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stop reeditting your posts. Stick to what you say and let the discussion flow. Just because ppl are flamming your boorish posts doesn't mean you should redact your statements. Some of them are valid- most are not. Either way, it makes for an interesting thread.
Very well...
Original post...
As there seems to be a lot of confusion about a podiatric physician's current education, I have asked that this thread be posted at the top of our forum. I am hoping that this post will save us the trouble of endlessly explaining our education, as well as educate those that are unaware of our training. Thanks to ItsGavinC!
A Podiatric Physician's education consists of:
-4 years college (med school pre-reqs)
-4 years podiatric medical school
-3 years podiatric surgical residency
The most erroneous statement made is that podiatrists only know/need to know about the foot and ankle. While this is our specialty, we are also taught a great deal about general medicine. This is because we must medically manage our ER patients/surgical patients/inpatients. When called into the ER or managing our inpatients, we must have the ability to order a plethra of tests, read those tests, consult if necessary, and treat the patient accordingly.
So where do we get this medical education? Besides our first two years consisting of basic science and systems (as an MD/DO curriculum, some podiatry programs being fully integrated with MD/DO programs), and various general medical rotations 3-4 year (depending on the program), our residency allows us to rotate through many different medical specialties (ER, general surgery, path, IM, etc). And along with medically managing our own patients during residency, we are well educated by the time we finish residency.
Podiatric medicine is an extremely challenging and rewarding area of medicine. As stated before, make SURE this is what you want to do because, unlike MD/DO, you can't just change your mind on specialties!
Below is an example of a podiatric medical school curriculum (which vary slightly from school to school) and an example of a 3-year surgical residency (PM&S-36).
Podiatric Medical School Curriculum
-First-Year Academic Program
Introduction to Podiatric Medicine
Basic Life Support
Biochemistry
Honors Problem-Based Learning Biochemistry (elective)
Anatomy
Histology
Immunology
Physiology
Microbiology
Honors Problem-Based Learning Microbiology (elective)
Physical Diagnosis
Pathology
Neuroanatomy
Pharmacology I
-Second-Year Academic Program
Pharmacology
Endocrinology
Cardiovascular/Respiratory
Hematology
Lower Extremity Biomechanics
Neurology
Gastrointestinal/Nutrition
Renal
Lower Limb Anatomy
Behavioral Medicine
Clinical Podiatric Medicine & Diagnostics (includes Radiology)
Clinical Podiatric Biomechanics & Surgery
Medical Research and Writing
During the summer at the end of the second year, you are introduced to the University ambulatory care clinics, where you begin acquiring clinical skills.
-Third-Year Academic Program
Basic Life Support Re-certification
Operating Room Protocol
Dermatology
Trauma/Emergency Medicine
Public Health Issues
Advanced Cardiac Life Support
Clinical Rotations
Principles & Practices of Evidence-Based Podiatric Medicine (Problem-Based Learning)
-Fourth-Year Academic Program
Senior Independent Readings
Clinical Rotations
PM&S-36 Residency Curriculum (varies between programs)
-PGY 1
Podiatric Medicine and Surgery* - 2 month
Medical Imaging - 1 month
Pathology - 1 month
Medicine - 1 month
Emergency Medicine - 1 month
Infectious Diseases - 1 month
Anesthesia - 1 month
General Surgery - 1 month
Orthopaedic Surgery - 1 month
Psychiatry - 2 weeks
Electives (3)** - 1 month each
*Concurrent with other rotations
**Vascular surgery, family medicine, neurology, rheumatology, rehabilitative medicine, geriatrics, other rotations available
-PGY 2&3
Podiatric Surgery - 3 months
Orthopaedic Surgery - 3 months
Orthopaedic Trauma - 3 months
Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle - 3 months
Sports Medicine - 3 months
Pediatric Orthopaedics- 3 months
