Forum Members PMSR/RRA Residency Reviews

[Podstar]

1) no idea
2) As a student- no idea. As a residency program- there's a reason they scramble every year. Fellows get priority, not residents. Heard horror stories about them before I even started school. Don't believe me just call up and ask the attendings that used to work there.
3) Here right now. Quick update since last thread:

-Madigan Army center used to be a residency, got shut down. Residents cover those surgeries now
-Multicare (community) so residents also scrub those surgeries

Their goal is to have numbers by end of 2nd year and they're on track to do that.

Good people here. Definitely not a toxic atmosphere. Attendings willing to teach. As a student they let you do as much as you're comfortable with. Lots of clinic and can scrub any surgeries at the location you're at.

Mind you COVID restrictions are pretty severe right now in terms of volume they can schedule. They've been trying to see more patients but orders from higher up limit that.

I agree with UTSA. When I visited I saw multiple 3rd years that were a month from graduating struggling to get through an Austin.

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[Weirdy]

I agree with UTSA. When I visited I saw multiple 3rd years that were a month from graduating struggling to get through an Austin.

UT - HSC-SA. They call it "utesca" down there.

UTSA the undergraduate university is fine. Go Runners!

 

[Laramie]

1) no idea
2) As a student- no idea. As a residency program- there's a reason they scramble every year. Fellows get priority, not residents. Heard horror stories about them before I even started school. Don't believe me just call up and ask the attendings that used to work there.
3) Here right now. Quick update since last thread:

-Madigan Army center used to be a residency, got shut down. Residents cover those surgeries now
-Multicare (community) so residents also scrub those surgeries

Their goal is to have numbers by end of 2nd year and they're on track to do that.

Good people here. Definitely not a toxic atmosphere. Attendings willing to teach. As a student they let you do as much as you're comfortable with. Lots of clinic and can scrub any surgeries at the location you're at.

Mind you COVID restrictions are pretty severe right now in terms of volume they can schedule. They've been trying to see more patients but orders from higher up limit that.

Awesome! Thank you so much

 

[heybrother]

Awesome! Thank you so much

Went to San Antonio several years ago. Don't go there. Terrible overlying vision/leadership. Horrible lifestyle. Better programs out there. Apparently there's people who do 6 month externships here. 1 month was almost unbearable.

 

[dtrack22]

3) Here right now. Quick update since last thread:

-Madigan Army center used to be a residency, got shut down. Residents cover those surgeries now
-Multicare (community) so residents also scrub those surgeries

Their goal is to have numbers by end of 2nd year and they're on track to do that.

Good people here. Definitely not a toxic atmosphere. Attendings willing to teach. As a student they let you do as much as you're comfortable with. Lots of clinic and can scrub any surgeries at the location you're at.

Mind you COVID restrictions are pretty severe right now in terms of volume they can schedule. They've been trying to see more patients but orders from higher up limit that.

IF (and it can be a big “if” with VA programs) they allow residents to get out of the god awful VA clinics, and instead cover cases at Madigan and Multicare, it could easily become one of the better DVA programs in the country. Both Madigan and Multicare used to have residency programs, so while they may not have been all that great all by themselves, adding those facilities could eliminate a lot of VA clinic days and any double scrubbing that currently occurs.

The problem will be lazy arse VA attendings not wanting to see patients in clinic and requiring resident coverage. Doesn’t matter what is available at non-VA facilities if the attendings are requiring daily VA clinic coverage from the residents.

 

[Weirdy]

IF (and it can be a big “if” with VA programs) they allow residents to get out of the god awful VA clinics, and instead cover cases at Madigan and Multicare, it could easily become one of the better DVA programs in the country. Both Madigan and Multicare used to have residency programs, so while they may not have been all that great all by themselves, adding those facilities could eliminate a lot of VA clinic days and any double scrubbing that currently occurs.

The problem will be lazy arse VA attendings not wanting to see patients in clinic and requiring resident coverage. Doesn’t matter what is available at non-VA facilities if the attendings are requiring daily VA clinic coverage from the residents.

To my knowledge, they have Madigan as a rotation, scrubbing in, taking call there etc.

Multicare also being covered by residents- not sure to what extent but they are scrubbing in.

VA clinic is still the same at both AML and Seattle locations. So far have seen surgeries such as amputations, Cartiva, Achilles + AITFL repairs, bunions.

 

[AttackNME]

IF (and it can be a big “if” with VA programs) they allow residents to get out of the god awful VA clinics, and instead cover cases at Madigan and Multicare, it could easily become one of the better DVA programs in the country. Both Madigan and Multicare used to have residency programs, so while they may not have been all that great all by themselves, adding those facilities could eliminate a lot of VA clinic days and any double scrubbing that currently occurs.

The problem will be lazy arse VA attendings not wanting to see patients in clinic and requiring resident coverage. Doesn’t matter what is available at non-VA facilities if the attendings are requiring daily VA clinic coverage from the residents.

One problem for a lot of Va programs letting residents get out of clinic is that their salary is paid for by the VA, and therefore are required to work at the VA for a % of their total time, forgot what that %, but they have to comply by that rule incase of audits

 

[SouthPod7]

One problem for a lot of Va programs letting residents get out of clinic is that their salary is paid for by the VA, and therefore are required to work at the VA for a % of their total time, forgot what that %, but they have to comply by that rule incase of audits

Correct. I think the standard is that VA residents are required to spend 5/6 of their time at the main VA facility. I'm not sure how exactly that number was calculated, or how it can even be verified, but there it is.

 

[DexterMorganSK]

PODIATRYtown has been created in efforts to connect the Podiatric Medical Students on one platform. PODIATRYtown aims to connect students from all 9 schools and allow them to share resources and externship advice on an integrated platform.

Due to COVID-19, Class of 2021 is currently dealing with externship cancellations and rescheduling. Students are unable to find programs and are struggling with their rotation schedules. Things will be much much different for them in Texas next January (If CASPR/CRIP even happens).
I encourage all current residents and students to add their externship experiences on the CASPR/CRIP forums to help out current 4th years since they maybe applying for interviews without any knowledge of certain programs. Externships and Interview process is rigorous to begin with and adding COVID-19 to it is only making it more difficult for them.

I will leave this post up but promotion/advertisement is NOT allowed on SDN.

 

[fifteenblades]

I will leave this post up but promotion/advertisement is NOT allowed on SDN.

My apologies. I will go ahead and delete it.

 

[Deepfriedfish]

Any information on:Franciscan Health Hammond/MWU or Tucson Medical Center/MWU?

 

[pod dude 1234]

1) no idea
2) As a student- no idea. As a residency program- there's a reason they scramble every year. Fellows get priority, not residents. Heard horror stories about them before I even started school. Don't believe me just call up and ask the attendings that used to work there.
3) Here right now. Quick update since last thread:

-Madigan Army center used to be a residency, got shut down. Residents cover those surgeries now
-Multicare (community) so residents also scrub those surgeries

Their goal is to have numbers by end of 2nd year and they're on track to do that.

Good people here. Definitely not a toxic atmosphere. Attendings willing to teach. As a student they let you do as much as you're comfortable with. Lots of clinic and can scrub any surgeries at the location you're at.

Mind you COVID restrictions are pretty severe right now in terms of volume they can schedule. They've been trying to see more patients but orders from higher up limit that.

UT Health San Antonio changed their Residency Director this year and apparently the program has completely revamped itself from what they used to be.

 

[Weirdy]

UT Health San Antonio changed their Residency Director this year and apparently the program has completely revamped itself from what they used to be.

Keep hearing the same thing but hard to believe.

Asked to visit this year and previous director was still calling the shots. Have the email to prove it.

If your information is accurate, encourage students to go visit in person and pay attention to how residents are treated, how competent their 3rd years are.

 

[pod dude 1234]

Keep hearing the same thing but hard to believe.

Asked to visit this year and previous director was still calling the shots. Have the email to prove it.

If your information is accurate, encourage students to go visit in person and pay attention to how residents are treated, how competent their 3rd years are

A friend of mine I graduated with is currently there and based off what they've said to me it seems like they've made some significant changes from what they had been doing. I believe Dr. Blaschke is their new director and their old one retired? Not completely sure though. They seem generally happy right now.

