APMA News - May/June 2018 - 48

Today's Podiatrist
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Increase the number of visits to APMA's foot health awarepril is Foot Health Awareness Month. This year, APMA
ness campaign website and interaction on social media
decided to refresh its Today's Podiatrist campaign.
channels during the month of April
As part of the campaign, we assigned a research
Educate prospective students about the multifaceted cacompany to gauge the public's foot and ankle issues, as well
reer that podiatric medicine provides
as their perception of podiatry as a whole.
Foot Health Awareness Month provides APMA the perfect
opportunity to educate the public about today's podiatrists'
Key Messages
expertise on the foot and ankle
and their ability to effectively diBefore you perform an interagnose and treat conditions affectnet search to fi nd out why
ing the lower extremities.
your feet hurt, take a look at
This year's campaign provided
our resources and how today's
new educational materials for
podiatrist can help. Today's pomembers and patients, including
diatrist is the most qualified
an online resource page, infoFoot Health Awareness
physician to treat foot and angraphic poster, customizable FootMonth provides APMA the
kle conditions.
prints newsletter, shareable infor81 percent of obese Americans
mational videos, digital toolkit,
perfect opportunity to educate
say they experience painful
and more. A combination of adthe
public
about
today's
foot ailments. If you are oververtising tactics and media relaweight and have foot pain, see
tions, consumer outreach, and
podiatrists' expertise on the
your podiatrist today.
member outreach tactics were used
foot and ankle and their
48 percent of US adults say
throughout the month to reach tarthey experience pain from
get audiences.
ability to effectively diagnose
their footwear. Today's podiaand treat conditions affecting
trist can help you pick out the
right pair of shoes for your
Target Audiences
the lower extremities.
foot type.
75 percent of US adults expeAmerican adults
rience foot problems. Remember-foot pain is not norAPMA members
mal! If you're experiencing foot pain, make an appointReferring physicians and other health-care providers
ment with a podiatrist.
Nail problems are the most common type of foot ailment
among US adults. Learn more about how you can prevent
Campaign Objectives
them and when to see today's podiatrist.
Look for the "DPM." DPM stands for "Doctor of Podiatric
Educate target audiences about today's podiatrists' expertise
Medicine" and means the physician has completed years
on the foot and ankle and ability to effectively diagnose conof specialized foot and ankle training.
ditions affecting the lower extremities
Are you interested in helping heal painful conditions and
Educate target audiences about the prevalence of lower-eximproving a patient's quality of life? Then consider a career
tremity conditions across generations
in podiatry!
Inform target audiences that if they are overweight or obese,
they are at risk for having more than one painful condition
The "Today's Podiatrist" campaign took place April 2-30,
of the foot or ankle
but resources remain at www.apma.org/todayspodiatrist for
Encourage patients via traditional and social media messagmembers' use. A full recap of the month's activities will appear
ing to consult an APMA-member podiatrist if they have any
in the July/August issue of APMA News.
n
type of lower-extremity condition
Teach other physicians, such as primary-care providers, that
if they have a patient who has a lower-extremity condition,
they need to refer their patient to a podiatrist
To learn more about how you can get involved, contact
Provide APMA members and state component societies with
the APMA Communications department.
tools and information they can use to educate their patients

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48 APMA News May/June 2018

http://www.apma.org/todayspodiatrist

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of APMA News - May/June 2018