Malignant Residency Programs

[Podophile]

This question is for students out rotating at different programs across the country, and even those who have heard rumors around the hypothetical water cooler:

What is the most malignant Podiatry Residency program in the country? If you have to ask what defines "malignant", then you've never been to a malignant program. While malignancy is quite rare (IMO) in Podiatry, there are sure to be a few out there with that have that malignant General Surgery feel.

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[OhEmGee]

malignant = bad

programs that suck, treat you like crap, long hours etc.

 

[josebiwasabi]

i am curious about these too, but i bet that you won't get any responses. podiatry is too small to burn bridges by badmouthing programs, especially while you're still a student.

 

[jellybean2020]

Why are you calling it "malignant"? Like everyone who works at that residency gets cancer or something.

Welcome to medical lingo Going to a malignant program isn't the end of the world. You might be miserable for 3 years, so you'll need to be a strong-minded person with thick skin to endure it. We should feel lucky; there are some medical specialties out there that are known for widespread malignancy & high burnout rates *cough OB/GYN *cough* General Surgery *cough*

 

[JewOnThis]

I'll bite.

Washington Hospital in DC
Westchester in Miami
Larkins
Ocpm UH regional
Wyckoff in NY
Chestnut hill
Kennedy University Hospital
DVA Cleveland

There are still a bunch more, but these are probably the worst programs in Podiatry

 

[MaxillofacialMN]

I am still pretty sure I remember air bud telling us he'd give us a huge run down on residency selection, etc etc after he matched....

Sent from my Nexus 4 using SDN Mobile

 

[JewOnThis]

Washington hospital is headed by Dr Steinberg now. It's on the up and up. Great location (DC) and great director. I'm not clerking there so I can't give an in depth review of the program but appears the program is in good hands now.

This could be an interesting thread. Hopefully more posters will contribute.

Just because you have a good director does not mean the program is good. As far as I can tell, the program still needs rearfoot guys. The program isnt doing any kind of real rearfoot cases such as TAR, ankle fusion, ankle fractures etc.

 

[air bud]

Just because you have a good director does not mean the program is good. As far as I can tell, the program still needs rearfoot guys. The program isnt doing any kind of real rearfoot cases such as TAR, ankle fusion, ankle fractures etc.

 

[KaTrInAtF4]

*cough* Dekalb

 

[darazon]

*cough* Dekalb

DeKalb may be tough and they are extremely hard on their residents and work them insane hours (100+), but at least there is a light at the end of the tunnel. You will get excellent training and a great job offer afterwards -if you survive.

Washington is indeed in good hands now with the new director -can't speak about the training though. The past director was completely 'malignant' from the stories that I heard.

 

[Marry2Pod]

Washington hospital has the RRA cert

 

[Cascade11]

Hasn't it been made illegal to work residents more than 80 hrs a week?

 

[jellybean2020]

Hasn't it been made illegal to work residents more than 80 hrs a week?

There are many ways around that I'm sure. Also consider the immense pressure when you're the resident to not complain about doing too much work.

 

[Cascade11]

There are many ways around that I'm sure. Also consider the immense pressure when you're the resident to not complain about doing too much work.

True but a body can only take so much

 

[JewOnThis]

I said the program was on the "up and up" and that the program was "in good hands now". Two true statements. I didn't state the program was good or even great.

Read first, post second.

I love all these smart ass posts from students.



Ankle Breaker, you're from Scholls right?


I hope you have an externship at my program.

 

[mildoc2016]

Technically pod sx residencies are not under acgme rules, so 80 rule doesn't apply to us. I would be very careful what you all post here in this topic ......... As you know residents btw programs do talk .......

 

[hematosis]

Hate to say this but I am underwhelmed with most of the California programs. The few kaiser programs are about average but not near the caliber of the east coast programs like UPMC.

 

[PADPM]

I'll bite.

Washington Hospital in DC
Westchester in Miami
Larkins
Ocpm UH regional
Wyckoff in NY
Chestnut hill
Kennedy University Hospital
DVA Cleveland

There are still a bunch more, but these are probably the worst programs in Podiatry

I'm not sure how you came up with your decisions, but I can confirm the Kennedy University program. Over the years I've interviewed some of the grads and was very unimpressed.

We've had many students and residents rotate through our offices over the years and we are still actively involved with residency training. And the general consensus is that THE worst program is a program in Philadelphia named St. Joseph's. I looked up info on the program and was amazed to see the director is NOT ABPS certified. I was under the impression residency directors had to have ABPS certification, but at least in this one instance I'm apparently wrong.

 

[ldsrmdude]

DeKalb may be tough and they are extremely hard on their residents and work them insane hours (100+), but at least there is a light at the end of the tunnel. You will get excellent training and a great job offer afterwards -if you survive.

I wouldn't call DeKalb "malignant" although if you just saw their 1st year residents, I could see how you would think that. Long hours are the norm at most decent programs. Calling a program malignant is more about the attitude between the attendings and residents and the feeling that the attendings have the residents best interests in mind. I have rotated through some "malignant" off-rotations and none of the podiatry programs I visited came close to the feeling the residents had at those off-service rotations.