 

[Feli]

Yeah, it is all relative.

None of us have visited more than 5 or 10 programs for any meaningful span of time, so while program X might be the best of one guy's 6 clerkship spots, X also might be the bottom of the barrel in another person's set of 5 monthlong clerkships due to the set they picked. It's all relative.

...Real good thread topic overall, though. Keep the reviews coming. Ultimately, you always want to go see for yourself... but having a basic scouting report to help pick your clerkships is invaluable nonetheless.

 

[PTPuser]

Anyone have any experience with the Wake Forest program? Thanks.

 

[Laramie]

Hey guys! Looking for any updated feedback/advice on the following:

1) Grant Medical Center (Ohio)
2) Kingsbrook (New York)
3) Detroit Medical Center
4) EventHealth East Orlando
5) Medstar
6) Mount Auburn

Thank you in advance

 

[ConsciousCalc]

Hey guys! Looking for any updated feedback/advice on the following:

1) Grant Medical Center (Ohio)
2) Kingsbrook (New York)
3) Detroit Medical Center
4) EventHealth East Orlando
5) Medstar
6) Mount Auburn

Thank you in advance

Really hope someone who has been to these programs recently can chime in.

 

[Podstar]

Program Name: St. Joseph Medical Center (Houston, TX)

General Program/Hospital Info:
Large hospital system with the main hospital in downtown Houston. You work with attendings affiliated with the hospital and outside providers.

Attendings:
As a student you will mainly rotate with Dr. Randy and Gary Lepow, Neville, Miller, and a new attending that they just added on from JPS. All of the attendings are nice and great to be with. Dr. Gary can be very intimidating and rude at times, but he seems to have eased up a little since I rotated. None of the attendings pimp very much aside from Dr. Gary who asks a lot of questions, but I thought they were relatively easy. Dr. Gary will have you do a "full work up" of one of his clinic patients and be sure to get everything (PMH, meds, PSxH, etc) or he will rip you a new one.

Residents:
They take 4 residents per year. They scrambled the year prior to mine, but filled all of their spots this year. The residents are not a very tight-knit group and typically only communicate and hang out inside the hospital. They are nice and I enjoyed working with them. They are very honest about the program and will answer every question you ask them.

Didactics:
This program does a lot of afternoon academics. They have weekly case presentations, board review, and journal review 3-4 days a week from 6-7ish PM. This was a major turn off for me. Students are responsible for presenting one journal review and one case presentation.

OR Experience:
As a student my OR was very minimal. I scrubbed two cases the whole month. Most of it was spent shadowing in the OR and I did not see any big cases, the majority were bunions, pus, and other smaller elective cases. Dr. Miller does a little more rearfoot and non-emergent trauma. I am not sure about the new attending from JPS, but I expect he will bring more of this to the program. One thing that really turned me off from the program was that the residents are very hands off in the OR. I saw a second year resident who struggled to close skin.

Clinic Experience:
Clinic as a student is pretty much shadowing as well. You will trim some toenails here and there and debride a wound here and there with Dr. Randy, but that is about it. All shadowing with Dr. Miller and all shadowing with Dr. Neville.

Research Opportunities:
There are research opportunities especially in wound care with Dr. Randy.

Lifestyle:
As far as work schedule goes I would say it is pretty average and fluctuates depending on, which attending you are with. The afternoon didactics is really what made me not enjoy the lifestyle as much.

Pros:
Dr. Neville and Dr. Miller are both great at what they do and have great connections for job prospects after residency. There are good research opportunities. A heavy focus on didactics may be a plus for some who like that. They just recently brought in a new attending from JPS that will hopefully allow the residents more hands on experience and big cases, so long as he runs things like they do at JPS. I think they do a good job of teaching residents how to run a private practice.

Cons:
A decent amount of driving to different locations. Very hands off in the OR as a lot of these patients are attendings private practice patients. A lot of didactics that are in the afternoon.

Overall Conclusion:
I think there are better programs out there to rotate at as far as learning as a student and matching at a program go. I cannot recommend spending a month here.

 

[Podstar]

Program Name: West Penn

General Program/Hospital Info:
3 main large hospitals that students go to, about a 30 minute drive between each. There call system is set to where they have primary and backup call with one group covering two hospitals and another covering one. Some big names have come out of this program and many have held positions in ACFAS and other organizations. You will work very long hours as a student at this program. I was regularly in the hospital before sunrise and leaving when it was dark. There are free dorms to stay at next to the hospital that are just awful, but free is free. Very, very long days. It is pretty much expected for you to do a fellowship after residency if you go here. As a student you will begin each day pre-rounding at 5 AM taking down dressings and leaving supplies for the resident to redress.

Attendings:
Some truly amazing attendings to work with at this program. Dr. Hentges and McMillen are both fellowship trained. Dr. Saltrick and Dr. Catanzariti were two of my favorite attendings of any I worked with during school. They truly love to teach and work with residents and students, and do some very big cases.

Residents:
There were a couple of cool residents, but the rest were probably my least favorite group to work with on any rotation. A lot of them had a very "elitist" attitude for how middle of the road they were in the OR. They pimped students on irrelevant minutiae seemingly for their own amusement. I think the group of residents really turned me away from this program.

Didactics:
Weekly presentations that can be up to an hour long by two residents. They host fairly regular all day conferences. Students are timed in how long it takes them to throw four horizontal mattress sutures at the beginning and end of the rotation, while the residents sit over you and try to make you nervous. One of the things as a student was access to the cadaver lab the whole month to practice suturing and dissection on an actual limb. Students will prepare one case presentation and present it on the last Wednesday of the month.

OR Experience:
They double scrub every single case and it is a tiered system, so as a 1st year you strictly do pus cases, 2nd year you strictly do forefoot, and 3rd years do midfoot and up. The attendings are very eager to hand it over to the resident and they help and teach the whole way. As a student you are responsible for setting up the room and grabbing gloves for everyone. Make sure to set up the room just how each resident likes it. I did get to scrub some pretty good cases here, but it's not very hands on a lot of standing and retracting. I think I sutured twice and threw a couple of screws.

Clinic Experience:
They have a pretty interesting clinic with no nails so thats a plus, but as a student you are pretty much just shadowing and assisting the resident. They will pimp you over radiographs, exams, diagnosis, etc.

Research Opportunities:
Definitely there, but it is all up to you to do everything as a resident.

Lifestyle:
One of the worst lifestyles I have ever seen. The residents will stay super late with seemingly nothing going on just to say they’re staying late it’s super weird.

Pros:
Some really great attendings and historically a strong program with some big name graduates. Great if you see yourself wanting a position in ACFAS or other national organization. Very hands on in the OR. Lots of variety and good cases. Very good variety in clinic with no nails/calluses.

Cons:
As a resident you are in the hospital at 4:45 AM every single day. I did not like the group of residents, but if you are a gunner or have that same kind of personality this may be a great fit for you. It is expected of you to do a fellowship after.

Overall Conclusion:
I think this is a really great program. I do not think it is at the top like it used to be, but I think you would get great training and have great fellowship opportunities coming out of here.

 

[Podstar]

Program Name: Hunt Regional Medical Center

General Program/Hospital Info:
One semi-rural hospital in Greenevill, TX where you work with Dr. Brancheau and his partners. The rest is with a very large number of DPMs in the DFW metroplex at various surgery centers and hospitals. Dr. Brancheau senior will be retiring soon, so that may be a plus or minus for you. There is a ton of driving sometimes an hour one way and then an hour back for journal club, so definitely something to take into account.

Attendings:
Dr. Brancheau and his son, Dr. Huntsman, and Dr, Pinedo, as well as many other DPMs around the DFW area. Most of these were awesome to work with and pretty much all of them had the residents doing the whole case. Dr. Brancheau senior can be hard to work with as he has a short temper and the smallest things can set him off, but if you are on his good side and work hard to please him he is great and an incredible teacher in the OR. Dr. Pinedo is the only one that did not train at Hunt so it is nice to get a different perspective with him. Dr. Paul Brancheau is pretty much a younger version of his dad. Dr. Huntsman is the newest attending and is super chill and awesome to work with.

