“To Join or Not to Join”…This is one of the key decisions that you will be faced with when you graduate from residency and move into practice. What I am referring to here is the decision to establish membership in our professional associations within Podiatry…these include APMA, ACFAS, ACFAOM, etc.  As a student and resident, you may have enjoyed the benefits of these organizations via a special category of membership, but as a practitioner, you will be asked for annual dues payments in order to continue your membership. While APMA and others have a steeply reduced membership rate during the first several years of practice, the annual amounts can still be quite sizeable and you might be tempted to put off this expense.  I would urge you not to put this off.  Membership in our national associations is a key part of being a podiatrist and will serve you throughout your career. The benefits of each association are easily reviewed on their web sites and in their various publications. Most importantly, there is power in numbers and we can only affect positive change in the healthcare world if we are represented and seen as a cohesive group.

The American Podiatric Medical Association really serves as the national backbone of our professional existence. The APMA enjoys a very high percentage of membership (~80%) in comparison to other professional organizations in medicine such as the AMA.  Advocacy, representation, public relations, and education are just some of the items that our national organizations do for Podiatry everyday.  As a practitioner who is board certified by the American Board of Podiatry Surgery, you will be well served as a Fellow in the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons. If you are board certified by the American Board of Podiatric Orthopedics and Primary Podiatric Medicine, then you will be well served as a Fellow in the American College of Foot and Ankle Orthopedics and Medicine.

If you add it up, you will find that, year after year, these organizations pay for your dues many times over through their unique benefits and the advocacy with CMS and other key governmental organizations. So go ahead, ask the membership office of any of these organizations “What Have You Done For Me Lately?”…they will be happy to give you an answer!

If you have something you would like to suggest for a topic for a future Residency Insight, please email it to me at jsteinberg@podiatry.com