#1 Factor for selecting a DPM residency?

[Feli]

The pre-pod thread on "most important factor in a pod school" got me thinking about the various factors which I will be considering when choosing my clerkships and residency interviews soon...

I think the factors in this poll are all very pertinent, and I've been advised by various sources (profs, upperclassmen, residents, etc) that each of these can make a residency boom or bust in terms of what you get during the training as well as for the rest of your practicing career.

So, which one is it and why?
(I have allowed multiple votes per person if you feel 2+ factors are equally important)

Here's a bit of my current thinking:
Other Residents - You can't win the Kentucky Derby with jackasses, no matter how hard you try.
Director/attendings - If they don't know or don't care anymore, who will?
Location - It's 3yrs of the prime of your life, and connections made there can last a lifetime.
Reputation - Some names will automatically get you job offers, even if they "slipped" recently.
Surgical volume and diversity - Programs change fast, and this doesn't always correlate with name.
Other - ???

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[krabmas]

I think if your program has a good reputation there is a reason why. Usually it is not because only one person has been successful from there. Typically it is because several people have been successful and there is some research going on as well. A program would not produce many successful people without diversity of cases and volume. Also, your senior residents will not be slackers (for the most part) at a reputable program.

So I think that everything that you mentioned is important to incorporate when choosing your program but I do not think that any of those are exclusive.

If some one externs and interviews at only top 10 well known programs then these other things factor in to decide between programs but initially that person chose the most important thing (the reputation) when picking externships.

I think you choose your externships and interviews based on your most important criteria and then whittle it down after that based on smaller differences.

 

[Ezj391]

I would add that it is very important to assess the skill level of the residents. To give an example, if you see a third-year resident stuggling with a hammertoe surgery then there is usually a problem.

 

[Feli]

I would add that it is very important to assess the skill level of the residents. To give an example, if you see a third-year resident stuggling with a hammertoe surgery then there is usually a problem.

This is a very good point. I have heard that a residency may be having trouble getting their surgical numbers if you see many residents scrubbed in for the same simple procedure that should only need one or two.

I guess I never thought about analyzing the resident skill levels, though. I'm not quite there yet, but I'd assume that I will see plenty of podiatric surgeries done well by DPMs and faculty (and on video) during my third year which will allow me to easily notice when a surgeon at my fourth year externships is struggling?