How many pod students are there because they want to be...

[yanks26dmb]

And how many are there because md/do school didn't work out...?

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[ezking]

0 because we all got rejected from our first choice: ITT Technical Institute

 

[CapCrunch]

There are people in pharmacy school because medical school didn't pan out, people in dental school because medical school didn't pan out, DO programs because MD programs were out of reach...see where I'm going with this? Nobody proceeds through life without making sacrifices, and reaching a limit. However, the constant questioning whether or not people go into the field due to genuine interest only perpetuates the notion that it is a backup plan for the mediocre pre-med.

 

[KentuckySuper]

Did not vote because I am not even to the stage of applying, BUT, my choice is podiatry for podiatry itself. I know myself enough to know that I need to be a specialist, have very personal reasons for podiatry over another speciality, and I am not at all interested in the DO/MD route.

Everyone has their own reasons, but I do hope though, that by the time folks are out there practicing, they are there for reasons that suit them best, and aren't holding regrets.

 

[Robert De Niro]

I agree with Ankle Breaker and CapCrunch on this topic. There are some who do use pod school as a fall back, but there are others who encounter challenges in life that push them into a different career path. I am no stranger to this notion, as my post history shows I tried the DO/MD route before I matriculated into Podiatry school. I made the decision in June of 2012 not to give up on my pursuit on becoming a MD/DO, but to shadow other medical professions to determine whether or not I could see myself becoming anything other than a MD/DO. If I could not find another profession that I felt satisfied my original goal of going to medical school, my plan was to retake the MCAT in spring of 2013 and apply in a later cycle. Obviously this didn't happen as I found a strong connection with Podiatry during my month of shadowing, pushing me away from my original goal of becoming a MD/DO and towards a new goal of becoming a DPM. And I couldn't be any happier with my decision.

So to the OP, I did not vote in your poll because I apply to both criteria you listed. Yes, I did not get into medical school two years ago, and yes, I genuinely want to become a DPM over MD/DO now. I hope this post helps you, and perhaps others, to understand that not getting into medical school isn't necessarily a bad thing, but perhaps one of life's challenges that pushes you into a better direction. That's what happened to me, and I'm sure this is the case for many of my colleagues.

 

[JimmerN]

also did not vote because like De Niro said, both options apply to me. Also for medical students, stuff doesnt get their way either. I cant tell how many times I have seen a medical student tell that he/she is going to be a neurosurgeon and ends up being a Family Practitioner (nothing wrong with that but that is completely different from what they were expecting). A family friend said he was going to be a dermatologist and make 350k for 40 hours, he ended up going to a Emergency Medicine residency, so much for that hope for a "lifestyle specialty." As cliche as it sounds, nothing is perfect. If it was I would be an actor in Hollywood playing the Flash in a DC Comics movie

 

[foot2foot]

Me!!

 

[g squared 23]

also did not vote because like De Niro said, both options apply to me. Also for medical students, stuff doesnt get their way either. I cant tell how many times I have seen a medical student tell that he/she is going to be a neurosurgeon and ends up being a Family Practitioner (nothing wrong with that but that is completely different from what they were expecting). A family friend said he was going to be a dermatologist and make 350k for 40 hours, he ended up going to a Emergency Medicine residency, so much for that hope for a "lifestyle specialty." As cliche as it sounds, nothing is perfect. If it was I would be an actor in Hollywood playing the Flash in a DC Comics movie

I know this is not the point of your post, but the lifestyle and pay of ER docs ain't bad. They are shift workers, meaning they never have unexpected call, can schedule their vacations whenever they want with little chance of being bothered once they leave for the day. Now it isn't private practice cush, but it's a lot better pay than IM.

That being said, after several rotations through other specialties, I think there are several that I would be very happy with as a career. Podiatry thankfully has stayed very high on the list.

 

[AttackNME]

i'm one of em, and am happily in love with my job.

 

[dtrack22]

A family friend said he was going to be a dermatologist and make 350k for 40 hours, he ended up going to a Emergency Medicine residency, so much for that hope for a "lifestyle specialty."

He's gonna work 10 days a month in the ED. Not a bad lifestyle...

 

[TheWeeIceMan]

He's gonna work 10 days a month in the ED. Not a bad lifestyle...

Eh, 3-4 days a week feels like a lot more when you are having to switch between day and night shifts. The common sentiment over on the EM forum is that EM shifts should have a multiplier to accurately compare the hours worked to other specialties.

Also, one of my favorite quotes about EM from SDN goes something like "any specialty that requires you to manually disimpact a 400 pound gomer at 3 a.m. on Christmas morning shouldn't be considered a lifestyle specialty."

 

[heybrother]

Eh, 3-4 days a week feels like a lot more when you are having to switch between day and night shifts. The common sentiment over on the EM forum is that EM shifts should have a multiplier to accurately compare the hours worked to other specialties.

Also, one of my favorite quotes about EM from SDN goes something like "any specialty that requires you to manually disimpact a 400 pound gomer at 3 a.m. on Christmas morning shouldn't be considered a lifestyle specialty."

Yeah. That long running thread about the "new ROAD" specialties has 1 thought running through my mind - people don't appreciate how great the best specialties were back in the day.

 

[CSN]

I'm copying this from another thread I responded to but this is my reasoning for wanting to be a DPM:

When I lived in Guatemala I was translating for some doctors from the states. A kid, no older than 8, was carried in by his dad who started to tell me that his son couldn't walk. We took off the kid's boots and there was the grossest, most disgusting feet I had ever seen (and I lived in Guatemala for two years, I saw some pretty gross feet). His feet had mildewed, began to decay, were swollen, etc. The doctors couldn't figure it out at first because they had never seen anything like this, but then it dawned on one, it might be trench boot, something that was made popular in World War I thanks to the soldiers sitting in trenches that would fill up with water and then fill their boots. The boy was from a village deep in the mountains so he only had one pair of rubber work boots that he wore every day. The kid's boots filled with water due to the rain and since he had to work he continued to wear them every day. Eventually, with time, the water diffused into his foot and caused this disease. The doctor had me wipe the kids feet down with something to clean them and then I had to dry them off. After a lot of time with this kid and some work on his feet he was able to limp out of the office. We told his parents what to do to continue to help and we prescribed him something (I say we, but I just did the translating) to help him a little more. We helped a lot of old women and some other kids but the kid with trench boot I will never forget, there was something special about watching him walk out of that hospital after being carried in. That influenced me to look into podiatry rather than an MD or DO degree.

I know you didn't ask for reasons why, but I figured I would post mine anyways.