The First Podiatric Medical Education Issue for the New Millennium

It has been a very long time since JAPMA sponsored an issue specifically dedicated to podiatric medical education, and even longer since this profession has had a periodical devoted to disseminating information on education from a broad perspective. During the past several years, the idea of again producing an issue on education was discussed on several occasions among JAPMA’s editorial board. However, it wasn’t until a few enthusiastic podiatric medical educators from colleges around the country stepped forward and created the right climate that it became a reality.

It is a great pleasure for me to be given the opportunity to bring this special issue of the Journal to you that focuses on medical education for the first time in many years. The editorial advisory board and the Journal staff, under the leadership of your editor, Warren S. Joseph, DPM, have invested considerable time and effort to provide you, members of the podiatric medical profession, with pertinent, up-to-date information consistent with evidence-based medicine relevant to your area of specialization. To that end, numerous faculty members of many of our colleges of podiatric medicine accepted the challenge of demonstrating to the profession how each school, college, or program was making remarkable progress in improving the quality of education and producing the type of outcome measures that this profession needs in the 21st century.

To meet the challenges of the 21st century, our programs, schools, and colleges have strengthened their respective curriculum models and improved admission standards; today they are attracting the best and brightest candidates to become future podiatric physicians and surgeons. Several of the articles in this edition address important information on admissions standards, learning tools and technologies, academic advancement, and graduation rate predictability. Patient safety and bioterrorism in medical education, professionalism, external validation of curriculum, and other topics that may be of interest to the profession are also discussed.

We sincerely hope that you will enjoy this different approach in contributing to the podiatric medical literature. Be assured that we plan to provide more information in the future that addresses podiatric medical education not only at the college level but also at the graduate medical education and outcomes effectiveness levels.

Remembering a Mentor

I would like to take this opportunity to recognize a friend and colleague, Richard Bogdan, DPM, who recently passed away after a prolonged illness. Richard was born and raised in Linden, New Jersey. For those of you who did not get a chance to know Richard, he was a graduate of the California College of Podiatric Medicine (CCPM), class of 1972. He completed a 2-year residency program and received a Master of Science Degree in podiatric surgery and medical education while training at the Pacific Coast Hospital and CCPM. It should be noted that CCPM was very fortunate at the time to hold the distinction of being the only college of podiatric medicine to operate its own hospital as an integral part of student and resident training in hospital surgical education. On completion of his residency training, Richard accepted a position as an assistant professor and part-time faculty member in the Department of Podiatric Biomechanics at CCPM, and he became an effective clinical educator for many students from 1974 to 1983. I had the pleasure of having Dr. Bogdan as one of my mentors, first as a student in the hospital and clinic at CCPM and then as a podiatric medicine and surgery resident and biomechanics fellow. His wisdom, insight, and enthusiasm for podiatric medicine helped enhance my experience as a professional and served as a catalyst for my career as a practitioner, educator, and academic administrator. He was always available to give of his talents in support of the educational process whenever called on to do so.

Richard also ran an active private practice in the East Bay Area where he resided in Concord, California, until the early 1980s. Between 1983 and 1990, Richard seized an opportunity to venture to Perth, Australia, as a faculty member in the Department of Podiatry at Curtin University of Technology, becoming a senior lecturer and, ultimately, director of biomechanics in 1988. He was then recruited by the Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine as a faculty member in the Department of Podiatric Biomechanics and became an integral part of the educational process in that department from 1991 to 1993. He returned to California and took on the challenge of graduate medical education at North Hollywood Medical Center in 1994, where he served as director of residency training, and authored several landmark publications and contributions to the textbook Hallux Valgus and Forefoot Surgery.

He returned to Australia and worked for the Sir Charles Gaider Hospital Podiatry Service and was a clinical senior lecturer at the University of Western Australia until his illness forced his retirement in 2011. He died on April 24, 2012, after losing his battle with mantel cell lymphoma at the age of 68, in Perth, with his wife and family present.

Dr. Bogdan was a friend, a colleague, and, most of all, a mentor. He freely gave of his time and expertise to all of the students and residents fortunate enough to have him as a mentor. He embodied the essential traits that inspired me to become an educator, researcher, administrator, and practitioner in one of the greatest professions known to man—podiatric medicine and surgery.

Rest in peace, Richard.