Council on Podiatric Medical Education

This page is a reference guide created by CPME for approved residency and fellowship programs to provide more detailed information on how to meet the criteria for certificates of completion (Requirement 3.10 of the CPME 320 and Requirement 3.11 of the CPME 820).

The certificate must include the following:

• Official, legal name of the institution.
  • Must be the same as reported to CPME in the Annual Report.
  • Must be the same name used on all affiliation agreements and resident contracts.
  • Must not include the words residency or fellowship.
• The statement “Approved by the Council on Podiatric Medical Education”
• Signature of the program director.
• Signature of the chief administrative officer or DIO.
• Co-sponsored programs only: Signature of the chief administrative officer or DIO of each co-sponsoring institution
• Training dates:
  • Must be the actual dates of training at the issuing institution only.
  • Must not include dates at a previous institution the resident transferred from.
  • Must be exactly the same as will be reported in Section 2 of the Annual Report.
  • The starting date must be when employment began. It is permissible for this date to include any days required for new employee orientation mandated by the institution.
  • The ending date must demonstrate a full 36 months of training at the institution if the resident was not a transfer.
  • The ending date must demonstrate a minimum of 11 months of training at the issuing institution if the resident was a transfer.
  • Instead of a date range, “Completed on (date of completion)” may be used.

For residency programs:

• Identification of the residency as a “Podiatric Medicine and Surgery Residency”
• If applicable, the certificate must identify the added credential as “with the added credential in Reconstructive Rearfoot/Ankle Surgery” or “with Reconstructive Rearfoot/Ankle Surgery.”
• The certificate must be for the same category of residency:
  • the institution is approved as,
  • the resident will be identified as completing in Section 2 of the Annual Report, and
  • the resident was previously identified as participating in (unless Council approval has been received for a one-time certificate or internal transfer).

For fellowship programs:

• The type/name of fellowship afforded the fellow.
• The certificate must be for the same type of fellowship as the institution is approved as.