The profession of podiatric medicine is the only independent practice profession that dedicates itself to the foot and ankle. The ever-increasing body of medical knowledge necessitates the development of fellowships to facilitate the ability of highly trained professionals to continue the search for innovative and improved methods to prevent disease, promote health, and more effectively manage foot and ankle pathology.
A podiatric fellowship is an educational program that provides advanced knowledge, experience, and training in a specific content in podiatric medicine and surgery. Fellowships, by nature of their specific content concentration, seek to add to the body of knowledge through research and other collaborative scholarly activities.
Following four years of professional education, podiatric medical graduates a Council-approved residency program. Residencies afford these individuals structured learning experiences in patient management along with training in the diagnosis and care of podiatric pathology. Podiatric fellowship education is a component in the continuum of the educational process, and such occurs after completion of an approved residency.
The Council on Podiatric Medical Education has been authorized by the American Podiatric Medical Association to approve institutions that sponsor fellowship programs that demonstrate and maintain compliance with the standards and requirements in CPME 820, Standards and Requirements for Approval of Podiatric Fellowships. Podiatric fellowship approval is based on programmatic evaluation and periodic review by the Council and the Residency Review Committee and the Council. As delegated by the Council, the RRC shall be responsible for determining eligibility of applicant institutions for an initial on-site evaluation of a fellowship, authorization of requests for additional fellowship positions, and recommending to the Council approval of fellowship programs.