Positive Solutions

by Barry Creighton (no login)

I have been reviewing the messages on this board regarding the profession and Dr. Brian Gale. I would like to comment on some positive aspects of Podiatry and its accomplishments, since I have worked for a large Orthopaedic group and have gained a little perspective from it.

For starters, it is quite amazing that a relatively very small profession was able to make the strides it has to even become physicians. You realize that the first vote allowing us to become DPM's failed, that one chiropodist withheld his decision so that he could again bring the issue up for vote, and when he did it was passed. (At least that is how I understand it.) That is remarkable; we weren't formed by a split off from the MD world like the DO's were, so we didn't have the same base to stand on that they did. We were a very small group of non-surgical, palliative care professionals. That this profession has made the progress it has, clearly outflanking
professions with far more people and resources such as nurses and physical therapists, with relatively scant resources by comparison is remarkable.

I think many of us, including myself, have graduated or graduate without any appreciation for the efforts and
resultant accomplishments that others have achieved for us and all of us. I note too often that graduates of PSR
12's, 24's, and the like finish their residencies and go out into the world looking down their noses at their older,
and less trained, counterparts. However, in doing so they fail to extend their gaze the rest of the way down to
their feet. For if they did, they would see that the reason they are able to look down at the their counterparts is
because they are standing on their shoulders.

Because of such short sightedness, arrogance and division creeps into the profession. With such shortsightedness
also comes a self-imposed form of career limitation for the perpetrators themselves. They fail to realize that part
of their overall success depends on the success of their the rest of their peers. 

They do not really understand that for them to reach their full potential, ALL of their peers must also be able to
reach theirs. When inter-professional turf wars start, as they will inevitably from the creation of artificial barriers to
professional advancement (i.e. board certifications, etc), wasted resources, energy, and total-profession
advancement ensues. This allows for other professions, such as nurses, CPeds, PT's to catch up with us, which
they are and fairly rapidly. 

Instead of the wasted energy going to create barriers to inter-professional peers' careers, the energy should go to
helping lift up their peers through peer to peer training efforts. If instead of fighting each other, we helped each
other, the energy would go to construction rather than destruction. We would grow as a whole and that growth
would again allow us to outflank the other professions without the need for artificially placed legislative barriers.

There is a mistaken perception that growth comes through legislation and power. In an open economy, that is a mistaken assumption. Growth comes from quality and efficiency and nothing else. I've seen many advocate the legislation of barriers of other professions into our "turf." At the same time, we seek the further progression of our profession in the "turf" of other professions such as Orthopods, Rheumatologists, dermatologists, etc. Artificial barriers are wrong because they limit competition. If we seek to limit others, then we limit ourselves by those same arguments. Do you like it when your choices are undermined by a dominant competitor in the market. In
the 1970's, on the whole American car's stank. That was because Detroit realized they could make low quality cars and then make more off the necessary repairs that would result. They mistakenly assumed that this situation would not change. Japan, on the other hand, realized a market opportunity by making quality cars at market efficient prices. Who won that battle?

That should be our overall goal, to increase the overall professional quality of Podiatric care (and that means all Podiatrists). By limiting your compatriots, you ARE ultimately only limiting yourself. There will be the Japan's who will not make that mistake and overtake us if this continues.

What can you do? Seek for equal training of all your compatriots. If you desire further training in a particular area, that's great, we can have fellowships to do this. THIS IS HOW THE OTHER MEDICAL SPECIALTIES DO IT THAT WE SO WISH TO EMULATE. Secondly, encourage those who actively seek to block the continued growth of your professional peers to redirect their energies to helping them instead. Perhaps the student organizations could pool their resources and help Dr. Gale, for example. What happens to him, could and likely will happen to you. This is just another example of interturf wars that are damaging this profession as a
whole. 

Alas, the choice of action or inaction is yours/ours.

Barry Creigton DPM

Posted on Oct 24 2000, 9:38 AM
from IP address 199.174.241.223