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DEVELOPING A RESIDENCY PROGRAM
IN
PODIATRIC MEDICINE AND SURGERY
ONE MAN’S PERSPECTIVE
By
Jay
Lieberman, DPM
The Council
on Podiatric Medical Education publishes a document known by the
cryptic initials CPME 330, which outlines the requirements for
development of residency programs in Podiatric Medicine and
Surgery. This is a well thought out document that ensures that
the proposed site will provide all the necessary assets that are
required in a training program.
Now in my
seventh year as a Director of Residency Training, I recall the
two and a half year process that resulted in my hospital
sponsoring a residency program. My strongest allies at that
time were the Council of Podiatric Medical Education, Chester
Evans, DPM and Jack Nelson, DPM of the Barry University College
of Podiatry. Both of these gentlemen possess incredible
knowledge regarding residency genesis, and were of immense help
in sheparding me through the residency program development
process. From these two experts, I learned that there is
nothing more important in creating a successful outcome in this
process than the clear presentation of the benefits to all the
involved parties.
From the
hospital’s perspective, there are a great number of benefits
associated with sponsoring a podiatric residency training
program. Aside from the prestige, hospitals receive generous
direct and indirect funding from the Center for Medicare and
Medicaid Services (CMA). In most cases, a resident does not
cost the hospital anything. In fact, in addition to the labor
that a resident provides, most hospitals profit by their
presence. The government, our profession and many hospitals are
anxious to see more programs in podiatric medicine. Podiatry is
one of the few remaining professions that has no cap on the
number of full time residency positions that can receive GME
funding. A hospital can add podiatric residents quite freely,
with the only cost being increased administration. I highly
recommend that someone with an intimate knowledge of GME funding
be present when proposing the idea of developing a residency
program to the administration of your hospital.
The resident
serves many roles for the hospital. They are part time
physician assistants and often the primary treating physician in
a busy emergency room. They also serve as a first assistant in
the operating room, and they are generally a very valuable
assistant to all foot and ankle surgeons. As a result, the
hospital is more efficient and requires less adjunct staff.
Our
residency program has been embraced by the administration,
medical staff, hospital personnel and in particular, the
orthopedic community. Today’s well educated podiatry residents
serve as first-rate ambassadors for our profession. Our numbers
for surgical cases and activities dramatically increased once we
brought educational activities into the hospital. This has
certainly been an added benefit.
We recently
had our second on site review at Northwest Medical Center.
During my first review, I hoped not to expose flaws in my
program. This time around I was looking forward to flaunting
all that we achieved.
Our hospital
and our residency program have achieved a beautiful synergy that
should endure for years to come.
The pool of
applicants to Podiatric Medical Schools has declined in recent
years. and there are currently a sufficient number of residency
positions available for all of the graduates. We, as a
profession, should not be lulled into a false sense of security
regarding the situation. It is imperative that we continue to
strive toward increasing the quality and availability of post
graduate training programs. We must keep our most talented
surgeons and teachers involved in educating our next generation
of ambassadors
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