Practice Perfect 940
CRIP 2025: Chicago Here We Come!

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This year, for the 2025 residency interviews, there is a change. The interviews have moved from Texas to Chicago. Exactly why this has occurred is beyond the knowledge of this editorialist. However, change is part of life, and we adjust. As a residency administrator in the Southern California region, flying to Chicago in the dead of winter is a little concerning. I am sure every residency has their own methods of working with the residency interview process, but I thought it might be helpful to share some thoughts, concerns and contingency plans.

Some Thoughts and Concerns
I do not particularly love the idea of flying to Chicago in January for interviews for the obvious reasons that weather may have an effect on the process, and it is simply very cold in Chicago at this time of year. Suck it up, Shapiro. Put on a coat and get ready to fly.

Why this change occurred may have to do with a cheaper cost for the CASPR program. One can imagine that it must be expensive to pay for a hotel in addition to all of the other administrative costs. Perhaps there’s some other reason (easier for the CASPR faculty, residency program feedback over the years, etc). Now, as a faculty member of one of the podiatry colleges, I would have preferred a more “neutral” location that doesn’t favor one school’s location over the others. But, really, with 11 schools, now, where is there a “central” location that isn’t closer to one of the podiatry colleges than the others? A Chicago CRIP is about as central in the U.S. as you get and has a similar travel time as to Texas.

What about the weather and travel? Much like many people around the world, I’ve traveled through Chicago, specifically traveling in and out of the O’Hare airport, and I’ve spent more hours than I care to admit waiting overnight in the airport due to a canceled flight in the winter. My most significant concern, then, is if my residency interview group will make it in and out of Chicago without delays or cancelations. I asked this question of the CASPR folks and was told O’Hare is actually more consistent with less flight cancelations than the two airports around the Dallas region. Is that true?

A quick on-line search found…

Interestingly, Dallas Fort Worth airport was number 3 on the Business Traveler’s list of highest percentage of flight delays.³ Chicago O’Hare wasn’t even on their top 10 list. For the curious, San Francisco International (SFO) was number 1 (not surprising at all if you’ve ever flown through this airport).

Given this information, the CASPR folks are correct, and I’m not going to worry about delays in Chicago any more than I would have in Dallas, although I’m keeping my fingers crossed there will not be a winter storm that week!

Contingency Plans
It’s always good to have a plan B, so my plan, after confirming what residency programs are permitted to do without violating the CPME320 guidelines, here’s the plan:

Of course, everyone is hoping travel to and from the CRIP will be uneventful, but one never knows! Good luck with your residency interview travels, and I hope to see you there in Chicago.

Best wishes.

Jarrod Shapiro, DPM
PRESENT Practice Perfect Editor
[email protected]