Is podiatry for me or should I apply DO?

[deleted941029]

This upcoming cycle I'll be either applying to MD + DO or MD + DPM but I haven't made up my mind yet. I find the field of podiatry very cool and diverse but for some reason I'm afraid that I won't be good at the surgical aspect of it. I feel like this fear is all in my head and that I could become good through a lot of hard work and practice.That is one of the reasons I'm still on the fence. I'm interested in DO b/c I have the option of going into family med/internal med which isn't as procedural based as surgery.

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[I Drink Riesling]

I personally believe that doctors are trained, not born. Therefore, surgeons are trained, not born. You can become great at surgery if you are a coachable student and match at a great program that has a diverse case load and attendings that will mentor you well.

On the other side, there are many non-surgical podiatrists that do great work and still get compensated fairly well. If you feel that surgery won’t be your niche, there are many other facets that are not as “intense”, like wound care (high demand nowadays).

I encourage you to keep researching to find the answers you need. There are a lot of pros and cons about MD vs DO vs DPM and it’s important to know what you’re getting into. If you haven’t yet, shadow some DPMs and bug the hell out of them. That’s what I did and I’m looking forward to attending school this Fall.

 

[Weirdy]

If you are not set on surgery, go MD/DO first.

You may find a specialty you like.

 

[HarmonicConvergence]

If you have any hesitation fin podiatry I'd suggest going DO/MD. Nothing would be worse than spending 200K and 4 years of your life to end up miserable in your day to day job. That being said, although you will have to complete a surgical residency, some are less surgically intense. As a practicing podiatrist you do not have to perform surgery, there is plenty of pathology to treat.

 

[deleted941029]

If you have any hesitation fin podiatry I'd suggest going DO/MD. Nothing would be worse than spending 200K and 4 years of your life to end up miserable in your day to day job. That being said, although you will have to complete a surgical residency, some are less surgically intense. As a practicing podiatrist you do not have to perform surgery, there is plenty of pathology to treat.

If you are not set on surgery, go MD/DO first.

You may find a specialty you like.

It's not that I'm against surgery, it's that I don't want to be an incompetent surgeon. Is that problematic enough that I shouldn't pursue podiatry? I feel like it's normal to have those kind of doubts.

 

[Weirdy]

It's not that I'm against surgery, it's that I don't want to be an incompetent surgeon. Is that problematic enough that I shouldn't pursue podiatry? I feel like it's normal to have those kind of doubts.

Hey man, totally normal to have these types of doubts.

I thought I'd flunk out within 1st year. Some of the smartest guys I know in class thought the same thing.

We all have those doubts, but it's nothing a little hard work and patience can't take care of.

The fact that you're worried about being competent enough is a good sign. Just don't let it deter you completely.

A little fear and stress is good. It keeps you sharp and on your toes.
Too much and you might miss out on something you never knew you were even capable of.

 

[HarmonicConvergence]

It's not that I'm against surgery, it's that I don't want to be an incompetent surgeon. Is that problematic enough that I shouldn't pursue podiatry? I feel like it's normal to have those kind of doubts.

Yup ditto what Weirdy said,

There's no limit to what you can do if you put your mind to it. Great surgeons are trained not born.

 

[Nowehjose]

DO+DPM is more expensive due to private schools. DO more so than DPM, which is why I decided DPM. My regret is not applying to any MD. Maybe apply to all 3? You are 80% guaranteed a spot in pod school. If you apply to all 3 you have more time to shadow and decide what is a good fit. It's a 200k investment as stated above.

 

[deleted941029]

DO+DPM is more expensive due to private schools. DO more so than DPM, which is why I decided DPM. My regret is not applying to any MD. Maybe apply to all 3? You are 80% guaranteed a spot in pod school. If you apply to all 3 you have more time to shadow and decide what is a good fit. It's a 200k investment as stated above.

Why didn't you apply MD? Did you apply DO too?

 

[GypsyHummus]

If you have the grades, MD hands down. The degree (if awarded in a US school) is a ticket to write your own way. It’s the most respected medical degree and one of the most respected degrees in the world.

If your stats are only good enough for DO and you don’t want to do surgery or anything competitive , I would go to DO school. DOs are going to have an increasingly hard time matching anything other than community internal med or family med in the near future because of the massive increase of MD and DO schools.

If you want to be a surgeon but don’t have the stats for MD, I would consider DPM. DPMs are surgically trained in nature, and you will get all the bones and joints you could want in residency and beyond.

DPM locks you in from day one. Do you have the maturity to select your residency now? The DPM degree, much like the DDS is only good to practice one area of medicine, Pod I guess two, foot and ankle (and hands in select states). Think of it like locking yourself in to becoming a wrist and hand surgeon the doctor of Hand medicine degree. Does that sound like a good deal to you? If so, maybe look more into the profession

I have met people who have given up third DO acceptances to go to Pod schools. I have never met a MD student give up those acceptance to go to DPM school.