 

[dyk343]

Hate to say this but I am underwhelmed with most of the California programs. The few kaiser programs are about average but not near the caliber of the east coast programs like UPMC.

Read as "OMG I really really want the Kaiser program in San Francisco, UPMC wasn't my thing. How can I keep others from applying?"

J/K - I've heard the Southern California programs are pretty slow. I've heard good things about the Northern California programs though. Seattle and Oregon are supposed to have good programs as well.

I've heard the New York and most of the Florida programs are pretty lackluster.

But who knows as this is all "He said, she said" and what is a great program for one person could be a nightmare for someone else.

 

[KaTrInAtF4]

I wouldn't call DeKalb "malignant" although if you just saw their 1st year residents, I could see how you would think that. Long hours are the norm at most decent programs. Calling a program malignant is more about the attitude between the attendings and residents and the feeling that the attendings have the residents best interests in mind. I have rotated through some "malignant" off-rotations and none of the podiatry programs I visited came close to the feeling the residents had at those off-service rotations.

Ha ha. I've never met a more stressed out bunch of people!!

DeKalb's "malignancy" does not come from the attendings (okay, maybe one attending), but rather the other residents -hopefully that is changing now and that they got the message that students don't want to go there (scrambled the past 2/3 years).

Oh the stories I could tell......

 

[Podophile]

Oh the stories I could tell......

Soo...why don't you please tell us...

We'd love to hear it, and anyone who is potentially going to spend an extern month there should know what they're getting into.

 

[ldsrmdude]

Soo...why don't you please tell us...

We'd love to hear it, and anyone who is potentially going to spend an extern month there should know what they're getting into.

I thought my month at DeKalb was probably the most beneficial in terms of learning. Having access to their cadaver lab was great and being involved in their "mini-residency" was nice. The residents also went out of their way to give lectures and teach. Plus they offer housing and food as well as gave a PI manual or AO Basic workbook. Only $100 for the month. It also made me appreciate the other programs I visited where the resident felt free to offer me their honest opinions on the program. Some people buy into what they're selling, I wasn't one of them. But the month prepared me for the rest of my rotations.

 

[KaTrInAtF4]

Soo...why don't you please tell us...

We'd love to hear it, and anyone who is potentially going to spend an extern month there should know what they're getting into.

Ha ha. OK I'll bite -a little!

They actually treat the students pretty good. The interns is another story....

There used to be a rule, students can only talk to Interns, Interns can only talk to 2nd years, and only 2nd years can talk to 3rd years, and only 3rd years are allowed to talk to an attending. They are extremely hierarchical. This rule is said to no longer exist, but some residents still abide by it.

An Intern was putting agendas up at the PI on the doors for one of the mini residencies that they do on the weekends. The Intern went home at around 11pm (usual quitting time for interns) and was called by one of the senior residents to come back to the PI and adjust the signs because they were "slightly crooked". Nope, the senior resident couldn't adjust it while they measured each side to the micrometer, they had to call the Intern to get out of bed and drive 15 minutes to do it.

Every Sunday, they have a radiology conference with one particular attending. All the residents have to be there in the morning waiting for him. He chooses to show up whenever it is convenient for him. As soon as he gets there one of the Interns must present him with an ice cold diet Coke (maybe it was pepsi?). Then they all grovel in his presence. Apparently, if he does not get the Coke he gets extremely angered.

When the Interns present to senior residents they have to follow the exact same format. State room number, then say the last name, followed by Mr or Mrs, then a bunch of other stuff and repeat labs and cultures that are days old (even if they said it earlier that day -yes they present multiple times a day). I heard a senior resident correct an intern that the proper way to say it was 'Johnson , Mr. Not Mr. Johnson' and then the Intern had to sheepishly start all over.

I saw a senior resident make an Intern go into a dirty truck with a canopy on to get something (it was the senior resident's own truck). The Intern had to keep her white coat on. When a student offered to help, the student was told no, "The Intern has to do it."

I could go on and on....it was a fun month! They do have some great residents there though and a couple of the guys are cute ha ha.

 

[darazon]

I thought my month at DeKalb was probably the most beneficial in terms of learning. Having access to their cadaver lab was great and being involved in their "mini-residency" was nice. The residents also went out of their way to give lectures and teach. Plus they offer housing and food as well as gave a PI manual or AO Basic workbook. Only $100 for the month. It also made me appreciate the other programs I visited where the resident felt free to offer me their honest opinions on the program. Some people buy into what they're selling, I wasn't one of them. But the month prepared me for the rest of my rotations.

Completely agree. I'm glad I went. The residents really do teach a lot. I've always recommended them to other students for an externship. The program wasn't for me though.

 

[air bud]

Ha ha. OK I'll bite -a little!

They actually treat the students pretty good. The interns is another story....

