One hundred years ago, in July 1912, 225 charter members gathered to organize a national association dedicated to the needs of practicing chiropodists. Today, what they started has become a thriving association of more than 12,000 podiatrists. Our professional organization has endured for a century, advancing podiatric medicine, its practitioners, and their patients every step of the way.
As we enter our second century, APMA will again demonstrate its endurance as we move swiftly toward 2015. This organization will continue to execute our plan to achieve Vision 2015, in part by breaking down barriers between ourselves and other professions. Relationships with vascular surgeons, family practitioners, internists, orthopedic surgeons, and other physicians will be more important than ever as we work toward our goals. Each and every one of us can educate these stakeholders by building positive working relationships with them. It’s up to us to remind our fellow physicians just how desperately they need us: A new report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce finds that the demand for health care will grow twice as fast as the national economy over the next eight years, creating a need for 5.6 million more health-care workers (Carnevale A, Smith N, Gulish A, et al: Healthcare Executive Summary. Available at: http:// cew.georgetown.edu/healthcare/. Accessed June 21, 2012).
Build a network of referring physicians that will not only benefit your practice, but also your profession. Get involved in your community; make connections at your hospitals; and make time to participate in local health-care organizations. If every podiatrist made the effort, we would not only endure, but excel.
Another way in which APMA is guaranteeing our endurance and excellence is by enfranchising the youngest members of our profession. We’ve revamped our strategic plan to include a renewed focus on Young Physicians, engaging them with new communications, new events, and new benefits. We continue to involve Young Physicians in the committee structure at APMA, and we work actively to identify and groom future leaders.
I look forward to celebrating the 100th Anniversary of our association. I hope you’ll all join me in celebrating this landmark. Take time to reflect on what this association and its members have done for our profession over the past century. Then, take some time to reflect on what you can do in the next century to make them proud.