Residents:
They take two residents a year. I loved working with them, a great group of people. The 3rd years are very impressive in the OR, I saw both of them do TARs star to finish. One thing I would caution is both of the female residents were pregnant and I heard from other residents that Dr. Brancheau was not cool with it and gave them a pretty hard time about it.

Didactics:
Not a huge focus. There was a pretty informal weekly journal club where the residents would throw up a few cases and sometimes they would ask us students are question. Students are responsible for a case presentation at the end of the month.

OR Experience:
A really great OR experience as a student. They do a huge variety of cases from HTs to ankle fractures to TARs. The residents do the whole case as long as they are comfortable with it. As a student I sutured a lot, threw screws, prepped joints, so it was a great experience.

Clinic Experience:
There is a resident run clinic where students pretty much see all the patients and do all the treatment while the residents take care of the notes. I probably did 20 nail avulsions and a ton of injections throughout the month, so it is great if you haven't gotten to do a lot of that stuff. Other than that residents cover clinic at Brancheau's private practice.

Research Opportunities:
Research opportunities are there, but the residents are responsible for it all. I believe it is a requirement to publish at least once.

Lifestyle:
I would say the work is about average, but it is the driving that can really kill the lifestyle at this program.

Pros:
Great residents and attendings for the most part. A great variety of OR experience and techniques working with so many different attendings. very hands on in the OR. Resident run clinic allows you to simulate how you will have to run clinic as an attending. Not a ton of didactic requirements.

Cons:
Tons of driving

Overall Conclusion:
I definitely think this is an underrated program as far as training goes I feel like you would come out of here with a great skillset.

 

[Podstar]

Program Name: Surgical Hospital of Oklahoma

General Program/Hospital Info:
1st year is done at Cleveland clinic in Ohio, which is where you do all of your off service rotations. The 2nd and 3rd year are done at a surgical hospital and a few other hospitals in Oklahoma City, OK. This program is very informal and self-driven you get out what you put in. 2nd and 3rd year you show up and do cases, go to a clinic if you want to and go home. You technically have call days, but one of the 3rd years I asked said he had never been called in. A new director is coming in so there may be changes coming in the future.

Attendings:
Since i have externed they have a new director who I never worked with. You work with several DPMs Dr. Rohde, Dr. Rose, Dr. Green, Dr. hardison, and Dr. Filkins, as well as a foot and ankle ortho Dr. Ringus and plastic surgeon Dr. Tu. All of the attendings I worked with were awesome. They all really love to teach in the OR and seem to all have great relationships with the residents.

Residents:
They take two residents per year. I loved working with and hanging out with the residents, they were one of the coolest group I worked with. The 2nd years are a little behind coming in as there is very limited OR time during the 1st year at CCF, but they catch up very quickly with the large amount and variety of cases they do. The 3rd years were very confident and capable of doing cases start to finish. Make sure to ask who and get to to know the 1st years who you wont get to meet in OKC, because if you go here they will be your senior residents.

Didactics:
Not a big emphasis here. They do a very informal Mann's chapter review and some board vitals once a week. There is also a very informal journal club once a month.

OR Experience:
An incredible OR experience for students. With most attendings as long as I was with a 3rd year resident I got to do layered closure and actively participate in the case from making cuts to throwing screws. They do a wide variety of cases as well as doing BKAs, hand, wrist, and arm, and plastic surgery cases since they also work with the F&A ortho and plastic surgeon. By far the biggest upside is that Dr. Ringus the foot and ankle ortho does not have ortho residents, so podiatry scrubs all his cases and he loves working with podiatry.

Clinic Experience:
As a student you do not do clinic, you scrub cases all day and that is it. As a resident you can either go to clinic with whichever attending you like before or after cases if you want.

Research Opportunities:
Not much of a focus with this program.

Lifestyle:
This program has a great lifestyle during 2nd and 3rd year, but 1st year is a grind at CCF.

Pros:
Most cases done at a surgical hospital where you can wear your own scrubs in. Very little on call if any. Great hands on OR experience with a variety of attendings. Not much clinic, but when you do go it is very relevant. Foot and Ankle ortho that podiatry has to themselves.

Cons:
1st year in Ohio then you have to move to Oklahoma. Limited inpatient management experience, limited call experience, and limited clinic experience.

Overall Conclusion:
I think this is a great sleeper program that has an awesome culture. Things may change with the new director, so everything could be irrelevant if he changes the program.

 

[Podstar]

Program Name: John Peter Smith

General Program/Hospital Info:
Level 1 trauma center in Fort Worth, TX. All of your work is done here aside from a few outside locations during 3rd year.

Attendings:
Dr. Motley, Dr. Garrett, Dr. Rhodes, and Dr. Levine, as well as a few outside attendings in the last half of 3rd year for elective cases. I think you would be hard pressed to find another podiatrist that has done more foot and ankle trauma than Dr. Motley. If you want to do and be an expert at foot and ankle trauma this is 100% the program for you. A great group to work with I enjoyed working with all of the attendings. If you can take crap and dish it back out all in good fun you will enjoy the culture here. I would describe it similar to a sports team.

Residents:
They take two residents a year. They are an incredibly sharp group in knowledge, clinic, and the OR. By far the best residents I have seen in the OR. The first years are capable of doing ankle fractures start to finish. They do not have a lot of attending oversight. Most of them time during the case the attending is not even in the room. Usually a senior resident will be there to help if the resident doing the case needs it. I loved working with them a fun group that likes to laugh and have a good time and kill it in the OR and clinic.

Didactics:
Not a focus.

OR Experience:
The best OR experience as a student. If they trust you and you show them you are capable they will let you do skin to skin procedures while they assist. I did numerous amps and some TMAs start to finish as a student. It is pretty much all trauma and pus cases, aside from 6 months during 3rd year where they do elective cases. There can be as many as 15 cases a day so if you aren't comfortable doing cases with minimal oversight from day 1 this may not be the program for you.

Clinic Experience:
The busiest resident run clinic I have ever seen. 100+ patients per day 3 days per week. It is a grind. As a student you will get to do pretty much all the clinic procedures.

Research Opportunities:
There are opportunities here, though it is not their focus.

Lifestyle:
You are going to be working very hard at this program.

Pros:
Excellent trauma training. Excellent job opportunities with hospitals and ortho groups in the area as they know the type of training JPS residents get. To put that in perspective the ortho residents at JPS rotate with podiatry to get their foot and ankle training. An awesome culture if it is the right fit for you.

Cons:
Limited elective cases. May not be practical and applicable to the real world depending on the job you get. It would suck to have the all the training you get from here to not be able to use it.

Overall Conclusion:
A truly outstanding program that is not for everybody, but if it is the right fit for you it is great.

 

[ftdoc11]

Program Name: Mount Auburn Hospital

General Program/Hospital Info:
The vast majority of the training is completed at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, although there was discussion of some rotations in New Hampshire as one of the new attendings is affiliated with Dartmouth-Hitchcock.

Attendings:
Primary attendings are Drs Emily and Jeremy Cook and Dr. Basile. It sounded like there were at least a half dozen other attendings the residents work with regularly, including orthopedic surgeons. The relationship between podiatry and the other specialities at this program was amazing. Podiatry residents would frequently scrub hand and other ortho cases if there weren’t podiatry cases to cover. Dr. Basile and the Cooks are all very capable surgeons who love to teach, but they do strive for perfection which can sometimes be intimidating. Dr. Basile did more total ankle replacements and complex reconstruction than almost any attending I saw while on rotations. Massachusetts is still a grey state when it comes to ankle privileges, but Mount Auburn has an arrangement with the hospital that allows them to practice full scope.

Residents:
They take two residents per year. All are very strong academically and driven, type-A personalities for the most part. They all went out of their way to teach me during my month there and seemed genuinely more interested in making sure I learned something instead of pimping endlessly.

Didactics:
There are multiple weekly academics and it is expected that residents are well read and self motivated enough to learn on their own time. There is a skills checklist that students must complete during the month to ensure they have the appropriate hand-skills.

