I reviewed Dr. Eckles comments and beg to
disagree with his conclusions and comments.
Firstly, I do believe there are too many colleges
of podiatric medicine matriculating too many
students. In my opinion there is no shortage of
podiatrists, at least not in the NYC area. In the
NYC area, I can count no more than 20 orthopedic
foot and ankle surgeons. For example, the spinal
surgeons are all thriving. They are thriving
because there aren't many in the market to
provide their services and they have a strong MD
and hospital referral base.
Dr. Eckles feels with about 400 DPMs in the NYC
area, that there is a shortage- I strongly beg to
differ. I still feel there is no shortage in
these truly hard economic environment with
increased overhead, decreased patient flow,
decreased reimbursements and decrease income.
There is nothing wrong with a profession being in
demand which allows its members to better thrive
in challenging times of this medical
metamorphosis.
The new NYS scope of practice law will impact
only a certain few and will have minimal impact,
especially with dwindling insurance
reimbursements.
Dr. Eckles, being a faculty member of the NYCPM,
argues and implies that colleges are not tuition
driven and that certain faculty members earn
market rate incomes. I know many of the schools
have low level faculty members who do not earn
significant sums of monies. A select few do very,
very well. I believe all the schools of podiatry
are tuition driven and subsequently place our
future graduates in economic trauma and hardship.
I beg to disagree with Dr. Eckles that NYCPM or
any podiatry school is excellently competency
driven. I would like to hear from the current
students. My personal experiences and
observations have been different.
I agree with Dr. Eckles about abolishing the abcs
of residency. I feel mandating a PSR-36 for
everyone would fail since in my opinion there are
not enough rearfoot/ankle cases to graduate
hundreds and hundreds of competent podiatrists.
In, NYC with its restricted laws, it can not be
done without orthopedic foot and ankle
participation. I see no problem with reverting to
a majority PSR-24 and select PSR-36 format. It is
simple, non-confusing, and will fulfill our
professional needs.
This shortage in residency positions is a
travesty. We need information from federal,
state, and local governments as to what their
long-term goals are, and which hospitals are in
jeopardy of closing. We will solve the problem by
closing some schools, matriculating less students
than there are residency slots, improving our
education in podiatry school and residency, and
reverting to PSR-24 and PSR-36 formats, which
will result in more competent practitioners.
Simon Young, DPM, NY, NY, simonyoung@juno.com
