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

State Podiatry Associations:
Power in Participation

For years I have been a member of the APMA for whichever state I was living in at the time, but I had never been especially involved beyond the occasional APMA PAC donation or attending a local meeting. It may be surprising from some of my past editorials, but I was never very politically oriented. I figured, "Let those who are interested go to the legislative days or be a delegate. This isn't for me."

Over the past year, I have received an education and am beginning to understand the error of that thought process. About a year ago, I was asked to participate as an office-holder at my local component society of the California Podiatric Medical Association. Dutifully, I agreed, and ended up as the President of my local society. Now, I'll say at the outset this job wasn't quite for me, and I was not an especially good president. My lack of experience with anything political was pretty obvious.

However, now that it's come to the end of my term, I'm able to look back on my year as Prez with some perspective, and attending the recent California House of Delegates meeting has rounded off my very early political education. I have learned quite a few things that I didn't know or appreciate one year ago.

First, and most importantly, the people who take on these leadership roles should be thanked for all of their hard work. The amount of effort that goes into the political side of podiatry is enormous. The number of hours necessary to organize a meeting, initiate a legislative drive, or fight for our continued rights cannot be appreciated enough by those of us who benefit from their efforts. Remember, these are for the most part unpaid jobs that our colleagues are performing beside their clinical lives. For this time, effort, and sacrifice, I personally thank you.

Tonight's Premier Lecture is
Use of Orthobiologics in
Repair of Bony Defects
Lawrence DiDomenico, DPM, FACFAS

Second, what they do for us as members is extremely important. Most of us never see the behind-the-scenes work, the meetings, the arguments, the attempts at gaining influence and creating relationships necessary to successfully accomplish drives beneficial to our specialty. I can honestly say I didn't appreciate this until I finally spent a day at the California House of Delegates. To see the amount of work and the progress made on our behalf was truly eye-opening.

Third, the political process takes money. A lot of money. Let me "bottom line" this for anyone who was as ignorant of the process as I was. In order to get anything done at a national level, say, for example, the fight for your scope of practice, we have to build relationships with those in power – AKA politicians. What does it take to build this relationship? Money. We have to build relationships with other groups, such as the American Medical Association or the American Orthopedic Association. These relationships are very complex and take money. You want influence? Fork over the cash. Don't like that idea? Move to another country. In the United States, money buys representation.

This is why we are constantly bombarded with donation requests from APMA PAC. In the past, I gave grudgingly. Now that I have a slightly more firsthand understanding of the process, the bigger picture, I'll be giving more often and much less grudgingly. I don't have a lot, but if whatever I can give will help my colleagues fight for my own success, then I'd have to be crazy not to give.

I learned that politics is just not for me, but I have friends who love it. To those of you who do, I salute you, and hope you continue to work hard for the rest of us. For those of you who don't think you like politics, I strongly urge you to get involved at some level, even for a short time. You'll be surprised by just how much you didn't know before and how much greater will be your appreciation for both the process and your colleagues. Good luck with your political efforts.