OR Experience:
The 3rd years were very impressive in the OR. Both were doing the majority of complex rearfoot surgeries including ex fix application and even some TARs. This is one of the very few programs where the residents actually get enough experience with TARs to (maybe) be comfortable doing them. The senior residents are expected to teach the junior residents so it is not uncommon to see cases doubled scrubbed, but it was always for teaching purposes. They have no problem getting surgery numbers. They also have a phenomenal relationship with ortho, and since there are no ortho residents at Mount Auburn, the pod residents were always welcome to scrub extra cases when possible.

Clinic Experience:
One of the best clinical experiences I saw on rotations. There is a resident run clinic weekly, but even in the attending’s clinic the residents are doing everything (in a good way). They get experiences working patients up, but more importantly are taught a lot of stuff related to note writing, EMR, billing, and coding. Probably some of the most prepared residents to actually walk out of residency and be able to run a practice.

Research Opportunities:
Mandatory and there are plenty of opportunities. They’re even installing a gait analysis lab into their office to broaden their research capabilities.

Lifestyle:
They work hard and are busy, but the hours aren’t crazy and everyone seemed to have a healthy life outside of the hospital.

Pros:
In my opinion, one of the most well rounded programs in the country. The combination of OR, clinic, academic, and research opportunities are all top-notch. Dr. Basile gets referrals from all over the northeast and does a ton of complex recons and TARs, but more importantly, he actually lets the residents do a lot of these cases in comparison to some other “big name” attendings.

Cons:
They look for a very particular type of student/resident and have some strong personalities that may be off putting to some people. Massachusetts still has some restrictive podiatry laws, and although this is currently no issue for Mount Auburn, things can always change.

Overall Conclusion:
This is a phenomenal program for the right personality. I’d encourage anyone to rotate here because even if it’s not the best fit for you, you’ll learn a lot in your month there and pick up some valuable skills.

 

[LilYoungswick]

Program: St Vincent’s (Ascension) Indianapolis, Indiana

Location: Main hospital is Ascension St Vincents in North Indianapolis. There is a resident clinic across the street from the main hospital. Numerous affiliated surgical centers in the IU system that residents do cases at. Numerous private practices associated with the program where residents are able to rotate through.

Attendings: Dr. Patrick DeHeer (Director), Dr Chase Stuart, Dr William Wolfe, Dr Travis Montgomery and nearly 20 other associated attendings.

Residents: Outgoing, engaging, family oriented. Work hard, play hard mentality. Many of the residents have families. Residents are from all over the US, all from different Pod Schools. Very cohesive group.

Academics: 7 am Tuesday mornings are the academics. Each week there is something different (Radio Review, Journal Review, Lectures/LitReview, Presentations by students). 1-2x month cadeaver lab, 1x month board review done with associated faculty and residents. Most well rounded academics ive seen.

OR Experience: PGY1 get the blade from day 1 at the MAIN hospital. Especially since most of these cases are inpatient, limb salvage I saws the attendings be very hands off with the PGY1 group. Within 3 months most of the PGY1 had nearly 60-70 cases, single scrub. PGY2 and PGY3 are doing elective cases in the community with associated faculty, most attendings are quick to give the blade to the residents and let them do majority of the case. Montgomery brings many flaps/orthoplastic, charcot cases and mainly has PGY3 on his big recons. HUGE asset of this program. DeHeer is awesome in the OR, constantly teaches throughout the case and brings some great elective cases to the program. He sees a ton of pediatric patients as well. Great diversity

Clinic Experience: Resident clinic is Monday – Friday in which 1 resident covers AM, and 1 resident covers PM. Mandatory for each resident do ONE session a week. Very chill clinic. Residents are then allowed to go to surrounding clinics in the city when they are done with cases or have free days. Resident run clinic is great, relaxed.

Lifestyle: great, multiple residents have families with kids. because PGY2 and PGY3 are mainly scrubbing electives in the community, when the residents are done covering those cases its up to them to go to a clinic or not, so they were all very happy and had good work-life balance.

PRO: Well rounded, phenomenal academics, Dr DeHeer brings with him great connections in podiatry, conferences, academics etc. Attendings are hands off for the most part and let the residents actively participate in cases. Great exposure to complex charcot and muscle flaps with Montgomery. Affordable housing. Great family oriented residents. One of my favorite clerkships as a student because you learn so much and have a great deal of diversity.

CON: TRAUMA – OrthoIndy does not allow podiatry to scrub the trauma that comes through St Vincent (level 1 trauma). I sensed the frustration with the residents on this. Some outside attendings may not let the residents do too much.

Overall: VERY WELL ROUNDED. Dr DeHeer’s experience and knowledge will impact this program for the better. His connections and consistent desire to innovate and improve will make this program highly sought after. GREAT exposure to Pediatrics through DeHeer. Very balanced life style with excellent diversity in case load. Dr Montgomery adds extensive insight in Charcot and limb salvage using complex closure techniques. PGY2 and PGY3 are mainly seeking out electives in the community and have the options to work in any of the associated faculty’s clinic. Aside from the lack of trauma (podiatry rarely gets any trauma) in the main hospital, couldn’t not find any other complaint.

 

[CutsWithFury]

Program Name: St. Joseph Medical Center (Houston, TX)

General Program/Hospital Info:
Large hospital system with the main hospital in downtown Houston. You work with attendings affiliated with the hospital and outside providers.

Attendings:
As a student you will mainly rotate with Dr. Randy and Gary Lepow, Neville, Miller, and a new attending that they just added on from JPS. All of the attendings are nice and great to be with. Dr. Gary can be very intimidating and rude at times, but he seems to have eased up a little since I rotated. None of the attendings pimp very much aside from Dr. Gary who asks a lot of questions, but I thought they were relatively easy. Dr. Gary will have you do a "full work up" of one of his clinic patients and be sure to get everything (PMH, meds, PSxH, etc) or he will rip you a new one.

Residents:
They take 4 residents per year. They scrambled the year prior to mine, but filled all of their spots this year. The residents are not a very tight-knit group and typically only communicate and hang out inside the hospital. They are nice and I enjoyed working with them. They are very honest about the program and will answer every question you ask them.

Didactics:
This program does a lot of afternoon academics. They have weekly case presentations, board review, and journal review 3-4 days a week from 6-7ish PM. This was a major turn off for me. Students are responsible for presenting one journal review and one case presentation.

OR Experience:
As a student my OR was very minimal. I scrubbed two cases the whole month. Most of it was spent shadowing in the OR and I did not see any big cases, the majority were bunions, pus, and other smaller elective cases. Dr. Miller does a little more rearfoot and non-emergent trauma. I am not sure about the new attending from JPS, but I expect he will bring more of this to the program. One thing that really turned me off from the program was that the residents are very hands off in the OR. I saw a second year resident who struggled to close skin.

Clinic Experience:
Clinic as a student is pretty much shadowing as well. You will trim some toenails here and there and debride a wound here and there with Dr. Randy, but that is about it. All shadowing with Dr. Miller and all shadowing with Dr. Neville.

Research Opportunities:
There are research opportunities especially in wound care with Dr. Randy.

Lifestyle:
As far as work schedule goes I would say it is pretty average and fluctuates depending on, which attending you are with. The afternoon didactics is really what made me not enjoy the lifestyle as much.

Pros:
Dr. Neville and Dr. Miller are both great at what they do and have great connections for job prospects after residency. There are good research opportunities. A heavy focus on didactics may be a plus for some who like that. They just recently brought in a new attending from JPS that will hopefully allow the residents more hands on experience and big cases, so long as he runs things like they do at JPS. I think they do a good job of teaching residents how to run a private practice.

Cons:
A decent amount of driving to different locations. Very hands off in the OR as a lot of these patients are attendings private practice patients. A lot of didactics that are in the afternoon.

Overall Conclusion:
I think there are better programs out there to rotate at as far as learning as a student and matching at a program go. I cannot recommend spending a month here.

This program was on the verge of being shut down a couple of years ago. Just based on that I would not advise this program

 

[heybrother]

This program was on the verge of being shut down a couple of years ago. Just based on that I would not advise this program

A friend of friend liked being a resident there but otherwise everything I've seen was negative.

