11/22/2025    Christian Robertozzi, DPM

ACGME Recognition – A Small Step to Parity

Being under the ACGME umbrella by itself will not
give us parity. However, it is a step in that
direction, the same way that mandating a three-
year podiatric residency program was a step in
that direction. Medicine is a team sport. Podiatry
must be able to bring something of value to the
table and demonstrate its worth.

When I applied to my local hospital, there were no
podiatrists who had OR privileges. At my interview
I was told to apply to the other local hospital 15
miles away. They initially granted me bedside
privileges. For three years, I appealed it until I
finally got OR privileges. When I went to do my
first case, the chief of anesthesia greeted me
with a 10-minute lecture why podiatry doesn’t
belong in an OR. He ended his oration with, “We
don’t want your kind here.”

For the next two decades, I volunteered when the
hospital was looking for committee members. I
would ask the chairman of the committee what they
expected of me in that position. Then, I made sure
that I exceeded their expectations. I went to the
Surgery Department and Medical Staff meetings.
Then one day, a member of the Executive Committee
of the Medical Staff came to me and told me that
they wanted me to be on the Surgery Department
Committee.

The members of the Surgery Department and Medical
Executive Committee feel that I would do well in
that position. The Surgery Department has all the
surgical specialties in the hospital except OBGYN.
I was elected by the Surgery Department to be
Vice-Chair. As luck would have it, in my second
year as Vice-Chair, the Chief of Surgery became
very ill and was out of commission for the rest of
his term. I filled the end of his term as Chief
and my two years. I was then asked to become part
of the Medical Executive Committee. I was elected
by the entire medical staff (about 500 members at
the time) to be on the Medical Executive
Committee, eventually becoming Chief of Staff.
That was 15 years ago.

We now have almost 800 physicians on staff. There
are plenty of physicians that the Medical
Executive Committee can recruit. Last year, they
came to me again to be on the Medical Executive
Committee. This time I turned them down because I
am working on a national health care reform bill.
The point of the story is that podiatry must do
small things well and prove our value. Once that
happens, we will be accepted by the “big kids”
because we are bringing value to the table. By
participating in ACGME and meeting their
expectations, we can continue down the road to
parity. It will not happen overnight as we know,
and ACGME by itself won’t do it.

Christian Robertozzi, DPM, Newton, NJ

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