And most importantly, SHADOW!!!

 

[On The Move]

Hey everyone just to piggyback, is it ok to apply to both DO and DPM in the same cycle? Do a lot of people do that and would schools find out?

 

[Moose A Moose]

Anyone that goes into podiatry because they want to be a "surgeon" has no idea what they're talking about.



Shadow a general surgeon and then make up your mind, OP.

 

[Weirdy]

Anyone that goes into podiatry because they want to be a "surgeon" has no idea what they're talking about.

Shadow a general surgeon and then make up your mind, OP.

I agree with Moose to an extent. We do surgery, but only to the foot and ankle.

There are a ton of other aspects that you cannot afford to ignore. Derm, wound care, biomechanics, limb salvage, lots of ulcers, so on so forth.

You cannot go in thinking "surgerysurgerysurgery" and expect to be the surgeon you see on whatever show you watch on TV.

If you truly want a shot at diagnosing and doing procedures on any other area but the foot and ankle, consider MD/DO.

 

[Packers4lifeDPM]

Hey everyone just to piggyback, is it ok to apply to both DO and DPM in the same cycle? Do a lot of people do that and would schools find out?

I applied to both but mostly because I didn't really know about podiatry as a chose till after applying to DO school. Spent 4 months researching it and shadowing different podiatrists. I interviewed at both podiatry schools and DO. Got accepted to both and decided podiatry was the route I wanted to go.

 

[DexterMorganSK]

This upcoming cycle I'll be either applying to MD + DO or MD + DPM but I haven't made up my mind yet. I find the field of podiatry very cool and diverse but for some reason I'm afraid that I won't be good at the surgical aspect of it. I feel like this fear is all in my head and that I could become good through a lot of hard work and practice.That is one of the reasons I'm still on the fence. I'm interested in DO b/c I have the option of going into family med/internal med which isn't as procedural based as surgery.

What are your stats and have you shadowed any of the fields you are interested in?

 

[DexterMorganSK]

Hey everyone just to piggyback, is it ok to apply to both DO and DPM in the same cycle? Do a lot of people do that and would schools find out?

Similar story to Packers above...it's def fine to apply to both fields but you should shadow one and then choose one (save tons of $$)

 

[deleted941029]

What are your stats and have you shadowed any of the fields you are interested in?

3.9+ cGPA and sGPA. Waiting for my mcat score but was scoring an average of 517 on AAMC FLs so I hope it's at least around there. Working on getting shadowing rn.

 

[DexterMorganSK]

3.9+ cGPA and sGPA. Waiting for my mcat score but was scoring an average of 517 on AAMC FLs so I hope it's at least around there. Working on getting shadowing rn.

With those current stats, you're fine for MD schools. If you like podiatry after shadowing then go for it otherwise stick with MD.

 

[de Ribas]

This upcoming cycle I'll be either applying to MD + DO or MD + DPM but I haven't made up my mind yet. I find the field of podiatry very cool and diverse but for some reason I'm afraid that I won't be good at the surgical aspect of it. I feel like this fear is all in my head and that I could become good through a lot of hard work and practice.That is one of the reasons I'm still on the fence. I'm interested in DO b/c I have the option of going into family med/internal med which isn't as procedural based as surgery.

With your stats and not being decided about specialty, which is completely normal at this point, definitely go MD. With MD you can later choose within various surgical specialties if you decide to go surgery route, go for FM/IM, or do whatever you want. You don't have to go DO to become FM/IM. With MD degree, you will have even more open doors in FM/IM world.

If you really like podiatry for what it has to offer, definitely go for it, but being undecided and with your stats, I wouldn't think much. Go MD.

 

[Alpha ketoglutarate]

I wish I had the time to really read through all of the responses, so I hope I am not repeating too much. But the most important thing to do is shadow. And don't just shadow one MD, one DO, and one DPM. Shadow as much as you can. There is nothing terribly wrong with applying to one two or all three of the different medical schools. DO and DPM schools mostly expect it. MD is a great route in that you can choose what you want to be assuming you get the grades you will need during the 4 years of school and match the way you want. I personally don't understand the DO way, because they are very similar to MDs now, just lower stats. I chose DPM because of hours and I loved the variety. When I shadowed docs I loved seeing the range of procedures they did in a single day. Some of the stuff is not glamorous, but most all of it seemed enjoyable to me. You should be capable of making your own choice and then you know that you made it and you can be happy with that.

TLDR Shadow and make a choice you can stand behind and be happy with.

