APMA News - April 2012 - (Page 28)

I Forum Builds Profession-wide Consensus on Student Recruitment n late January, the APMA Vision 2015 Committee conducted a forum designed to generate new ideas and foster cooperation for recruiting the best and brightest students to podiatric medicine. The New Ideas for Student Recruitment forum brought together 49 people representing a wide range of stakeholders and helped coalesce student recruitment ideas and initiatives from across the profession. Participants at the forum discussed current student recruitment campaigns and past successes, learned about the Millennial Generation as a target audience, and broke into small groups to capture attendees’ ideas and concerns. One of the key objectives of Vision 2015 is to attract the highest-quality applicants to the colleges of podiatric medicine. The goal is not to increase class sizes or create greater competition within the profession. Instead, student recruitment efforts are designed to allow the colleges a greater selection of applicants in order to increase the quality of those applicants—and, ultimately, students. In keeping with a directive from the 2001 House of Delegates, APMA has led the profession’s student recruitment efforts in recent years, resulting in a dramatic increase in the number of applicants from fewer than 500 in 2003 to close to 1,000 in 2011. Applicants’ GPAs and MCAT scores also have steadily improved during that time. However, when APMA reviewed recent membership surveys conducted for 2011 strategic planning, the data showed members believe student recruitment should be a low priority for the association. Evidence from the surveys also suggested a need to place an increased focus on meeting the expectations of young podiatric physicians. Given these changes, APMA’s strategic goals are shifting away from direct student recruitment. Instead, APMA will continue to focus on promoting podiatric medicine to the public as a specialty and a career. The American Association of Colleges of Podiatric Medicine (AACPM) and the individual colleges will take up the responsibility of targeted recruitment efforts. Forum attendees agreed this division of responsibilities is appropriate and recommended that the profession establish a student recruitment facilitator position at AACPM to coordinate recruitment efforts. The facilitator would arrange and follow up on mentor visits, communicate mentor visit results to schools, arrange mentoring opportunities, maintain a website dedicated to student recruitment, identify target audiences, and track overall results of student recruitment efforts. Forum participants also supported the concept that financial support for the facilitator position should come from all stakeholders. Recommendations from the forum included: A break-out session at the forum. Attendees listen to reports after the break-out sessions. the podiatric medical profession limits the public’s awareness of podiatry as a career option. Participants noted the importance of continuing efforts to inform the public of the core values of podiatric medicine. Promotional efforts also should focus on a younger cohort of students, targeting a high school audience as well as undergraduates. • Shape marketing and recruitment efforts to appeal to the millennial generation Recruitment efforts should focus on the positive characteristics associated with millennials. The strong service orientation of podiatric medicine aligns well with the millennial cohort. Lifestyle is an important issue, as well, given the millennials’ focus on life balance. Shift to individual DPMs as promoters of the profession Many attendees indicated that a focus on promoting the profession to college advisors is ineffective. A concerted effort should be made to focus on students, not advisors. • • Enhance public awareness of the profession Unlike larger health-care professions, the modest size of 28 APMA News April 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of APMA News - April 2012

APMA News - April 2012
In This Issue
Contents
Gen Z and myFEET
Dr. Caporusso’s Inaugural Speech to the House of Delegates
The Nuts and Bolts of Your House
Residency Genesis: A Priority for the Profession
Forum Builds Profession-wide Consensus on Student Recruitment
APMA By the Decade: 1942–1951
Profiles in Progress: Postgraduate Education
2011 Podiatric Practice Survey: Insurance Plan Participation
Infection Control Issues in the Podiatric Setting
Committee Member Acknowledgements
Federal Advocacy Forum
APMAPAC Chair Report
IT Consultant
Visit the Nation’s Capital for The National
Annual Scientific Meeting Preliminary Program
Annual Scientific Meeting Registration Form
Annual Scientific Meeting Sponsors
Website Wisdom
Technofile
Small Business 101
APMA All Stars
In Short
Worthy of Note
Affiliates Corner
List of Affiliated Organizations
Insurance Advisor
New Members
Death Notices
APMAPAC Update
Development Update
Awards Nominations
Classified Advertising
Dates to Remember
Advertising Index
10 Questions
Your APMA

APMA News - April 2012