| | Podiatric Medicine & Surgery Residency Overview
 The Gundersen Lutheran Podiatric Medicine and Surgery Residency is a three-year program leading to eligibility for certification examination by the American Board of Podiatric Surgery. The first year is a Primary Podiatric Medical Residency (PPMR) followed by a Podiatric Surgical Residency (PSR-24) with eventual transition to Podiatric Medicine & Surgery - 36 status.
One of the strengths of the residency is it blends inpatient and outpatient experiences to more closely resemble the practice of podiatric physicians. It also offers both primary care and tertiary care opportunities in a very busy practice. Residents see the routine and more unusual cases in both clinic and surgery. Because there are no fellows to compete for cases and many of the medical specialties do not have residents of their own, there is an unusual training opportunity to gain extensive hands-on experiences from day one. Residents have opportunities to teach students who come here for their fourth year clerkships in podiatric medicine from podiatry schools in California, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Iowa, Florida, New York and Arizona.
"Spending a month here as a student allowed ample time for me to determine that this was indeed the place at which I desired to train. The Podiatric Medicine & Surgery Residency Program here at Gundersen Lutheran is fully integrated within this medical community, and I have always been treated as a peer by the medical staff and other residents"
—Matthew Lappenga, DPM, current podiatry resident
| The Podiatric Medicine and Surgery department is staffed by five board-certified podiatrists who provide care through nearly 17,000 patient visits in clinic practice and a total of 500 surgical patients per year. Our exceptional record of 100 percent of our graduates passing the American Board of Podiatric Surgery certification exams on their first attempt reflects our faculty’s commitment to teaching. Our focus is to train podiatric physicians who are excellent clinicians and understand the basic science behind surgical procedures. Most of our graduated residents go on to group practices, including clinics with collaborating podiatric and medical specialists.
Our attending staff members — medical and podiatric — are available to answer questions and value close working relationships with residents. No distinction is made between podiatric residents and others in training programs in terms of responsibilities. We offer lectures, small group discussions as well as interactive conferences where attending and resident physicians discuss cases.
"I chose this residency because I found Gundersen Lutheran to be a superior working environment. The Medical Foundation truly cares for their residents and their families. A strong emphasis is placed on academics in learning and understanding the basic sciences behind what is done both clinically and surgically."
—James Harris, DPM, current podiatry resident
| Residents report to the staff physician in charge of each teaching service, not to each patient’s physicians, creating a nurturing rather than adversarial teaching atmosphere, a milieu we believe prepares better physicians and enhances patient care. Residents gain experience in internal medicine problems affecting the lower leg that are first indicated by foot conditions. Among the most important of these rotations is endocrinology, which sees a large population of patients with diabetes.
One of the reasons this is such an effective training program is that podiatric physicians and orthopaedists are colleagues, rather than competitors for patients. Podiatric Medicine & Surgery residents rotate through orthopaedics and pediatric orthopaedics, taking call for orthopaedic problems. The residents are also on call and spend rotations in the Trauma & Emergency Center. Residents also rotate through the Gundersen Sports Medicine Clinic, where they learn about foot-related sports injuries, rehabilitation and prevention. Podiatric residents spend part of their time in community service, including giving lectures to groups about foot and lower leg problems and providing foot care for residents of area nursing homes.
Our podiatric medicine & surgery physicians are also interested in clinical research. Residents are expected to publish two papers in a peer-reviewed journal during their residency. They are also expected to complete an original research project during their third year program. We view these requirements as important to developing skills in using medical literature and in creating a desire to find answers to problems that podiatric surgeons experience in practice. We provide the support residents need to do research and publishing and give them full credit for work they do as first author or co-author of these papers. |