March 14, 2022

At the 2022 APMA House of Delegates meeting (HOD) in Washington, DC, on March 13 leaders participated in a Townhall Forum. The following topics were covered:

• Student Recruitment: Sabrina Minhas, DPM, (PA Delegate) led a discussion of a proposal from Pennsylvania to address current recruitment needs at the nine colleges of podiatric medicine by having state components work with local undergraduate institutions to provide lectures and information on careers in podiatric medicine and surgery. There was also discussion of how individual podiatrists can best recruit new students to podiatric medicine and surgery. Members and non-members are encouraged to sign up for the DPM Mentor Network by clicking "Update Contact and Mentor Info" under My Account on apma.org.
• Trustee Patrick DeHeer, DPM, presented on psychological safety in medical education.
• Delegates were asked to discuss strategic planning priorities in preparation for APMA’s strategic planning session in June. The topics they raised for further consideration by the APMA board and staff during strategic planning were:
  • Member recruitment 
  • Growth of the profession (student recruitment)
  • Combating external threats to the profession
  • Recognizing internal threats to the profession
  • Effective use of technology to educate the public about the profession
  • Student loan repayment