Good luck!

 

[J29622]

Even if you're not in the OR doing surgery, podiatry is a very procedural field. Things like nail avulsions, callus paring and wound debridement are par for the course. If you're against a procedure based specialty, I'd recommend going for the DO.

 

[shadesofgrey]

If you can go DO or MD you should.

 

[deleted941029]

If you can go DO or MD you should.

Can you elaborate further?

 

[FutureDPM123]

MD/DO/DPM are all physicians who attend medical school. When deciding what's right for you, you must decide what you want your specialization to be.

I think anyone with MD stats should 99% of the time go MD. That way, you have more options when it comes to choosing a specialty. If you know from the start that you want to do family medicine, apply to DO in addition to MD. If you know from the start you want to do podiatry, apply to podiatry school.

I didn't have MD stats. I had DO and DPM stats. After shadowing both family medicine and podiatry, the decision was simple. I enjoyed the day-to-day care the podiatrist was providing much more than the family medicine physician.

Given your stats, apply to MD schools. If you really like family medicine, apply to a couple DO schools. If you really like podiatry, apply to a couple DPM schools.

 

[shadesofgrey]

Can you elaborate further?

In my opinion, there are just better opportunities available to MD/DO's. There are far more jobs available to them than to a podiatrist. Generally MD/DOs are offered better salaries than your average podiatrist, and they have greater loan forgiveness options than for pods. Finally should you decide medicine is not for you the job opportunities that would be open for an MD are probably more lucrative. Not that a podiatrist cannot be financially successful, but I think it's just a little easier for MD/DO's and this becomes a major issue when we start talking about the cost of education.

In my personal experience, and I think the consensus of the this forum, it seems the best paying opportunities for podiatrists are either hospital/MSG employed or as a owner of a practice. However, this is just not where most new graduates end up at. There are simply not that many hospital jobs available and the amount of student debt we graduate with deters us from buying or starting a new practice. Instead we end up working for a podiatry group which normally offers 90-100k base with a percentage bonus after reaching a set level of production. That contract sounds ok right now, but when you consider purchasing a house, buying a car, and paying off massive amounts of student loan debt it's not quite as nice. Additionally while in school and residency you are delaying all these purchases and just telling yourself, "wait till i graduate and am loaded..." So you want to throw some money around and are not quite as judicious with your spending.

Finally, you are uncertain if you want to do surgery or would be good at it. This feeling should not be ignored. What happens if you find you hate surgery? Will you be happy with trimming a hell of a lot of toenails, txing heel pain, and wound care? On a personal level, the worst feeling I've ever experienced was being in the OR working on a pt and knowing in the back of my head the case isn't going well. My inner monologue was a steady stream of F-bombs... I will never forget it, and it has changed how I practiced. I have the highest board status a new graduate can have, my residency training was respectable, and overall I don't think I am a bad surgeon... but not everyone is cut out to be a surgeon and not everyone is cut out to do the big exciting cases. Be sure you enjoy the clinic aspect of podiatry because that is what you will spend the majority of your time doing.

 

[GypsyHummus]

What about the person who can’t get into MD/DO and who still wants to be a doctor? Seems like the only step forward unless you had a high enough GPA to go Optometry or Dental and scored well on the OAT/DAT.

In my opinion, there are just better opportunities available to MD/DO's. There are far more jobs available to them than to a podiatrist. Generally MD/DOs are offered better salaries than your average podiatrist, and they have greater loan forgiveness options than for pods. Finally should you decide medicine is not for you the job opportunities that would be open for an MD are probably more lucrative. Not that a podiatrist cannot be financially successful, but I think it's just a little easier for MD/DO's and this becomes a major issue when we start talking about the cost of education.

In my personal experience, and I think the consensus of the this forum, it seems the best paying opportunities for podiatrists are either hospital/MSG employed or as a owner of a practice. However, this is just not where most new graduates end up at. There are simply not that many hospital jobs available and the amount of student debt we graduate with deters us from buying or starting a new practice. Instead we end up working for a podiatry group which normally offers 90-100k base with a percentage bonus after reaching a set level of production. That contract sounds ok right now, but when you consider purchasing a house, buying a car, and paying off massive amounts of student loan debt it's not quite as nice. Additionally while in school and residency you are delaying all these purchases and just telling yourself, "wait till i graduate and am loaded..." So you want to throw some money around and are not quite as judicious with your spending.

