inject PRP for a huge sum of
money than debride a dirty ulcer. Some felt
inferior and embarrassed because they had a DPM
degree rather than an MD even if it was from the
Caribbean. Who told them they weren’t as good as a
DO or a Caribbean MD with enough force the young
DPMs believed it?
Of course there are the exceptions, but if we look
at application numbers, they are so far down we
are almost in panic mode. Here’s what really
scares ne. We start to accept students way below
the 1990 mean GPA and MCAT scores that we have to
change our expectations of their classroom
performance so we can fill the schools. Suddenly
these concerns about being inferior students and
practitioners become a reality. The fears now
become reality.
It's hard to believe the incoming students have
that kind of power, but they do based on the ever
increasing number of DO schools.
I am just the messenger. I did not create the
problem nor did I try to squelch it. I’ve been
trying to improve all medical education for the
past 40 years. We can’t cover up the problems much
longer. Either the students will be inferior but
fill the classrooms, or the majority of classrooms
will be empty. Maybe podiatry is not sexy, maybe
it doesn’t beckon potential students like it used
to. I love the profession but calling attention to
its possible shortfalls is looked upon as being a
traitor. People are pulling their heads out of the
sand, finally. But it’s too late to say everything
will be alright.
I hate to think this new generation has this much
leverage over us, but they do and we have to
listen to them. We have to respect the 86% who
want a degree change even if we think they don’t
really need a plenary license. At what point will
DPM schools start closing because there are no
funds to operate? I’m not the bad guy for calling
attention to the problem. I hate that we are
trying to put our heads back into the sand and
believe the problem will self-correct if we merely
increase numbers.
Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD, Columbus, OH
05/30/2025 Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD
RE: New Student Enrollment Campaign (Patrick DeHeer, DPM)
I am very surprised that Dr. DeHeer feels I am
merely part of the low enrollment problem and have
not exerted any effort toward a solution. He’s
wrong. I phoned his office a couple times and left
messages asking him to call but he probably never
received those pleas to talk with him, so we had
to pursue solutions on our own. He must have been
too busy to read the last dozen or so of my
postings on PM News regarding the low admissions,
how the profession feels and what to do.
With the encouragement of Dr. Allen Jacobs, we
investigated how the profession feels about a
degree change which would lead to a plenary
license, and with the help of Dr. Barry Block
constructed a survey of the profession’s attitude
toward the status quo; a three-year residency for
everyone who graduates with a DPM degree. That
survey revealed that 86% of the profession did not
feel podiatrists should be restricted to a three-
year residency in podiatric medicine and surgery
while having a DPM degree. That’s how 591 0ut of
690 of our profession feels. It’s there in black
and white.
Forty-two percent of the respondents thought if
they had it to do over, they would go to a DO
school then decide before their fourth year on
whether they wanted to follow the foot care model
we proposed in the survey or match into another
specialty rather than foot care. Fifteen percent
of our profession would definitely seek another
specialty and abandon a foot care completely. The
profession spoke and now we should listen, but it
is fair to ask why, what’s wrong with podiatry?
What I hoped to see in the survey was that
podiatry’s philosophy, its raison d`etre would be
preserved but under the auspices of a different
degree. Could the profession retain our position
as the elite foot care providers that we are, but
with a plenary degree? The profession said they
didn’t feel that way.
Perhaps the luster of limb salvage is gone? Maybe
it’s so common now we aren’t impressed with a
degree change. Other surgeons can handle the
complicated trauma that keeps us up at night.
Everyone with athlete envy can hang around a
locker room and many biomechanics afficionados
have seen the patient improve with orthotics in
the wrong shoe. Pediatric patients get better no
matter what we do. I brought Tom Kling, MD, the
chair of pediatric orthopedics at Indiana
University, to Des Moines every year to explain
how this happens as a natural growth marvel and
little intervention was needed. He felt it was
more important to learn how to talk to mom and
grandmother reassuring them this was not an
anomaly.
It may be part observation and part speculation to
say that many podiatrists simply are not
interested in the foot anymore. It’s not appealing
and doesn’t seem to be attracting numbers like it
used to. Previously it was a second or third
choice. Now there are more options. For the people
still interested in foot care, it would be more
interesting if they had a plenary license. We have
offered an option, a possible solution. I did the
research on the numbers of DO schools and searched
websites for minimal GPAs necessary for admission.
Podiatry students qualify, but will they retain
our philosophy? When chiropody dropped the DSC and
became podiatry with a DPM degree was there a
change in attitude and values? What would happen
after a general internship and a foot and ankle
residency? I have spoken to a medical
administration attorney concerning residents’
funding under the change. I have done my due
diligence. Dr. DeHeer.
