West Penn?

[Podman]

Hey guys, I was just wondering if anyone has visited or externed at the west penn program (pittsburg, PA). I know it is supposed to be one of the best, but does anyone have any direct feedback or experience from that program in particular?

Thanks in advance.

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[Dr_Feelgood]

Are you planning on visiting at the end of September?

 

[krabmas]

Hey guys, I was just wondering if anyone has visited or externed at the west penn program (pittsburg, PA). I know it is supposed to be one of the best, but does anyone have any direct feedback or experience from that program in particular?

Thanks in advance.

I have not but I know a 2nd year resident there and he likes the program. It is definitely a good program.

 

[dpmgrad]

Hey guys, I was just wondering if anyone has visited or externed at the west penn program (pittsburg, PA). I know it is supposed to be one of the best, but does anyone have any direct feedback or experience from that program in particular?

Thanks in advance.

I have visited West Penn when I was a student and personally know couple of guys who have graduated from the West Penn program very recently. West Penn offers a full range of forefoot and reconstructive rearfoot procedures. It is a very academic program with active research and publications. Residents also do 3 month rotations down in Maryland with Dr. Dror Paley on Limb Deformity Correction.

 

[Podman]

Are you planning on visiting at the end of September?

I am trying to visit at the end of September but unfortunately it will be difficult because I have a submission for my research project due at the end of the month - so it all depends on whether or not I can finish that early.

I'd love to go though, are your planning on visiting the program at this date as well?

 

[Podman]

I have visited West Penn when I was a student and personally know couple of guys who have graduated from the West Penn program very recently. West Penn offers a full range of forefoot and reconstructive rearfoot procedures. It is a very academic program with active research and publications. Residents also do 3 month rotations down in Maryland with Dr. Dror Paley on Limb Deformity Correction.

Thank you for the feedback. Do you know what type of research they are actively involved with? Diabetes?

 

[Dr_Feelgood]

Well that had the free trip to see them but I can't take it b/c my grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary is the same week end.

 

[dpmgrad]

Thank you for the feedback. Do you know what type of research they are actively involved with? Diabetes?

To be honest with you, I am not sure what are the latest research projects that they are doing at West Penn now. West Penn used to offer a Diabetic Limb Salvage fellowship, but, I don't see it being advertised now. They did do research on Diabetic Foot (Charcot foot reconstruction, etc...) when I visited them as a student. If you do a quick literature search for articles by Dr. Alan Catanzariti or Dr. Robert Mendicino, you might get some ideas of what they are doing research on. Of course, anyone who is visiting or externing at West Penn can also find out for you.

 

[Podman]

To be honest with you, I am not sure what are the latest research projects that they are doing at West Penn now. West Penn used to offer a Diabetic Limb Salvage fellowship, but, I don't see it being advertised now. They did do research on Diabetic Foot (Charcot foot reconstruction, etc...) when I visited them as a student. If you do a quick literature search for articles by Dr. Alan Catanzariti or Dr. Robert Mendicino, you might get some ideas of what they are doing research on. Of course, anyone who is visiting or externing at West Penn can also find out for you.

thanks alot dpmgrad. I'm definately interested in pursuing a research oriented program and west penn seems to offer that so I would definately try to visit and extern there.

 

[dpmgrad]

thanks alot dpmgrad. I'm definately interested in pursuing a research oriented program and west penn seems to offer that so I would definately try to visit and extern there.

I wish you the best in your residency process. I would also encourage you to check out the Loyola Program in Chicago since they also do quite a bit of research there. Two of my TUSPM classmates are graduates of the program and have told me that they do some good research there. Of course, there is probably research going on in some of the more high power programs such as Tucker, Seattle, INOVA, etc.... Is there a specific geographic area that you are concentrating on for your residency training?

 

[Podman]

I wish you the best in your residency process. I would also encourage you to check out the Loyola Program in Chicago since they also do quite a bit of research there. Two of my TUSPM classmates are graduates of the program and have told me that they do some good research there. Of course, there is probably research going on in some of the more high power programs such as Tucker, Seattle, INOVA, etc.... Is there a specific geographic area that you are concentrating on for your residency training?

Thanks alot dpmgrad, I thought that Loyola is a 2-year program - or has it switched to a 3-year?

I am definately looking at the northern midwest (Ilinois, Michigan, Ohio) - northeast part of the country in terms of where I want to do my residency - in an ideal world of course. However, I do intend to visit the Tucker program in Georgia, just becaue I've heard so many great things about that program. My main thing though is to get a research opportunity with my residency.

