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Today's podiatrist has the necessary education and training to treat all conditions of the foot and ankle and plays a key role in keeping America healthy and mobile while helping combat diabetes and other chronic diseases.
Your feet are excellent barometers for your overall health. Healthy feet keep you moving and active. They are quite literally your foundation. In this section, learn more about APMA Seal-approved and accepted products, proper foot care, common foot and ankle conditions, and how your podiatrist can help keep you and your feet healthy.
APMA is the only organization lobbying for podiatrists and their patients on Capitol Hill. As the voice of podiatric medicine to your legislators and regulators, APMA is active on a variety of critical issues affecting podiatry and the entire health-care system.
Several key initiatives were addressed today during APMA's 94th House of Delegates in Washington, DC.
AACPM—Robert Yoho, DPM, chair of the American Association of Colleges of Podiatric Medicine (AACPM), offered a report today on the status of podiatric medical education. He reminded delegates that CPME caps total combined enrollment at the nine accredited colleges of podiatric medicine at 680 students, a 10-percent decrease from past years.
Dr. Yoho urged the profession to continue marketing and recruitment efforts to increase the number of applicants to colleges. The current ratio of applicants to seats is 1.52, compared to 2.40 applicants to every seat at allopathic medical schools and 2.68 applicants for every seat at osteopathic schools. “That’s not a healthy ratio,” Dr. Yoho said. “We need to increase applicants,” he said, in order to increase the quality of students.
Dr. Yoho also addressed the residency shortage. There are 549 2014 graduates participating in this year’s CASPR-CRIP match process and 557 active residency positions, meaning there are more than enough positions available for the class of 2014. There are many applicants from previous classes still seeking a residency position, however. Dr. Yoho thanked APMA, CPME, the Council of Teaching Hospitals, and everyone involved in residency genesis for what he called “an extraordinarily successful year in generating new residency programs,” but reminded the house that the ultimate goal is to achieve enough residency positions for 110 percent of the number of eligible students.
Residency Facilitation Initiative—Edwin Wolf, DPM, who heads up the Residency Facilitation Initiative at the AACPM Council of Teaching Hospitals, reported on residency genesis today, as well. Dr. Wolf thanked CPME for fast-tracking evaluations and expediting the residency approval process. He advised the house that in addition to the programs and positions developed over the past year, there are 21 prospective sites working on applications to CPME.
CPME reports that in the year since the 2013 match:
CPME has approved 12 new residency programs with 20 positions;
16 existing programs accepted CPME’s offer to increase the number of available positions for a total of 16 new positions;
five approved residencies sought CPME’s approval to increase available positions for a total of five positions;
six new residency programs with a total of nine positions are eligible for on-site evaluation; and
CPME has an application for one additional new program with two positions.
Vision 2015—Phill Ward, DPM, chair of the Vision 2015 Committee reported on the progress of APMA’s initiative designed to establish parity for podiatric physicians. For a full report card on progress toward achieving the five primary goals of Vision 2015, see the February issue of APMA News.
Dr. Ward exhorted states to get involved, particularly in developing relationships with state allopathic and osteopathic associations. He also noted that APMA’s commitment to parity will not be time-limited. “As our goals change and the health-care profession evolves, we will continue to follow the Path to Parity in 2015 and beyond.”
Physician and Surgeon Joint Task Force—Steve Wan, DPM, and Michael Cornelison, DPM, delivered a report on the Physician and Surgeon Task Force in California Monday. The task force is working to evaluate the education and training of podiatrists in California to prove that they are equivalent to the education and training of allopathic and osteopathic physicians.
The California Medical Association has been enfranchised in the initiative and is in support. The template will be available to other states for use, and Drs. Wan and Cornelison anticipate that much of the work will not have to be recreated.
“This project is an example of real-time enactment of APMA’s Vision 2015,” Dr. Cornelison said. APMA President Frank Spinosa, DPM, agreed, thanking California for its contribution and saying, “APMA is proud to have supported your effort. We feel it could be one of the most important cogs in the Vision 2015 wheel.”
Legislative Advocacy—Legislative Advocacy Committee Chair Seth Rubenstein, DPM, shared an update with the House of Delegates today on the development and progress of the Helping Ensure Life- and Limb-Saving Access to Podiatric Physicians (HELLPP) Act. To learn more about the HELLPP Act and to contact your legislators to encourage them to cosponsor this important legislation, visit APMA's eAdvocacy website.
APMAPAC—PAC Chair Barney Greenberg, DPM, reported on the progress of APMAPAC and reminded delegates of the Team APMAPAC slogan: Teamwork + Commitment + Meaningful Donation=Political Action. Dr. Greenberg urged members of the house to contribute to the PAC and reminded them of the importance of political action in advancing podiatric medicine’s legislative agenda.
Dr. Greenberg also awarded his APMAPAC Chair Award to Michael Schwartz, JD, longtime executive director of the Florida Podiatric Medical Association for his outstanding political action.
APMSA—Byron Peck-Collier, a third-year student at the Western University of Health Sciences College of Podiatric Medicine and president of the American Podiatric Medical Students’ Association, thanked the delegates for allowing him to be the voice of the students and for the support to APMSA at its 60th anniversary. He particularly noted APMSA’s appreciation for the commitment of the profession to residency genesis, and he encouraged APMA to continue its work on the issue. “We are not in a blame game, and we do not want to regress,” Peck-Collier said. “APMSA is in full support of a three-year residency.”
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