This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

beyoutiful_sunshine

Full Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
Dec 26, 2015
Messages
324
Reaction score
224
Hi,

I'm considering possibly doing a neuro residency once I complete my DPT. This is just a thought for now, and I am still in the 2nd year of my program so I have more time to think about it, but I just wanted to hear from some people who have completed residencies or who have considered it.

Here are a few questions I have:
- Does residency make you more marketable and makes it easier for you to get a job following graduation? Does it impact your starting salary?
- Would you recommend doing it straight after school or waiting a little bit?
- Will the knowledge you gain by doing a residency equivalent to the one you would get if you went straight into clinical practice or is the learning that occur in residency invaluable?
- if you feel comfortable sharing your salary, how much did you make as a resident? I can't find any salary information online

- If you've considered a residency and ended up deciding against it, what made you change your mind?

Thanks to anyone who takes the time to answer!

Members don't see this ad.
 
Hi,

I'm considering possibly doing a neuro residency once I complete my DPT. This is just a thought for now, and I am still in the 2nd year of my program so I have more time to think about it, but I just wanted to hear from some people who have completed residencies or who have considered it.

Here are a few questions I have:
- Does residency make you more marketable and makes it easier for you to get a job following graduation? Does it impact your starting salary?
- Would you recommend doing it straight after school or waiting a little bit?
- Will the knowledge you gain by doing a residency equivalent to the one you would get if you went straight into clinical practice or is the learning that occur in residency invaluable?
- if you feel comfortable sharing your salary, how much did you make as a resident? I can't find any salary information online

- If you've considered a residency and ended up deciding against it, what made you change your mind?

Thanks to anyone who takes the time to answer!

If you have a license and there is a job opening, you can get a job. You don't need a residency for that. I am not sure why anyone would take a massive pay cut their first year out of school when they just spent three years amassing debt. I think these residency programs are a very poor value when you can just start working immediately and gain experience and knowledge from other therapists.
 
If you do a residency, it is definitely ideal to do it right out of school since you're still used to doing coursework and studying. Residency is basically a way to help improve your clinical reasoning and improve your chances at passing a certification test for a specialty. I asked one of my professors if you could just study on your own and take the certification test and she said absolutely (this is what she did to get her OCS). Most residency programs pay roughly 60% of an entry level PT's salary. This was the breaking point for me, as I have too many loans to afford such a drastic pay cut.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Members don't see this ad :)
@noyceguy @nd_dpt thanks for the replies and input !!

So, let's say, if debt is not an issue would that change your opinion on residency? If someone were to graduate from PT school without any loans to pay back at all, would the cost to benefit ratio tip more towards doing a residency? Or would you guys still say that the knowledge, and clinical decision making skills gained in residency are comparable to those gained if you go directly into full-time clinical practice?
 
@noyceguy @nd_dpt thanks for the replies and input !!

So, let's say, if debt is not an issue would that change your opinion on residency? If someone were to graduate from PT school without any loans to pay back at all, would the cost to benefit ratio tip more towards doing a residency? Or would you guys still say that the knowledge, and clinical decision making skills gained in residency are comparable to those gained if you go directly into full-time clinical practice?
if debt is not an issue then it makes sense to do a residency..I dont see how it can be a negative thing.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
@noyceguy @nd_dpt thanks for the replies and input !!

So, let's say, if debt is not an issue would that change your opinion on residency? If someone were to graduate from PT school without any loans to pay back at all, would the cost to benefit ratio tip more towards doing a residency? Or would you guys still say that the knowledge, and clinical decision making skills gained in residency are comparable to those gained if you go directly into full-time clinical practice?

You're definitely going to enhance your clinical reasoning skills in residency vs. going out as an entry level PT. Residency includes mandatory mentorship hours that are used for clinical reasoning and to learn advanced skills not taught in school. It's definitely a good tool to help advance your skills as a therapist. The main part of a residency is that set mentorship, so it's really up to you if you feel like you need it or not. I'm not sure how I would feel about personally doing a residency if debt weren't an issue. I know I would be considering it much more, though.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
@noyceguy @nd_dpt thanks for the replies and input !!

