Good point and thank you for the clarification. If people can’t deliver what they have on paper, then it increases their risk of scrambling. I haven’t thought about this before.
There's gotta be a better way to screen out these red flags and put the more competent students into the correct residencies. We have the APMLE Part 2, but everyone passes that exam and there's no numerical score like USMLE Part 2.
You have to realize not every good student wants a top program. Many do not.
Some will pick just fair or good program near family, where spouse wants to work, etc.
It's not the best method ever, but quite a few go that route. "Correct residencies" is what the students desire.
The best strategy is generally to pick the most/all of the best programs in one's desired area, visit or interview some others, and rank accordingly. I don't think it's worth picking clerkships at easy-to-get (relative to your skill/gpa/knowledge) programs. Those programs will be there with just a visit or interview; I would not waste more than maybe one clerk month on those types of "backup" programs. For those ones, you'll be head and shoulders above their clerks and most of their other interviews... that's exactly why they are average programs.
...For example, if somebody wanted southeast for their pod residency, it'd be smart to clerk PI, Orlando, Westside, ... possible "backup" month or another pick among Wake or JFK or UF Jax or Palmetto or whatever else, based on preference. However, there is absolutely no point to do a whole month at the DVA programs in that region, Larkins, Jacksons, Aventura, etc... those will be there and available to all but the very worst students with a day visit, a good interview, or even in the scramble. It is that way in all regions: best programs get much/decent interest, and many others get virtually no interest. The lesser programs also don't offer as much in terms of learning and prep for other rotations or boards.
It's critical to realize that podiatry has huuuuge diversity among quality levels of its residencies. We have many turd burgers of "accredited RRA" residences, unfortunately. Good vs avg/poor programs are the difference between quad or single/double scrub and 0 or 1 or 2 good attendings vs a dozen or more solid teachers/mentors. This is critical for passing real boards (ABFAS) and getting a solid skill set. Podiatry 3yr program is NOT roughly equal to another podiatry 3yr program... as it is in MD world.