PMS-36 vs. PMS-24

Right now, the actual surgical numbers one gets are very similar between a 36 and a 24. The difference is that your first year of a 36 is largely spent on general medicine rotations (IM, ER, anesthesis, general surgery, etc) while a 24 jumps into podiatric surgery much sooner because you have less time. I've seen a lot of docs with only 2 years of training do rearfoot surgery. At this point, you don't have to be certified to do it. However, in my opinion, if medicine continues in the direction that I think it is going, the time will soon come when no rearfoot certification = no rearfoot surgery (which is why they made the new rearfoot board rule in the first place). Just my opinion though. While I don't feel that a PM&S-36 will make me a better surgeon, I do feel that it will make me a more well rounded physician.

If you have access to some residency director's mail, some of the podiatry journals or possibly through the schools; you might want to take a look at some of the job ads. Maybe look for Barry Block's online podiatry newsletter.

Many of these specify they are looking for someone with 3 years of post-graduate training. One of my atttendings (who is very good with forefoot and rearfoot surgery) recently went to a fellowship because he "only" had PSR-24 training and felt the 3rd year of postgrad training would someday be essentially required for some postions.

The short of it is that the PM&S-36 will make you more marketable (and can enhance your board certifications) regardless of the training.

jonwill said:

Right now, the actual surgical numbers one gets are very similar between a 36 and a 24. The difference is that your first year of a 36 is largely spent on general medicine rotations (IM, ER, anesthesis, general surgery, etc) while a 24 jumps into podiatric surgery much sooner because you have less time. I've seen a lot of docs with only 2 years of training do rearfoot surgery. At this point, you don't have to be certified to do it. However, in my opinion, if medicine continues in the direction that I think it is going, the time will soon come when no rearfoot certification = no rearfoot surgery (which is why they made the new rearfoot board rule in the first place). Just my opinion though. While I don't feel that a PM&S-36 will make me a better surgeon, I do feel that it will make me a more well rounded physician.

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Actually, both PM&S 24 and 36 have the exact same non Podiatry rotation requirements. Hence, residents in both programs must rotate through IM, ER, anesthesia, behavior science, pathology, etc.... Therefore, PM&S-24 residents do NOT jump into Podiatric Surgery sooner than the PM&S-36 residents. The main difference between the PM&S-24 and PM&S-36 residency program is the extra year of training. The extra year will allow the PM&S-36 resident to get additional training in reconstructive rearfoot training. Of course, the other difference between the two programs is the number of cases and number of forefoot and rearfoot procedures. You can get more information on the requirements of the PM&S-24 and PM&S-36 residency programs from the CPME document 320 (Standards, Requirements and Procedures for PM&S-24 and PM&S-36), which you can find at: http://www.apma.org/s_apma/seccpme.asp?CID=165&DID=9706

efs said:

If you have access to some residency director's mail, some of the podiatry journals or possibly through the schools; you might want to take a look at some of the job ads. Maybe look for Barry Block's online podiatry newsletter.

Many of these specify they are looking for someone with 3 years of post-graduate training. One of my atttendings (who is very good with forefoot and rearfoot surgery) recently went to a fellowship because he "only" had PSR-24 training and felt the 3rd year of postgrad training would someday be essentially required for some postions.

The short of it is that the PM&S-36 will make you more marketable (and can enhance your board certifications) regardless of the training.

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I agree with you Eric on this subject matter.

jonwill said:

I've seen a lot of docs with only 2 years of training do rearfoot surgery. At this point, you don't have to be certified to do it.

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Actually, you just might have to be certified to do it. Some of the new laws are getting pretty specific. As an example, here is an excerpt from the new language for the Podiatry practice bill in my home state:

"Surgery of the ankle and soft tissue structures governing the ankle must be performed in an accredited hospital or ambulatory surgery center. A podiatrist who performs these surgical procedures must be board certified or eligible for certification by the American Board of Podiatric Surgery to perform ankle procedures and shall satisfy all requirements for credentials as outlined by the facility."

scpod said:

Actually, you just might have to be certified to do it. Some of the new laws are getting pretty specific. As an example, here is an excerpt from the new language for the Podiatry practice bill in my home state:

"Surgery of the ankle and soft tissue structures governing the ankle must be performed in an accredited hospital or ambulatory surgery center. A podiatrist who performs these surgical procedures must be board certified or eligible for certification by the American Board of Podiatric Surgery to perform ankle procedures and shall satisfy all requirements for credentials as outlined by the facility."

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Yup, pretty soon I'm betting that will be a national standard.