APMA News - March 2012 - (Page 30)

GUEST EDITORIAL Why I Want to Be a Podiatrist When I Grow Up BY IRVIN O. KANAT, DPM I t took years of discussion and introspection before the profession and the APMA House of Delegates finally agreed upon a definition of podiatric medicine, as recently as 1991. Podiatric medicine is that profession of the health sciences concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of conditions affecting the human foot, ankle, and their governing and related structures, including the local manifestations of systemic conditions, by all appropriate systems and means. some collection of letters and designations that are, in the final analysis, most satisfying only to ourselves. It has often been said that podiatric medicine has filled the void left by the medical profession. Are we now to forget our roots while hoping to achieve some higher status (more in our own minds than in the minds of others) in an attempt, So, what does that tell us? And more importantly, what does it tell the public we serve? Our profession’s role in health care can properly be defined as a niche: A small but profitable segment of a market suitable for focused attention. We are small in comparison to allopathic and osteopathic medicine; profitable based on each practitioner’s drive, experience, and competence; and focused on that segment of human medicine to which the profession historically has been dedicated. Add to those characteristics the achievements of our small and focused group of professionals over the previous 125 years. We achieved these advances in response to a public need and by virtue of individual motivation, not because of How appropriate would it be to continue to prove … that we have achieved and deserved respect, recognition, and parity by continuing to prove our merit and abilities … no doubt destined to fail, to placate our fleeting and misstated desires? Instead, how appropriate would it be to continue to prove to the entire medical community, to the public, and to ourselves, that we have achieved and deserved respect, recognition, and parity by continuing to prove our merit and abilities, and not merely by rearranging the seats on the deck? To paraphrase Steve Jobs, in his directions for success, “Do what you love. Love what you do. Don’t play the victim. No one can do it for you.” n 30 APMA News March 2012

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

APMA News - March 2012
President’s Message
Contents
Joseph M. Caporusso, DPM: The Anything-is-Possible President
Meet the Candidates for the Board of Trustees
APMA By the Decade: 1932–1941
Profiles in Progress: Hospital Privileges
2011 Podiatric Practice Survey: First Year Associate Salary
Guest Editorial: Why I Want to Be a Podiatrist When I Grow Up
Federal Advocacy Forum
APMAPAC Chair Report
IT Consultant
Website Wisdom
Small Business 101
CPME Update
Sheer Scope: No Meeting Can Match The National
Annual Scientific Meeting Preliminary Program
Annual Scientific Meeting Registration Form
Annual Scientific Meeting Sponsors
APMA All Stars
In Short
Worthy of Note
Affiliates Corner
List of Affiliated Organizations
Insurance Advisor
New Members
Death Notices
APMAPAC Update
Development Update
Resolutions Submissions
Awards Nominations
Classified Advertising
Dates to Remember
Advertising Index
10 Questions
Your APMA

APMA News - March 2012