Jarrod Shapiro, DPM
Practice Perfect Editor
Assistant Professor
Dept. of Podiatric Medicine
Surgery & Biomechanics
College of Podiatric Medicine
Western University of
Health Sciences
St. Pomona, CA

I'm Starting a Residency Program – You Can, Too

In light of the residency shortage, most of us have heard at least something about folks trying to create new residencies, and many have pushed for the community to create new programs – myself included. Now it's time for yours truly to get into the residency game. One of the charter initiatives of the Western University College of Podiatric Medicine was to participate in residency genesis. As a result, I was asked a few months ago to be the director of a new program.

Starting a Residency Program Over time, I'd like to write the occasional residency-oriented editorial in order to bring attention to the various issues germane to this topic. Perhaps my experiences as a very green and very new director will new PMSR/RRA program spark the interest of others and spur some podiatrists to create programs of their own.

This newest of residency programs is based out of Chino Valley Medical Center in Chino California, a 125 bed acute care hospital. This program will be designated a PMSR/RRA (Podiatric Medicine and Surgery Residency with Rearfoot Reconstruction and Ankle) and will accept 2 residents per year.

I say "will", because the program hasn't yet begun matriculating residents. In fact, we just completed our on-site visit four days prior to publication of this article. Once approved by the Council on Podiatric Medical Education (CPME), the program will be provisionally accredited with full accreditation upon a second site visit and graduation of our first class.

As I mentioned, I have no prior experience administering residency programs, though I have observed some incredible directors during my time in podiatry. My own residency director, Marshall Solomon, DPM, was not only a true mentor to all of his residents, but also a model for the caring educator and all around good person that we should all strive to be.

I'm certain I'll make plenty of mistakes along the way, but perhaps my experiences may be instructional and – heaven forbid – helpful to someone else. To that end my experiences thus far can be summed up in one word: educational. In the short time I have been involved with this process, I have learned an incredible amount about the modern residency process, education, and the hospital community. My involvement with this project began about 3 months ago, when I was asked to participate by the college administration who had already spent at least a year getting the process started. As a result, the last couple of months have been a bit of a roller coaster bringing the program to the site visit stage.

During this time I've managed to note a few impressions:

Starting a residency is a complicated business. There are a large number of details to which one must attend. Since podiatric residencies are competency driven, the evaluative and administrative process requires a lot of steps.
No one needs to do it alone. Between the large number of individuals who have run programs, the CPME, and the National Residency Facilitation Project of the APMA, as well as others, a prospective director has many people to whom to turn for advise and assistance.
The most challenging part is about relationships. Building relationships, whether within your local hospital, medical community, or affiliated rotation sites, requires time, patience, and effort. Simply put, podiatric residency training is not done in isolation, and it requires a village. As a result, the director must take the time to create this village.
Everyone wants you to succeed. Up to this point in the process, everyone I have dealt with has been friendly, kind, and helpful. The applicants want programs, the podiatric community wants programs, and the intelligent hospitals want programs. It's nice when everyone's objectives are aligned.

new PMSR/RRA program The residency shortage is a situation that can be solved, but it requires one thing: commitment. It's a true labor of love, and I can't imagine a better way to give back to the profession. For those of you interested in residency or have yourself been a director, please write in with your thoughts and experiences. We'd all love to hear about them. If you're even vaguely interested in starting a program, let's talk. If you want to discuss this personally, respond to this editorial, and I'll contact you personally. Get involved and do something that leaves a legacy. To all of you directors out there, I tip my metaphorical hat to you with greatest respect. You are the heroes of our profession. I can't wait to become a hero like you!