Jeffrey DeSantis, DPM

This post was written by Jeffrey DeSantis, DPM; APMA Trustee.

On a not so sunny Southern California day, I quietly snuck three vehicles into my private and gated community. It was 6 a.m. and the sun hadn’t come up yet. It was better for the cars to arrive then, as it meant less questioning from the neighbors.

The convoy consisted of two cars and one modified mini-truck thing everyone called the “storm chaser.”  I was a little concerned about the “storm chaser”, there aren’t any trucks quite like that in my neighborhood, but we got it past security and I had no complaints from my neighbors.

So why in the wee hours of the morning is a “storm chaser” truck sneaking into a community famous for its perfect weather year round? To film APMA’s latest student recruitment video, “A Day in the Life of Today’s Podiatrist.”

The infamous “storm chaser” mini-truck

The “storm chaser” belonged to a motley crew of San Diego film guys more concerned with awesome film production than fancy vehicles. This is how the video shoot began.  Very cold scrambled eggs were involved, too.

After several months of planning, writing, scouting, and preparing to film, I was selected by APMA staff as the subject of the video. APMA worked closely with me, as well as expert film company Braun Production, Inc., to bring the concept into reality.

Filming the final scene, after 12 plus hours of shooting!

It was a long day, including 12 hours of filming, but it was also a lot of fun to be a part of the video. Student recruitment is very important to me personally; the future of my profession relies on these young people in podiatry school right now.

My video, along with the video featuring Tomorrow’s Podiatrist, student Brett Waverly, are tools created by APMA as part of the Today’s Podiatrist campaign. By highlighting the profession and promoting podiatrists as physicians and surgeons, I believe these videos will help convince more students to consider careers in the ever advancing field of podiatric medicine.

I hope in some small way I’ve contributed to growing podiatric medicine and that my participating in the video encourages at least one person to choose it as their career.  It’s a decision I’m glad I made, and who knew I’d have a “storm chaser” parked in my front yard years later because of it?

Watch my video, below, and visit APMA’s YouTube channel to see the video featuring Brett Waverly and other great videos.