Riverside University Health System to offer podiatric residency led by WesternU CPM faculty
Fourth-year podiatric medical students recently traveled to Rosemont, Ill. for the Centralized Residency Interview Program (CRIP). They interviewed with podiatric medical and surgical residencies from throughout the country as they prepare for Match Day, graduation and residency.
Taking part in this process were Western University of Health Sciences College of Podiatric Medicine faculty leading a new Podiatric Medicine and Surgery Residency with Reconstructive Rearfoot/Ankle Certification (PMSR/RRA) program at Riverside University Health System.
CPM Assistant Professor Joseph Park, DPM, FACFAS, serves as residency director. CPM Associate Professor and Continuing Education Director Adrienne Estes, DPM ’13, MS, FACFAS, DABPM, serves as assistant residency director. The first resident in this new program will begin July 1, 2026.
Riverside University Health System (RUHS) is a major teaching hospital at a Level 1 Trauma Center, so the infrastructure of the hospital is built to support a teaching program, Park said.
“All of the podiatric core faculty here at the hospital are WesternU CPM faculty, so we are very familiar and know how to teach adult learners,” he said.
The majority of the CPM faculty at RUHS are fellowship trained. DR. Park trained in adult reconstruction and trauma. Dr. Estes’ fellowship training was in Charcot Reconstruction. And Dr. Rebecca Moellmer and Dr. Kelly Parks were trained in sports medicine.
“We bring in different areas of expertise within podiatric medicine and surgery that will help our future residents succeed,” Park said. “We are actively pursuing further affiliations and rotations in the area to further improve the breadth and depth of surgical exposure.”
Residents are expected to graduate with double to triple the minimum required numbers for graduation, based off of the pre-existing volume that we already have, Park said. The program is expected to provide opportunities for very complex and high-volume limb salvage and elective reconstruction of both the foot and rear foot ankle.
“You also have the opportunity as a resident to serve as a clinical instructor at WesternU because WesternU students rotate through RUHS,” Park said. “This hospital is one of their core rotations, so you have a chance to get some teaching experience, as well.”
RUHS is a well-established teaching hospital with more than 10 accredited residencies and five fellowships. RUHS sponsors and supports more than 600 medical residents and 200 nursing students from colleges and universities across the region.
“It’s a major academic center for the region. That is not always the case with podiatric residencies. A lot of them are based out of smaller, local, regional community hospitals, where there might not be quite as robust teaching services,” Park said. “In addition, specifically focusing on the local area, the Inland Empire is a very underserved area in terms of podiatric residencies.”
Prior to the establishment of the RUHS program, there were only three podiatric residency programs for such a huge area – VA Loma Linda, Loma Linda Murietta, and Chino Valley.
“It’s a huge population, a huge area that has a ton of pathology, a ton of patients that can be better served by having well-trained foot and ankle surgeons,” Park said.
RUHS has been a clinical site for CPM for nearly a decade. Over the years, CPM has developed a very positive relationship with the RUHS leadership, who, while establishing several new ACGME approved residency programs in affiliation with UC Riverside School of Medicine, worked closely with CPM to establish the podiatric residency program. They continue supporting CPM’s growth and the College’s desire to provide care to the underserved communities of the Inland Empire, said CPM Dean Jonathan Labovitz, DPM, FACFAS, CHCQM.
“The residency program will strengthen CPM’s opportunity to expand clinical services at RUHS, which not only expands our capacity to serve the community, but also our capacity for teaching CPM students at this core clinical rotations site,” Labovitz said. “We greatly appreciate RUHS’s commitment to our shared vision to enhance the capacity of the podiatric medicine services provided at the hospital, improving the access to care for the Inland Empire, and advance the training, education and experience of podiatric medical students and residents.”