I actually wanted to ask you another question, what do you think of fellowships after residency? should they be done right after you complete the 3 years or perhaps after a year or two of practice?

Thanks again for your feedback

 

[dpmgrad]

Thanks alot dpmgrad, I thought that Loyola is a 2-year program - or has it switched to a 3-year?

I am definately looking at the northern midwest (Ilinois, Michigan, Ohio) - northeast part of the country in terms of where I want to do my residency - in an ideal world of course. However, I do intend to visit the Tucker program in Georgia, just becaue I've heard so many great things about that program. My main thing though is to get a research opportunity with my residency.

I actually wanted to ask you another question, what do you think of fellowships after residency? should they be done right after you complete the 3 years or perhaps after a year or two of practice?

Thanks again for your feedback

Loyola's Program has always been a three year program. It used to be a POR/PSR-24 program, where one would do the POR at DVA-Hines and then PSR-24 at Loyola. I know that they are in the provess of converting over to the new PM&S-36 model, but I am not sure if they have completed the process or not.

In terms of fellowship, it is probably easier to do the fellowship right after your residency training. This way, the fellowship will not interfere with any job obligations. For example, if you were to work a few years before doing the fellowship and you plan on staying on with the same employer after the fellowship, you will need to make arrangements with that employer to take a year off to do the fellowship. Of course, if you are not planning to stay with the same employer after your fellowship, then this will not be a problem. Right now, I am scheduled to do my AO/ASIF Fellowship in Europe after my residency training. I had to negotiate into my contract with my employer to allow me to take some time off to do the AO/ASIF Fellowship, which is 1-3 months long. Also, doing your fellowship before you start to work will also allow you to market yourself better during your job search. Hopefully, I have answered your question. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask or send me a private message.

 

[Dr_Feelgood]

Podman, do you have a family???

 

[Podman]

Loyola's Program has always been a three year program. It used to be a POR/PSR-24 program, where one would do the POR at DVA-Hines and then PSR-24 at Loyola. I know that they are in the provess of converting over to the new PM&S-36 model, but I am not sure if they have completed the process or not.

In terms of fellowship, it is probably easier to do the fellowship right after your residency training. This way, the fellowship will not interfere with any job obligations. For example, if you were to work a few years before doing the fellowship and you plan on staying on with the same employer after the fellowship, you will need to make arrangements with that employer to take a year off to do the fellowship. Of course, if you are not planning to stay with the same employer after your fellowship, then this will not be a problem. Right now, I am scheduled to do my AO/ASIF Fellowship in Europe after my residency training. I had to negotiate into my contract with my employer to allow me to take some time off to do the AO/ASIF Fellowship, which is 1-3 months long. Also, doing your fellowship before you start to work will also allow you to market yourself better during your job search. Hopefully, I have answered your question. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask or send me a private message.

Thanks for the insight dpmgrad. I appreciate your help and wish you all the best with your fellowship. By the way when and where would you be starting that opportunity, Russia? (Ilizarov institute).

 

[Podman]

Podman, do you have a family???

No sir, I am flying solo - no wife, no kids, no commitments - but a ton of loans to keep me locked down for quite some time

 

[Dr_Feelgood]

That is nice. You can put more time into your training.

 

[dpmgrad]

Thanks for the insight dpmgrad. I appreciate your help and wish you all the best with your fellowship. By the way when and where would you be starting that opportunity, Russia? (Ilizarov institute).

By the way, both AO/ASIF Fellowship and the Kurgan Ilizarov Mini-Fellowship are two separate fellowship programs. I was accepted to both the Kurgan Ilizarov Mini-Fellowship and the AO/ASIF Fellowship and am scheduled to complete both of them after my residency training. During my negotiations with my current employer, I was allowed to only to do one of the two fellowships. The reason is that my employer can not afford me to be away for 2.5 months (1 month for AO/ASIF Fellowship and 1.5 months for Kurgan) since I will not be generating any income for the practice when I am away. The only way that I would be able to do both fellowship is to choose not to get paid for those 2.5 months. Unfortunately, I am a single income person and can not afford to not be paid during my fellowship since I have bills that I would need to pay. Hence, I decided to proceed with the AO/ASIF Fellowship since it is more recognized amongst the Orthopedic community than the Kurgan Fellowship. My employer will pay me during the 1 month AO/ASIF fellowship. My current third year resident will be going in my place instead. He is currently scheduled to go to Kurgan from mid-October to November 2006. Since he is Russian, he is very excited about the opportunity. My third year resident has also been accepted to do the AO/ASIF Fellowship in 2008. I am currently scheduled to do my AO/ASIF Fellowship in January 2007 in Switzerland. I will be spending 1 month with one of the Orthopedic Surgeon in Switzerland, who did one of his fellowship training under Dr. Sigvard Hansen. I chose to do my AO/ASIF Fellowship outside of the US because I would not be able to scrub into any of the cases in the US due to malpractice issues. If you are interested in either of the Kurgan Ilizarov Mini Fellowship (which is offered through both ACFAS and Smith-Nephew) or AO/ASIF Fellowship, feel free to ask. If you are interested in any of these fellowship, I would recommend you to try to do these fellowship during the third year of your residency training. Thank you for your wishes. Good luck with your residency selection process.

