APMA News - February 2012 - (Page 38)

Young Voices By Erin Klein, DPM Catching the Research Bug Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. –Winston Churchill One of the focuses of fellowship is research. Although some fellows are more passionate about it than others, most fellows conceptualize, organize, implement, measure, present, and publish significant research during their year(s) of fellowship. Research is near and dear to my heart; I have long believed that being a scientist and being a doctor have more similarities than they do differences. I think that sometimes we visualize the “research scientist” as the person in the basic science lab who has stand-onend white hair and thick bifocals, who gets very excited about a new experiment that may or may not make sense when he or she explains it, and who has more of a resemblance to the absentminded professor than Dr. McDreamy. However, as physicians who practice in the ever-changing world of modern medicine, we have the potential to do research every day. How does that work? Let me explain. Every day we go to work. Every day we see patients. Every day we recommend treatment plans for patients with pathology and problems of the foot and ankle. By simply analyzing whether or not treatment plans are working, we’re performing research. While this research is not a placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized control trial, it is, and can progress to, significant research that furthers evidence-based lower-extremity medicine. If treatment plans are working, the astute practitioner asks, “How can I make this better?” In doing so, the practitioner is fine-tuning the minutiae of treatment to optimize patient outcomes. If treatment plans are not working, we ask why they are not working and what could be done better or differently to improve patient outcomes. By asking these questions, looking to the literature for answers, and using logic and solid clinical reasoning, we analyze treatment regimens to determine success, the need for fine-tuning, and the need for improvement. We live in a world that is pushing for more evidencebased medicine. Research conducted by the podiatric medical community is extremely important. As a profession, we treat the foot and ankle better than anyone else. However, if we as a community do not publish studies demonstrating how we can optimize patient outcomes, the rest of the medical community may never know how awesome we really are. With that in mind, I have dedicated a great portion of the past few months to working on multiple research studies. It has not always been an easy process. Some days required me to rethink commonly accepted truths. Other days included multiple “light-bulb” moments filled with excitement for what we were finding and even more excitement when we began to think about the positive impact the findings could have on patient outcomes. I am thrilled about the opportunity to continue this work and present it over the course of the next year. n Contact Dr. Klein at eek@weil4feet.com. Have a gripe? A compliment? A response? A question? Share it with us! APMA News accepts letters to the editor. If you have something to say and would like your letter to be considered for publication, contact Peggy Tresky at pstresky@apma.org. 38 APMA News February 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of APMA News - February 2012

APMA News - February 2012
President’s Message
Contents
APMA Social Media: 2011 Success and 2012 Stategy
The National in 2012: Celebrating 100 Years Advancing Podiatric Medicine
APMA By the Decade: 1922–1931
Profiles in Progress: Student Recruitment
2011 Podiatric Practice Survey: Sources for Patient Referrals
Confronting the Residency Shortage
Reimbursement
Federal Advocacy Forum
APMAPAC Chair Report
IT Consultant
Website Wisdom
Technofile
Young Voices
Small Business 101
APMA All Stars
Awards Nominations
In Short
Worthy of Note
Resolutions Submissions
Affiliates Corner
List of Affiliated Organizations
Insurance Advisor
New Members
Death Notices
Annual Scientifi c Meeting Registration Form
Annual Scientific Meeting Sponsors
APMAPAC Update
Development Update
Classified Advertising
Dates to Remember
Advertising Index
10 Questions

APMA News - February 2012