DAT's for podiatry school

[JEWmongous]

Anyone know which schools will accept the DAT for the class of 2008? I haven't taken physics yet so the DAT will be the best test for me. However, I don't wanna be limited if some of the pod schools won't accept this test. I heard Scholl, DMU, and AZPOD will only take the MCAT's soon. Is this true? Let me know your opinions.

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[krabmas]

Anyone know which schools will accept the DAT for the class of 2008? I haven't taken physics yet so the DAT will be the best test for me. However, I don't wanna be limited if some of the pod schools won't accept this test. I heard Scholl, DMU, and AZPOD will only take the MCAT's soon. Is this true? Let me know your opinions.

the class of 2008 started 3 years ago, but the entering class in 2008...


do yourself a favor and take physics and the MCAT. do not limit your options for schools or scholarships. some schools only give scholarships based on MCAT scores and not the DAT or other tests.

The APMA is moving toward pushing for the MCAT to be the only admission test for pod.

 

[JEWmongous]

oops sorry! i am graduating from undergrad a year later than supposed to (2008) and made the mistake. I meant for the class of 2012 at a podiatric medical school

 

[Dr_Feelgood]

For sure DMU will only take the MCAT for the class of 2012.

 

[AZPOD Rocks]

Has anyone noticed how people on this forum tend to pluralize the DAT? As in DATs or DAT's? Just an observation...

 

[Catayst]

Your observation skills are lacking--he said MCAT's lol.

 

[AZPOD Rocks]

Your observation skills are lacking--he said MCAT's lol.

Your observation skills are lacking--he said DAT's in the thread title.

 

[Catayst]

So it is. Dat's funny.

 

[ArashJoon]

I took the DAT for the school in California, New York, Ohio.

personally i would take the DAT over the MCAT. u can take the DAT when ever u want monday thru friday 8 am till 5pm. Its a 4 hour test compared to 8 hour test.

On the DAT all u need to study is majority of the biology topics (like the mcat), general chemistry, and organic chemistry.

The reading part of the DAT is a joke compared to the MCAT. its plug and chug. You have to look for the answers in the passage.

I know for a fact none of the schools looked at the PAT section so you can just answer all the questions C and move on. This takes 1 off your time. So u will finish the test in 3 hours instead of 4.

And there is a math section that is kinda tough. But i know the New York and Ohio schools dont look at that section.


so i would take the DAT over MCAT ANYDAY

 

[jonwill]

I took the DAT for the school in California, New York, Ohio.

personally i would take the DAT over the MCAT. u can take the DAT when ever u want monday thru friday 8 am till 5pm. Its a 4 hour test compared to 8 hour test.

On the DAT all u need to study is majority of the biology topics (like the mcat), general chemistry, and organic chemistry.

The reading part of the DAT is a joke compared to the MCAT. its plug and chug. You have to look for the answers in the passage.

I know for a fact none of the schools looked at the PAT section so you can just answer all the questions C and move on. This takes 1 off your time. So u will finish the test in 3 hours instead of 4.

And there is a math section that is kinda tough. But i know the New York and Ohio schools dont look at that section.


so i would take the DAT over MCAT ANYDAY

OR...you can work hard, prepare, and take the more difficult test, which will better prepare you for your medical education!

 

[IlizaRob]

OR...you can work hard, prepare, and take the more difficult test, which will better prepare you for your medical education!

Agreed. Soon, thats all they will take.

 

[Dr_Feelgood]

Agreed. Soon, thats all they will take.

I think that it equals the playing field. I had a 3.49 in undergrad but it is a tough program. Heck, I had 3 people in my Genetics class so there goes a curve. Especially when major universities have 300. But I'd stake my undergrad education against almost anyones 3.75 and higher and that is where a required MCAT levels the field. Heck, I've seen students w/ almost a 4.0 and they only score a 20 on the MCATs. What is wrong w/ that picture???

