Distributions of surgical and medical experiences in contemporary podiatric residency training.

BACKGROUND

Direct surgical experience and exposure have served as markers of preparedness for independent practice in podiatric surgical residency training. Although minimum case requirements established by the Council on Podiatric Medical Education have standardized a baseline across training programs, these might not completely describe the extent of clinical exposure experienced during contemporary residency training. Understanding accurate operative volumes accrued during podiatric surgical residency might have implications for curriculum development, accreditation standards, and assessment of surgical preparedness.

PURPOSE: The objective of this investigation was to quantify heterogeneity experienced by contemporary podiatric medicine and surgery residents in terms of the volume of logged clinical experiences.

STUDY

DESIGN

Epidemiologic descriptive analysis.

METHODS

Deidentified verified log volume totals for graduated residents from three sequential academic years (2022-2023, 2023-2024, 2024-2025 were extracted from a logging service, with descriptive analysis provided for total foot and ankle surgical cases as well as applicable subcategories of both podiatric medical and surgical experiences.

RESULTS

Across nearly all medical and surgical experiences, most podiatric residents were observed to well exceed minimum requirements, with many residents doubling and tripling these minimums.

CONCLUSION

This information may provide insight and guide evolution in residency program curriculum development and assist program directors in performing program self-assessments.