Competition to enter podiatry school (2)

[drmoon]

efs

There was a "movement afoot" to standardize residencies when I was a sophomore (1995). There was a tremendous outcry from the students then and before I matriculated because of the relative paucity of PSR's available. This is not a new issue. It's now been at least 7 years since this topic has been broached and, to nobody's surprise, nothing's been accomplished.

And, it appears again that you are fond of taking special issue with me when I offer my comments. My personality is such that I cannot let an attack, no matter how great or small, to go unanswered. I'm speaking of your comments made on the previous "competition to enter podiatry school" thread. You seem to think that I have a penchant for shooting at the hip and spouting opinions that have absolutely no factual basis at all.

The previous poster stated that, at Barry, he was informed that all students entering the class of 2006 would be required to enter, at minimum, a two year residency. My simple reply was that I can see that they'll be REQUIRED to enter a minimum two year residency, but the real question is, WILL THERE BE ENOUGH QUALITY TWO YEAR RESIDENCIES TO GO AROUND????? Please place emphasis on the QUALITY. How did I misread this post? I don't doubt that the APMA and the schools will somehow standardize the residencies, but, based on their previous performance, how are we to expect these residencies to be of any quality?? I specifically stated how the schools and the APMA dealt with the residency shortage the last time the students were in an uproar. And, believe me, it was NOT to everyone's satisfaction.

How am I not keeping up to date with my reading when I specifically stated that my opinions were based on MY EXPERIENCE AT CCPM?????? And what "numbers" are you talking about that don't "jive" with what I believe?

Of what relevance is the (possible) fact that the number of ENROLLED students has been relatively constant over the past 4 years? The real question is the number of APPLICANTS since the schools will do anything to maintain their numbers. What does this have to do with the crux of this thread (competition)?

And, finally, JUST WHAT IN THE HELL AM I DENOUNCING?? You just love to pick, don't you? Essentially, all I said was that one should view this proposed standardization with a grain of salt. Nothing more, nothing less. And I backed it up with FACTS from my own, personal experience.

You need to dismount and withdraw your sword if you want to engage in meaningful debate.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[efs]

OK, ease up just a bit.

The numbers that I was refering to were those psoted in the statistics about the schools in the latest issue of JAPMA. Unfortunately they are for all schools combined and do not break it down to the individual colleges.

While the applicant pool "may" have been decreasing, it is hard to generalize from this information. The real numbers of applicants and their qualifications is not readily available. (How many applied to multiple schools? How many were accepted for interviews? How many of those interviewed were offered positions? etc.?) None of these numbers have been published to my knowledge. What I have to go on is the number of students in each progressing class (which would eliminate those who have failed out.) This number has held constant. Maybe the schools have decreased their requirements in order to pass students and keep them in school. I doubt it. This is certainly not happening here. Our highest attition is after the first year, and it is not much higher than that of the DO students we take our classes with. My class lost 0 (nobody) inthe second year. I don't know about the class ahead of mine, and the class behind mine hasn't finished the year yet so I can't say about them either.

I know it has been a long time in the works, but it does look like they finally are getting around to "standardizing" the residencies. Not everyone is happy with the changes, but I don't think all of the bugs are worked out yet either. It will take some more time. I think those who are workingo nthis have good intentions, and I think the final outcome will be beneficial. Again, this will take time.

I cannot comment on how this will eventually work out, as neither I nor anyone else knows. Will there be "enough" "QUALITY" residencies? Don't know.

I guess that about sums up my reply. I don't know. Eventually it should, but as for the time in transition, I cannot say. I don't think anyone else can either.

Are there still MANY excellent opportunities available? I think so.

 

[sandj9397]

do you really think there is a significant diff between the number who applied and offered interviews plus acceptance. Do podiatry schools in the current application crisis have that luxury. It is a fact that there are not as many applicants as seats right? I know that was the case last yr . Has anything changed or are the schools still struggling to get students? What solutions do the APMA have to remedy the problem

The crappy part is despite how difficult and rigorous the curriculum is people(pre-meds) will conjure up the idea that podiatry is not tough because anyone can get in. Its a common problem, people prejudge a profession and its students based solely on how difficult admissions are. Hence, everything is MD and whatever follows occurs by default. Granted this happens probably more in podiatry(application deadlines way into the summer)) than other health professions. But it cannot be the case for everyone. I am so tired of reading the same **** on this forum. It is really getting repetitve. I have posted usually on the negative side, but it really does not accomplish anything. So I give up.
Eric good luck with podiatry. Dr moon good luck with med school. You have given the pre-pod forum some juice. But lay off these pod students. They cannot have all the answers they are only students and naturally will take your attacks on podiatry as an attack on themselves and their prospective careers. Podiatry was not for me but I will always have the utmost respect for the profession for I still have many close friends who will soon be pods. Most of my criticism was just venting over my frustration with podiatry which i still believe if led down the right path can have an excellent future.

By the way message you have me rolling. You are still up to the same crap that you did last yr with me. The cursing and the angry messages. I love it <img border="0" alt="[Laughy]" title="" src="graemlins/laughy.gif" />

 

[efs]

sandj9397,

It looks to me like you have a pretty good grasp on things.

Podiatry is not for eveyone, but it can be great for the right people. I would definately not recommend it to anyone as an alternative choice. If they want to do something else, keep working at it. Getting in may be easier, but that is not to say that anyone can get in, or that anyone can complete it. For that matter, that anyone who gets in will be successful. Of course that holds true for any other professional school as well. I just don't think you are as likely to hear their sob stories.

As far as the numbers of applicants /interviews /acceptances I don't know. I don't know of anywhere that these numbers are posted either. I do think that those who comment on these, or the significance of them are simply speculating. I haven't seen anyone post hard numbers, or a reference to where they came up with their data. I do know that our school does not accept eveeryone who applies. (Don't know about the other schools). Not everyone who is accepted makes it through the first year either. If you discount those who decide not to continue because they decided to pursue other fields, the failure rate is roughly the same as the DO classes at our school. I don't think our school is accepting people who are not capable of succeeding. What they choose to do later likely has a more significant impact.

 

[sandj9397]

eric,

how many students are there in your class compared to freshman yr? I wonder if the attrition rate are the same as NYCPM's when I was a student. Just plain curiousity.Thanks.

 

[efs]

We had just under a 20% attrition rate between first and second year. A bit less than half of that was non-academic. Two that I know of decided to go to DO schools. One had a psychiatric problem. One chose to change schools (to be closer to family). Of those that were academic, almost all opted for the opportunity to make up the classes the following year and join the class behind ours. At this point I think almost all of them are successfully completing their second year. After the huge drop the first year, we have not lost a single person.

As far as a comparison, the DO class our year lost a bit over 10%. They had 4 times our number to start with. I do not know anything about why that had any attrition, or what happened to them.