Our Mentors


by Jarrod Shapiro, DPM
PRESENT Resident Editor
Botsford General Hospital
Farmington Hills, MI

Good day, colleagues. We’re getting ever closer to graduation this year. For us third years, we’re all looking forward to our next step into practice with mixed emotions. We’re joyful to finally be on our own, with no one standing behind us, telling us what to do. But we’re also nervous to finally be on our own, with no one standing behind us as a safety net. Personally, I can’t wait to have my own patients and be completely responsible for all of my own medical decisions. Some people might be worried about this new autonomy, but I’m not, and I attribute this to excellent training, specifically from two of my attending mentors during residency.

Both physicians, though different in style and approach to podiatry, are similar in many ways. First, they have an unerring dedication to resident training. Working with residents is one of their passions. They are truly excited and interested by the interactions they have with their residents, and it’s this interaction that makes them stay current and motivated. They also treat their residents with respect, rather than belittling and degrading them. We’ve all dealt with these types of people; they’re all too common in surgery and are usually ineffective teachers.

Second, and most importantly, these physicians have required me to make my own decisions. I’m expected to be ready for the cases I scrub and the patients I see in clinic. If a problem occurs during a case, I have to be able to get myself out of it. For those of you who have attendings that take the knife away at the first sign of trouble, you know this doesn’t teach you anything. These attendings let me go during a case (as long as what I’m doing has a reasonable thought process behind it). This is the reason I can look forward to practicing without any trepidation.

These two attendings have not only provided me with the didactic and clinical education to make my own decisions, they have acted as the example of what a podiatric physician should be. I have attempted to emulate this example with my coresidents and the students who rotate through our service and plan to take these lessons into practice. Physicians like these, who dedicate their experience, time, and caring, provide a long lasting service to our community, making it better one new physician at a time.

Do you have a mentor at your program, an attending who has taught you how to be an excellent podiatrist? Perhaps it’s another resident who’s a mentor. Write in and recognize that person or persons. Have a great week and good luck to those of you taking the ABPS qualification exams this week.

Speaking of mentors. Here’s a public service announcement and a chance for you to mentor July’s incoming residents: