AACPM Teaching Hospitals & the Council of Teaching Hospitals (COTH)
Who We Are
The American Association of Colleges of Podiatric Medicine (AACPM) has over 200 teaching hospital members. Our teaching hospital members are hospitals and health systems dedicated to excellence in graduate podiatric medical education and are accredited by the Council on Podiatric Medical Education (CPME).
Benefits of AACPM Teaching Hospital Membership
Member benefits include residency development resources, best practices, peer networking opportunities, professional development offerings, and learning networks that exclusively support clinical teaching environments. AACPM through the COTH assists its members to understand the impact new and existing standards and policies have on their patients, trainees, and institutions.
AACPM teaching hospital membership is institutional. All faculty members of a member institution enjoy the benefits of membership.
Benefits of Teaching Hospital Membership include:
- Advocacy of residency programs’ interests and concerns on the AACPM Board through COTH;
- Representation on the CPME Residency Review Committee (RRC) through COTH’s two representatives;
- Input, through the Council, on the CASPR residency application and match process.
- Stuart J. Bass, DPM Resident Rescue Fund coverage for member podiatric residency programs. If a COTH residency program is forced to close, the fund helps cover certain placement and relocation costs for residents transferring to another program to complete their training.
- Waived participation fee for the Centralized Residency Interview Program (CRIP), the annual in-person interview event held each January. More than 175 programs participate, and over 3,000 interviews are conducted during the event.
- Professional and organizational development opportunities, including access to resources on the AACPM Teaching Hospital Member website, such as:
- GME funding information,
- Faculty and program development resources,
- Guidance on residency administration, including best practices and compliance support.
- Communications tailored specifically to residency training and graduate medical education.
- Complimentary participation in webinars and briefings focused on medical education and research.
- Access to member-based committees addressing key issues affecting residency programs.
To join or for additional information, please use the Contact Us form.
The Council of Teaching Hospitals (COTH)
The Council of Teaching Hospitals (COTH) represents the teaching hospital members of the AACPM through elected representatives from eight geographic regions, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Association of Podiatric Medical Students (APMSA). COTH provides representation and services related to the needs and concerns of podiatric residency programs. COTH also represents the interests of COTH members in the deliberations and decisions of the AACPM through its two voting representatives to the AACPM board of directors.
The COTH provides administrative oversight of the Centralized Application Service for Podiatric Residencies (CASPR), as well as the Centralized Residency Interview Program (CRIP).
COTH Mission & Goals
- To strengthen and support the education and training of residents and faculty in participating institutions through programs, education, administrative resources, and services designed to meet the needs of residency program directors, coordinators, teaching faculty, and residents in postdoctoral podiatric medical education;
- To oversee and administer the AACPM CASPR and CRIP programs;
- To serve as a forum for the exchange of ideas on matters pertaining to current conditions in postdoctoral podiatric medical education.;
- To support residency development activities and to assist, where feasible, in the establishment of new podiatric residency programs;
- To coordinate activities involving podiatric teaching hospitals, students, residents and the colleges of podiatric medicine.
Understanding Funding for Residency Programs in U.S. Teaching Hospitals
Teaching hospitals simultaneously provide three essential services: patient health care, graduate medical training, and often medical research. In delivering these services, training residents creates significant additional costs beyond those normally associated with patient care or research activities. A portion of these added expenses is offset through several funding sources.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is the primary federal funder of U.S. residency programs. CMS supports Graduate Medical Education (GME) through two major mechanisms:
Direct Graduate Medical Education (DGME): Covers the “direct” costs of training, including:
- Resident stipends
- Benefits
- Supervisory physician salaries
Indirect Medical Education (IME) provides additional payment per Medicare discharge to compensate teaching hospitals for the higher patient-care costs associated with being a teaching facility. These cost increases may include:
- Greater diagnostic testing
- Higher-acuity or more complex patient populations
Note: CMS capped the number of funded residency positions in 1997—but podiatry residencies remain exempt from this cap.
Other sources of residency funding beyond CMS support, teaching hospitals may receive residency funding from several other sources, including:
HRSA Grants–focused on teaching health centers, community-based outpatient training sites, and rural residency development.
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)–supports residency positions within its own health system.
Department of Defense (DoD) and Private Sources
These can supplement funding in certain institutions or specialties.
Understanding Graduate Medical Education (GME) funding is vital for residency programs to ensure financial sustainability, maintain accreditation, and optimize resident training. GME funds are largely directed to the hospital, not the program, making it crucial for program leaders to understand these flows to protect their educational mission.
Robert Graham Center GME Tables: This tool provides a user-friendly interface to search for Medicare GME payments by hospital. It allows program directors to estimate the funds received for primary care and non-primary care full-time equivalent (FTE) residents. There is also a user guide and FAQs provide for the tables.
About the Stuart J. Bass, DPM Resident Rescue Fund
An issue of great concern in postgraduate podiatric medical education is the sudden closure of podiatric residency programs by sponsoring institutions. When this occurs, it is not only a loss for the profession but for the displaced residents involved.
The Stuart J. Bass, DPM Resident Rescue Fund was established by The Council of Teaching Hospitals (COTH) of the American Association of Colleges of Podiatric Medicine (AACPM). AACPM teaching hospital members donate a portion of their membership dues to the fund
Goals of the Fund:
1. To financially assist those residents placed in AACPM teaching hospital member podiatric residency programs who find themselves displaced due to program closure.
2. To serve as a gesture of support and goodwill between present podiatrists and the next generation of podiatric physicians.
The Fund’s governing document establishes a process for the collection and disbursement of funds.
COTH Member Representatives
Nida Nawaz, DPM
COTH Region 1 – AK, CA, HI, NV, OR, WA
Residency Director
VA Puget Sound
University Place, WA
Brett Sachs, DPM
COTH Region 2 – AR, AZ, CO, IA, ID, KS, MO, MN, MT, ND, NE, NM, OK, SD, TX, UT, WY
Residency Director
Presbyterian/St. Luke’s Medical Center
Denver, CO
Oleg Petrov, DPM
COTH Region 3 – AL, IL, IN, KY,LA, MS, TN, WI
Residency Director
Ascension Saint Joseph – Chicago
Chicago, IL
Joshua Rhodenizer, DPM
COTH Region 4 – OH, MI
Residency Director
Henry Ford St. John Hospital
Detroit, MI
Kristin Rizzo, DPM
COTH Region 5 – FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA, WV
Residency Director
Atlanta VA Medical Center
Decatur, GA
Andrew Meyr, DPM CHAIR
COTH Region 7 – DE, PA
Residency Director
Temple University
Philadelphia, PA
Keith Cook, DPM CHAIR-ELECT
COTH Region 6 – CT, DC, MA, ME, NH, NJ, RI, VT
Chief of Podiatry
University Hospital
Newark, NJ
Charles Lombardi, DPM
COTH Region 8—NY
System Chief, Podiatric Services
Northwell Health Hospitals
NYC, NY
Jeffrey M. Robbins, DPM
DVA Representative
Director Podiatry Service VACO
DVA Medical Center
Cleveland, OH
Clauton Kum
APMSA Representative
Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine
Philadelphia, PA
COTH Educational Offerings for Programs on the AACPM You Tube Channel
COTH offers continuing education for program directors, staff, faculty, and residents on the AACPM’s You Tube Channel COTH playlist.
For Program Directors, Faculty & Staff
- International Trainees: Essential Guidance for Trainees and Programs
- Program Coordinators Make the Program Go Round
- PRR Logging – Part 1
- PRR Logging – Part 2
- Reaffirming CPME Requirements for Appropriate Assessments
- Preparing for your CPME On-Site Visit
- GME Funding for Podiatric Residency Programs
- Navigating Match Phase II (MP II) for Programs
- Residency Interviews Part 1 – The Student Perspective
- Residency Interviews Part 2 – The Program Director Perspective
- Struggling Residents – Pathway to Remediation
- Getting Involved in the Profession
- Best Practices that Yield Clinical & Surgical Success
- Best Practices in Virtual Interviews
- COTH Pride in Academics Series
- Journal Club
- Preparation for Hospital Boards
- COTH Town Hall 2025
For Residents & Residency Applicants
- International Trainees: Essential Guidance for Trainees and Programs
- PRR Logging – Part 1
- PRR Logging – Part 2
- Residency Interviews Part 1 – The Student Perspective
- Residency Interviews Part 2 – The Program Director Perspective
- Getting Involved in the Profession
- Best Practices in Virtual Interviews
- Creating a CV That Gets Noticed
COTH Resources for Residency Programs
COTH Residency Program Administrative and Educational Resources:
