A New Direction For ‘The Forum’ And Greatest Hits From Dr. McCord
When I first started working on Podiatry Today about eight and a half years ago, I found myself trying to find and recruit a variety of podiatrists to be regular columnists for the magazine. John McCord, DPM, was the first columnist to come on board.
Dr. McCord had an idea for a regular op-ed column that would largely draw upon his experiences in the podiatric profession. This turned into the “Forum,” which is certainly one of the most well read columns in the magazine.
With the “Forum,” you may read a salient commentary on a political issue in podiatry, funny tales from the office about non-adherent behavior from patients or the occasional recipe for marinated salmon. Whatever the topic, Dr. McCord has given us a distinctive voice grounded in principles and lightened with a deft sense of humor.
This month, Dr. McCord will be retiring from private practice. With this in mind, we have been discussing a new direction for the column in 2009 and have decided to have a rotation of regular columnists for the “Forum.” Dr. McCord suggested adding a student perspective, a private practice perspective and an academic perspective to the mix.
Accordingly, I am pleased to say that Camille Ryans, Megan Lawton, DPM, and Kevin Kirby, DPM, have agreed to become “Forum” columnists for 2009.
Ms. Ryans is a third-year student at the Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine.
Dr. Lawton is in private practice in Naples, Fla.
Dr. Kirby, one of the leading voices on podiatric biomechanics, is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Biomechanics at the California School of Podiatric Medicine at Samuel Merritt College.
While Dr. McCord is retiring from practice, he will not be retiring from Podiatry Today. He has agreed to stay in the mix and pen three “Forum” columns next year as well.
In appreciation of Dr. McCord’s contributions over the years, I’d like to share just a couple of favorites below.
In “Learning About Surgeons From A Narcissistic Cat” (March 2005), Dr. McCord found some comparisons between his cat Bob and some narcissistic surgeons at his local hospital: “Bob is preoccupied with success and litters our doorstep with dismantled rodents. The surgeons drive sports cars and upscale SUVs.”
In “Staying Claim-Free During The Malpractice ‘Crisis’” (June 2002), Dr. McCord shared his secret for why he had not been accused of malpractice even once during 27 years of practice: “I have stayed claim-free by following the 300 percent rule. I am 100 percent honest with my patients. I practice within the scope of my training and experience 100 percent of the time. I try to be 100 percent compassionate when my patients are suffering, especially if an error on my part has added to their pain. That’s 300 percent.”
In “Did You Hear The One About The Bigoted Patient?” (June 2006), Dr. McCord dismissed a crude patient from his care after he had made a racially insensitive remark to his receptionist.
“My partner is a Mormon and married to a lovely Mexican lady. My office manager’s daughter has an African-American father. My receptionist is Asian. My son is married to a Korean lady and I have a beautiful granddaughter from that union. I am an Irish Catholic and don’t mind really funny Catholic jokes if they are told by Catholics. Priests and nuns tend to know the best jokes.”
The staff of Podiatry Today would like to thank Dr. McCord for all the wisdom and laughs he has given to readers over the years with the “Forum” column. We wish Dr. McCord all the best in his retirement.