Finally, you are uncertain if you want to do surgery or would be good at it. This feeling should not be ignored. What happens if you find you hate surgery? Will you be happy with trimming a hell of a lot of toenails, txing heel pain, and wound care? On a personal level, the worst feeling I've ever experienced was being in the OR working on a pt and knowing in the back of my head the case isn't going well. My inner monologue was a steady stream of F-bombs... I will never forget it, and it has changed how I practiced. I have the highest board status a new graduate can have, my residency training was respectable, and overall I don't think I am a bad surgeon... but not everyone is cut out to be a surgeon and not everyone is cut out to do the big exciting cases. Be sure you enjoy the clinic aspect of podiatry because that is what you will spend the majority of your time doing.

 

[shadesofgrey]

What about the person who can’t get into MD/DO and who still wants to be a doctor? Seems like the only step forward unless you had a high enough GPA to go Optometry or Dental and scored well on the OAT/DAT.

I'm not saying podiatry can't be a viable option. Just that in my opinion if a person can do either MD/DO or podiatry they should do the former. My knowledge about the optometry and dental fields is relatively limited. However, I will say that you should consider the cost of schooling (both monetary and time/opportunity/life lost) and the liability when you decide if its worth it. I don't think its unreasonable to suggest that an individual who does 4 years of undergraduate study, 4 years of professional schooling, and possibly a residency (pod, some dental, not sure on optometrists) should expect a debt load of 250-350k and the monthly interest that accrues on 300k is staggering.

Purely anecdotal, but during residency, my group of pod school friends happened to meet at a residency fair at one of the schools, and we were discussing would we do it again if given the chance. Out of the group of 6 of us, only 1 would do it again. Now two of those guys ended up with decent hospital jobs so maybe their feelings have changed, but as of now I certainly wouldn't.

 

[Weirdy]

I'm not saying podiatry can't be a viable option. Just that in my opinion if a person can do either MD/DO or podiatry they should do the former. My knowledge about the optometry and dental fields is relatively limited. However, I will say that you should consider the cost of schooling (both monetary and time/opportunity/life lost) and the liability when you decide if its worth it. I don't think its unreasonable to suggest that an individual who does 4 years of undergraduate study, 4 years of professional schooling, and possibly a residency (pod, some dental, not sure on optometrists) should expect a debt load of 250-350k and the monthly interest that accrues on 300k is staggering.

Purely anecdotal, but during residency, my group of pod school friends happened to meet at a residency fair at one of the schools, and we were discussing would we do it again if given the chance. Out of the group of 6 of us, only 1 would do it again. Now two of those guys ended up with decent hospital jobs so maybe their feelings have changed, but as of now I certainly wouldn't.

Any advice for those of us in it for the long haul?

 

[DexterMorganSK]

In my opinion, there are just better opportunities available to MD/DO's. There are far more jobs available to them than to a podiatrist. Generally MD/DOs are offered better salaries than your average podiatrist, and they have greater loan forgiveness options than for pods. Finally should you decide medicine is not for you the job opportunities that would be open for an MD are probably more lucrative. Not that a podiatrist cannot be financially successful, but I think it's just a little easier for MD/DO's and this becomes a major issue when we start talking about the cost of education.

In my personal experience, and I think the consensus of the this forum, it seems the best paying opportunities for podiatrists are either hospital/MSG employed or as a owner of a practice. However, this is just not where most new graduates end up at. There are simply not that many hospital jobs available and the amount of student debt we graduate with deters us from buying or starting a new practice. Instead we end up working for a podiatry group which normally offers 90-100k base with a percentage bonus after reaching a set level of production. That contract sounds ok right now, but when you consider purchasing a house, buying a car, and paying off massive amounts of student loan debt it's not quite as nice. Additionally while in school and residency you are delaying all these purchases and just telling yourself, "wait till i graduate and am loaded..." So you want to throw some money around and are not quite as judicious with your spending.

Finally, you are uncertain if you want to do surgery or would be good at it. This feeling should not be ignored. What happens if you find you hate surgery? Will you be happy with trimming a hell of a lot of toenails, txing heel pain, and wound care? On a personal level, the worst feeling I've ever experienced was being in the OR working on a pt and knowing in the back of my head the case isn't going well. My inner monologue was a steady stream of F-bombs... I will never forget it, and it has changed how I practiced. I have the highest board status a new graduate can have, my residency training was respectable, and overall I don't think I am a bad surgeon... but not everyone is cut out to be a surgeon and not everyone is cut out to do the big exciting cases. Be sure you enjoy the clinic aspect of podiatry because that is what you will spend the majority of your time doing.

Nice post.

The reasons you stated is why most of us here ask new students to first explore this field by shadowing as much as possible before applying. Also, if they have the stats for an MD school then we usually ask them why pod, have they shadowed one yet?

Podiatry is a great field for those of us who got a chance to be a doctor and a specialist in this country. As far as the job market and the types of jobs available is concerned..well all I can say now (being a 2nd-year student) is that like everything else this field is becoming better, slowly, overall. So, by the time I finish residency, my hope is that the public would know more about a DPMs role, in addition to hospitals, thus creating more opportunities than today with a better scope of practice.