If you want to be shocked, ask Google or Yahoo how
many times adults change their careers over a
lifetime. It used to be once you settled on a
profession, that was it. Now a website called
Quora states that if you were born between 1990
and 2010 you can expect to change your career 5-9
times. One of my FMGs was in an orthopedic
residency, after two years quit and is now an
organ harvester for transplants. Urology has an
early match for residencies to appeal to more
medical students. They can skip all the hassles of
the regular match, but it still doesn’t fill all
positions until after the regular match.
People don’t see urology as attractive. One young
urologist I know quit practice to go into hospital
administration. Another anesthesiologist got an
MBA from Ohio State and now serves as an
administrator. De gustibus non est disputandum.
You cannot argue taste and it seems foot and ankle
doesn’t taste as well as it did for us, but it
might be salvageable for the next generation, Dr.
DeHeer if they have a degree change. It would mean
huge changes for APMA and its limb organizations,
but really, the foot care we give is the important
thing, not the politics, right?
Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD, Columbus, OH
05/30/2025 Jon Purdy, DPM
New Student Enrollment Campaign (Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD)
I am a second generation podiatrist. I give back
to the profession in a number of ways, such as
lecturing and being of the board of the American
Association of Podiatric Practice Management. This
is a wonderful profession, and subject to forces
of adversity, as is any other medical specialty.
Podiatry has come a long way and needs to continue
changing with the times. I feel it is the new
“recruits” that will affect the most change. As
with most institutions, the “old guard” is
generally resistant.
I remember my father being on a panel of
practicing podiatrist presenting the profession to
my sophomore podiatry class. At the time he had a
booming practice and loved to give back. One
gentleman on the panel was wearing jeans, old
dirty tennis shoes, and looked like he slept three
hours the night before. Everyone else presented
professionally. There was nothing but enthusiasm
from all on the panel with the exception of one,
and he had nothing but negative things to say. I’m
sure you can guess who that was. At one point my
father had had enough. He pointed at that
individual and said “Remember this. Consider the
source. Look how he is dressed coming here to
represent the profession. He does not represent
our profession.”
I too can’t stand the insurance games and other
nonsense that comes along with it. However, I have
a great practice that does no advertising, and if
I wanted, could make even more but choose not to
because I want a healthy life balance. To be
successful in most endeavors, probably more so in
medicine, you need skills, business sense, and a
personality and presentation to go with it. Short
of that, things may not go so well, but please
don’t present negativity to others if you’re
falling short.
Jon Purdy, DPM, New Iberia, LA
05/29/2025 Ira Kraus, DPM
New Student Enrollment Campaign (Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD)
As a past president of the APMA, I’ve had a front-
row seat to the growing challenges we face in
student recruitment—and I can honestly say that
what we are seeing now with the Foundation for
Podiatric Education's new enrollment campaign is
both refreshing and inspiring.
This is a significant milestone for our
profession. The launch of Phase One of the
national recruitment campaign—developed in
partnership with JPA Health—is a long-overdue,
data-driven, and highly professional initiative
aimed at telling our story the way it deserves to
be told. The campaign will run across Google and
Meta platforms, with all traffic driving to our
new central hub: DiscoverPodiatry.org.
The website, automated outreach tools, videos, and
social content are not just well-produced—they are
purposeful, strategic, and built to resonate with
today’s students. It’s encouraging to know that
Phase Two, a broader omnichannel effort, is
already in development.
Kudos to Dr. Patrick DeHeer, the FPE Board, and
the APMA Board of Trustees for investing so much
time, energy, and expertise into this venture. Dr.
DeHeer is a creative man of action and a dedicated
leader. Our profession needs more people like him—
those who step into the arena, not simply to
critique, but to build.
What’s especially meaningful to me is seeing the
entire podiatric community come together—schools,
stakeholders, leaders—all "circling the wagons" in
a shared mission to ensure our profession grows
stronger, more visible, and more relevant in the
ever-changing healthcare landscape.
Let’s be clear: this campaign isn’t a quick fix.
It’s the product of over 18 months of research and
planning, and it will evolve based on real-time
metrics and feedback. It is a serious investment
in our future—and one we must all rally behind.
I urge everyone to visit DiscoverPodiatry.org,
share it widely, and engage with the campaign. If
we want to attract the next generation of leaders
in podiatric medicine, this is how we start. We
cannot afford to sit on the sidelines. The credit
belongs to those who step forward.
To all involved—thank you. Let’s keep pushing
forward.
