In his opening to David Copperfield, the great novelist Charles Dickens once wrote: “Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show." I often think about this quote and how it applies to my life and my career. I sometimes wonder, who will be the hero in my story?

As physicians, we have a unique opportunity –and responsibility—to make a difference, not only in the lives of our patients, but in our communities as well. This is particularly so regarding the practice of podiatric medicine and surgery. It never ceases to amaze me how many people suffer from foot or ankle pain, and how debilitating these conditions can become. Our ability to help patients overcome their pain and discomfort can significantly increase the patients’ quality of life, which should be our ultimate goal.

This is your time. Who will you be?

For those of you in the Metro Washington DC area, there will be a Breast Cancer 3 day walk-for-a-cure Oct 3-5, 2008, and they are currently looking for volunteers, especially for the medical stations.

If you haven't had the opportunity to participate in an event like this, I highly recomend it --it will remind you why you wanted to be a doctor in the first place.....

I would suggest that another great opportunity for involvement is to start an Amputee Support Group at your local hospital. I have helped lead these groups in San Antonio and now in Washington DC. They do not require much of your time but can be a great asset to the patient who is in need of peer to peer support...

One notable quote that I remember vividly is from Paul Brand 1914 -
2003. "I have never made much money in my lifetime of surgery, but I
feel very rich because of patients like these. They bring me more joy
than wealth ever could. And they bring me hope for other suffering
people." Dr. Brand grew up as a missionary in India as served there for
many years as a hand surgeon. He later worked at the Hansens
Disease Center in Louisiana. There he studied biomechanics of
deformity of hands and feet in these neuropathic patients and
subsequently developed amputation prevention footcare techniques
which are used to treat patients with diabetes.

There are so many great role models in podiatry today.  There is David Armstrong, Irv Kanat, John Steinberg, George Liu, Lee Rogers, just to name a few.