 

[FutureDPM123]

I'm not saying podiatry can't be a viable option. Just that in my opinion if a person can do either MD/DO or podiatry they should do the former.

Any aspiring doctor who can do MD should, no doubt. But I feel between DO and DPM, it comes down to what you want to specialize in. If you go DO, while you could end up in any specialty, you will most likely get emergency medicine, family medicine, internal medicine, or pediatrics. If you want one of those over podiatry, then that's what you should aim for. You have to do really well on the boards to get spots in competitive specialties because MD's usually have the upper hand.

Source: Charting Outcomes in the Match: Senior Students of U.S. Osteopathic Medical Schools, page 3

 

[shadesofgrey]

Any aspiring doctor who can do MD should, no doubt. But I feel between DO and DPM, it comes down to what you want to specialize in. If you go DO, while you could end up in any specialty, you will most likely get emergency medicine, family medicine, internal medicine, or pediatrics. If you want one of those over podiatry, then that's what you should aim for. You have to do really well on the boards to get spots in competitive specialties because MD's usually have the upper hand.

Source: Charting Outcomes in the Match: Senior Students of U.S. Osteopathic Medical Schools, page 3

I won't disagree with you that if you hate FM, IM, peds, or EM you should think long and hard about whether DO is the route you want to go. However, I also don't think that students should select podiatry with the incorrect assumption that they will be spending their life in surgery. Right now your average podiatrist spends far more time with elderly people trimming fungal toenails and callouses than they do in the OR. Most due a few cases a week and the rest of the week in clinic. I am much more likely to drive home with a toenail in my scrub pocket then blood on my forehead (its gross cause it's happened). There are certainly exceptions and the field may continue to change, but that is life right now.

 

[NTT123]

I won't disagree with you that if you hate FM, IM, peds, or EM you should think long and hard about whether DO is the route you want to go. However, I also don't think that students should select podiatry with the incorrect assumption that they will be spending their life in surgery. Right now your average podiatrist spends far more time with elderly people trimming fungal toenails and callouses than they do in the OR. Most due a few cases a week and the rest of the week in clinic. I am much more likely to drive home with a toenail in my scrub pocket then blood on my forehead (its gross cause it's happened). There are certainly exceptions and the field may continue to change, but that is life right now.

Surgery is fun, but fungus pays the bill.

 

[GypsyHummus]

Kind of off topic, but is it harmful for Pods to be breathing in toenail fungus everyday? I would think that it would do a number on your lungs eventually.

I won't disagree with you that if you hate FM, IM, peds, or EM you should think long and hard about whether DO is the route you want to go. However, I also don't think that students should select podiatry with the incorrect assumption that they will be spending their life in surgery. Right now your average podiatrist spends far more time with elderly people trimming fungal toenails and callouses than they do in the OR. Most due a few cases a week and the rest of the week in clinic. I am much more likely to drive home with a toenail in my scrub pocket then blood on my forehead (its gross cause it's happened). There are certainly exceptions and the field may continue to change, but that is life right now.

 

[de Ribas]

Kind of off topic, but is it harmful for Pods to be breathing in toenail fungus everyday? I would think that it would do a number on your lungs eventually.

Wear a mask

 

[Apprentice of St. Luke]

DO+DPM is more expensive due to private schools. DO more so than DPM, which is why I decided DPM. My regret is not applying to any MD. Maybe apply to all 3? You are 80% guaranteed a spot in pod school. If you apply to all 3 you have more time to shadow and decide what is a good fit. It's a 200k investment as stated above.

I don't know where the OP is from, but there are some public DO schools. My own state has the UNTHSC Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, for example, while another DO school is being planned in Conroe - near Houston - with the Sam Houston State University, assuming the Texas legislature gets around to passing the enabling act.

 

[hungrydoc710]

If you have the GPA and MCAT to go MD and DO, do that - the opportunities are endless, and even moreso MD.
If you want to go into foot medicine specifically, go DPM (and honestly that means much less surgery than you think)

IMO, DO's can walk into a lot of IM programs and from there, if they gain interest in a further sub-speciality, they do a fellowship into cardiology, pain management, GI, etc. you name it.

It's a good gig, not crazy hard to get into, and promises $225K+.

 

[de Ribas]

If you have the GPA and MCAT to go MD and DO, do that - the opportunities are endless, and even moreso MD.
If you want to go into foot medicine specifically, go DPM (and honestly that means much less surgery than you think)

IMO, DO's can walk into a lot of IM programs and from there, if they gain interest in a further sub-speciality, they do a fellowship into cardiology, pain management, GI, etc. you name it.

