|
|
|
Search
05/05/2016 Peter C. Smith, DPM
2016 Residency Placement Status Update (Alan Sherman, DPM)
I read, with concern, that the AACPM's latest statistics allow Dr. Sherman to "...conclude that the residency shortage is now over." My concern is that a leading figure in our profession would publically announce that the residency crisis is no longer a crisis.
The latest Residency Placement Statistics must be read in the perspective of the current condition of our profession. We are the single medical profession which is failing to thrive. The residency positions only match the graduating class numbers because the CPME has, arguably appropriately, restricted/capped the class size allotted to each school.
Dr. Sherman is correct, there are many members who need to be acknowledged and thanked. There are new residencies which have been created since 2010. However, the number of positions created has almost equaled the number which have been lost due to hospital realignment and/or closure.
Many of our profession's leaders have tirelessy worked on solving this shortfall, but we all must know that this is still a crisis. A shortfall balanced on the backs of the schools by restricting enrollments is not a solution. It merely places us in a holding pattern at a time when we should be expanding to meet the ever increasing need for podiatric services.
We all hope that this continuing problem will be addressed by the APMA Stakeholder's meeting in June. This is not the time to broadcast that the profession's problems are solved. This is the time to define the long term goals for our profession, as we did with Vision 2015, and redouble our collective efforts to achieve those goals and once again begin to grow.
Peter C. Smith, DPM, President, Pennsylvania Podiatric Medical Association
There are no more messages in this thread.
|
|
|
|