Reflections on Four Decades of Being a Podiatrist

In this last in the series of Forum articles which I have written for Podiatry Today over the past 15 years, I wanted to share a few of the factors that have affected and motivated me over the past 40 years since I graduated from podiatry school in my role as a podiatrist and podiatric educator.

First of all, one of the earliest motivating factors during podiatry school was simply being around so many brilliant and talented individuals who formed the members of our Class of 1983 at the California College of Podiatric Medicine. Not only did we have a large number of dedicated distance runners that formed the first ever “CCPM Pod Squad Running Club,” we also had many talented personalities who put on some epic end-of-the-year “roasts,” which entertained our podiatry school professors at the end of our school years. In fact, many believe that our class, the CCPM Class of 1983, was one of the more accomplished podiatry school classes of all time since it includes 2 future American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA) presidents, many well-known lecturers and authors in the fields of podiatric surgery and biomechanics, and numerous podiatric residency directors. With all of these high-quality individuals in our class leading by example, it would have been hard for me not to also have been motivated to do well as a podiatrist.

Another factor that played a very significant role in my motivation to accomplish as much as possible, as soon as I could, during my years as a podiatry student, podiatry resident and podiatric practitioner, was a totally unexpected and dangerous medical diagnosis, a malignant skin cancer. After the biopsy and wide excision was performed to remove the skin cancer early in my junior year at CCPM, I was given a 5% chance of dying within the next 5  years. Being that this scary diagnosis came at a time when I was in peak physical condition, it obviously came as quite a shock. However, I believe that being forced to contemplate my mortality at the relatively young age of 25 has significantly motivated me, whether consciously or subconsciously, to get the most out of every day during the unknown number of years that remained in my life.  

Another motivating factor for me to be the best podiatrist I could be was my early practice situation. After completing my podiatric surgery residency and my biomechanics fellowship in 1985, I moved back to my home town, Sacramento, and began practicing with a group of orthopedic surgeons. Even though, today, it is quite common for podiatrists to practice along with orthopedic surgeons in large multi-disciplinary medical groups, I was one of the only podiatrists practicing in a private orthopedic surgery group during that time in my community. This early practice experience, for me, was a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate, to a sometimes-skeptical group of orthopedic surgeons, how a skilled podiatrist could increase the prestige and value of an orthopedic practice within the medical community at large. I was always highly motivated to show my orthopedic partners just how good a podiatrist could be, not only in surgery, but also in helping their patients and their practice.  

It is also important to acknowledge how having a supportive and loving wife over the past 43 years has motivated me in my podiatry practice. My wife has always been there for me and our family and has been a valuable confidant during difficult times. My motivation to work hard as a podiatric physician has come easily when I consider that my long hours of work in podiatry and podiatric education have helped her and rewarded her for all she has done for me, and my family, over the years. I’m very certain that I couldn’t have done and accomplished near as much in my professional life without her by my side.

All in all, if I wanted to summarize what has driven me in my life as a podiatrist and podiatric educator over the past four decades, the words of George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) explain it very well:

“I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it what I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.”

Thank you, podiatry, for a great profession and a wonderful life.

Dr. Kirby is an Adjunct Associate Professor within the Department of Applied Biomechanics at the California School of Podiatric Medicine at Samuel Merritt University in Oakland, Calif. He is in private practice in Sacramento, Calif.

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