Hello guys, I was wondering if it is possible to go to podiatry school once you completed medical school, since doctors work a lot and there may be no time for family or other stuff, can you be a podiatrist once you are MD? And do you have to do another 4 years or just 2, as you study almost the same thing but the practice is different? Also, how much time do you need to live in a state to be considered a state resident? For example, if you move to a different state to attend school there, are you paying in state tuition? Thanks ahead.
From MD to podiatry
- Thread starter SxpeRare
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I don't know the answer to your question, but if you are looking to switch from MD to DPM because you think you will work less you might want to reconsider.
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If you're going to be a podiatrist it's a total waste to become a MD or DO first. I guess technically you could, but you'd be dumb to do it that way.
Becoming an in-state resident varies from state to state. For example, if you go to a school in Ohio, you can become an in-state resident after 2 years and pay in-state for your third and fourth years. If you go to school in Florida, you can become a resident after living there 1 year, but you won't receive in-state tuition unless you were a resident at the time you applied. There's not usually a way to game the system in that way, and when you can you often have to sign a contract or something saying you'll stay in their state for X years after you graduate.
Becoming an in-state resident varies from state to state. For example, if you go to a school in Ohio, you can become an in-state resident after 2 years and pay in-state for your third and fourth years. If you go to school in Florida, you can become a resident after living there 1 year, but you won't receive in-state tuition unless you were a resident at the time you applied. There's not usually a way to game the system in that way, and when you can you often have to sign a contract or something saying you'll stay in their state for X years after you graduate.
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If you want to waste your time getting one degree, then a second one that you actually intend to use, sure it's possible. (Heck, I did it!)
But what do you want to do as a podiatrist? Forgive my ignorance, but I really don't know much about what goes on in a podiatry office.
Primary care MD/DO/NP/PA's already do a million toenail extractions. And orthopedic surgeons do a lot of foot/angle/leg stuff. If either of those are the sorts of things you're thinking about, you should try to do that kind of residency.
But what do you want to do as a podiatrist? Forgive my ignorance, but I really don't know much about what goes on in a podiatry office.
Primary care MD/DO/NP/PA's already do a million toenail extractions. And orthopedic surgeons do a lot of foot/angle/leg stuff. If either of those are the sorts of things you're thinking about, you should try to do that kind of residency.
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You sound a little unversed in the different aspects of the medical field ...are you an undergraduate student or high school student? If so, I would focus right now on getting good grades in the classes you're in and gaining some clinical and shadowing experience.
I'm saying this because with a little investigation (there is a lot of good info here on SDN) you'd know that there are certain specialties that you can go into after receiving your MD degree that would allow for more personal time. It's not financially sound or reasonable to go to medical school and then podiatry school. If you're not competitive enough for MD schools I would suggest DO schools unless diabetic wounds and related cases are things you're passionate about.
As far as having time for a family, there are physicians with healthy families. In fact, at one of my medical school interviews I had a long discussion with a female plastic surgeon with 4 kids, married and the chair of her department. Every physician I've ever shadowed, been counseled by or interviewed with has been married with children (7/9 in dual doctor marriages, the other two married engineers). So although my sample size is roughly n=9 that should at least give you some encouragement that just like with anything else, if you want it, you have to make the time for it. A career in medicine shouldn't prevent you from having a family.
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this sounds like a carib student who didnt match... for like the 3rd time...
As a 4th year Pod student who will be a resident in the near future, you are very very very wrong if you think that being a DPM will give you more time with your family than a MD will. It appears from this post that you want to be a DPM solely because you do not want to work as hard. I will tell you that I studied around the clock in school... many endless nights. In residency we work 80 hours / week +.
Please do not come into my profession because you want to be lazy and not work. If you go in with this attitude you will be one of the many that fail out along the way.
okay just to clarify myself, I don't want to be a podiatrist because its easier, just wanted to know if its possible, that's all. And please don't say being a podiatrist is the same as being a doctor, it's much easier. They have less stress than MD's, so if I will ever regret my choice, I want to be sure I can change it. So am I supposed to take two years or four at podiatrist school?
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With enough time, money and patience, anything is possible (After seeing Interstellar, I'm considering becoming an astronaut). There are MD-DPMs out there. But you still have to do 4 and 4 years. There are some schools that will grant a DO in 3 years to DPM grads:
http://medicine.nova.edu/dodpm/
If you want to be a practicing podiatrist, you have to do a podiatry residency. Recently, there was a residency shortage crisis, so look into that.
As for stress, I'll let the pod students/residents talk. But from my familiarity, DPMs can do rear-foot reconstruction etc. That's no cake-walk. Are you going to say being an MD pathologist, psychiatrist, or dermatologist is harder (lots of love, Dermviser).
But as others have suggested, what's the point?
http://medicine.nova.edu/dodpm/
If you want to be a practicing podiatrist, you have to do a podiatry residency. Recently, there was a residency shortage crisis, so look into that.
