Fellowships

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 area within podiatric medical practice. 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 complete at least two years of postdoctoral training. Podiatric fellowship education is a component in the continuum of the educational process, and such education occurs after completion of an approved specialty residency.

The Council on Podiatric Medical Education has been authorized by the American Podiatric Medical Association to approve institutions that demonstrate and maintain compliance with the standards and requirements in CPME publication 820. Podiatric fellowship approval is based on programmatic evaluation and periodic review by the Council and the Joint Residency Review Committee.