 

[Podman]

That is nice. You can put more time into your training.

That is the plan for sure - every year in our career is a challenge and i know we're just 3rd years but man I get goosebumps whenever I go see a patient or scrub in the OR - gotta love it

 

[Podman]

By the way, both AO/ASIF Fellowship and the Kurgan Ilizarov Mini-Fellowship are two separate fellowship programs. I was accepted to both the Kurgan Ilizarov Mini-Fellowship and the AO/ASIF Fellowship and am scheduled to complete both of them after my residency training. During my negotiations with my current employer, I was allowed to only to do one of the two fellowships. The reason is that my employer can not afford me to be away for 2.5 months (1 month for AO/ASIF Fellowship and 1.5 months for Kurgan) since I will not be generating any income for the practice when I am away. The only way that I would be able to do both fellowship is to choose not to get paid for those 2.5 months. Unfortunately, I am a single income person and can not afford to not be paid during my fellowship since I have bills that I would need to pay. Hence, I decided to proceed with the AO/ASIF Fellowship since it is more recognized amongst the Orthopedic community than the Kurgan Fellowship. My employer will pay me during the 1 month AO/ASIF fellowship. My current third year resident will be going in my place instead. He is currently scheduled to go to Kurgan from mid-October to November 2006. Since he is Russian, he is very excited about the opportunity. My third year resident has also been accepted to do the AO/ASIF Fellowship in 2008. I am currently scheduled to do my AO/ASIF Fellowship in January 2007 in Switzerland. I will be spending 1 month with one of the Orthopedic Surgeon in Switzerland, who did one of his fellowship training under Dr. Sigvard Hansen. I chose to do my AO/ASIF Fellowship outside of the US because I would not be able to scrub into any of the cases in the US due to malpractice issues. If you are interested in either of the Kurgan Ilizarov Mini Fellowship (which is offered through both ACFAS and Smith-Nephew) or AO/ASIF Fellowship, feel free to ask. If you are interested in any of these fellowship, I would recommend you to try to do these fellowship during the third year of your residency training. Thank you for your wishes. Good luck with your residency selection process.

Wow, that is incredible - good luck with that. Please pardon my ignorance, but I never knew of this Swiss fellowship. I actually know a podiatric surgeon from our school who completed a fellowship in italy and is now practicing and instructing at our school. He told me that the experience is priceless because you learn surgical pearls from some of the best surgeons out there - and definately gain a new insight that would help improve your judgements as a clinician.

Do you think you would try to apply again for the Ilizarov fellowship in the future (after the AO/ASIF of course)?

 

[dpmgrad]

Wow, that is incredible - good luck with that. Please pardon my ignorance, but I never knew of this Swiss fellowship. I actually know a podiatric surgeon from our school who completed a fellowship in italy and is now practicing and instructing at our school. He told me that the experience is priceless because you learn surgical pearls from some of the best surgeons out there - and definately gain a new insight that would help improve your judgements as a clinician.

Do you think you would try to apply again for the Ilizarov fellowship in the future (after the AO/ASIF of course)?

Actually, I will see if I have time to participate in the Ilizarov fellowship after my AO/ASIF fellowship. As I said earlier, trying to get time off to do fellowship training and get paid is not easy. If I don't have the time to do the Kurgan Ilizarov Mini Fellowship, I will be happy that the experience that I will get from the AO/ASIF fellowship. As for the AO/ASIF fellowship, there are many sites around the world that a fellow can do his/her fellowship. Several of the DPMs have done their AO/ASIF fellowship in Germany, Switzerland, and with Dr. Sigvard Hansen in Washington.