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There was a thread about this a couple of years ago, but it was a bit different.
I have ankylosing spondylitis. The back pain isn't so bad, but I've had Achilles tendon enthesitis and plantar fasciitis for a while now, especially when I'm on a surgery rotation or something else that requires me to stand on my feet all day long (during my surgery block, there was a time when I was getting paresthesia that felt like it was coming from the swelling around the nerve). I've tried everything, but it's been two years since my feet have been pain-free (minus a period of about 24 hours after my rheumatologist injected a local anesthetic + corticosteroid into the tendon... the pain was gone for as long as the local was working, and then it came back). I saw a podiatrist, but they don't know how to handle systemic inflammatory diseases... she gave me some foot inserts, but it ended up costing me several hundred dollars and didn't really help.
I've figured out how to deal with it for the most part... I find ways to take 5-minute sit-down breaks whenever possible. And when I'm on a rotation in which I can wear scrubs all day, I wear those weird-looking Skechers Shape-Ups - which, surprisingly enough, are quite helpful for my pain. But I can't wear those shoes with shirt/tie/etc.
Anyway, getting to the point - I'll be going on the interview trail this December/January. I've read that there's a lot of walking required during the interviews. That wouldn't have been a problem three years ago, but I'm quite concerned about the prospect of two months' worth of full days with long periods of walking in uncomfortable shoes - I feel like my interview performance will suffer if I'm in pain the whole time.
So - does anybody have any suggestions for particular shoes that might help? It has to be something black that looks good with a suit... otherwise, I'd just wear the Shape-Ups. I can figure something out for residency (I'm going into psych, so I'm sure I'll get plenty of chances to sit down), but the interview trail is my main concern.
I have ankylosing spondylitis. The back pain isn't so bad, but I've had Achilles tendon enthesitis and plantar fasciitis for a while now, especially when I'm on a surgery rotation or something else that requires me to stand on my feet all day long (during my surgery block, there was a time when I was getting paresthesia that felt like it was coming from the swelling around the nerve). I've tried everything, but it's been two years since my feet have been pain-free (minus a period of about 24 hours after my rheumatologist injected a local anesthetic + corticosteroid into the tendon... the pain was gone for as long as the local was working, and then it came back). I saw a podiatrist, but they don't know how to handle systemic inflammatory diseases... she gave me some foot inserts, but it ended up costing me several hundred dollars and didn't really help.
I've figured out how to deal with it for the most part... I find ways to take 5-minute sit-down breaks whenever possible. And when I'm on a rotation in which I can wear scrubs all day, I wear those weird-looking Skechers Shape-Ups - which, surprisingly enough, are quite helpful for my pain. But I can't wear those shoes with shirt/tie/etc.
Anyway, getting to the point - I'll be going on the interview trail this December/January. I've read that there's a lot of walking required during the interviews. That wouldn't have been a problem three years ago, but I'm quite concerned about the prospect of two months' worth of full days with long periods of walking in uncomfortable shoes - I feel like my interview performance will suffer if I'm in pain the whole time.
So - does anybody have any suggestions for particular shoes that might help? It has to be something black that looks good with a suit... otherwise, I'd just wear the Shape-Ups. I can figure something out for residency (I'm going into psych, so I'm sure I'll get plenty of chances to sit down), but the interview trail is my main concern.