-A guy I knew did a clerkship there. They wouldn't let him leave on the last day of his rotation till after 5 - because they wanted him to work in a clinic cutting toenails.

-Most of the people at their interview were nice, but the PD was literally the weirdest/rudest person I've met and I've met DMU residents (plural) at Regions/West Penn who will be losing custody of their children at their first divorce due to being a sociopath. Anyway, a few years ago his "case study" is he wants you to get an MRI and then put in a 1st MPJ implant. Do you think you get bonus points if you tell him you want to put in a In2Bones implant? I heard a wild story that he has patients he replaces the implants on over and over again.

-Back when we did interviews St. Joseph's makes you leave the Texas event where you are catching up with residents from other (better) programs to attend their garbage event. There they make wild promises like that the hospital has agreed to let them take all the trauma for the hospital etc. Podstar just must have missed those cases.

-Wilder story still. Supposedly the leadership at St. J ran Kingwood into the ground back in the day and stole the residents paychecks. Had to be rescued somehow by the current people/West Houston.

-Humidity

-Mosquitos

 

[wakaflocka88]

After going through a surgically heavy residency (trauma plus electives and tons of limb salvage) - I can tell you this: get the most well rounded training possible. If you think you’ll come out as a 100% TAR/fracture/pediatric guru, ain’t happening. Maybe a select few will be in each graduating class. Not even fellowship trained will guarantee you anything in your ideal job. But don’t forget, if you can’t work a patient up properly, you ain’t cutting ‘em.

 

[ftdoc11]

Program Name: Detroit Medical Center

General Program/Hospital Info:
The bulk of the training is completed at Sinai-Grace Hospital and Detroit Receiving Hospital/Harper Hospital (one complex with multiple hospitals). Podiatry gets all F&A trauma coming into Sinai-Grace. Residents also operate at several other hospitals and surgery centers in the surrounding suburbs. As a student, the majority of your time will be spent at the two main hospitals.

Attendings:
The program works with something like 100+ attendings, but Drs Schwartz (Director), Usen, and the Kissel brothers appeared to be the main attendings and the ones that rotate trauma call. Brian Kissel does a lot of complex recon and limb salvage surgeries, and is probably the biggest draw to the program IMO. With so many attendings there is definitely a range of skills and abilities. Some were amazing...others not so much.

Residents:
They take 5 per year, although the current 1st year class only has 4. Much like the attendings, there is a wide range of skills and abilities within the group of residents. Some had very good hands and were remarkably comfortable in the OR, but this was not true for everyone. Most were very welcoming to students, interested in teaching, and making sure I had the opportunity to do things throughout the rotation. They do pimp occasionally, but all the questions were fair.

Didactics:
There were weekly academic calls, but they’re primarily run by the residents and did not seem to be a priority for the attendings.

OR Experience:
The OR experience varied dramatically based on the attending. Most allowed the residents, even the first year residents, to perform as much of the case as they were comfortable doing. However, there were several where the resident basically retracted the entire time. Some residents were rockstars in the OR and others had a lot of room for improvement. The program sees a lot of trauma and the 3rd years were all comfortable dealing with basic ankle fractures, Lis Franc, etc. The OR experience as a student is great. A lot of cases are single scrubbed and if you’re working hard the residents and attendings are very willing to let students get hands on in the OR. It is not uncommon for a student to get to do an amp or hammertoe skin-to-skin.

Clinic Experience:
Good exposure to a lot of different clinics. Dr. Kissel’s clinic is basically a fracture and ortho clinic with hardly any chip and clip or wound care. There are also a variety of private practice clinics the residents are able to cover to get exposure to billing, coding, and practice management. As a student, you’ll be expected to work-up and present patients, and occasionally dictate a note.

Research Opportunities:
Available for those interested, but research did not seem like a big priority.

Lifestyle:
Depends on the month/service. A lot of podiatry call is in-house so many nights must be spent sleeping at the hospital, especially first year. Trauma at Sinai-Grace can get crazy and the program has a two month ortho-trauma rotation that also sounded quite hectic. When not on trauma call the hours seemed to improve significantly. Residents were all friendly with each other, but they didn’t seem like one big family. Some got together occasionally, but many have families and live separate lives outside the hospital.

Pros:
Big program with a lot of resources for those who are motivated to learn. There are some amazing attendings that have a lot to teach. The patient population is primarily medically underserved and thus you will see pathology at this program that is often only read about in textbooks. Tons of trauma if that’s important to you. Off service rotations are very good, especially the orthopedic trauma rotation, and many of the podiatry residents seemed very comfortable managing any type of ortho pathology.

Cons:
The shear size of the program means that there will be some attendings and residents who are simply below average. If you’re not a self-starter and motivated individual I think it’s easy to get lost in the numbers here. Detroit has come a long way in the past few years, but the city is still very rundown.

Overall Conclusion:
This program has a lot to offer for the right type of person. The residents that seemed to be successful here were the ones who were very self-motivated and able to navigate the internal politics of such a large program. There are some amazing attendings and you will see every pathology that you can imagine. However, I think there is inconsistency in the training related to the size of the program which keeps it out of the very top-tier of programs. With that said, it’s still an above average program and probably one of the best for student rotations if you’re looking for trauma exposure and OR experience.

 

[LilYoungswick]

Program: The Jewish Hospital- Mercy Health Cincinnati, Ohio

Location: The main hospital is located in Kenwood, a suburb 15 minutes away from downtown Cincinnati where you will be spending the majority of the time. There are also a few surgical centers that the residents get to do surgical cases at.

Attendings: Dr. Robert Brarens (Director), Dr. Renee Ash, Dr. Chris Cullum and nearly 15 other attendings.

Residents: The program takes 2 residents per year. All of the residents are outgoing and treat each other like a family. The residents are very close to each other and never hesitate to help each other out. I haven’t seen such a close group of residents. All of them also like to hangout outside of the hospital as well (which is a huge plus for me).

Academics/Rounding: At this program the majority of rounding is done as group rounding meaning the externs and whichever residents are on service will round on all the inpatients in the hospital in the morning every day. As for academics there are weekly Mcglamry chapter reviews and monthly journal club and cadaver labs.

OR Experience: For the most part, attendings are very hands off and let the resident’s do skin to skin, unless the resident is inexperienced in the procedure and the attending will help the resident through the case. There is very little double scrubbing at this program, the only time I’ve heard of double scrubbing is towards the end of your second year of residency when you start scrubbing into Dr. Brarens’ cases. These are typically done by third year residents and a second year will join to get acclimated with how Brarens’ likes to do his cases. Dr. Brarens and Dr. Cullum bring some big cases to the program including TARs, recons etc. There is a great variety and diversity of cases with the other attendings as well. PGY3s were some of the more confident residents I had seen in the OR. All the residents will easily get their numbers and go way above the requirement.

Clinic Experience: There is a first year resident run clinic every Monday and Friday that runs for half a day, and wound care clinic with Dr. Ash that is every Tuesday in the afternoons.

Lifestyle: Generally, residents have a balanced lifestyle. Usually, the residents are done for the day after their cases unless there are academics planned for the evening.


PRO: Great surgical program, and they have a wide variety of cases. Attendings seem to be very hands off and let the residents do skin to skin if they show the confidence to. The residents are like a family and never hesitate to ask each other for help and are always willing to help. A big pro for me is that the residents also like to get together outside of the hospital. A big bonus for students is that they get meal vouchers, so you don’t have to pay for food, and residents get free food in the cafeteria.

CON: As a student there was quite a bit of down time which can be a good and bad thing. Good because you have time to prepare for your boards and your presentation. Bad because for me personally I like to be kept busy.

Overall: Jewish is truly a hidden gem. Very good surgical program that very few people know about. Dr. Brarens and all the other attendings bring very interesting, diverse, and quality cases. Great work-life balance.

 

[DexterMorganSK]

Just a reminder that if you want to submit a review anonymously, then feel free to PM it to Weirdy or me, and we'll post it here.
We respect everyone's privacy.

