08/26/2025    Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD

Podiatric Groundhog Day

I came across the book “The Evolution of a
Profession: The First 75 Years of the American
College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons,” written by
historian Kenneth Durr, PhD with Jerome S. Noll,
DPM, EdD, FACFAS. It can be downloaded as a PDF at
http://podiatrym.com/go.cfm?n=14846

I suggest that everyone concerned about the growth
pains podiatry is experiencing read the salient
parts of the 180 page book (first 90 pages) to
come to the conclusion that as we grow, we keep
getting in our own way, stumbling over our own
feet, and continue to be jealous of those that
have a little bit more. Except for our growth in
podiatric knowledge and scientific/procedural
advancements, we are right where we were in the
1950s and 60s. They argued about certification,
(at one time ACFAS was the certifying agent), who
had the requisite cases and what were they, who
got grandfathered, what was the experience needed
to operate and lacking such credentials, it kept
podiatrists out of the hospitals.

Was becoming certified part of a clique which
allowed those certified access to insurance plans
and ultimately who should decide and what was
CPME’s role in all this? What were the
requirements to sit for the exam and were they too
stringent keeping others out of the club. And of
course, the author addresses the resistant folks
who retained the DSC degree, those who wanted an
MD degree and various reasons why the early
joiners to the movement felt it necessary.

The battle with orthopedic surgeons started the
day chiropodists used a scalpel perpendicular to
the skin, let alone wanted to operate on the holy
of holies, a bone. Even which bones became a
source of contention.

As I finished the historical section of the book,
the 1955 song by Pete Seeger popped into my head
and he was right in asking,” Where Have all the
Flowers Gone?” It was always a war.
Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD, Columbus, OH

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