Questions and Answers From the Mentor Forum!!

[Dr. Gangrene]

The following thread (as has been suggested from those on high) is copied from the Pod mentor thread. It is under the mentors forum, but I will include a link to make it easier to find.

Again, continue to ask questions of our students and other pre pods here, but make sure to take advantage of our Podiatric Physician mentor. He knows what he is talking about!!

FootAnklesX is ready for your questions, from routine to extreme!
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=419383

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[Dr. Gangrene]

Q:
Do you think it is best to start out in private practice or in a group setting after finishing residency?
I know there are pros and cons for each (ie costly overhead, employees, etc for private practice). Thanks

A:

I think that it really depends on your situation upon finishing residency. If you do have the money to start your own practice, then I recommend you to go for it. Remember, you need to do your homework as to where you set up your private practice. The first few years of private practice may be tough but it will probably pay off in the end. It is always nice to be your own boss. If you don't have the capital to start your own private practice, then join a group practice. The advantage of a group practice when you are first starting out is that you have some other more experience physicians around to help you with coding or for you to discuss more difficult patient or surgical case with.

 

[Dr. Gangrene]

Q:
Applying: What is the normal procedure to applying for a residency? What if I want to do a more sports medicine directed study? Do most people wanting to do this shadow Orthopedic Surgeons? What is the average pay during this time? Do places help you with housing?

A:
At the start of your fourth year in Podiatry school, you will be submitting your uniform application for residency programs through a centralized clearinghouse called Centralized Application Service for Podiatric Residencies (CASPR). On the application, you will have the opportunity to designate which programs that you might be interested in applying for. Upon CASPR processing your application and getting your letters of recommendation, transcript, and clinical evaluation, the clearinghouse will forward your application materials to the various residency programs that you designate. In addition to CASPR application materials, students often have to submit additional materials (many programs also require an additional fee) to the residency programs. Upon receipt of the materials, the residency programs will review the application materials and determine if you will be granted for an interview with the program or not. Majority of the residency programs participate in the Centralized Regional Interview Program (CRIP), where residency programs can interview students at one of the three sites in the US (currently, NJ, IL, and CA). The purpose of CRIP is to make it easier for the students to be able to interview at a bunch of residency programs in one of those three locations. The few programs that do not participate in CRIP would require the students to travel to the individual hospital or a designated location for their interviews.

There are several residency programs where the residents may get to do some rotations in Podiatric Sports Medicine. However, majority of the Podiatrist interested in Podiatric Sports Medicine would do a Podiatric Sports Medicine fellowship after there residency training. There is no need for you to shadow an Orthopedic Surgeon for Sports Medicine since there several Podiatrists throughout the country that are involved in Sports Medicine. There is a Podiatric Sports Medicine society and you can learn more about it at http://www.aapsm.org.

In terms of salaries, you can take a look at the current salaries at various residency programs at http://www.casprcrip.org/ Most residency programs do NOT assist you with housing. However, there are some residency programs that may provide subsidized housing (discounted rent) for residents and their families or provide funds to help offset the rent as part of the hospital benefit.