Ira Kraus, DPM, Whitefish, MT
05/28/2025 Allen M. Jacobs, DPM
New Student Enrollment Campaign (Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD)
I completed by residency under the direction of
Earl Kaplan and Irving Kanat. At the time,
residencies were not yet widely available. When we
graduated, both Dr. Kaplan and Kanat made it clear
that we were expected to go into the podiatry
community and lead as educators, advancing the
profession. We were told to go forward and
establish residency programs and grow this
profession. Nothing less was expected. At that
time, Kern Hospital had a plethora of dedicated
educators giving their personal time to lecture
and consult and instruct in the OR. We had a
faculty providing a willing example of what was
needed to grow the profession. E. Dalton McGlamry
was doing the same in Georgia. James Ganley in
Philadelphia. Many others throughout the 1970's
whose names I know or do not know were growing
this profession. The residency experience grew
from one to two to three years. The profession
grew.
Do we require a 3-year residency +/- a fellowship?
Some argue no. I disagree. Those of us who
actually instruct residents know that in general,
there is a major increase in capability between
the second and third years. This past week, I
watched a third-year resident perform a perfect
ORIF of an uncomplicated ankle fracture with
minimal direction from me. The week before, I
watched a third-year resident perform a perfect
STJ arthrodesis on a Sanders stage IV calcaneal
fracture, elevating the posterior facet to restore
height, dealing with the complication of
osteopoenic bone, utilizing good judgement and
demonstrating excellent insight and judgement.
Again, little direction was required by me.
Two weeks earlier, I worked with a second-year
resident on a progressive collapsing foot
deformity, with double calcaneal osteotomy and
Cotton osteotomies. The second-year resident was
good, but not ready for prime time. Therefore, I
did much of the surgery teaching as we proceeded.
I observed third years do a perfect pilon
fracture repair, Charcot's joint surgery, and so
on. It also requires time and experience to
perform an adequate Lapidus, or at times even
hammer toe correction, or evaluation and
management of major infectious disorders.
Judgement requires development and experience as
well as adequate manual skills.
Now we are moving into therapies such as
transverse tibial transport for the treatment of
diabetic ulcers in dysvascular limbs. The
"diabetic foot" is more than debridement, negative
pressure therapies, and slapping some unproven
graft material on a wound. Complex surgeries such
as IM nails, external fixation, orthoplastics,
skin grafts, evaluation of multiple comorbidities,
are at times necessary. Three years and a possible
fellowship are needed to master these techniques
mentally and manually.
Those who argue against the 3-year model, in my
opinion, do not understand the complexity of the
cases we are now charged with treating, nor the
complexity of the patients many of us treat. This
is not your father’s podiatry that I entered in
1975. Those who actually work alongside of today’s
residents likely have a comfort level with their
capabilities. Not all, but many if not most. If a
well-trained resident does not wish to practice to
the limits of his or her training, that is fine.
If a well-trained resident wishes to pursue a
fellowship and gain greater expertise and
experience, that is also fine. The profession has
evolved and changed for the better.
In my experience, today’s resident following a 3-
year experience is unrecognizable compared to
those who graduated in 1973 and were luck to
complete a one or rarely 2-year residency.
Podiatry is more than a manual surgical skill. A
podiatrist in actual practice confronts
dermatologic disorders, vascular disorders,
neurologic disorders, rheumatic disorders,
musculo-skeletal disorders, toenails to trauma.
Given someone who desires to do little if any
surgery, there remains a vast bank of experiences
and knowledge needed to be successful as a
clinician in daily practice.
The 3-year residency model is helpful for these
individuals also. We are now trusted with the care
of many patients facing complex medical issues.
Podiatry was not always regarded as being so
capable but is so now. We have a responsibility to
the public to graduate the best educated, not the
minimally educated. I started practice in a world
where a PTs would not honor a DPM prescription,
where a permission slip was required from an MD to
care for a diabetic patient, where referrals from
health care providers to a DPM were uncommon,
where pharmaceutical reps seldom if ever called on
a DPM let alone left samples, where surgery was
severely restricted if you were able to obtain
surgical staff at all. I saw it and observed the
morphogenesis into what we are now.
I have no quick solution to the current
recruitment issues. I know how I am treated in the
hospitals now compared to 45 years ago. I know
what pathology I am referred now compared to 45
years ago. The difference has been the evolved
education and capability of today’s DPM resident
vs. 45 years or 60 years or 70 years ago. There
are those who present a Voltaire-like observation
of podiatry, " if this is the best of all possible
worlds, what then are the others?" As I stated
earlier, this is not your fathers DPM. Let us not
proverbially "throw out the baby with the
bathwater". I am not suggesting complacency or
failure to seek improvement in our profession. I
am suggesting that the current status of our
profession in medicine is not the problem.
Allen M. Jacobs, DPM, St. Louis, MO
05/27/2025 Patrick A. DeHeer, DPM
New Student Enrollment Campaign (Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD)
As a lifelong fan of the Grateful Dead, one of my
favorite lyrics from *Playing in the Band*
resonates deeply with me:
“Some folks look for answers
Others look for fights
Some folks up in treetops
Just looking for their kites.”