It's a good gig, not crazy hard to get into, and promises $225K+.

The bolded part though. You made it sound so easy.

 

[GypsyHummus]

It’s gonna be tough to land anything outside of low mid tier residencies from a DO school. People who go DO should prepare for IM and FM.

I’ve met people on the interview trail who turned down their DO acceptance for DPM. I’ve not met anyone who has turned down MD for DPM.

Always shoot for MD. They are top dog for a reason.

If you have the GPA and MCAT to go MD and DO, do that - the opportunities are endless, and even moreso MD.
If you want to go into foot medicine specifically, go DPM (and honestly that means much less surgery than you think)

IMO, DO's can walk into a lot of IM programs and from there, if they gain interest in a further sub-speciality, they do a fellowship into cardiology, pain management, GI, etc. you name it.

It's a good gig, not crazy hard to get into, and promises $225K+.

 

[hungrydoc710]

It’s gonna be tough to land anything outside of low mid tier residencies from a DO school. People who go DO should prepare for IM and FM.

I’ve met people on the interview trail who turned down their DO acceptance for DPM. I’ve not met anyone who has turned down MD for DPM.

Always shoot for MD. They are top dog for a reason.

Yes but at the end of the day it comes down to your board score. Idk how it works for DPM.

This match list we had a neurosurg going to Mayo Clinic, an ENT, 10+ gen surg, 16 anesthesia, etc so idk this whole idea of stuck in primary care is kinda bull. So yeah it’s harder but if you crush ur boards, you’ll get whatever you want - it’s on you as an individual, not what school you went to. Much like where you went to college didn’t dictate where you could go to med school.

Didn’t have the grades for MD. Had the grades for DO. And thank god I did bc I wanted to be a doctor in the traditional sense. I don’t think you get that with DPM, Dental, etc. Beyond MD and DO, is not what I envision when I think of a physician, personally.

 

[GypsyHummus]

I hope you smash boards and get to be anything you want to be.

To my limited knowledge, DDS has a very difficult path to become a MD.

Yes but at the end of the day it comes down to your board score. Idk how it works for DPM.

This match list we had a neurosurg going to Mayo Clinic, an ENT, 10+ gen surg, 16 anesthesia, etc so idk this whole idea of stuck in primary care is kinda bull. So yeah it’s harder but if you crush ur boards, you’ll get whatever you want - it’s on you as an individual, not what school you went to. Much like where you went to college didn’t dictate where you could go to med school.

Didn’t have the grades for MD. Had the grades for DO. And thank god I did bc I wanted to be a doctor in the traditional sense. I don’t think you get that with DPM, Dental, etc. Beyond MD and DO, is not what I envision when I think of a physician, personally.

 

[DexterMorganSK]

Yes but at the end of the day it comes down to your board score. Idk how it works for DPM.

This match list we had a neurosurg going to Mayo Clinic, an ENT, 10+ gen surg, 16 anesthesia, etc so idk this whole idea of stuck in primary care is kinda bull. So yeah it’s harder but if you crush ur boards, you’ll get whatever you want - it’s on you as an individual, not what school you went to. Much like where you went to college didn’t dictate where you could go to med school.

Didn’t have the grades for MD. Had the grades for DO. And thank god I did bc I wanted to be a doctor in the traditional sense. I don’t think you get that with DPM, Dental, etc. Beyond MD and DO, is not what I envision when I think of a physician, personally.

Good for you for going to a DO school, and yet spend more time in these Pod forums.

(related to the red bold above)-You can think like that..in your mind. But when you work with others in a hospital/clinic-setting, I suggest you learn to evolve/adapt to your thinking. Also, "doctor in the traditional sense" has no meaning in 2019 ....today..a PA with a masters degree can be in charge of an entire emergency department; an NP can take online cases and can become a DNP and call themselves a "doctor/physician". Lol get real.

Your future patients do not care that you went to a DO school because you wanted to be a "traditional sense doctor"; they just want to get fixed and get on with their lives.

I don't believe the DO field is just for primary care, as I see the NRMP results year after year where DOs match in almost every field (majority still is primary care). But that does not mean it will stay like that from now on, the real test of the MD/DO merger will be the next years' match. Even this year, I read people with flying colors (great board scores, research, etc) had to scramble because they were a DO graduate and imo things will only get harder for a DO from next year (especially if the USMLE Steps becomes a Pass/Fail exam in the future, while the MDs will continue to be benefited).

I am not saying all that to say DPM is better over DO, it all comes down what YOU want to do with your life. As far as the DPM match goes, since our boards indeed are pass/fail, our match is heavily depended on grades during basic sciences, clinical sciences, and how we perform during rotations/externships (and a number of other things like lors/research/etc).

