03/29/2013    Parent of Podiatry Student

104 Applicants Not Matched for Residency Positions (Lawrence Oloff, DPM)

I am disturbed that the student’s point of view
has not been discussed. As the parent of a
current student, I have to bring up what is
happening in the schools now. The students are
freaking out over this. The rumors flying around
are that the pathway to fixing this problem is
to fail as many of them as possible, if not
through the 4 years, then by making the boards
harder to pass. This is totally unacceptable.
They are stressed enough getting through the
rigorous curriculum without having to worry
about residency shortages.

When our child was applying, we were told time
and again that “everyone who passes the boards
gets a residency.” First, we have to make sure
that someone is overseeing this to protect all
of our students. We need transparency: we need
to know the number of students who entered each
class (for the last 6 years or so), how many
dropped out, how many were added after the class
began (for example, failed one year and re-
entered), how many graduate, how many passed the
boards and how many got a residency and how many
residency applicants are applying from prior
year classes. We also need to know how many
approved and functioning residency positions
there are.

As to solutions:

1. The first step is to immediately move back
the requirement for 3 years of residency until
such time that there are enough positions.

2. Change Vision 2015 to Vision 2020. Include in
Vision 2020 the need to closely link admission
rates to number of residency positions.

3. Or perhaps consider changing the 3 years
of “residency” requirement to 3 years “post
graduate training” – which would allow 1 of
those years to be a preceptorship. Change some
of the 3 year residency programs back into 2
year programs and link them to a preceptor year.

4. Put a temporary limit on the number of
students accepted into the schools until the
residency shortage resolves, and ensure that all
current students will not in any way be
sacrificed.

5. It is not acceptable to “fix” the problem by
failing current students at a higher rate than
previous years. This is not the fault of the
students.

6. The schools must accept responsibility and
not accept students just to get increased
revenue from tuition. If there are too many
students, why accept more students in January?

This problem should be addressed by the schools
with honest, open discussions with the students.
All students get PM News and are reading about
this problem. They should be assured by the
schools that there will be no attempt to fail
students to solve this problem.

Finally – there are rumors that schools are
handling this problem differently. Some schools
are intentionally trying to force students out
by lowering grades so more fail, but other
schools take the opposite track – inflating
grades so their graduates have a better chance
of getting a residency.

Parent of Podiatry Student

Other messages in this thread:

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03/30/2013    Michael J Marcus, DPM

104 Applicants Not Matched for Residency Positions (Lawrence Oloff, DPM)

About six years ago, a college grad called my
office and asked me if he could shadow me. He
spent several weeks with me. In time, he became
turned on to our profession. He applied to the
colleges, was accepted to Scholl, and did
satisfactory in his didactics. As March 20th
approached, I spoke to him and wished him luck.
At the same time, a student from Temple is
rotating in my clinic. He too was anxiously
awaiting the big day. The fourth year student
from Chicago didn't get a match.

My present student was fortunate to get a good
solid program. He was ranked in the top 20% of
his class. However, he has told me that some
students who had ranked even ahead him didn't
match. These students are frustrated,
discouraged, mad, and in a financial bind.

It appears that this calamity has caused many of
us to write in our thoughts. I have read my
respected friend, Dr. Larry Oloff's words
carefully-- his frustration and disgust about
this situation is apparent. This situation not
only affects these unmatched students-it affects
us all.

For more than twenty years, I have been involved
in residency training. In the last few years, I
have been increasingly impressed with the
quality of the surgical residents. However, I
didn't always feel this way.

Something needs to be done now to help these
unfortunate students, and something needs to be
done to prevent this from happening again
A task force needs to created ASAP to see if
positions or new residencies can be established.
I personally have worked with a program that is
closing. Why? Possibly, they should be contacted
and encouraged to continue to offer positions.

Dr. Oloff's suggestions should be considered.
The colleges need to reduce class sizes, either
through matriculations procedures or by
increasing requirements for college acceptance.
It is evident that there are too many graduating
students with not enough residencies - as a
profession. The association that most of us pay
handsomely to, must make a decision--do we want
quality or quantity? An explanation from our
association would be appreciated. I too am
discouraged, saddened and surprised by this
apparent lack of vision and consideration to
these students.

Michael J Marcus, DPM, Montebello/Irvine, CA,
ftmed@aol.com