I’ve always looked for answers.
I love podiatry. My career in this field exceeded
every expectation, and I remain deeply grateful.
That gratitude has translated into decades of
service to this profession—not out of obligation
but out of a belief that we each have a
responsibility to leave the profession better than
we found it.
The Foundation for Podiatric Education (FPE) was
created by action of the APMA House of Delegates—
our profession’s representative voice—through
Budgetary Action Item 2-23: Podiatric Medical
School Student Recruitment. The FPE Board
comprises representatives from key stakeholder
groups across the profession. After a thorough
review process that included interviews with
multiple analytics and marketing firms, the board
selected JPA Health. Funding has come from these
stakeholders. The campaign is built on over 18
months of research and data analysis. This was not
a rushed or casual effort—it is being executed
with purpose and will be continually adjusted
based on measurable outcomes.
Phase One of the campaign launched this week.
Phase Two will begin in August for the next
application cycle.
You correctly noted the need for a more reliable
metric for podiatric compensation. Unfortunately,
the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data has
long been problematic. It includes resident
salaries and often misses ancillary income streams
like surgery center ownership, consulting, and
private practice profit structures. Many other
commonly cited sources are equally flawed. As a
residency director, I can confirm that my
residents' eventual incomes regularly exceed the
figures listed on the DiscoverPodiatry.org site.
The need for better compensation data is not lost
on those of us working in the trenches.
However, the tone and content of your comments
about the **American Association of Colleges of
Podiatric Medicine (AACPM) is disappointing.**
These are not fair criticisms. AACPM publicly
posts application data each year once the cycle is
complete. There is no conspiracy, no hidden
agenda. The deans, faculty, school recruitment
teams, and AACPM leadership are working tirelessly
—alongside FPE—to address the very real challenges
of student recruitment. The FPE’s *Podiatrists
Move the World* campaign complements AACPM’s *Feet
on the Street* initiative. We’re rowing in the
same direction.
Armchair quarterbacking is easy. Being in the
arena is not.
If you are serious about improving the profession,
I welcome your ideas and help. If you have
actionable solutions, I’m happy to discuss them
with you. But throwing stones from the sidelines
does nothing to support our schools, students, or
future.
To close, I’ll leave you with one of my favorite
passages from Theodore Roosevelt’s speech
*Citizenship in a Republic*, delivered at the
Sorbonne in 1910:
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who
points out how the strong man stumbles, or where
the doer of deeds could have done them better. The
credit belongs to the man who is actually in the
arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and
blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes
short again and again, because there is no effort
without error and shortcoming; but who does
actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great
enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends
himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows
in the end the triumph of high achievement, and
who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails
while daring greatly, so that his place shall
never be with those cold and timid souls who
neither know victory nor defeat."
That’s where I stand. In the arena. Alongside many
others. We may fail, but we will never stop
trying.
05/23/2025 Patrick DeHeer, DPM
New Student Enrollment Campaign
On behalf of the Foundation for Podiatric
Education (FPE), I’m excited to share a
significant milestone in our shared mission to
grow the future of our profession.
This Monday, May 19, we officially launched the
first phase of our national student recruitment
campaign, developed in partnership with JPA
Health. This targeted six-week digital campaign
(running through June 30) will be live across
Google Search and Meta (Facebook/Instagram), all
driving prospective students to our brand-new
website: DiscoverPodiatry.org.
Campaign Phase One is just the beginning—a second,
even more comprehensive omnichannel phase is
planned—but the work is already inspiring. The
website, automated email series, social media
content, and videos are dynamic, professional, and
purpose-driven. We believe these tools will raise
awareness, help shift perceptions, and elevate
interest in podiatric medicine across a broad and
diverse student audience.
Even in these early stages, this campaign is
already fueling new enthusiasm and support from
donors and stakeholders who see how strategically
and creatively we are investing in our future.
What’s Coming Next:
This Week: Campaign launch – paid digital ads go
live. Students who complete an interest form on
the site will begin receiving an automated series
of engaging follow-up emails.
Next Week: A robust FAQ page will be added to the
site to address common questions and
misconceptions about the profession.
Late May: A Partner Toolkit will be shared,
complete with social media posts, videos, imagery,
email and newsletter copy, and more, to help
amplify campaign reach across your networks.
This campaign is designed to reach late-deciding
students, encourage applications, and generate
data on which messages and platforms resonate
best. JPA will continuously monitor and optimize
the campaign’s performance in real-time.
Patrick DeHeer, DPM, Indianapolis, IN
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