 

[Weirdy]

Yes but at the end of the day it comes down to your board score. Idk how it works for DPM.

This match list we had a neurosurg going to Mayo Clinic, an ENT, 10+ gen surg, 16 anesthesia, etc so idk this whole idea of stuck in primary care is kinda bull. So yeah it’s harder but if you crush ur boards, you’ll get whatever you want - it’s on you as an individual, not what school you went to. Much like where you went to college didn’t dictate where you could go to med school.

Didn’t have the grades for MD. Had the grades for DO. And thank god I did bc I wanted to be a doctor in the traditional sense. I don’t think you get that with DPM, Dental, etc. Beyond MD and DO, is not what I envision when I think of a physician, personally.

Can't wait to see your ego during dedicated study......or rotations......or intern year.

Actually man, best of luck. It'll all straighten out in the end.

People end up where they are meant to be.

 

[Cranjis McBasketball]

I wanted to be a doctor in the traditional sense. I don’t think you get that with DPM, Dental, etc. Beyond MD and DO, is not what I envision when I think of a physician, personally.

Thats nothing but insecurity

 

[hungrydoc710]

Good for you for going to a DO school, and yet spend more time in these Pod forums.

(related to the red bold above)-You can think like that..in your mind. But when you work with others in a hospital/clinic-setting, I suggest you learn to evolve/adapt to your thinking. Also, "doctor in the traditional sense" has no meaning in 2019 ....today..a PA with a masters degree can be in charge of an entire emergency department; an NP can take online cases and can become a DNP and call themselves a "doctor/physician". Lol get real.

Your future patients do not care that you went to a DO school because you wanted to be a "traditional sense doctor"; they just want to get fixed and get on with their lives.

I don't believe the DO field is just for primary care, as I see the NRMP results year after year where DOs match in almost every field (majority still is primary care). But that does not mean it will stay like that from now on, the real test of the MD/DO merger will be the next years' match. Even this year, I read people with flying colors (great board scores, research, etc) had to scramble because they were a DO graduate and imo things will only get harder for a DO from next year (especially if the USMLE Steps becomes a Pass/Fail exam in the future, while the MDs will continue to be benefited).

I am not saying all that to say DPM is better over DO, it all comes down what YOU want to do with your life. As far as the DPM match goes, since our boards indeed are pass/fail, our match is heavily depended on grades during basic sciences, clinical sciences, and how we perform during rotations/externships (and a number of other things like lors/research/etc).

How similiar are the academics amoung the 9 pod schools if GPA is a big factor in matching?
I honestly prefer how DPM schools do it then honestly, rather it come down to a single test.
I think the GPA work week in and week out is vital, albeit it can be buffered somewhat by bull**** quizzes, homework, etc.

As for P/F boards for MD/DO - I wouldn't mind it bc it would make way with IMG's and FMG's.

 

[Hippocrates II]

Not even sure how I stumbled across this thread, but do not make career decisions based off of the clueless people on here who, year after year, say DOs will only make it into family medicine or internal medicine out in the middle of nowhere Montana. It's actually laughable at this point because the DO match lists grow better and better every year, but I still see the same people on here promulgating this idea that a DO is dead in the water for specialties. Not sure what their agenda is, but again I say, do not base your future off of their yet-to-be-proven fantasies. It's no different than the people who said CRNAs would take over twenty years ago (yet anesthesia still makes 400k+...) and midlevels would make PCPs irrelevant (what do you know, FM docs are among the most employable of all physicians with their salaries constantly increasing).

All SDN has proven is that no one on here knows how to guess the future, and everyone who tries winds up looking like an idiot. If you want to go into medicine and have options, MD > DO > DPM. It's that simple. I can't fathom why someone would apply DPM + MD and turn their nose up to applying DO, but suit yourself.

 

[Weirdy]

Not even sure how I stumbled across this thread, but do not make career decisions based off of the clueless people on here who, year after year, say DOs will only make it into family medicine or internal medicine out in the middle of nowhere Montana. It's actually laughable at this point because the DO match lists grow better and better every year, but I still see the same people on here promulgating this idea that a DO is dead in the water for specialties. Not sure what their agenda is, but again I say, do not base your future off of their yet-to-be-proven fantasies. It's no different than the people who said CRNAs would take over twenty years ago (yet anesthesia still makes 400k+...) and midlevels would make PCPs irrelevant (what do you know, FM docs are among the most employable of all physicians with their salaries constantly increasing).

All SDN has proven is that no one on here knows how to guess the future, and everyone who tries winds up looking like an idiot. If you want to go into medicine and have options, MD > DO > DPM. It's that simple. I can't fathom why someone would apply DPM + MD and turn their nose up to applying DO, but suit yourself.

