Ok, let me tell you my little story of pursuing a DPM.
Well, I chose to pursue Podiatry because, as everyone has assumed correctly, I was not a viable candidate for medical school. The first two years were very challenging and fun. We learned all of the basic science courses in-line with any other medical school. And no matter what people tell you, it was very legitimate stuff. It was not watered down like some have said in the past. BUT, here is the twist. The next year (ie, 3rd year) was an absolute joke. We had lectures, but most of our time was spent in clinic doing the same stuff we were taught to do our 2nd year. Ok, to be fair we did do a little more like debride diabetic ulcers and learn how to retract in surgery, but trust me, I was absolutely furious that we were just doing remedial palliative care stuff for 1 whole year. In my humblest opinion, this is where the roads diverges for most, if not all podiatry schools from medical schools.
The 4th year was a breath of fresh air in that we had the option of visiting podiatry residency programs, more correctly termed "externships." Well, not to boast, I was in the top 5% of my class and did externships and visited the best of the best programs. For those DPMers that are reading this I am referring to Northwest, Northern Virginia, Tucker, West Penn, Consortium, etc.. I was so hyped about visiting these places because these were the best of the best and trained the most talented-gifted podiatrists in the nation. But it just didnt do it for me. Yeah, in these programs you were in the OR majority of the time and were doing the "cutting edge" procedures such as hybrid external fixes and reconstructive surgery, but I was not impressed. How could this be? Here are some of the many reasons:
1. MOST of these procedures you will not perform while in practice and if you do it is only because you either teach at these programs or have strong affiliations with these top programs.
2. No matter what you will never escape the negative association of DPM = Doing Palliative Medicine. (Note: Palliative means to treat the symptoms of disease without curing it, such as cutting fungal toenails, Yuck!)
3. When in practice, if you are in the OR at least 4-5 times a month you are successful. (Note: This was a quote from a very successful graduate from Tucker) This is compared to an average orthopedist that is in surgery at least 10-15 times a week.
4. Foot and Ankle Orthopedists on average make $400,000, but a podiatrist makes on average $100,000, and thats being extremely generous.
5. I've heard all the arguments saying that podiatrists are just as well trained as any Foot and Ankle Orthopod in the nation. But I ask this, why go to 4 years of medical school, 5 years of orthopedic training, and 1 year of fellowship to just make $300,000 more a year? Because its worth it! Surgery is more about technique. If you learn to do surgery on all parts of the body from the spine to the foot, you will be more of a confident and capable surgeon than someone who trained for 3 years doing just the foot.
6. "Podiatry is a dying field" and "there are a lot of bad apples out there and our purpose is to train the good ones to overcome the association of the podiatric field with those bad apples" quotes from the attendings at the Consortium.
7. "We are only surgical specialists, we are not responsible for the rest of the body, we do surgery on the foot and have the internists do the other things for the patient." I hate this quote from the first moment I heard it and I still hate it every time I hear it!
8. Ok here is the kicker. I did apply to these programs and was unsuccessful at getting them, but let me tell you this. The interview process is just as messed up as this whole damm profession. At the interview for these programs they ask you specific questions that most attendings wouldnt even know and if for some reason you do well on these interviews you get the program. It doesnt matter if you are in the top 5% of your class, did volunteer work, research, excellent LORs, etc... It all comes down to specific dumb ass questions that dont even match up to measuring ones intelligence. Am I bitter for not getting these programs? Hell no, I am grateful that this whole process revealed my calling, and that is general surgery.
So where am I now? Well luckily for me I researched the option of going back to medical school towards the end of my 3rd year in podiatry school. I re-took my MCATs (Note: podiatry school let me matriculate with a 19 N), got kick ass LORs from the general surgeons I worked with while on my general surgery rotation for podiatry school, did volunteering, and all the rest of the stuff that adcoms look for and will be going to a allopathic school in the US this fall.
I hate to say that this profession sucks, because it really doesnt. It is the best profession for those who have parents or relatives that are podiatrists because it will provide a stable source of employment and patient base when you get out from residency. Plus it gives a descent sense of living for those who want to raise a family and watch their grass grow. But if you really want to help people with their lives go into general medicine. I wish I looked into other options such as post-bacc programs before applying to podiatry school cause I really wanted to cure the sick and not just partially treat their symptoms. But, in retrospect podiatry school was good for me in that it taught me many things about myself and trained my mind to think like a physician, it just didnt provide the opportunity for me to practice to the potential that I wanted.
So, these are my thoughts on podiatry school and the profession. If you can truly be happy doing palliative care then go for it. But if you are going into podiatry to become a surgeon, think twice because it is not all its glamoured up to be. But like everyone says, each and every person is different. If it is your calling go for it and you will never be wrong. For me my calling is general surgery, and even though I am in debt $100,000 it was well damm worth it.
Just my thoughts, cheers!
