5X College of Podiatric Medicine student Tonda Wooten has been chosen to serve as liaison between the American Podiatric Medical Student Association and the Board of Trustees of its parent body, the American Podiatric Medical Association. In this position, Wooten will serve for the next three years as the podiatric student voice in all scheduled American Podiatric Medical Association meetings.
The American Podiatric Medical Association’s meeting is a venue whereby students and their senior network of podiatric physicians, who are members of the association, interact with a focus on current and imminent issues regarding furtherance of the podiatric medical education and profession.
Wooten was elected to the position by the House of Delegates at the association’s Mid-Winter 2013 meeting in Nashville, Tenn. Wooten was among three candidates interviewed for the role. All nine college members of the American Podiatric Medical Association send delegates to the meeting.
“I am excited about this opportunity and the ability to represent my colleagues,” says Wooten. “My overall goal as the student voice is to get input on what the students want and the direction they want their field to go.”
Some specific goals that she has are student membership and creating a program that identifies students who want to get involved with the association after graduation and their residency.
“The Kent State community is honored with Tonda Wooten’s election from the nine national colleges of podiatric medicine to serve as the students’ representative regarding educational and professional matters,” says Lois Lott, assistant dean of student affairs at Kent State’s College of Podiatric Medicine.
Students Speak About the Successful Merger
The College of Podiatric Medicine, located in Independence, Ohio, became a part of Kent State after a merger last summer aimed at providing the best education and training for podiatric students.
Wooten says a personal benefit of the merging of the College of Podiatric Medicine and Kent State is the opportunity for research collaboration.
Podiatric medical student Christopher Schank, class of 2014, says Kent State is committed to continuing the excellent reputation that the Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine (former name of the college) carries with it.
“I believe that having the Kent State reputation and name recognition will prove to be a great asset to our students,” Schank says.
Amy Miceli, class of 2014, says one benefit of the merger is the expansion of their library resources.
“The largest benefit is the community awareness and the recognition of the name Kent State,” Miceli adds. “There are only nine podiatry schools in the nation, and people will recognize Kent State when applying.”
For more information about Kent State’s College of Podiatric Medicine, visit www.kent.edu/cpm.