 

[DexterMorganSK]

I received an anonymous PM for the following submissions:

Program Name:

DVA New Mexico Raymond G. Murphy

General Program/Hospital Info:
One main VA site. Residents scrub cases at other hospitals, surgery centers as well. Two 3rd years will go to Kaiser Sacramento their last year.


Attendings:
Dr. Jozic (PD), Dr. Mele, Dr. Allen, Dr. Marshall. Jozic is spicy- in a good way, looks out for residents and his patients, hypercritical to his own results and surgical outcomes to improve results. Dr. Mele- she’s got a great laugh, soft spoken, kind, genuine. Likes to teach a lot and will always try to see what is the best use of time for you. Dr. Allen is youngest addition, critical, at times abrasive. Personally, never had a problem with her. Dr. Marshall was also recent addition. Rearfoot certified and was looking to bring more rearfoot cases/ankles to the program. Very chill guy, teaches well, will try to help residents as much as possible.


Residents:
Take 4 a year. All very smart, hardworking, have individual personalities. Worked together well and looked out for each other. Some stronger in OR, some stronger in clinic. All very fun to be around outside of hospital and well read.


Didactics:
McGlamry chapter reviews, radiology Fridays on previous cases, bone saw workshops, article discussions, presentations on topics. Tons of academics, more so due to COVID shutting down clinic days- those days were converted to academics. Program has strong emphasis on residents being up to date with literature/McGlam’s/radiology discussions. Very strong academics.


OR Experience:
Covid- students could not scrub. Residents had no problem meeting numbers. Booked cases were everything from ankle fractures to Lapidus, sports med stuff, and everything in between.


Clinic Experience:
Lots of clinic. Were seeing 70-80 patients a day due to covid shutting down 2 clinic days. Everything from typical nails/orthotics to sports injuries due to seeing active duty military. Residents were very competent running clinic.


Research Opportunities:
There if you want it


Lifestyle:
VA takes call month at a time. Residents seemed tired during their month but take “buddy” call with upper resident. They never seemed too grouchy. Time to take trips, family friendly (some residents had kids, some were single). Overall nothing crazy. Manageable and as expected for residency.


Pros:

-Very good training, both clinic and surgery. No problem meeting numbers.

-Good relationship between residents and attendings. Jozic will get on the phone and go to war for you or the patient if another department screws with podiatry.

-Strong academics but not overbearing.

-Cheap cost of living

Cons:

-VA setting

-Call schedule (VA dependent)

-3rd year possibly have to move to Kaiser Sacramento (pro or con for you if you have children/are single

Overall Conclusion:

Top VA program I visited hands down. Solid surgical and clinical training. Friendly smart funny residents. Good mixture of attendings with balanced personalities. Ranked them extremely high. Would not hesitate to go here.

 

[DexterMorganSK]

Program Name:
DVA Puget Sound/Seattle


General Program/Hospital Info:
2 hospital locations, Tacoma and Seattle.


Attendings:
Dr. Nawaz (PD), Dr. Huss, Dr. Sweet, Dr. Oh, Dr. Felder, Dr. Clark, Dr. Behfar. Nawaz took over a few years ago and has turned it around. Was able to get residents to meet surgical case numbers and currently still looking to expand. Huss is super cool, quirky, friendly, experienced guy. Leaves an impression on you and others. Worked with him and Nawaz the most in clinic as student. Oh has very good surgical hands, patient, soft spoken but firm, very kind. Felder comes off abrasive and stern at first but this is a result of being in the system for so long. Very good teacher once she knows she can trust you. Attendings stand up for residents and do not badmouth them. Did not work with Clark or Behfar that much. Was not that impressed with them compared to the other 5.
Residents:

Take 2 a year. VA Puget Sound had a reputation in years past for matching students in who didn’t want to go there. Despite this, current residents were all very friendly, knowledgeable, competent in clinic. Some lacked confidence in OR/inpatient. After further observation, firmly believe this was due to individual characteristics/self learning and not a result of the training.

Didactics:
McGlamry’s chapter review, bone saw lab, woundcare. Didactics not a focus as sometimes scheduled didactics are at same time as surgery cases scheduled, so attendings/residents may be in OR.


OR Experience:
TMA, Lapidus, Cartiva, amputations. Not a lot of cases. When there are cases- residents (even 1st year) given blade and are allowed to do as much as they want with instruction when needed. Thought this was very unique for them- all attendings did this. Program already has agreement with Madigan Army Center to let podiatry residents scrub those cases, as well as adding Community Care (surrounding community attendings and ortho) to let podiatry residents scrub those cases as well. They have not had issues meeting numbers since.


Clinic Experience:
Very typical VA. Nails, orthotics, some soft tissue/nerve. Clinic slow due to Covid, was forced to reduce patient load by 75%. Clinic facilities are nice- computer with 2 screens in each room to chart. Feels like having your own office. Attendings let you do as much as you want if they trust you and you show them you are competent.


Research Opportunities:
There if you want it. Not a big focus.


Lifestyle:
Residents never seemed too stressed. Light clinic, some inpatient management at Seattle branch, little OR due to covid restricting elective surgery. Student lifestyle – spend 2 weeks at Tacoma location 2 weeks at Seattle location. Lots of driving to Tacoma location pending where you stay. Tons of outdoor stuff to do- easily one of the best locations to be in for hiking, lakes, mountains, food, city.


Pros:

-Good attendings who let you do cases skin to skin and are motivated to turn the program around

-Surgical numbers can only increase after addition of Madigan + Community Care

-Tons of mountains, lakes, food to eat in this area. Easily one of the best locations I’ve been in as a student.

Cons:

-Reputation is bad due to quality of residents they take

-Low surgical numbers/clinic due to covid restrictions

Overall Conclusion:

Ranked them top 5. Not as bad as they were before and definitely on the up and up. This program is what you make of it- attendings will let you do cases skin to skin and will give instruction when they watch you and see something that can improve. Very friendly residents and attendings. Pacific North West has tons of stuff to do. This program is great for those who learn quickly by themselves and are ready to take advantage of the leeway they get in OR and clinic.

 

[DexterMorganSK]

Program Name:

Christiana Care Health, Delaware

General Program/Hospital Info:

Two main hospitals, one in Wilmington one in Newark (15min from each other). Residents scrub cases at other hospitals and surgery center.

Attendings:

Dr. Dipretoro (PD), Dr. Bowers, Dr. Perscky, Dr. Severt, Dr. Klein. Dipretoro is very well trained, friendly, very good bedside manner. Everywhere he goes people love him. Bowers is young, works very fast, straightforward. Perscky you scrub cases with, works for ortho group and is their foot and ankle person. Very patient, kind, teaches well, very good surgeon. Severt is young, skilled surgeon, at times comes off as cold, also works for ortho group. Klein is funny, also very good surgeon, teaches well. All of them are very skilled in OR and clinic along with inpatient management. Some you will only see in OR and inpatient management. All treated residents and students well as long as they know you are competent and can trust you. Felt “off” at times but might just be the cold north east vibe everyone goes around with. Don’t bother me I won’t bother you sort of feel.

Residents:
Take 1 a year. All very smart, very good hands. Had individual personalities and looked out after their students, genuinely cared.


Didactics:
Journal club, bone saw. Not a strong emphasis as long as you were staying on top of the literature.


OR Experience:
Tons and tons of OR. In the OR very often due to attendings bringing different cases. Only 1 resident so residents were always 1st assist. Sometimes student was 1st assist because resident was already scrubbing multiple cases. Everything from toe amps to elective surgery and even Charcot. Residents did as much as they were comfortable with. So many cases they don’t have enough residents to scrub.


Clinic Experience:

2 half days a week. Not a lot of clinic.

Research Opportunities:
There if you want it. Not a focus.


Lifestyle:
Very busy but manageable. When there is no clinic or cases going on, you are free to do whatever you want/need to do. Lots of inpatient rounding, lots of cases. Residents have a lot of control over their own schedule. Call seemed manageable despite 1 resident a year. Residents were well paid.


