Hello!
If I may chime in on the discussion, I am a first year Pod at WesternU. I am a little bit different since I only applied to WesternU and MD at my home state. I had interviews at both, and got accepted into WesternU and didn’t look back, so in a way you can say I picked early on what Pod school I wanted to go to. I have family in both the SF and SoCal area, so when I was looking at programs 2 things besides Board passing/Residency Placement stats were driving factors, since both schools have very strong programs. Number one was location of the school, they are both urban in a way, but Pomona is a lot smaller than Oakland, which to me meant less traffic/easier parking. I know that may seem trivial but coming from a large Urban university in a busy city I know how much finding parking and getting around can suck for commuting (which I knew I’d be doing for either campus).Honestly so far, no matter how late I may be running for class, I can find parking close by (walk 10 mins opposed to 5) and with CA traffic, you know that’s bound to happen. Number 2 was the integration of the curriculum with the DOs. Let me tell you that was the most attractive point because I knew even before learning of the curriculum, that the integration in a way already guaranteed that I would receive a well rounded foundations of medicine education, which is what I wanted.
I am so far very happy with the curriculum. I love that we get our foundations of medicine in a large cohort, but then we get our specialization (Podiatry course work) in our smaller cohort. This way I know I will have close friends in different specialties which is great for networking and one day will help me refer patients to people i know and trust. I know this may be the case for all schools since our cohorts are small, but I also love that I know all 50 of us (plus the second years) not just by name but I know who they are as people. I can only speak for our culture at WesternU though and what I can tell you is that from the get go, we are a family. We are there for each other for resources and support. And as non real as it may sound, yes all 50 of us are there for each other, we may not hangout together all the time, but help is never turned away by anyone. Our Student Affairs office is highly involved in making sure we are getting the inside and outside support needed, in a personal level. And our faculty (both foundations and podiatry) are reachable and real. I honestly love it here, because it feels like a second home, which when you are spending so much time in one place is a very good feeling. For the people that decide to stream lecture, which is a lot of my friends, they get the same sense of comfort in that they can approach the resources on campus and classmates when needed (even if that’s just finding company to go for KBBQ).
In regards to the CBSE testing, there is still disparity between the licensing and way insurances can choose to pay Podiatrist vs MD/DO. Many members of the governing Podiatry bodies are moving towards bridging that disparity. The reason only a couple of schools are being allowed to take the CBSE is because we are like a “pilot” program. The hope is that this year, and next year will do well enough so that all of the Podiatry students will be allowed to sit for the CBSE and eventually the USMLE. Why does that matter since we have the APMLE which are our boards? Because this shows at a highly resonant level that we are the same, not just in how we perform in clinical rotations (which I believe the APMA has been able to show) but also at a knowledge base level. For more info and details I am sure Dr Steve Wan (who is now a faculty member at WesternU) as mentioned above would be more than happy to answer any questions. Or feel free to reach out to me with any questions/more info.
I hope my comment is helpful to you, and CONGRATULATIONS, no matter what you decide, good luck and welcome to Med School