As for stress, I'll let the pod students/residents talk. But from my familiarity, DPMs can do rear-foot reconstruction etc. That's no cake-walk. Are you going to say being an MD pathologist, psychiatrist, or dermatologist is harder (lots of love, Dermviser).
But as others have suggested, what's the point?
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lol, what are you basing this off of?
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troll detected
DPM curriculum mirrors that of MD/DO with 2 years of pre-clinical education and 2 years of clinical education, and in schools with both podiatry and medical schools, students sometimes take the same classes during pre-clinical education. The defining differences between DPM and MD/DO curriculum are the clinical education. Think of DPM program as medical school with pre-determined specialty in foot care. The rigours of both programs are near identical.
Also, there are overlap between the care provided by DPM and MD/DO, and if you really have an interest in podiatry, you could pursue medical specialty with very similar scope of practice.
Also, there are overlap between the care provided by DPM and MD/DO, and if you really have an interest in podiatry, you could pursue medical specialty with very similar scope of practice.
As hard as it was, I decided not to waste my time feeding troll trying to respond to this comment. If OP seriously has questions about podiatry and the profession send me a PM and I would be more than glad to answer any questions.
FWIW there are some IMGs who are have come to podiatry school, some failed out half way that I know of. Either way they all had to do 4 full years.
Also yes there is a residency shortage. The shortage is improving with each and every year but it does exist. There is the possibility that you can do all of this and not get a residency... Which would mean that you would need to move to one of the three states in the USA which does not require a residency, try to get a job there (good luck), and if you could even do that you would only be allowed to clip toenails.
ALL podiatry residencies are now 3 years (or 4 years) and are ALL surgical.
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Okay everyone, so if you read this member's other post some things will become more clear:
OP:
1) Not living in US
2) High school aged
3) You can take this person completely seriously because 80% of his/her family are doctors, so that means no more discussion about how serious he/she is
My advice to the original poster:
1. Explore whether it's an option to finish traditional US high school. If you're <18 years old, this is worth looking into.
2. Either way, try to get into the best college you can. If that's Harvard, great, if it's Community College, that's okay too.
3. Study lots of things. See the world. Travel. Fall in love. Consider arts, science, engineering, etc. Maybe you would be happiest as a teacher, a philosopher, a hobo wanderer, a politician, a librarian, a tax attorney, a cook, a stay-at-home-parent.
4. Just because 80% of your family are doctors does not mean you will get into medical or podiatry school. It also doesn't mean you are serious about it. It also doesn't mean you would be a good clinician. And most importantly for you, it certainly does not mean you would be happy in medicine.
OP:
1) Not living in US
2) High school aged
3) You can take this person completely seriously because 80% of his/her family are doctors, so that means no more discussion about how serious he/she is
My advice to the original poster:
1. Explore whether it's an option to finish traditional US high school. If you're <18 years old, this is worth looking into.
2. Either way, try to get into the best college you can. If that's Harvard, great, if it's Community College, that's okay too.
3. Study lots of things. See the world. Travel. Fall in love. Consider arts, science, engineering, etc. Maybe you would be happiest as a teacher, a philosopher, a hobo wanderer, a politician, a librarian, a tax attorney, a cook, a stay-at-home-parent.
4. Just because 80% of your family are doctors does not mean you will get into medical or podiatry school. It also doesn't mean you are serious about it. It also doesn't mean you would be a good clinician. And most importantly for you, it certainly does not mean you would be happy in medicine.
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Only brain dead people believe this. I would smack the **** out someone who is so ignorant and pay someone to spit on them...
Thank you everybody for your answers, and sorry if you misunderstood me, I am not sure what's being a podiatrist like in US, but where I live this is not considered a good speacility, very different than doctor. So thank you for making things clear, by the way I am almost 18. And I am asking this early, because if I decide to attend college where I live we don't have pre med , we go straight to med school for 6-7 years, or podiatry school for 4-5 years.
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Many medical professions are drastically different in US than the rest of the world. Podiatry and osteopathy are two prime examples where the respective degrees in US are medical degrees, not the case in the rest of the world. SDN being a US forum, you should start your research into each profession by doing some simple Google search pertinent to your country of residence.
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Oh my god you're 17 just freaking go to college and figure stuff out from there. You can get into college with a GED.
Can a mod please move this trainwreck to hSDN?
For Americans 17 sounds young but here people gradute as early as 16 and then they choose the career of their life, most people leave their home this early..
Don't comment if you have something offensive to say
Don't comment if you have something offensive to say
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You're not American so how would you know any of this?
Why do you want to be two different things in two different countries? He was right that you need to take a few years to figure this out in college. About 99% of US premeds change their minds about going to medical school.
And unlike your home country where you will probably not accumulate much in loans going to school, 300k+ is the norm here and going back to school is simply not feasible in most cases..
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Moved to hSDN
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The only people I've ever heard of who became a podiatrist after med school were a couple of Caribbean grads who couldn't match. youd never do this otherwise.
