Anybody debated going to DPT school before applying to POD school?

[saywuh]

was anybody in the situation where they were torn between the 2 and then decided POD school?

I shadowed both and Im still confused. would like so hear your side.

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[bobtheweazel]

I considered many things. In the end, I'd rather be able to prescribe treatments (medication, therapy, etc.) and perform surgeries.

I would personally feel more limited being able to practice conservative physical therapies on any part of the body vs being able to practice any type of therapy on one region of the body. They're both limiting, obviously, in different ways so I suppose it just depends on what you could see yourself doing every day. As a therapist you would be simply following a physician's orders in many cases (I realize therapists do full evals and work out a treatment plan but the order/prescription still has to come from a physician in most states) where as a podiatrist you would be writing the orders.

Physical therapy is a lot less schooling/training, which is appealing, but it also caps out at a lower salary. In the long run you would probably make more $$$ as a pod, if that's any kind of incentive for you.

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[Weirdy]

At a university where a majority (about 90%+) of Kinese majors are gunning for DPT.

Had a lecturer who considered it, worked in multiple offices, shadowed multiple DPTs.

Told everyone in the class to strongly consider MD/DO/PA.

Not trying to throw DPTs under the bus. Short schooling + decent pay + doable admission requirements make it pretty enticing. But they have the same issues plaguing Chiros or any other profession such as pharm/opto for that matter- oversaturation, new schools (University North Texas just opened a new program 1 year ago where you didn't even have to submit a GRE score) high entry cost and competition for private practice/ equipment, decreasing wages.

Also need to consider your practice/multigroup getting bought out. Was shadowing an MD-IM. All of them were talking about a DPT practice that was under another group, got bought and the new group fired all the DPTs under them to replace with others.

Again this is all anecdotal. I have 2 friends, 1 who just entered this cycle and one who's starting their 3rd year in DPT. Both love it.

The profession does have its downsides, just like any other profession.

 

[Weirdy]

FUN FACT . Temple's clinic has a physical therapy module and the students will rotate in there. We also take a class called physical medicine and rehabilitation taught by the DPT.

Did you know that DPMs, MDs, and DOs are able to use the same billing codes as physical therapists? That means we can use the same treatments i.e. ultrasound, e-stim, etc as a physical therapist BUT (and a major 'but' that could get your license taken away if you don't follow this) we CANNOT call it physical therapy - it must be called rehabilitation - AND WE have to do the service (not your medical assistant). And obviously we are limited to the foot and ankle.

Didn't know this. Good info.

 

[Azimuthal]

I considered many things. In the end, I'd rather be able to prescribe treatments (medication, therapy, etc.) and perform surgeries.

I would personally feel more limited being able to practice conservative physical therapies on any part of the body vs being able to practice any type of therapy on one region of the body. They're both limiting, obviously, in different ways so I suppose it just depends on what you could see yourself doing every day. As a therapist you would be simply following a physician's orders in many cases (I realize therapists do full evals and work out a treatment plan but the order/prescription still has to come from a physician in most states) where as a podiatrist you would be writing the orders.

Physical therapy is a lot less schooling/training, which is appealing, but it also caps out at a lower salary. In the long run you would probably make more $$$ as a pod, if that's any kind of incentive for you.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using SDN mobile

There is some misconception of PT that I would like to clarify. In most states, PT's have direct access, and many 3rd party payers are beginning to allow patients to see a PT without a physician's referral (with stipulation, i.e., >30-45 days, or >set # of treatments, requires physician approval for continuation of care). In some clinics, most patients are direct access.

As for orders, I mostly see them in a hospital setting, where continuity of care is already part of the plan. Many IM's ask for consults or straight for an evaluation and treatment. I have not seen many specified orders, outside of some post-ops where the surgeon has restrictions or would like to see if certain motions are attainable. A few have standing protocols that we happily follow. >95% of referrals stipulate the body part or surgery performed and then "evaluate and treat". Hardly setting an order.

The admissions criteria for PT's are not MD level, but a quick look at the APTA's published data demonstrates very similar, if not higher cGPA's/sGPA's of entering students to PODs, ODs, etc. We also get thousands of hours of formal MSK/NMSK education and training, much more than IM's and many general practitioners. In terms of years, yes, it's less. You are also correct that we do receive less or no training in medical management, etc. (only red flag screening and some interpretation of lab values) as we are considered conservative treatment providers. This in turns leads to another agreeable point that our wage ceiling is much lower than other providers, such as PODs. You take much more risks, you reap more of the rewards. I think that's more than fair.

One of my best friends went POD post a few years of pre-PT together. His primary motivation was $. When seemingly asking me for approval for the change of heart, I told him that POD was the industry's best kept secret. I still think it is.

 

[emarem]

Rule 1. The POD forums are obviously going to be bias towards POD..

 

[bobtheweazel]

Rule 1. The POD forums are obviously going to be bias towards POD..

Not necessarily. The Pharm forums aren't biased towards Pharm. They generally warn to keep far, far from it.

 

[Weirdy]

Rule 1. The POD forums are obviously going to be bias towards POD..

I was on a pre-med track at first.

Even seriously considered opto/ pt and shadowed both.

The point of our advice was to inform OP with legitimate concern to where the field is going and from what we've seen.

Has it ever occurred to you that maybe we're a little older than a blind pre-something undergrad?

 

[emarem]

I was on a pre-med track at first.

Even seriously considered opto/ pt and shadowed both.

The point of our advice was to inform OP with legitimate concern to where the field is going and from what we've seen.

Has it ever occurred to you that maybe we're a little older than a blind pre-something undergrad?

 

[emarem]

was anybody in the situation where they were torn between the 2 and then decided POD school?

I shadowed both and Im still confused. would like so hear your side.

pm'ed OP

 

[Weirdy]

Did I say something wrong?

 

[CardsFan92]

Rule 1. The POD forums are obviously going to be bias towards POD..

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