"Unmatched Experience"
Northwell Health’s Director of Podiatry Explains What Drew Her to New York College of Podiatric Medicine
As a promising undergraduate at Fordham University, Jackie Prevete’s decision to attend the New York College of Podiatric Medicine (NYCPM) felt straightforward. “The experience is unmatched,” she said. “They’re in that area of the city where the pathology gives students really great exposure to everything that podiatry has to offer. The clinic is busy, even at the student level. You get used to evaluating and seeing patients, and that’s what you’re going to need to be good at for the rest of your life. NYCPM affords that from the get-go. New York City is unmatched.” She added with a laugh: “But I’m from here, so I’m biased.” Her choice proved prescient. She graduated in 2013 and completed a four-year surgical residency at NewYork-Presbyterian in 2017, leaving training with a strong clinical foundation and a clearer sense of direction.
Dr. Prevete had not initially planned on podiatry. While at Fordham, she knew she wanted to pursue medicine but was still exploring options. “Podiatry was recommended at Fordham,” she said. “They were very podiatry-friendly. My pre-health advisor and I talked, I did further research, and it fit. I wasn’t thinking podiatry at first, but once I figured out what it actually was, the variety of the field stood out.” What appealed to her most was committing to a specialty early. “It’s a specialty from the beginning,” she said. “People forget that. In medical school, you learn everything and then narrow it down. Podiatry is the opposite. While you do gain experience in internal medicine, emergency medicine, and general surgery as well as other subspecialities of medicine, your ultimate goal is to become an expert in the foot and ankle and you start school with that goal. No day is the same. There’s a ton of variety.” Both the surgical and nonsurgical sides of the field drew her in. “The surgical aspect attracted me,” she said, “but the nonsurgical side definitely can make a difference too.”
Finding a Niche in Surgery
Her residency training was demanding by design. “For me, the training was more involved,” she said. “It was more difficult hour-wise. The program was labor-intensive and higher demand, and that was kind of what I wanted.” During that time, Dr. Prevete began to identify her professional focus, finding her niche in surgery. “Surgery is something I like doing,” she said. “In surgery, you need a plan B and a plan C in case something goes wrong. You need to think on your feet and think ahead.”
After residency, Dr. Prevete joined the prestigious private practice Foot and Ankle Surgeons of New York. “Private practice was good,” she said. “That’s where I figured out the kind of podiatrist I am.” The transition out of residency came with challenges. “Your first years after residency, you’re taking on a lot of new challenges for the first time without immediate supervision,” she said. Support from colleagues helped her grow more confident to accept these challenges. “They were very supportive as I developed through my career.” Over time, she felt ready for a broader role. “I was ready to move on to bigger things,” she said, “and be more involved in the profession as a whole.”
Involvement Beyond the Classroom
That instinct had roots in her student years at NYCPM, where she became involved outside the classroom. “‘Say yes’ is kind of the way to put it,” she said. “Get involved. Even in school.” For her, that involvement provided perspective. “I wanted something besides academics,” she said. “It helps you understand the bigger picture. It’s easy to go in and see patients every day, but what affects the profession as a whole can affect what you do.” Her advice to students is simple: keep academics a priority but engage beyond them.
Last year, Dr. Prevete joined Northwell Health as program director of the podiatry residency and director of podiatry for the Eastern Region, roles that blend clinical leadership, administration, and mentorship. The position also expanded her work beyond the hospital. She serves on New York State podiatric committees and participates in legislative lobby days, work she says she enjoys for its emphasis on communication. Much of that effort has focused on scope-of-practice reform, an initiative the profession worked on for more than a decade. Until recently, podiatrists were limited in the procedures they could perform, and surgeons were required to be board certified before completing certain cases, creating a long-standing catch-22. Changes to state law
now allow physicians to be board-qualified on the path to certification, making it easier for young practitioners in the early years of their careers to obtain their cases needed for board certification.
Dr. Prevete has remained active in the state association and its advocacy arm since residency and serves on the board of the New York State Podiatric Medical Association. She is also involved in national work related to board certification, including question writing, and serves as a CPME site reviewer for residency programs. Those site visits, she said, have shaped how she thinks about training and what she wants for her own residents. “A lot of attendings are involved to demonstrate multiple ways to do the same thing,” she said. “Residents might see the same procedure five different ways, and they can figure out what works for them. You need volume, and you need to see more than one way to do it.”
Advice for Residents
Asked what she looks for in future residents, her answer is direct. “Teachable people who aren’t afraid to make mistakes but who learn from their mistakes,” she said. “You don’t have to know everything. Being open to learning multiple ways to do something is important. Work ethic is basically everything. Someone who’s motivated, teachable, and wants to learn—and when they do make a mistake, they get better from it.”
Her approach to medicine centers on communication and empathy. “I think really just listening to the person,” she said. “Taking the patient’s goals into account. I won’t treat a marathon runner the same way I’d treat someone who walks their dog for exercise.” Letting patients guide decisions, she said, builds trust. “Communication is everything. If the patient feels heard and you’re upfront, people see that.”
For those considering a career in podiatry, Dr. Prevete was similarly direct. “It’s a very rewarding career,” she concluded. “There are areas of medicine where you do the same things every day. Podiatry is not like that. There’s never a dull moment.”
