07/23/2013    Unmatched Podiatry Graduate

Unmatched Residency Placements Currently Stand at 86

I am one of the original 104 students who did not
get a residency position. I was an average
student whom did well on his externships and
never imagined to be in such a position today.
This has made me to come to conclusion that
obtaining a residency position includes 20%
skills, 50% connection and 30% luck. Since March
20th, my life has been a disaster. I have not
been able to celebrate my graduation and any of
my achievements, and I have started taking anti-
depressant medications and have lost motivation
to do anything.

Initially, the faculty at my school were really
supportive and were giving me hope, however,
since the day I stepped out of school, I have not
even been able to get a hold of anyone. I went to
6 different podiatry school interviews when I
applied to them and got accepted to all 6. That
day everyone from the dean to many part time
faculty staff were available and spent hours
selling me their school, but as soon as I
finished paying tuition, I became a stranger to
them.

I was told on the interview day by the dean that
attending his school will bring me exclusive
advantages due to their strong alumni and
multiple residency program affiliations as I will
be able to get a better education, get into my
top choice residency program and have excellent
future job opportunities. I am so disappointed
and disgusted by this profession today that I
have no choice but to share this sad experience
with you. It seems like the school staff have
forgotten that it is because of students like me
they have a job!

I have read in different blogs from the students
who are experiencing the same problem that sadly
most of them are getting the same treatment from
their schools. Fortunately, there are still some
thoughtful people in our profession like Temple
dean, Dr. Mattiacci, who has been very supportive
and has done much to place his students in
residency by trying to open new residency
programs and talking to different directors for
placement of his students. Also congrats to
Scholl University for placing 8 students in
residency during scramble with their strong
faculty connections and affiliations.

All these schools and CPME were well aware of
this shortage. If CPME required each school to
open 10 spots in their state and had them figure
out a way to overcome the shortage, we would
never face such crisis! Instead, CPME approved a
new school and did not stop any of the other ones
from enrolling more students. Midwestern
University should be an example for most of the
podiatry schools out there as it has not been
around for a long time, and as of today it has
established 3 different residency programs for 5
spots for the classes of less than 30 students.
They have had 100% residency placement for their
eligible students since they have been
established.

I do not know what will happen to me and other
students with no residency positions. I wanted to
work for someone in this profession to keep
myself busy, learn and be able to pay my rent,
but I think I am better off working in a fast
food restaurant with the salary and zero benefits
that I was offered by people in podiatry. All I
can say is that this will not get any better, and
we will face more crisis every year which will
cause this great profession to die down as people
will be scared to pursue their education in a
field with no spots for post-graduate training
for even eligible and average students. I would
like to see by then which one of these schools is
still surviving and is advertising what it has to
offer.

I will be happy to hear other people’s
standpoints, and I am open to any suggestions. At
this point, I would like to recommend all
prospective students to do major research before
selecting a podiatry school and do not get
tricked by the sweet talk they receive at the
interview date. The truth is that most of these
schools have very close tuition fee, scholarship
offers and board exam pass rate. Get all the
statistics about number of externship months
being offered to the students, match and scramble
day placements and number of related residency
programs to that school.

Unmatched Podiatry Graduate

Other messages in this thread:

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07/30/2013    Unmatched Podiatric Graduate

Unmatched Residency Placements Currently Stand at 86

I am one of the DPM graduates who did not place
into residency. While many before me have
written about the causes of the residency
crisis, no one seems to have proposed any
solutions beyond vague assertions to the affect
that we need more residencies. Furthermore, no
one seems to have a good answer to the question
of what is to become of my colleagues and
myself. I am writing today to propose a solution
that I believe many will find acceptable.

I would characterize the residency "job market,"
so to speak, by two salient features. Firstly,
there are nine colleges of podiatric medicine
that maintain enrollment at a certain level.
Secondly, graduates of those colleges must go on
to a three-year surgical residency in order to
pursue gainful employment within the United
States. These two features have consequently
given rise to a structural deficit of entry
level training positions.

Until now, most commenters have advocated that
one or both of those two features needs to
change, i.e., too many schools enrolling too
many students, or alternative training programs
to the three-year residency that would still
lead to licensure. But what if nothing can be
changed? Under this premise, colleges of
podiatry will continue to produce an escalating
number of unemployable graduates for the
foreseeable future. This is why I describe it as
a structural rather than a cyclical deficit.

What I advocate is that a mechanism should exist
whereby those of us who came up empty-handed in
this year's match could be guaranteed residency
placement next year. One could stipulate that we
pass our board exams and make a good faith
effort to stay active within podiatry, as well
as provisions others would deem necessary.
However, as long as we can be certain that we
will not remain in an indefinite state of
purgatory, it would be an enormous step forward.
Otherwise, my colleagues and I can only hope to
continue going through the same expensive and
time-consuming residency application process
year after year, and it is only rational for us
to wonder when to stop throwing good money after
bad.

For obvious reasons, many current students would
oppose this proposition, though those that do
not place next year will quickly see its merit.
Also, residency directors will be reluctant to
sacrifice their autonomy in choosing residents.
Honestly, I hate to further impose on a group of
people who already are doing the best they can
with this situation. This is why I emphasize
that we would be required to stay current in
podiatry to be considered. Directors would then
be able to rest assured that they are hiring
eminently qualified residents who have an
additional year of experience on top of their
medical training.

There are several reasons why this would be
advantageous for podiatry as a whole. The first
is that it's simply the equitable thing to do.
It is better for many graduates to spend one
year doing an internship or a preceptorship
before going on to residency than for a few
graduates to spend years wondering if they will
ever progress simply because they did not place
in their first attempt. The suffering would be
evenly distributed.

Furthermore, Dr. Ribotsky has on numerous
episodes of Meet the Masters raised the specter
of lawsuits. While the purpose of this letter is
not to threaten legal action, it does not
require a great deal of imagination to figure
out that eventually a critical mass of angry,
unemployed, and indebted graduates with nothing
left to lose will come forward and sue the
schools. If they are successful, it could mean
entire medical universities--not just the
colleges of podiatry, but their affiliated
universities--would close their doors.

Even if the schools successfully defend against
any legal action, they still would be put in the
awkward position of admitting on the public
record that their students should have been
smart enough to know that they might not have
any prospects after completing their degree. In
either event, such an occurrence would be a
spectacular embarrassment for a profession that
has struggled for decades to gain legitimacy in
the healthcare community.

Even if no lawsuits materialize, the growing
number of unmatched graduates will eventually
take their medical training to work somewhere in
healthcare, if not as MDs or DOs, then as PAs,
nurses, or administrators. When they do, they
will not have kind things to say about podiatry.
There are already enough people like that out
there without the colleges of podiatry producing
more of them on a yearly basis.

However, if my colleagues and I can be
guaranteed residencies after one additional year
of continued study and dedicated work, all of
these concerns vanish. No one would be able to
sue because no one would be able to claim any
damages. Our professional reputation will be
bolstered by our willingness to address the
crisis as fairly as possible. It's the right
thing for podiatry, and it's the right thing for
us unmatched graduates. If this makes me sound
entitled, I apologize, but I deeply believe that
we are entitled to more than lives of indentured
servitude.

Unmatched Podiatric Graduate

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07/24/2013    Robert Kornfeld, DPM

Unmatched Residency Placements Currently Stand at 86 (Unmatched Podiatric Graduate)

I am quite amazed at unmatched podiatry
graduate's "polite restraint" when, in
fact ,there is certainly cause for outright
rage. Instead of going on medication to deal
with the stress of being "left out in the cold",
this thoughtful and centered DPM should be in a
residency program. Am I surprised that
administrators have turned their back on this
and all of the other unmatched DPMs? Absolutely
not. I have been in podiatry my entire life (my
father was a 1950 graduate of NYCPM).

I am a 1980 graduate of NYCPM. My experience in
podiatry has been excellent personally (because
I refused to settle for anything less), however,
I have never felt that podiatry was a solid
profession. We have always had major issues with
in-fighting, back-stabbing and insecurity. In
many cases, insecurity has led to demonizing
some of the pioneers in this profession. Buck-
passing has also been malignant in podiatry.
Now, we are faced with the unforgivable act of
graduating DPMs who cannot get residency
training and therefore cannot practice. Their
diplomas are useless.

I personally offered to create a training
program for these grads and was completely
ignored by the profession as well as the elite
podiatry "politicians". The only responses I
received (other than from some of the interested
unmatched grads) were very negative with no name
given. Anytime I receive an email from a
podiatrist with no name, I am aware that this is
a person who uses fear as his compass. I do not.

I am outspoken about many of the ills I see in
this profession as well as the paradigm that I
practice in. I am always open and honest.

So in view of the situation that exists, coupled
with the fact that I made a very generous offer
which went ignored, I will no longer support any
organization that I believe does not have the
best interests of the profession in mind. I am
tired of witnessing self-serving politics.

Robert Kornfeld, DPM, Manhasset, NY,
Holfoot153@aol.com