Paying It Forward

At Thomas Jefferson High School, I took AP Chemistry with Mrs. Matta. At the end of the year, she posed a drastically different assignment than her usual gnarly problem sets. She prompted students to envision their future in 5 years. She asked questions like “What would your typical day be like if you chose _________ as your career?” This assignment called us to be deeply honest with ourselves and what we wanted out of life at that moment. As an 18-year-old who still had not decided on what undergraduate program I was attending, I was stressed to plan my life out in an essay of no more than three pages. I did not realize that this assignment would lead me to the world of podiatric medicine and surgery.

Later that evening, I stumbled across a video – called “Podiatry: The Best Kept Secret in Medicine” and was shocked that a path as such even existed. Upon finding out that I could choose a career that would allow me a balance between the operating room and the clinic, I was pretty set. What is still ironic to me is the title of that video. Why was podiatry a secret? If everyone knew about this field, why weren’t they flocking to become a part of it? Now I look back on that rainy day in mid-May, sitting in my childhood bedroom researching everything I could about podiatry, realizing that I was lucky to have stumbled upon that video when I did. I am currently in my second year of podiatric medical school, and it shocks me that many of my colleagues did not know this field existed until much later than high school. We are realizing as a collective that it is vital to introduce this career path to students from a younger age. As I started my undergraduate degree, I shadowed podiatrists in my area and noticed something remarkable. They each made me feel like I belonged. 

Whether in the operating room or a clinical setting, I knew from how they treated newcomers that they loved the profession and wanted more good people to enter it. Podiatric medicine has a longstanding tradition of passing the torch from mentor to mentee. As current podiatric medical students and physicians, it is up to us to ensure that this flame does not burn out and podiatry is not kept a secret.

Our profession is currently experiencing a student recruitment crisis, which is worrisome in many ways. So when I got word about the work TUSPM students Grace Jurgiel and Jeneen Elagha were doing with PICA, I was elated. TUSPM’s Chapter of PMA (Podiatric Medical Advocacy) has partnered with PICA to tackle the recruitment crisis. This partnership aids current TUSPM students in visiting students at the high school and collegiate levels and presenting to them what podiatry has to offer. Along with contributing to travel costs for the students to make this possible, PICA has provided participating students with consideration for one of three $500 scholarships to put towards attending a podiatric conference of the student’s choice. Opportunities as such do not come along often, and not taking advantage of the financial assistance and effort that went into the partnership would be a disservice to the field.

In December 2022, I returned to Thomas Jefferson High School to share the world of podiatric medicine with my alma mater. I was nervous about presenting on a profession that I had just scratched the surface of myself, but I was shocked and touched at the turnout of students who attended my presentation. I presented during two different personalized learning sessions to students taking Mrs. Hannon’s Anatomy class, a class I took my sophomore year at TJ, and Mrs. Matta’s AP Chemistry class. It was fulfilling to mention anatomical structures of the lower extremity and see excited students following along. Once I started walking the students through a case study, I knew that my journey there to speak about podiatry had been worth it. At the same time, some students turned away during pictures showing wet gangrene and aggressive debridement, more than I expected, and looked on in amazement. This opportunity brought forth by PICA and TUSPM’s PMA chapter prompted me to do something out of my comfort zone, and I could not be more thankful. I plan on returning to Thomas Jefferson High School whenever I visit home and would like to incorporate hand-tying workshops or other hands-on events as I develop more skills as a podiatric medical student. It was incredible to teach young minds about my future career. I urge my colleagues to participate in this initiative. I am hopeful that the efforts put forth will pay it forward and attract more amazing individuals into our field of medicine.

A special thanks to Dr. Eric Freiwald, DPM; Dr. Lynne Haubelt, DPM; and Dr. Stanley Bosta, DPM for warmly welcoming me into this field! And HUGE thank you to Mrs. Matta, Mrs. Hannon, and Mr. McClain for showing me how rewarding science can be.