We are not going to war against DO. We have nothing but respect for them and what they do. If you walk over to the DPM WAMC thread you'll even see us actively encouraging applicants who have competitive scores to apply MD/DO if they are not sure what medical specialty they want to do instead of going DPM.

However when someone comes in with balls the size of watermelons after year 1 of DO school and constantly berates multiple threads in this forum because they havn't had a dose of real life - sometimes it is best to remind them their own battles with STEP 1 and matching into a non-FM position is difficult enough already without having to piss on the profession next to them.

 

[Hippocrates II]

We are not going to war against DO. We have nothing but respect for them and what they do. If you walk over to the DPM WAMC thread you'll even see us actively encouraging applicants who have competitive scores to apply MD/DO if they are not sure what medical specialty they want to do instead of going DPM.

However when someone comes in with balls the size of watermelons after year 1 of DO school and constantly berates multiple threads in this forum because they havn't had a dose of real life - sometimes it is best to remind them their own battles with STEP 1 and matching into a non-FM position is difficult enough already without having to piss on the profession next to them.

Except I'm not pissing on anyone or any profession, and I'm not sure where you got that from in my post. I'm merely pointing out how people on sdn are always predicting the doom and gloom future, and are basically always wrong. Me being a first year is irrelevant to my point as I'm not pretending to know anything anyone else can't know, but I do always love that argument on here when people have no argument of logic to make. You're welcome to look at the same match data that I base my POV off of, and I assure you it doesn't take being a seasoned physician to do so.

Not saying DO is wide open to any specialty, but I am saying that continuing to suggest DO is doomed to fm when the data continues to show evidence in the exact opposite trend is humorous.

 

[Weirdy]

Except I'm not pissing on anyone or any profession, and I'm not sure where you got that from in my post. I'm merely pointing out how people on sdn are always predicting the doom and gloom future, and are basically always wrong. Me being a first year is irrelevant to my point as I'm not pretending to know anything anyone else can't know, but I do always love that argument on here when people have no argument of logic to make. You're welcome to look at the same match data that I base my POV off of, and I assure you it doesn't take being a seasoned physician to do so.

Not saying DO is wide open to any specialty, but I am saying that continuing to suggest DO is doomed to fm when the data continues to show evidence in the exact opposite trend is humorous.

Hey Hippocrates, I wasn't referring to you. I was referring to Hungrydoc.

Thank you for your concern.

 

[DexterMorganSK]

Not even sure how I stumbled across this thread, but do not make career decisions based off of the clueless people on here who, year after year, say DOs will only make it into family medicine or internal medicine out in the middle of nowhere Montana. It's actually laughable at this point because the DO match lists grow better and better every year, but I still see the same people on here promulgating this idea that a DO is dead in the water for specialties. Not sure what their agenda is, but again I say, do not base your future off of their yet-to-be-proven fantasies. It's no different than the people who said CRNAs would take over twenty years ago (yet anesthesia still makes 400k+...) and midlevels would make PCPs irrelevant (what do you know, FM docs are among the most employable of all physicians with their salaries constantly increasing).

All SDN has proven is that no one on here knows how to guess the future, and everyone who tries winds up looking like an idiot. If you want to go into medicine and have options, MD > DO > DPM. It's that simple. I can't fathom why someone would apply DPM + MD and turn their nose up to applying DO, but suit yourself.

Except I'm not pissing on anyone or any profession, and I'm not sure where you got that from in my post. I'm merely pointing out how people on sdn are always predicting the doom and gloom future, and are basically always wrong. Me being a first year is irrelevant to my point as I'm not pretending to know anything anyone else can't know, but I do always love that argument on here when people have no argument of logic to make. You're welcome to look at the same match data that I base my POV off of, and I assure you it doesn't take being a seasoned physician to do so.

Not saying DO is wide open to any specialty, but I am saying that continuing to suggest DO is doomed to fm when the data continues to show evidence in the exact opposite trend is humorous.

If anyone is making life decisions based on opinions on SDN then it's on them lol; just like your opinions above..everyone should take them with a grain of salt and should do their own research and shadowing to make a decision.

Like Weirdy said above, if someone is competitive for MD schools, we usually advise them to make sure Pod is the field they want to pursue and not MD. I can't speak for everyone here..but most of us in the Pod forum are pretty open-minded and keep ourselves uptodate with everything around us.

I have yet to see an applicant pursuing the DPM field because they think DOs can only get a job as an FM in Montana (again, if they do then its on them).

 

[DexterMorganSK]

@ldsrmdude

or any other moderators; I believe this thread has run its course...OP got their answer a while back...maybe best to lock it while we are still peachy. Thanks