Pros:
-Tons of surgery

-Time management to a personalized schedule (done with cases and no clinic? Go do what you need to until consult comes in)

-Good attendings who teach well and bring lots of diverse cases


Cons:
-Low clinic

-Felt a certain pressure to perform to their standards. We like you when you are good, but if you fall- our tune changes


Overall Conclusion:

Had them ranked number 1 until after interviews. Lots of surgery. Looking for someone who is a quick thinker on their feet, can multitask, is comfortable working independently.

 

[DexterMorganSK]

General Program/Hospital Info:

DVA Phoenix

Attendings:
Dr. Pirozzi, Dr. Lernor, Dr. Jong, Dr. Ellsworth. Pirozzi has a reputation for being inpersonable, may walk right past you when you say hi to her and I have seen this in person. When she realizes you are competent, she will warm up to you. Even then, it is just her personality to be introverted/almost robotic. Very skilled surgeon, not very personable. Has tried to turn program around since taking over to be up to standard and to prevent program from closing due to previous director drama. Has been battling with the problem of getting residents enough surgical case load to graduate while still following VA rules. Lernor is young, friendly, personable. Jong looks out for residents and cares about their well being. Ellsworth is also young, works efficiently, likes to teach in OR when he warms up to you.


Residents:
Take 4 a year. Residents were all very cool and fun to be around. Would teach you as much as they could. Got along really well with them. Work well together. Have pushed for more opportunities to better their training but met some resistance.


Didactics:

Radiology rounds, McGlam’s chapter review, suturing/bone saw workshops. Pirozzi has been pushing for higher quality academics.

OR Experience:

Little to none. Residents can no longer scrub outside cases as often after previous director skirted rules to do so. Some residents were not confident in OR, always double or triple scrubbed on cases due to scarcity of them. Attendings themselves are very skilled, just not enough cases to go around. Not nearly

Clinic Experience:

Tons of clinic. Grinded day in day out, 90-100 patients a day, 5 days a week. Some inpatient rounding.

Research Opportunities:
There if you want it.


Lifestyle:
Very busy. Residents seemed drained during call months. So much clinic residents have little time or opportunity to scrub other cases.


Pros:

-Arizona is a very pleasant place to live surprisingly. Tons of good food, cheap cost of living

-Attendings genuinely try to look out for residents and their well being.


Cons:
-Little to no surgery. Cannot have a residency if you cannot get surgical numbers up to minimum at least. No easy solution to this problem. Pirozzi and company have been battling it for a while.

-A lot of clinic is good, but clinic to the point of burnout leaves little time, energy, focus to improve skills in other areas
Overall Conclusion:

Would have ranked them if it not were for extremely low surgical numbers and way too much clinic. Genuinely feel bad for residents and attendings there as there is no simple solution to any of it. Hope their program gets the answers and policies they need to fix it. Loved the Phoenix area.

 

[DexterMorganSK]

Program Name:
DVA San Francisco


General Program/Hospital Info:
VA San Francisco, SF general, UCSF, outside surgeries, just added 2 months at VA Las Vegas for more cases
Attendings:
Dr. Kirakosian (PD), Dr. Goodman, Dr. Tang, Dr. Reardon. Dr. K is cool. Smart guy, funny, easygoing, skilled surgeon. Dr. Goodman is tricky, very smart, hypercritical, at times temperamental. Dr. Reardon is super sweet, kind, understanding, patient. Very good hand skills as a surgeon. Dr. Tang is very regal. At times loses patience. Good in clinic and has great relationship with patients.


Residents:
Take 2 a year. All residents have different personalities. Some hard working, some have good hand skills, some great in clinic. A mixed bag. Genuinely look out for students and are fun to work with.


Didactics:
Mcglam’s chapter review, radiology rounds, bone saw workshop, cadaver labs, lots of good academics but not overbearing.


OR Experience:
Amputations, TMAs, forefoot surgery, rearfoot cases and ankles as well. Residents scrub a lot of cases outside of VA. New rotation opened up for VA Las Vegas- residents will scrub foot and ankle there. Competent hands, some residents were very comfortable, some needed guidance.


Clinic Experience:
Competent clinic experience. Residents were comfortable running clinic and managing inpatient. Typical VA work hours for students. Attendings will trust you and warm up to you if you work hard. Had a few issues with students skipping out so do not take it personally if they are weary of you.


Research Opportunities:
There if you want it. Not a big focus.


Lifestyle:
Busy but mangeable. Lots of driving for residents when covering cases in Sacramento and now with new rotation for 2 months in Las Vegas. Bay Area traffic sucks.


Pros:
-Adequate OR and clinic training

-Addition of VA Las Vegas should increase case load

-Tons to do in and around Bay Area.


Cons:
-Certain attendings personalities. Difficult to get along if you work slower or cannot think quickly on your feet. Even then you are at the mercy of how their day is going.

-Cost of living.


Overall Conclusion:

Ranked them very high. Competent clinic, good OR experience. But tons of driving, moving around, cost of living, temperamental attendings (at times), and work environment may be a turn-off.

 

[DexterMorganSK]

Program Name:

Truman Medical Center, Kansas City MO

General Program/Hospital Info:

2 main hospitals, surgery center, VA

Attendings:
Dr. Millward (PD), Dr. Palmer. Millward is focused, straightforward. Palmer is fun to be around. Very knowledgeable. Teaches well and is patient. Both extremely skilled in OR. Both attendings will call out residents on their deficits and help them/stand up for them if other departments give them trouble. Various other attendings you scrub with at surgery center.


Residents:
Take 2 a year. Very friendly and fun group to be around. Most have families, some are single. A half and half of very well read and those with very good clinic/hand skills in surgery. Good variety with their own personalities. All get along really well together.


Didactics:
Radiology rounds, McGlam’s chapter review, case presentations.


OR Experience:
Lots of elective cases and the usual amputations/diabetic stuff. Residents were very comfortable in OR. No double scrubbing at all. Lots of cases to go around. Attendings let residents do as much as they were comfortable with.


Clinic Experience:
Clinic everything from wounds to sports med injuries. Great variety of clinic. Attendings make residents do everything from work up to charting to inputting CPT codes. Students only helped/shadowed. Thought this was unique. Even after offering to help as an extern, attending said resident is responsible for it for a reason. 3rd years were well equipped to go out and start practicing immediately.


Research Opportunities:
There if you want it. Not a focus.


Lifestyle:
Busy but manageable. Residents still had time for family outside of hospital. Some driving involved as 1 hopsital is north of Kansas city and 1 is south east on Missouri border. Residents never seemed over stressed or burnt out.


Pros:
-Very good surgical and clinical training

-Good group of residents. Had the most fun here and clicked with them really well.

-Low cost of living. Kansas city is big enough to find stuff to do.


Cons:
-Rural feel. Not a diverse population or location

-Driving. Commute to other hospital pending location could be as long as 45 minutes.

-Kansas City winters (spoiled West Coast school)


Overall Conclusion:

Ranked them the highest. Just had a gut feeling. Place clicked the most. Extremely competent in clinic without feeling burned out, very comfortable in OR without dealing with crazy Charcot or trauma cases. Had a good balance of both clinic and OR. Attendings were very knowledgeable and fun to be around. Residents were very comfortable and fun to be around. Just felt right. Was worried about diversity (rural southern feel) but low cost of living and proximity to family makes up for it.

 

[heybrother]

General Program/Hospital Info:

DVA Phoenix

Cons:
-Little to no surgery. Cannot have a residency if you cannot get surgical numbers up to minimum at least. No easy solution to this problem. Pirozzi and company have been battling it for a while.

That is a very unfortunate review. That said - the impression I'm under is these problems have now been going on for -years-. I'm closing in on 2 years as an attending now and when I was a 3rd year resident a podiatry clerk told me they visited Phoenix and it was in terrible shape regarding surgical volume, diversity, cases, etc. Could be misinterpreting, but this VA also always seems to have a job listing open on usajobs. I don't want to distract too much from this thread but this sounds like the classic trap - just because work exists, or a place is busy, doesn't mean a resident should be doing it.

 

[podmane22]

Has anyone been to VA Maryland/ Sinai Hospital of Baltimore?

 

[Podstar]

Has anyone been to VA Maryland/ Sinai Hospital of Baltimore?

