Completing Residency/Fellowship and salary

[liftweights]

Does completing a residency or fellowship after the DPT program help get a pay increase from a future employer? Do they look at that and will that have any impact in terms of $? I am just trying to figure out if its worth the financial suffering for that extra year after the DPT program to do a residency instead of looking for a job.

Info would be appreciated!

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[jpDPT]

As far as I know, completing a residency would not result directly in a pay increase. It'll make you a better clinician, so I guess your employer would see that and, assuming that you generate more patient care, you might get a raise down the line. But right after residency, you would start off roughly the same as a new DPT graduate.

Personally, I plan on going for a neuro residency because I wouldn't have time or flexibility to do it later on in my career. If you don't expect to have a lot of obligations after you graduate (like for me, I don't plan on starting a family or buying a house just yet), I'd say bear through the extra year of residency if you have a field that you really enjoy and want to learn more about. Just my opinion.

 

[liftweights]

awesome, thanks for the info. If anyone else has any experience after doing a residency or fellowship and what the employer thought about it, please share!

 

[NewDPT31]

8 people from my class(2011) did residencies. The few I have talked to said it was worth about 3-4k more(as it was explained to them). That being said, I still make a fair amount more than them in the same field(OP) in the same city. So, go figure.

 

[liftweights]

thanks for the info ^ Thats what I was thinking too... from the looks of it, its not worth it.

 

[NewTestament]

What are the pre-requisites and/or requirements for a residency?

 

[SomePT]

The best resource is APTA's website on residency requirements. They regulate them all, and there is a list of all of the residencies and fellowships in the US on their site.

 

[DesertPT]

It's probably only worthwhile if you really want to advance within a specific specialty or sub-specialty of PT, not if you are looking for better pay. PT doesn't work like the MD world, haha

 

[Azimuthal]

I keep hearing that the APTA is investigating mandatory residencies.

 

[nangus]

I keep hearing that the APTA is investigating mandatory residencies.

I'm sure there are whispers but I think we are a long way from that happening. If nothing else but the number of PT programs vs. the number of residencies.

 

[DesertPT]

I would definitely take a number of years for enough residencies to develop that schools could all get one for all their students (which would undoubtedly become an accreditation requirement).

 

[jesspt]

I keep hearing that the APTA is investigating mandatory residencies.

If anything like this would come to pass, it would probably be a mandatory residency in order to obtain board certification, rather than the current process that is currently in place to get one's OCS, GCS, etc.

 

[Azimuthal]

If anything like this would come to pass, it would probably be a mandatory residency in order to obtain board certification, rather than the current process that is currently in place to get one's OCS, GCS, etc.

Jesspt, that is exactly what was mentioned. It was also mentioned that rotations would also be harmonized (more aligned with the current medical model) to provide increased consistency amongst new clinicians. It may not be anytime in the near or distant future, but I think we may see something in our lifetimes. What do you think?

 

[Azimuthal]

I would definitely take a number of years for enough residencies to develop that schools could all get one for all their students (which would undoubtedly become an accreditation requirement).

Agreed. It may also reduce the number of seats available for some programs which may increase the barrier to entry. This in turn may decrease saturation issues, should one present itself. It wouldn't hurt the pay either, although as an auxiliary service, I think we're pretty much capped out.

 

[DrRehab]

Interesting that so many people from some of your classes did residency. I can say, without a doubt, no one in my class did residency before going off to work.

 

[jesspt]

Jesspt, that is exactly what was mentioned. It was also mentioned that rotations would also be harmonized (more aligned with the current medical model) to provide increased consistency amongst new clinicians. It may not be anytime in the near or distant future, but I think we may see something in our lifetimes. What do you think?

I think mandatory residency for board certification will likely happen in the next 10-20 years, as it was already thoroughly discussed by the ortho section of the APTA a few years back. One of the primary reasons it was not made mandatory was the relative lack of residencies. And, there certainly has been a significant increase in their number over the past several years.

In regards to a more unified and homogeneous clinical rotation schedule, I wouldn't hold your breathe. That's a whole lot of separate institutions you'd have to get on the same page.

 

[jesspt]

I would definitely take a number of years for enough residencies to develop that schools could all get one for all their students (which would undoubtedly become an accreditation requirement).

Why would this become an accreditation requirement?

 

[NewDPT31]

Interesting that so many people from some of your classes did residency. I can say, without a doubt, no one in my class did residency before going off to work.

yeah a few more just started(or starting soon) OCS residency after working for 2 years. It's nice to have a few numbers I can text for advice on those random diagnoses you see once a year, or ask what they think of new research, etc.

 

[sharpieaccent]

bump..

 

[Berburr]

I think mandatory residency for board certification will likely happen in the next 10-20 years, as it was already thoroughly discussed by the ortho section of the APTA a few years back. One of the primary reasons it was not made mandatory was the relative lack of residencies. And, there certainly has been a significant increase in their number over the past several years.

In regards to a more unified and homogeneous clinical rotation schedule, I wouldn't hold your breathe. That's a whole lot of separate institutions you'd have to get on the same page.

So I have decided if life events allow that I am going to apply to get into residencies right after graduation instead of waiting. I'm following this for information. With one curiosity question...

Did the APTA say what the residency would be like? Given that we have ortho, neuro, peds, geriatric... to make it mandatory for boards what would be the criteria? I mean if it was specific fields then how would they apply this to boards if everyone took different ones. Or would they just ask your residency field and give a test specific for that? Or was it not discussed?

 

[DesertPT]

^^^Board certification = OCS, GCS, PCS, ect....not just taking the licensing exam.

 

[Berburr]

^^^Board certification = OCS, GCS, PCS, ect....not just taking the licensing exam.

Ahhh got that now. Haha. Oops.

 

[engmedpt]

Ballooning tuition costs has turned a significant population of grads off from even considering.