New Beginnings

Happy New Year! This is an exciting time of year—full of fresh potential and renewed energy. At APMA, we’re renewing our commitment to our many goals for the podiatric profession.

First and foremost, we have a brand new Congress that was sworn in on January 3, including our own Rep. Brad Wenstrup, DPM. His election is a milestone for our profession, but we must not forget that not every freshman in the 113^th Congress understands our issues, our education and training, or our needs the way Dr. Wenstrup does.

APMA will renew its legislative efforts in the coming months. We must reintroduce our Equity and Access for Podiatric Physicians Under Medicaid (Title XIX) bill in the new Congress, and we must once again educate our legislators in order to garner their support for the legislation. Every APMA member must be a part of this process! Visit APMA’s eAdvocacy site (www.apma.org/eAdvocacy) to send messages to your new (and veteran) legislators. Arrange to meet with them when they are in their districts. Take advantage of the materials APMA offers on its Policymakers’ Resources page (www.apma.org/policymakers) to help familiarize your lawmakers with your profession and your expertise.

APMA also is renewing its commitments to the goals of Vision 2015. Our Vision 2015 Committee has been hard at work evaluating our progress toward this strategic vision for the profession. We have accomplished so much: We’ve enhanced our residency education, conducted a massive (and ongoing) public education campaign, and increased the number of applicants to our colleges.

There’s still much to be done, however, and most of that work must take place at the grassroots level. APMA component societies and individual members must reach out to state medical and osteopathic societies to build local relationships. The more of these relationships we establish, the better our health-care colleagues will understand our education, training, and experience. Please take advantage of individual connections you may have to these local societies, and share those connections with your state component. Encourage your state leadership to be aggressive in pursuing these relationships.

On a national level, APMA is renewing its commitment to building relationships, as well. In December, APMA held a meeting with the National Health Service Corps (NHSC), during which we discussed the fact that podiatrists largely are excluded from the NHSC’s student loan repayment program. It was a positive conversation, and just the beginning of what I hope will be a very productive ongoing exchange with NHSC.

APMA also met with the American Academy of Family Physicians to discuss ways in which our legislative agendas coincide and how we can work together. This is an important burgeoning relationship for APMA with our primary care colleagues.

I hope you are enjoying the renewed energy that comes from a new year! Please join me in making a renewed commitment to APMA and its many efforts to advance our profession.