01/10/2013    

RESPONSES / COMMENTS (SUCCESS TIPS FROM THE MASTERS) - PART 1A

RE: The Residency Shortage (Paul Kruper, DPM)

From: Richard H. Lanham, DPM

Firstly, podiatric medicine was only short 60 residency slots this past year to have everyone placed. Secondly, allopathic medicine has far more problems with placement than does the profession of podiatric medicine. Unless students have a 4.0, they are not going to be able to obtain their first selection, and are going to their second to fourth choice to obtain a residency.

Allopathic and osetopathic medical schools are expanding at a phenomenal rate in the U.S. There are so many schools that it is obvious to any educator that quality students will no longer be filling our medical schools. Your profession is working very hard to see that a three-year residency is available for all students. The Council on Podiatric Medical Education of APMA will not allow additional colleges of podiatric medicine to open until all capacity for current students is fulfilled. Is it a tragedy for current graduates? Yes, I believe so. Is the profession trying to resolve the issue? Yes, it is. Under the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), we have only seen the tip of the iceberg.

Richard H. Lanham, DPM, Indianapolis, IN, shirley.lanham@att.net

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01/12/2013    

RESPONSES / COMMENTS (SUCCESS TIPS FROM THE MASTERS) - PART 1A

RE: The Residency Shortage (Paul Kruper, DPM)

From: Trevor Neal, DPM

I have dealt with the residency shortage issue firsthand. A couple of years ago, a recent graduate contacted me stating she had matched for a residency with the Army, however because she had skin cancer (which was successfully removed 4 years prior), she did not qualify for the program since the Army required her to be cancer-free for 5 years. In her graduating year, 20 students did not get a residency, and the following year was even worse, making it nearly impossible for her to match. It would be like trying to get drafted in the NFL after being out of college for a year. When she contacted me, she was working for a grain company for $12 per hour with her student loans bearing down on her like a freight train.

Since our group has 4 doctors and 4 clinics, I felt we would be able to generate enough cases to qualify for...

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