APMA News - January/February 2024 - 12

You are a residency director. Why is
it a priority for you to be involved in
training the next generation of podiatric
physicians and surgeons?
I became a residency director in 1994 and have
been [one ever] since. My passion has been for
teaching; I love to teach, so it was natural to me to
go out and teach residents. The only way our profession
can grow is by educating our young members.
If they come out the smartest and best, they
will pass that down to future young physicians. It
makes me so proud that there are other residency
directors who came out of my program.
Education is dear to my heart, and I think it
goes both ways. In my family, I have two young
members: my son and my daughter-in-law. I
listen to their problems and concerns, and that
makes me more attuned to young physicians'
needs as a leader. Their problems are our
profession's problems.
influences. Working on those two committees had
a big impact on me and how I was able to have an
impact on the membership.
How has service on committees and
the board prepared you to lead the
association?
My service has taught me to listen to the membership-to
listen, to think, then respond. I think
listening is the most important element of being a
leader. Then you act, listen again, and if you didn't
have the positive impact you wanted, you go back
to the drawing board and try again.
We ask each cohort of the Emerging
Leaders Program to define their
leadership philosophy. Talk a little
more about your own leadership
philosophy.
My leadership philosophy is centered around the
value of belonging to a group. I want to show
our members the value of working together. As
president of [NYSPMA], my motto was, " Together
we can. " By working together, we can accomplish
a lot, even if we are not all on the same page. It's
okay to disagree, but when it comes down to it,
we all need to come together and work together.
Individual members should understand that when
they have a problem, they can come to their
national organizations or state representatives.
When we tackle it together, we can help build the
profession up.
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apmanews
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2024
My son told me early in his career that he didn't
want to be political. He's now president of the
Kings Division. It's so important for our young
physicians to be involved. I would also love to
see more residency directors get involved and
understand the importance of APMA because
they are so close to our youngest physicians and
their priorities.
What will be the focus of your
presidency?
Unifying the membership and the profession.
Getting the American Board of Foot and Ankle
Surgery [ABFAS] and the American Board of
Podiatric Medicine [ABPM] together. Showing
the membership that the more we have in numbers,
the stronger we will become to get things
accomplished.
I also want to promote better communication
from our [Board of Trustees] to the membership
and from the membership back to the board.
Better communication will help unify the profession
to make it better.
In the wake of the announcement by
APMA Executive Director and CEO
James Christina, DPM, that he will
retire at the end of March, APMA will
be recruiting and hiring a new CEO
during your term. What are your priorities
for this transition?
I think a new CEO will need to be a team player-someone
who can work with me, the board,
and the staff. The other thing I expect is for the
APMA News - January/February 2024

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