Hello there!!
This is my first time posting, but I have read this forum with great interest and thought I would share some advice with you.
If you are Canadian, sure you can apply to become a DPM. However, it is not as easy as it sounds.
First off, the school that accepts you may need to verify your transcripts thru an agency, this costs money.
Second, your tuition will be in US dollars and so you will have to deal with the exchange rate.
Third, you will need to get a student visa to study for 4 years. This will need to be presented EVERYTIME you cross the border.
Fourth, setting up an apartment in the new American city you chose to live in will be difficult because you have no social security number and no credit history, you will not even get utilities easily.
Fifth, in your fourth year of DPM school, you will be doing your rotations at different hospitals around the US where you plan to do your residency training the following 3 years. Note, as someone earlier posted, some of the best programs, where you will learn a lot, are not accepting Canadians. Who are they? The Kaiser programs, and the VA programs and some others. Why? Its not that they dont like Canadians, they just get funding for US citizens. What to do? All thru your schooling to become a DPM, keep in mind that a lot of residency positions will not be available to you.
Sixth, where will you practice once you finish your 4 year DPM degree and 3 year residency. Some states require DPMs to be US citizens, and for sure you need a green card, permanent residence or some sort of visa to gain employment in the US. What does this mean? Your employer will have to hire a US immigration lawyer and go thru a lot of red tape to get you in the door legally. And it costs lots and lots of money. You too will need a US immigration lawyer. Now why would an employer chose you over a well qualified American? That is tough to answer and deserves some thought on your part.
Seventh, so lets say you did the schooling, you did the residency and you said to yourself, ahhh I will go back to Canada to practice. Here is some news for you: The DPM degree is not recognized anywhere except Quebec, Alberta and BC. Everywhere else, there are Chiropodists and foot care nurses and a whole bunch of other health professionals that treat the foot. And no provincial or state insurance company will reimburse you for your services. So you think Toronto is a nice place to live, or perhaps Montreal, forget about putting your 7 years training to use, might as well become a chiropodist in 2 years and earn the same. As for BC, the DPMs have been removed from healthcare coverage, and there are a lot of them in Vancouver and Victoria, so its really competitive. And Alberta, guess what, soon to be removed from healthcare as well. And the toughest is Alberta because there are caps and in general the population has no idea what podiatry does. Cut throat and competitive.
In the end you should still consider this as a career, and who knows, you could be living the good life in San Diego and forget about winters in Canada.
This is just my two cents, and did not mean to offend anyone.