There used to be a rule, students can only talk to Interns, Interns can only talk to 2nd years, and only 2nd years can talk to 3rd years, and only 3rd years are allowed to talk to an attending. They are extremely hierarchical. This rule is said to no longer exist, but some residents still abide by it.

An Intern was putting agendas up at the PI on the doors for one of the mini residencies that they do on the weekends. The Intern went home at around 11pm (usual quitting time for interns) and was called by one of the senior residents to come back to the PI and adjust the signs because they were "slightly crooked". Nope, the senior resident couldn't adjust it while they measured each side to the micrometer, they had to call the Intern to get out of bed and drive 15 minutes to do it.

Every Sunday, they have a radiology conference with one particular attending. All the residents have to be there in the morning waiting for him. He chooses to show up whenever it is convenient for him. As soon as he gets there one of the Interns must present him with an ice cold diet Coke (maybe it was pepsi?). Then they all grovel in his presence. Apparently, if he does not get the Coke he gets extremely angered.

When the Interns present to senior residents they have to follow the exact same format. State room number, then say the last name, followed by Mr or Mrs, then a bunch of other stuff and repeat labs and cultures that are days old (even if they said it earlier that day -yes they present multiple times a day). I heard a senior resident correct an intern that the proper way to say it was 'Johnson , Mr. Not Mr. Johnson' and then the Intern had to sheepishly start all over.

I saw a senior resident make an Intern go into a dirty truck with a canopy on to get something (it was the senior resident's own truck). The Intern had to keep her white coat on. When a student offered to help, the student was told no, "The Intern has to do it."

I could go on and on....it was a fun month! They do have some great residents there though and a couple of the guys are cute ha ha.

sounds exactly like my friends described it.

 

[hematosis]

Read as "OMG I really really want the Kaiser program in San Francisco, UPMC wasn't my thing. How can I keep others from applying?"

J/K - I've heard the Southern California programs are pretty slow. I've heard good things about the Northern California programs though. Seattle and Oregon are supposed to have good programs as well.

I've heard the New York and most of the Florida programs are pretty lackluster. .

Yeah you got me!

I'm not too sure about the NY programs but i did like what i saw in some of the FL programs that i visited. There's one in East Orlando that is pretty good. The Mercy program they have there is stellar but its unfortunate that they only take Barry students ( even though they wont tell you this but if you look at their past 5 years it'll show only barry students).

As for the Cali programs, I would have to say that the SF Bay Area and Scripps are the top ones but they are not near the caliber of UPMC. I just felt like UPMC was at another level and you can tell this when you speak with some of the residents, look at the research going on there and the success rate of the program. But this is just my opinion from seeing about 10 programs out of the many many many.

What i've discovered is that there is no single perfect program. You really have to know what you would like to do in the future. For instance, a few of the kaiser programs are good for surgery but they suck when it comes to wound care and palliative care. Then you go to another program and you'll see every resident carrying a doppler in their pocket and are training venous leg ablation.

AB, if you're interested in those california programs and want more info msg me.

 

[Busdriver321]

White Memorial in LA actually is very busy and provides excellent training. I was surprised. And their patient population provides a diverse training experience.

 

[darazon]

Outside of Scripps and the Kaiser's the Cali programs are popular mostly due to location. There are a couple sleeper programs, like LB, and I did hear White Memorial is doing better.

It's a shame there are not more solid programs considering 2 schools are located here. Cali does have a great scope of practice.

 

[MBA2DPM]

JewOnThis, would you mind sending me a quick private message to initiate contact? I've tried sending a couple to you but they never appear in my "Sent" folder; not sure what the problem is. I'd like to speak with you about several of your comments. Thanks!

 

[JewOnThis]

If anyone wants to know more about SF Bay, Scripps or UMPC, pm me. I communicate with the directors/attendings of those programs on a monthly basis.

 

[dpmgrad]

I'll bite.

Washington Hospital in DC
Westchester in Miami
Larkins
Ocpm UH regional
Wyckoff in NY
Chestnut hill
Kennedy University Hospital
DVA Cleveland

There are still a bunch more, but these are probably the worst programs in Podiatry

I am curious as to how JewOnThis came up with these two greater Philly area residency programs (Chestnut Hill and Kennedy University Hospital - technically in SNJ) as being malignant programs. These programs do not have this reputation in the Philly area to my knowledge. As PADPM indicated, St. Joseph in North Philly is usually listed as being the malignant program in Philly.

 

[cd123]

Ha ha. I've never met a more stressed out bunch of people!!

DeKalb's "malignancy" does not come from the attendings (okay, maybe one attending), but rather the other residents -hopefully that is changing now and that they got the message that students don't want to go there (scrambled the past 2/3 years).

Oh the stories I could tell......

Tell... please

 

[adad2]

Please add the Baystate internal medicine program to the malignancy list. The program leadership lies on the day of the interview. The program has a recruitment committee where they prepare their lies and build it into their presentation at the interview. What you are shown on the day of the interview, what is written on the program website and what happens at this program will shock you.

 

[heybrother]

You've convinced us all. No podiatrist will match there. I guarantee it.