So, let's say, if debt is not an issue would that change your opinion on residency? If someone were to graduate from PT school without any loans to pay back at all, would the cost to benefit ratio tip more towards doing a residency? Or would you guys still say that the knowledge, and clinical decision making skills gained in residency are comparable to those gained if you go directly into full-time clinical practice?


OK. If we are talking hypothetically....

If you have no debt whatsoever, and no need for income, and a trust fund that supports your lifestyle, you can do whatever you want.

In the real world, residency will cost you somewhere around $30-40k in lost income. In no universe does it make sense to pay that much money for someone to show you how to do a job you just paid someone else to show you how to do. Especially if you just went into a large amount of debt.
 
I am in an ortho residency right now. Mine costs roughly $6,000 and I pay in monthly installments over the two years. I work a full 40 hour case load and get a full salary. If I stay with the company at least 2 years following completion of the residency they will reimburse me the full amount. In addition, they also pay the exam fee for the OCS.

I don't know about the NCS, but with the OCS you have to have a certain amount of years of experience or finish residency before being eligible to sit for the exam. If you complete a residency you can sit for the exam several years earlier, if that is important to you.

However, I do agree that in most cases, residency doesn't make sense financially. I looked at a lot of programs and nearly laughed out loud at the ludicrously low pay when compared to the amount of patient care I would have been providing. The mentorship has been extremely valuable, a lot of jobs offer new grads mentorship but the quality and amount vary greatly.

Residency is not the best choice for everyone, you need to consider how you best learn.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
I'd highly recommend doing a full-time residency immediately following PT graduation. Gail Deyle from Army Baylor and a number of other prominent PTs have stated that a 1 year residency is equivalent to 4-5 years of practice. You will not receive the same level of education/training with basic CEUs. Some people will say otherwise but that simply is not true: you will not get the same amount of mentorship, teaching, and skill acquisition. You will be far and above better than your counterparts who go straight into practice. Residency isn't just about improving your clinical reasoning and differential diagnosis skills. Two of my instructors were also fellows of AAOMPT, so there was a heavy manual therapy component as well. I became proficient with spinal manipulation through orthopedic residency.

Residency is definitely marketable for obtaining jobs. Do you see a potential career in teaching (or even teaching part time?) Being residency trained, board-certified and fellowship-trained highly increases your chances of being able to teach at a university/residency. Just about 100% of residencies require faculty to be board certified. Most faculty positions at universities also require advanced credentials like the OCS/FAAOMPT certification (unless you have a PhD or have "an in" at the institution). Personally, being residency-trained and board certified in orthopedics opened up a lot of doors for me. I currently teach at 3 institutions, in large part, due to my educational background.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 users
Thanks for all the input, definitely helpful to have different perspectives!

@2234leej I do think I might be interested in teaching at some point in my career so that's definitely good to know!
 
Last edited:
OK. If we are talking hypothetically....

If you have no debt whatsoever, and no need for income, and a trust fund that supports your lifestyle, you can do whatever you want.

In the real world, residency will cost you somewhere around $30-40k in lost income. In no universe does it make sense to pay that much money for someone to show you how to do a job you just paid someone else to show you how to do. Especially if you just went into a large amount of debt.

I do not have any debt, the vast majority of my studies in both undergrad and currently in PT school has been paid by scholarships. As an international student I'm not eligible for student loan anyway so it gives an extra boost to apply to every single scholarship out there and I've been lucky and blessed to obtain scholarships that have paid for over half of my tuition. The remaining came from family help and working through undergrad and working currently in PT school as a doctoral instructional assistant.

I think given that, it makes living with a residency salary for one year a sensible choice from a financial perspective. The only monthly expenses I have are rent and other living expenses such as food and gas.
Thanks for giving me your input!
 
Top