What did you learn from the podiatrists you shadowed?

"I now consider, as a very important clinical reflection, how conditions of the foot can alter one's quality of life. To this end, I learned that I'm not dealing with just wanting that nail to become non-inflamed, that fungus to be gone, or that bone that is jutting out abnormally to be repositioned correctly, but with the function that has caused the problem. I value restoration of function as the highest form of healing."

You want to answer this question by telling your interviewer--not what you learned from the podiatrists you shadowed--but what kind of physician you've become because of insights you've gleaned from them. In other words, you don't want to say you have learned how to do a good physical exam like they do, but that you have fine-tuned your thoroughness in your own physical exams because of having shadowed them. It's not a question of quantity learned, but quality, after having shadowed them.

"I do my exams and evaluations much differently now since I've shadowed my podiatrist mentors. I've had the benefit of assimilating into my own protocols all of the best aspects from a variety of podiatrists--all with their own style."