Best place to check would be the residency review thread. My school also keeps a record of clerkship reviews from past students, so might want to check with your school as well.

 

[Carpe Phalanges]

Best place to check would be the residency review thread. My school also keeps a record of clerkship reviews from past students, so might want to check with your school as well.

Isn't this the residency review thread, or is there another one?

 

[Podstar]

Isn't this the residency review thread, or is there another one?

This is. My bad I thought this was posted in a different thread.

 

[DexterMorganSK]

Submitted Anonymously!

Program Name: Kent Hospital in Warwick, RI

General Program/Hospital Info: Mostly at Kent Hospital, which is an older hospital. Also go to Blackstone Valley Surgicare (externs can only observe), Southern New England Surgery Center (which is where they do most of their big cases, but externs can’t go there), and Newport Hospital (externs also can’t come here).

Attendings: Dr. Glod is the residency director, Dr. Van Dine is the assistant residency director who is set to take over the program when Dr. Glod retires, and Dr. Mallette is the externship director. They have many younger attendings who are previous graduates of this program (when it was at Memorial Hospital) and have stayed involved, bringing surgical cases for the residents.

Residents: 2 per year. Currently no 3rd year residents because that was the year this program moved from Memorial Hospital to Kent hospital but it will be back to 6 residents total starting July 2021. They are all very autonomous and hands on. There is very little attending oversight on a day to day basis so residents have to be self-motivated and self-sufficient in rounding, completing consults, and prepping for surgical cases.

Didactics: Not a big focus of the program, but they are apparently working on it as one of the younger attendings has recently taken charge of the academics. They expect residents to be autodidactic but will recommend articles that they think they should read. The month I went they only had 1 journal club over Zoom where 2 residents presented articles but with COVID, it would be difficult to get everyone together, either in person or via Zoom.

OR Experience: This is where Kent shines. Rarely do residents double scrub on any surgical cases. From day 1, residents are encouraged and expected to do (or at least attempt to do) skin to skin cases. The attendings are very hands off with the knife and are willing to let residents try to figure things out on their own with some guidance. Only if things are really taking a while or if the resident is stumped will the attendings take over for a little bit before giving the knife back to the residents. Obviously, the resident has to be very well prepared for their cases in order to be allowed the responsibility for skin to skin. The 2nd year residents were confidently doing ankle scopes, charcot recons, ankle ORIF, and more the month I was there. The first years were building up their own confidence doing bunions, hammertoes, and amps. During cases, there was mild pimping of the externs going on but it was more to see if you had general knowledge of what was happening and what could cause potential complications and it was never malicious. Externs mostly retracted/suctioned/cut sutures but they really wanted externs to anticipate what would instruments would be needed and react accordingly. They would usually allow externs to suture at the end to close up.

Clinic Experience: No resident run clinic. Every Monday afternoon the residents if they had time would go to Dr. Glod’s private office to talk to him about upcoming surgical cases. At that time the residents and the externs would help him with his patients. Nothing too strenuous and it wasn’t really mandatory. Just more so to give residents/externs some private office exposure and to allow residents to see their post-ops if they wanted to.

Research Opportunities: One of the residents was in the process of doing a case series with the director but besides that I didn’t notice any other research.

Lifestyle: Work hard, play hard. You're here to work and learn all that you can in 3 years while grabbing beers with co-residents at the end of the day.

Pros: A lot of autonomy so that you learn how to become a self-sufficient practitioner. Lots of surgeries. Really personable attendings who are passionate about teaching.

Cons: Very little academics and research. No resident run clinic. Might be too hands off for some people.

Overall Conclusion: If you want a surgical heavy program, this is it. A gem.

 

[Carpe Phalanges]

Does anyone have any familiarity with the LECOM/Millcreek residency? Seems pretty neat with getting the whole MSMEd during residency!

 

[Carpe Phalanges]

Someone was kind enough to DM me an answer to the previous question. I have just one more, if no one minds. Anyone have experience with Southwestern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington, VT?

 

[GreenHousePub]

Program Name: West Penn
It is expected of you to do a fellowship after.

Hahaha. Why? If the program is so great why do they need additional training? I wonder if it's a fellowship for one of the attendings at the program - in which it should read "It is expected you work for an additional year for 60k."

 

[DexterMorganSK]

Submitted Anonymously!

Program name: Kern Podiatric Residency at McLaren Macomb Hospital, Mt. Clemens, MI

Attendings: Dr Andrews (director) Dr Miller, Dr Dunn, Dr Patterson, Dr Murphy, and about 10 associated others. Dr Dunn is a talented, fellowship trained surgeon and he is in Lansing so that's a lot of driving for whoever is assigned to that. There are a couple other surgical centers we go to also

Residents- three per year. The seniors are leaving and there will be some incoming interns. They mostly stay apart from each other outside the hospital. No forced work family dynamics or anything like that. You get autonomy as the attendings trust you more.

Didactics- twice per week. One day Dr Andrews presents a topic and the other day the residents do. Students/other attendings are welcome to participate. Monthly journal review and journal club also happens.

OR- it's good. As attendings trust you more they give you the knife. By 2nd year most let you go skin to skin in anything but the most complex cases and depending on the attending (Andrews and Murphy and Miller are good at this) you still go the whole way. As of now residents rarely double scrub and won't be for the foreseeable future. Even students get to get their hands wet if they show initiative and are good in preparing and other work, such as getting to do a whole hammertoe or amp skin-to-skin. Case level is good, a steady drip more than feast or famish

Clinic experience- Resident clinic on Tuesday afternoons and wound clinic with Dr Miller on Wednesday mornings. Attendings do have private clinics but it;s not a feature of the program

Research- there if you want it

Lifestyle- not bad. Work maybe 50 hrs a week, more on the severe off services like general surgery and emergency department. You take call but since there is also an ortho program here you aren't necessarily getting called out 12 AM for dislocated exposed ankles and the like. You will sometimes, but not a lot.

Pros- autonomy, surgical variety, quality attendings who teach and will give you the knife early if you have shown desire and competency

Cons- driving, also the whole administrative scheme is off because the program recently moved twice in two years and is adjusting to a new director and finally a functional hospital. Still trying to collect attendings and things.

Overall conclusion- this program is decent as is, but I'd give it a couple years to adjust then give it a shot. Has a chance to be a gem if everything lines up well.

 

[podmane22]

Please PM me if you have been to AMITA Saint Joseph and have any information on the program

 

[hopefulDPM]

Doesn't anyone have any information about DVA- Mountain Home in Mountain Home, TN?

 

[heybrother]

Doesn't anyone have any information about DVA- Mountain Home in Mountain Home, TN?

Soooo. A friend of mine went there. They read this forum, but do not post. They do however know who I am so I'm pretty sure I'm going to hear about this I also had some students clerk there when I was a resident.

The impression I've gotten from them - the program has its ups and downs. Historically, its got a lot of VA traits. Everyone wants to go home early if they can - including the residents. Patient population is in general non-compliant and prone to complications. My friend and I would joke about early weight-bearing and showering and he'd tell me about someone who managed to create a gangrenous wound off a minor surgery. There seemed to be a mix of residents doing skin to skin teaching each other and attendings with an axe to grind at the VA system holding the blade thereby punishing the residents. Attempts by residents to push surgery towards common techniques often lead to rejection by attendings on the day of surgery. Clinic sounded essentially dependent on resident labor with some of the usual frustrations where residents should have been allowed to cover outside cases but might be stuck in clinic. That said - it did sound like there were some outside cases. I'm sort of under the impression they've had near complete turnover of their attending staff - I think its entirely possible the attendings there are totally different than the people who've been present the last 3-4 years. I don't think there's any big academic focus (its never come up) and I'm under the impression the recreation in the area is awesome.

If my friend writes back and says no, no, no best program ever I'll update, but I don't think they will. Unfortunately, for all the threads I read on here about amazing programs and amazing attendings and everything hunky dory - a lot of programs exist in a gray in between with residents battling to get everything they can from it.

EDIT:
After speaking with my friend - yeah, essentially near complete/total podiatry attending staff turn over and likely very much for the best. New people running it/new director should be a step up. Good in hospital relationship with ortho/vascular.