18 year old from Texas interested in podiatry?

[JoMo84]

Hi sdn pre pod community. A quick intro about myself. I'm currently a hs midterm grad that will start college in fall 2016. I was originally planning on dentistry, however podiatry captured my interest when I had to go visit a podiatrist for a ingrown toenail. To be honest at first, I didn't know much about podiatry. Shortly after my visit, I started to look up some of the procedures that they preform and it was enough to change my interest. Since I'm from Texas, as we all know, which doesn't have a podiatry school, I would like to ask some questions for pre pod students of tx(or anyone of another state) also shoutout to @ldsrmdude for answering some of my questions

1)Other then shadowing a podiatrist, did you have anything in your application else related to podiatry?

2) Texan students, how hard is it to find a residency in Texas? Is/Was there alot of pre-pod students in your undergrad?

3) Is research important when applying to podiatry schools?

4) I plan on majoring in MIS, should I major in biology since podiatry school is heavily science based?
Thank you

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[FootAndAnkle]

Hi sdn pre pod community. A quick intro about myself. I'm currently a hs midterm grad that will start college in fall 2016. I was originally planning on dentistry, however podiatry captured my interest when I had to go visit a podiatrist for a ingrown toenail. To be honest at first, I didn't know much about podiatry. Shortly after my visit, I started to look up some of the procedures that they preform and it was enough to change my interest. Since I'm from Texas, as we all know, which doesn't have a podiatry school, I would like to ask some questions for pre pod students of tx(or anyone of another state) also shoutout to @ldsrmdude for answering some of my questions

1)Other then shadowing a podiatrist, did you have anything in your application else related to podiatry?

2) Texan students, how hard is it to find a residency in Texas? Is/Was there alot of pre-pod students in your undergrad?

3) Is research important when applying to podiatry schools?

4) I plan on majoring in MIS, should I major in biology since podiatry school is heavily science based?
Thank you

1) Personal statement.
2) Not from Texas and didn't look at Texas residencies. If you are going to go through the trouble of taking the MCAT, however, consider that Texas medical schools' in-state tuitions are way cheaper than podiatry schools, so financially that may be a better option for you.
3) No.
4) No, they don't care what you major in as long as you have taken the pre-requisite courses (some people don't even get an undergraduate degree at all).

 

[Sweatshirt]

1) Personal statement.
2) Not from Texas and didn't look at Texas residencies. If you are going to go through the trouble of taking the MCAT, however, consider that Texas medical schools' in-state tuitions are way cheaper than podiatry schools, so financially that may be a better option for you.
3) No.
4) No, they don't care what you major in as long as you have taken the pre-requisite courses (some people don't even get an undergraduate degree at all).

1) I did a podiatry internship with one of the schools. They are easy to get into, very informative, and look amazing on your application. Sophomore or junior year you should look into one, they will boost your chances significantly
2) cant answer
3) I did research, but it's not required and not too important. Again, it boosts your app so if you have time in undergrad I'd look into it. Again, it's not that important though
4) Any major is fine as long as you hit all the pre-reqs

 

[heybrother]

4th year student who externed in Texas - there are several good residency programs here.

 

[JoMo84]

4th year student who externed in Texas - there are several good residency programs here.

are you a texas native? if so how many students from your class also choosed to externed in TX?

 

[bobtheweazel]

I'm from San Antonio, I'll be starting at Temple this Fall.

1)Other then shadowing a podiatrist, did you have anything in your application else related to podiatry?
Yes, I have experience in orthotics and prosthetics and I do believe it was a major factor in my acceptance to multiple schools. They all spoke to me about my experience in depth. Temple seemed most interested in my orthotic background.

2) Texan students, how hard is it to find a residency in Texas? Is/Was there alot of pre-pod students in your undergrad?
Don't know yet, but there are plenty here. Don't think they're necessarily at the top of people's lists though, unless you wanna focus on diabetes and limb salvage, then the San Antonio one might be big for you. Otherwise, I'm not sure how the others would rank.

3) Is research important when applying to podiatry schools?
Apparently not, because I didn't have any. It's not even very important to most podiatry students, although almost every school has some kind of research you can participate in as a student. Many pod students I spoke with didn't think research would help with landing a residency either, but I could see how maybe it would help land a fellowship, depending on the subject of the research.

4) I plan on majoring in MIS, should I major in biology since podiatry school is heavily science based?
Just look at the classes you'll need. I would say to take what you like because then you're more likely to get a high GPA, which they care about more than they care about what specific degree you get. Most premeds major in biology simply because the prerequisites fit into a biology degree plan well. Biology, Physics, Chemistry, and Organic Chemistry should all count towards a biology degree but especially organic chemistry would probably fall outside of many other degree plans, requiring extra time and money to complete your degree + the prerequisites outside of your degree.

 

[JoMo84]

I'm from San Antonio, I'll be starting at Temple this Fall.

1)Other then shadowing a podiatrist, did you have anything in your application else related to podiatry?
Yes, I have experience in orthotics and prosthetics and I do believe it was a major factor in my acceptance to multiple schools. They all spoke to me about my experience in depth. Temple seemed most interested in my orthotic background.

2) Texan students, how hard is it to find a residency in Texas? Is/Was there alot of pre-pod students in your undergrad?
Don't know yet, but there are plenty here. Don't think they're necessarily at the top of people's lists though, unless you wanna focus on diabetes and limb salvage, then the San Antonio one might be big for you. Otherwise, I'm not sure how the others would rank.

3) Is research important when applying to podiatry schools?
Apparently not, because I didn't have any. It's not even very important to most podiatry students, although almost every school has some kind of research you can participate in as a student. Many pod students I spoke with didn't think research would help with landing a residency either, but I could see how maybe it would help land a fellowship, depending on the subject of the research.

4) I plan on majoring in MIS, should I major in biology since podiatry school is heavily science based?
Just look at the classes you'll need. I would say to take what you like because then you're more likely to get a high GPA, which they care about more than they care about what specific degree you get. Most premeds major in biology simply because the prerequisites fit into a biology degree plan well. Biology, Physics, Chemistry, and Organic Chemistry should all count towards a biology degree but especially organic chemistry would probably fall outside of many other degree plans, requiring extra time and money to complete your degree + the prerequisites outside of your degree.

Since your from SA, do you hope to match residency in UTHSCSA? your right, they do seem to be heavily interested in it along with mexican-american patients http://www.diabeticfoot.org/

also when you say you had experience in orthotics and prosthetics, did you shadow these professions or work with them? I'm a bit unfamiliar with orthotics/prosthetics

 

[bobtheweazel]

Since your from SA, do you hope to match residency in UTHSCSA? your right, they do seem to be heavily interested in it along with mexican-american patients http://www.diabeticfoot.org/

also when you say you had experience in orthotics and prosthetics, did you shadow these professions or work with them? I'm a bit unfamiliar with orthotics/prosthetics

I will definitely try to extern at UTHSCSA and apply to their residency, but I'm not super interested in just chopping off diabetic toes all day every day. I'll have a better idea once I'm getting closer to that time, but I'd rather go somewhere where I can do a lot of rearfoot and ankle surgery and I assume there are much better places for that than the UTHSCSA residency.

As far as my experience, I've been working in orthotics (body braces) and prosthetics (artificial limbs) for about 8 years now and I've lectured at a couple of orthotic and prosthetic conferences. So my experience here is pretty extensive, much more so than I would ever need to know for podiatry. I think getting any kind of experience if you can, even part time, while in school would be useful. You could even just scribe at a local hospital, that's pretty easy to get into and pretty common for college students. The pay sucks I hear, but it's a good experience.

 

[bobtheweazel]

Since your from SA, do you hope to match residency in UTHSCSA? your right, they do seem to be heavily interested in it along with mexican-american patients http://www.diabeticfoot.org/

also when you say you had experience in orthotics and prosthetics, did you shadow these professions or work with them? I'm a bit unfamiliar with orthotics/prosthetics

So to clarify, the only real draw towards the UTHSCSA program for me is that it's in my hometown, with my friends and family. Not super interested in their specialization on diabetics though. You'll see plenty of diabetics at any residency I'm sure, I don't want that to be ALL I see.

 

[heybrother]

are you a texas native? if so how many students from your class also choosed to externed in TX?

I'm a native and trying to come back. My classmates were a mixed bag so it doesn't really matter what my experience was - you may have classmates who want to come home, you may have classmates who follow their spouse to another state, and you may have classmates who chase awesome residencies elsewhere. You may also have non-native classmates who find Texas programs they really like and their spouse wants to move to Texas. I think the above actually describes my class well.

I may or may not post a review of them in the residency review thread, but I would strongly discourage people from visiting the San Antonio residency. It is one of the worst months of my entire 4th year and I went into it wanting to believe it would be good. It wasn't. There are way better programs out there and SA doesn't compare to most of the Texas programs that I visited. I said this in the ideal residency thread - you do not need a diabetic focus to work up infections or learn prevention and amputations. The JPS docs have no shortage of wounds and amputations. The S&W inpatient list spikes every day and they work it through. There's rotting feet walking in the door at the Hunt residency clinic every week. The Kingwood and West Houston programs put in their months and move on. All these programs recognize that wounds and diabetics and vasculopaths is just one of the things that we do - they they go and tear up elective, reconstructive, and trauma (slightly different focus at each). San Antonio makes their poor 3rd year residents take inhouse call at night to deal with red, hot feet. Pass. Go elsewhere.

 

[dorsiflexor]

@heybrother I'm a first year from Tx would you mind giving some insight to the programs in the state? I can shoot you a PM or PM you my email address.
I'm hoping to end up back there at some point and wanting to get as much info about the programs as possible to make the best decision for me when it comes time for clerkships.

TIA

 

[bobtheweazel]

In response to dorsiflexors question, @heybrother can you please answer on here for us all. I think any student from TX is thinking the same thing.

 

[PodasaurusRex]

I can second this. I am not a Texas native but I can see lots of positives about the state (nice people and similar family values that I'm use to in the midwest, etc). I have ideas of where I want to end up geographically and I bet the Texas warmth is going to sound pretty nice after 4 years in Des Moines. Plus I want Chip and Joanna Gaines to flip a house for me one day.

 

[HappyHobPod]

I can second this. I am not a Texas native but I can see lots of positives about the state (nice people and similar family values that I'm use to in the midwest, etc). I have ideas of where I want to end up geographically and I bet the Texas warmth is going to sound pretty nice after 4 years in Des Moines. Plus I want Chip and Joanna Gaines to flip a house for me one day.

We also have Whataburger

 

[heybrother]

I'll PM out my review when I'm done - its a lot of programs to talk about.