Jarrod Shapiro, DPM
Practice Perfect Editor
Assistant Professor,
Dept. of Podiatric Medicine,
Surgery & Biomechanics
College of Podiatric Medicine
Western University of
Health Sciences,
St, Pomona, CA

Old Friends – New Opportunities

Last week, I had a wonderful surprise that I want to relay to all of you out there in medical land. I'm going to tell my little story, not just because it's a nice one (and we all need positive stories in our lives), but also because it elucidates the potential power of our social interactions.

So, here's my story...

When I started podiatric medical school in 1999 (I know what you're thinking and no, we didn't party like it's 1999), I made friends with a certain student. We became quite close. Just as in war, we suffered together and became closer as a result. But at the end of our second year, my friend decided podiatry school was not for him, and he decided to leave. As happens all too often, my friend and I lost contact. The only thing I knew was that he was hoping to apply for pharmacy school. We went our respective ways and life moved on.

Fast forward almost eleven years.

About two weeks ago, I received an email announcement from one of my colleagues at Western University about an upcoming lecture. Being part of a university with 9 colleges and 22 programs lends itself to the potential for a large number of noontime lectures. I was about to delete the email when I scrolled down and actually looked at the announcement. To my surprise, I saw the lecturer was a PharmD PhD candidate who happened to have the same name as my friend from a decade before!

Tonight's Premier Lecture is
Bone Tumors of the Feet: Benign
Bradley Bakotic, DPM, DO

Of course, it would have been too much of a coincidence for it to be someone else, so I changed my schedule around in order to attend his lecture. On the day of the lecture, I arrived late and quietly sat in the back. Other than some slight changes, he looked exactly the same as I remembered him.

At the lecture's end, I walked up to him to re-introduce myself. He looked at me for a second without recognition and then all of a sudden his eyes lit up, and he said, "NO WAY!!!" He was so surprised to see me, I thought for a second he was going to have a heart attack.

Later that evening, we went out to dinner to catch up. As it turned out, my friend not only went to PharmD school, but he also got a Master's degree and was about to defend his dissertation for his PhD. He'd spent a significant amount of time doing clinical research in the pharmaceutical world and had a strong expertise in study design and biostatistics.

I mention all this because of the larger issue here. It's not just a story of two old friends meeting up after a long period of time. More significantly, our new found relationship is an example of the potential power of collaboration. You see, my friend, after his excellent training, has a set of skills that I lack. Similarly, I have a set of skills he lacks. Together, though, we have the capacity to do useful work and will be planning to do just that in the future.

podiatric medical profession - health care team

This is perhaps the most important lesson I've learned as part of a larger academic institution that heavily emphasizes interprofessional care and collaboration. One thing the podiatric medical profession does well is work with other members of the health care team. This is especially true in the wound healing realm, where we're used to working with various specialties.

It's also a product of our profession being largely referral-based. It's difficult, if not impossible, to build a podiatric practice in isolation.

I urge all of us to not only continue with this interprofessionalism, but to expand our network of colleagues. The research realm is one example where we can greatly benefit from a greater interaction with others outside our field. How many of us are trained in research methodology and biostatistics, for example? The work started by Dr. Armstrong and continued by Dr. Wu at CLEAR, for example, is an excellent beginning and an effective model for us to emulate in other arenas outside of wound care. I would urge all of you to study the ongoing series by PRESENT Editor Robert Frykberg, DPM, MPH in Residency Insight the last few weeks, on statistics in Research, entitled The Power of Numbers. It's very good. It's high time for us to use our networking skills to advance our profession.

This, I think, is the best first step to true parity – create the highest quality research. This can only be done most effectively by leveraging that which is our best asset: the ability to work with others. Consider that the next time you speak with your rheumatologist friend or internist referring source. Our power is in our network.