08/30/2013    

RESPONSES / COMMENTS (RESIDENCY SHORTAGE CRISIS) - PART 1

RE: I Want to Work as a Podiatrist (Sarah Montgomery, DPM)

From: Ivar E. Roth DPM, MPH

I firmly believe the more residency training the better. Three years makes for a true foot and ankle professional. Having said that, there are many practitioners and students/residents out there who really do not want to pursue the surgical aspect of our profession. I propose the following: Allow a pathway for these individuals to do a general one-year medical internship. In addition to the medical internship, require a minimum of one-year of residency in the specialty area that they would like to practice in, whether it be biomechanics, palliative care/dermatology, sports medicine, infectious disease, or all of the above. These one-year programs should allow one to be designated as a board-certified expert in that particular sub-specialty area.

 

These graduates would have a limited license and not be allowed to perform any hospital-based surgery, and thus would have no surgical privileges other than what they could perform in their own office. With this arrangement, these practitioners would refer their potential surgical cases to the foot and ankle surgeons. Foot and ankle surgeons would be encouraged to send their non-surgical cases to them.

 

This would be a lot like the general dentists and the oral surgeons; both are dentists, but their practices are distinctly different within the same profession.

 

Ivar E. Roth DPM, MPH, Newport Beach, CA, ifabs@earthlink.net

Other messages in this thread:

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09/05/2013    

RESPONSES / COMMENTS (RESIDENCY SHORTAGE CRISIS) - PART 1

RE: I Want to Work as a Podiatrist (Elliot Udell, DPM)

From: Greg Aposperis, DPM

Dr. Udell asks how dentistry can have subspecialties but podiatry has only talked about it for 30 years. The answer is that, according to government statistics, there are 191,941 dentists practicing in the U.S., as of November, 2012.

Government stats also state there are approximately 16,000+ podiatrists practicing in the U.S. If this number is further divided, our impact on foot health will be diminished. Additionally, government stats note that many "baby boomer podiatrists" will be retiring just when the need for podiatrists...

Editor's note: Dr. Aposperis' extended-length can be read here.

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09/04/2013    

RESPONSES / COMMENTS (RESIDENCY SHORTAGE CRISIS) - PART 1

RE: I Want to Work as a Podiatrist (Dale Feinberg, DPM)

From: Stephen Peslar, BSc, DCh, CAPD

I was amused at Dr. Feinberg's suggestion, "if I want to be insulted and belittled, I can just have a friendly conversation with my local orthopedic surgeon."` Back in 1983, I bumped into a friend on the subway who was attending medical school. He asked, "So how's your pedicurist course going?" I responded with, "What can you tell me about tetralogy of Fallot?" "Why do you have to know that?" he asked with a surprised look on his face. I responded with, "it's in our pathology course and part of the curriculum." He walked away without chatting any further. I`m sure many podiatrists have had similar experiences whether as undergrads or as grads trying to network with MDs or orthopods.

Stephen Peslar, BSc, DCh, CAPD, Toronto, Canada, pezpied@hotmail.com

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09/03/2013    

RESPONSES / COMMENTS (RESIDENCY SHORTAGE CRISIS) - PART 1

RE: Unmatched Residency Placements Currently Stand at 80

From: Amram Dahukey, DPM

For the past few months, I read so many articles and letters regarding the lack of residency programs for all graduates. Some even want to reduce requirements for licensure so that graduates can get licensed without a certified program. This will only erase all the progress of our specialty in the last few years.

Much blame has been placed on various persons and organizations. I believe that the problem is going to worsen in the next few years. The etiology of this problem is...

Editor's note: Dr. Dahukey's extended-length letter can be read here.

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08/31/2013    

RESPONSES / COMMENTS (RESIDENCY SHORTAGE CRISIS) - PART 1

RE: Unmatched Graduate of the Day

From: Joseph D. Pasquino, DPM

First, I want to thank the PM News for "putting a face" on the unmatched graduate problem through its publication of biographies. Second, in today's PM News classifieds ads, Dr. Carl Cortese has advertised his efforts with his own preceptorship program. This type of notice helps to encourage others to step up to the plate. Pennsylvania currently has eight doctors who are employing preceptor/fellows, with three more considering it.

We need doctors who can open their practices for a preceptor/fellow. The directions and suggested documents are available on the public section of the Pennsylvania Podiatric Medical Association's website, ppma.org. We can all help these graduate doctors while the problem of residencies is being resolved.

Joseph D. Pasquino, DPM, President, PPMA, jdpasquino@comcast.net

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08/22/2013    

RESPONSES / COMMENTS (RESIDENCY SHORTAGE CRISIS) - PART 1

RE: I Want to Work as a Podiatrist

From: Sarah Montgomery, DPM

My name is Sarah Montgomery and I graduated from TUSPM in 2010. I chose TUSPM because I went to  Temple for my undergraduate education and when I visited the podiatry school, it felt comfortable, as if everyone were there to support each other. When I interviewed there, the school made it clear that everyone would match with a residency program, so there would be nothing to worry about once graduation rolled around.

Unfortunately, I found out that that was not the case. I asked during the lengthy (and expensive) residency application process what would happen if I did not match and was told to....

Editor's note: Dr. Montgomery's extended-length letter can be read here.