Attendings/Residents/Students (lifestyle, criticism, aura): most notable attendings are Drs. Hardy and Grossman. They have been and still are very involved in ACFAS. They frequently speak at the annual ASC and other conferences. You couldn’t ask for two better mentors. There is about 15 attendings that makes up the core teaching staff that are the most actively involved in the residents training as well as additional attendings the residents rotate with throughout their 3 years.
Residents rotate through Mercy Health, Cleveland Clinic, Metro Health, and VA locations with some other hospitals and surgery centers in the mix as well. Off service rotations for PGY-1s and 2s are split between Cleveland Clinic, VA, and Mercy. Rotations include infectious disease and vascular surgery at Cleveland Clinic; medicine and plastic surgery at the VA; ortho trauma at Metro Health Level 1 trauma center; with the remaining of the off service at Mercy. Podiatric rotations are also spread out at the above institutions.
The attendings have high expectations of the residents. Residents need to have a high work ethic, be self motivated, and work as a team. The residents have a good relationship with each other and the attendings, with alumni often saying they are leaving a family when they graduate. Just like with your parents, the attendings will support the residents, but also hold them accountable, because they want them to be the best surgeon as well as person they can be.
They cover a lot of territory in the Cleveland and Akron/Canton area, but the training is worth the driving. They try to schedule the residents in specific regions for the week to cut down on the driving. However, cleveland is a very drive-able city, so you will not experience much traffic compared to larger cities. Residents have lived all over the Cleveland and Akron area for this program.
As for lifestyle, this is residency and the residents are expected to work hard. During the week, all the residents are expected to share duties of coverage including scheduled surgeries, clinics, rounding, and add on cases. Weekends call and late night call is covered by the 3 call residents. The call is busy, but it teaches the residents time management and efficiency. Second year is the heaviest call year. Typically second year residents take about 20 or so weeks of call. After second year call the residents often say it was a difficult year but the amount they learned from that experience was worth it. PGY-3s do still take call, but take the least amount of all three years.
Didactics: academics are twice a week. Mixture of rad rounds/case conferences, board reviews, and journal clubs. Residents have cadaver lab once a month that is industry sponsored so the residents get the opportunity to not just practice procedures but get their hands on different hardware. There are some in person academics, but most are virtual given how spread out the program is.
OR Experience: structured – based on year level. PGY-1s cover a lot of the infection cases with some elective forefoot procedures. PGY-2s cover the majority of the forefoot procedures. PGY-3a cover the majority of the rearfoot and ankle procedures. Residents do still get a mix of procedures, especially when on call. Residents also have their ortho trauma rotation in their second year at Metro and get further exposure during their Akron General podiatry rotations, both level 1 trauma centers.
If residents are prepared and reliable, attendings are often letting them do the cases skin to skin. Attendings typically only step in when the resident needs help or needs to be more efficient. If a resident is not prepared or has not shown the skill level in the past or in cadaver labs, that resident will often assist or only do small parts of the case until they show the knowledge and skill to be able to perform surgically. The attendings are great teachers in the OR as well, helping to guide the residents in improving their surgical technique. The residents also participate in a cadaver practical every year where they get feedback on their knowledge and skill level. It helps them be able to see where they perform well and where they still need to improve. Residents in the past have easily exceeded their numbers. These are true numbers and based on what the residents has actually done in the OR not just watched/assisted on.
Clinic Experience: this is a well rounded program. If you are looking to be in the OR all day every day, this is not the program for you. Residents will often be in clinic with the same attendings they are in surgery with for that week, for the most part. They probably spend 2-3 days in the OR and 2-3 days in clinic for the week. The clinics are well rounded in terms of pathology. Residents are exposed to postops, infection, trauma, routine care, both forefoot and rearfoot deformities, and sports medicine in the attendings clinics. Residents get to see the patients themselves and come up with their own plan for the attending. Unfortunately the home hospital, Mercy, does not have the capability of a resident run clinic, but the residents still get good experience in the attendings’ clinics. Their clinics in the past have been based out of Balance Foot and Ankle (Hardy’s practice – multiple locations) as well Akron General with Dr. Grossman and his partners, and Metro Health. The residents not only graduate with the confidence in the OR, but also know preoperatively work up to get patients to the OR as well as postoperatively manage any complications.
Research Opportunities: residents are required to submit a poster yearly to ACFAS as well as present at the local KSUCPM conference. However if looking for actual studies, I would say this is a weakness of this program. The opportunities are there, but the resident must be self motivated because the home hospital does not have as many resources as larger institutions. However the residents routinely work with attendings from larger institutions such as Cleveland Clinic and Metro Health who do have more resources available to them if a resident would like to organize a large study.
City Life: Cleveland is a smaller city. The downtown is very walkable. Good food. Sometimes good sports teams, but with a very loyal fan base. As said above, the northeast Ohio area is also easy to get around by car, so the surrounding suburbs are also very nice. Good schools if you have children. Very affordable living, even downtown.
Favorite Part: the people. This is a family. You will graduate the program with wonderful mentors and a whole family that will continue to be there for you and support you when you’re out in practice.
Constructive Criticism: biggest criticism is the program’s current home hospital, Mercy. For the longest time they had no other residency programs outside podiatry and pharmacy. In 2023 the hospital made Dr. Hardy go from 8 residents a year to 2, then allowed him to go back up to 4 residents a year later. The program has changed its name many times over the years from Cleveland Clinic Kaiser to healthspan to Mercy with more recently adding the VA, but the foundation of the program with Dr. Hardy and his attendings has not changed. With every name/hospital change, Dr. Hardy has weathered the storm and has done what is best for the program. He is always looking out for the residents best interest.
Another criticism would be total ankle exposure. You will get TAR exposure, but not as much as some programs. Though residents graduating from this program are confident and proficient in all aspects of foot and ankle surgery upon graduation, some may seek additional fellowship training to become more proficient in TARs.
