A Shout for Women DPMs, and a Cheer for Equality

This month, I would like to take the opportunity to showcase some of our women podiatric physicians and recognize their outstanding contributions to our field. Much has been made of the fact that I am the first woman president of APMA, and those who know me well know that gender has not been an issue in my political career. No one should be judged or treated differently based solely on gender, race, or religion. We should all be held to the standards and quality of the care that we provide to our patients based on the degree each of us has attained. At the present time, the membership of APMA is approximately 12,000 and of that number nearly 20 percent are women. Of these female members, 20 percent are older than age 50 and 75 percent are younger than age 50. These statistics graphically show the trend now being seen in our colleges of podiatric medicine.

I am “Today’s Podiatrist,” and I had the unending support of a strong mother who always told me that if I could dream it, then I could do it, and that gender should not be an issue. When I graduated in 1985, there were 25 women in my class. Today, more than half of our podiatric medical students are women. More important than just numbers of women is the critical role that these colleagues are playing in all facets of our podiatric profession. From academics, to hospital medical staff positions, and to community involvement, these women have juggled families and careers to achieve great goals. I would add, however, that with the ever-changing world of what defines the nuclear family today, many of our men practitioners also carry the workload of raising children and balancing it with a full-time practice.

I recently have received two communications, one from a female podiatric physician who retired at the age of 90. She wrote me to congratulate me on my presidency. The other came at the recent Region 3 meeting where I met a woman podiatrist who, at the age of 88, still wanted to come to the meeting in order to stay in contact with her peers. She said she wants to keep her finger on the pulse of the profession. Both of these pioneers were the only women in their respective classes in podiatry school, and both were so very proud of our profession and its incredible growth.

When I began my practice, and even as a student and a resident, there was more discrimination and harassment in all facets of business and practice life. I would hope that with time and education regarding the moral wrongs of discrimination, this trend has lessened or vanished. We know, however, that should small pockets of discrimination continue, it is incumbent on each and every one of us to protect our students, residents, and fellow physicians and to be vocal about our intolerance for even a hint of it.

My first foray into the world of politics came in the early 1990s with a group of women who began the American Association for Women Podiatrists (AAWP). It was started as a support system when there were only one or two female students in our schools’ classes. So much has changed and AAWP grew to include many women who wanted to play a much more significant role in our profession and to become leaders in so many areas of podiatric medicine.

Each and every “Today’s Podiatrist,” I am proud to say, is well represented by both men and women and have become assimilated into local and national politics, education, and research. These colleagues are being recognized for their contributions, special talents, and not their gender. The tokenism of the past has been replaced by simply selecting the best person.

The future is very bright for podiatric medicine and the opportunities we see before us are endless. We must speak with a loud and clear voice and educate every person we come in contact with every day that we are “Today’s Podiatrist,” and we are the best!