 

[jonwill]

I think that it equals the playing field. I had a 3.49 in undergrad but it is a tough program. Heck, I had 3 people in my Genetics class so there goes a curve. Especially when major universities have 300. But I'd stake my undergrad education against almost anyones 3.75 and higher and that is where a required MCAT levels the field. Heck, I've seen students w/ almost a 4.0 and they only score a 20 on the MCATs. What is wrong w/ that picture???

I personally know someone who had a 4.0 and scored an 18 on the MCAT.

 

[lafootdoc]

arash joon is right. If the school your looking at already says that they will accept the DAT in light of the MCAT, then why would you want to kill yourself and take the mcat. Your already gonna be way overwhelmed when you start podiatry school. Makes sense no??

 

[gustydoc]

I personally know someone who had a 4.0 and scored an 18 on the MCAT.

By the way podiatric colleges are headed to the MCAT only. There are at least three who only accept the MCAT, but I believe that soon all of the schools will follow suit. Someone presented an awesome resolution ( ) at the APMSA HOD meeting and next January there will hopefully be a vote to suggest all schools recognize that the MCAT should be the only accepted admissions test for podiatry school. If you want to go to medical school ( allopathic, osteopathic or podiatric ) take the medical school admissions test. If you want to be a dentist take the DAT. Taking the easy way out says a lot about a person and I think that the admissions offices at the best schools have already figured that out.

 

[krabmas]

arash joon is right. If the school your looking at already says that they will accept the DAT in light of the MCAT, then why would you want to kill yourself and take the mcat. Your already gonna be way overwhelmed when you start podiatry school. Makes sense no??

it is called challenging yourself and rising to the occassion. if you are not interested in doing that then do not enter my profession.

we are looking for people who want to challenge themselves and move the profession forward. stagnant causes clots and death.

and if you take the DAT, what is your excuse to the admissions committee? " it was easier?"

 

[Carrock78]

it is called challenging yourself and rising to the occassion. if you are not interested in doing that then do not enter my profession.

we are looking for people who want to challenge themselves and move the profession forward. stagnant causes clots and death.

and if you take the DAT, what is your excuse to the admissions committee? " it was easier?"

I don't think either one is easier, and I think BOTH tests are a challenge. I have taken both and I think both have their pros and cons. I don’t think the DAT is soooo much easier than the MCAT, especially if you are not too great at math. Also the DAT has the pain in the rear PAT so if you don't have to sit for an hour and figure out which shape will go into which hole and where the holes are punched into a piece of paper folded 20 times 20 different ways then why would you want to? I'm not great at math and having to relive every math course from 4th grade on was not a pleasant experience. So I say take the test that fits you and also the one the school you want to go to will except (although just taking the DAT really limits you). The DAT is not a cake walk by any means, the only great thing about it is that you get to schedule it any time you want

 

[JEWmongous]

Hi, I was originally thinking of taking the DAT for entrance to pod school. But since the MCAT is going computerized, going to be offered like 20 somewhat times a year, and will be shortened by 1/3 of the time it doesn't seem that bad. I haven't taken physics yet and I'm not sure which would be worse, the PAT/math section of the DAT or the physics of the MCAT. Supposedly the pod schools that accept the DAT or going to continue to accept the DAT don't really look at PAT/QR scores. Maybe I'll take both tests but I know I would really love to be accepted to Scholl, AZPOD, Temple, DMU and do not want my placement test to limit or hinder my application in some way. I'm going on a year long study abroad to france then applying for the class for 2012. I think most of the schools will start requiring the MCAT by that time considering how much more "convenient" this test will become (no excuses for only offered twice a year, really long test day, penicl and paper, etc). This is obviously the right step for the profession since it is trying to become more prominent in the medical field. As it is becoming a surgical sub-specialty, I think most of us agree that the MCAT is the test to take and the DAT (for dentists), science GRE (phd's) should be phased out for the best interests of the profession. However, I'm sure some of the schools will allow these tests for quite some time considering they always have classes to fill.
I'm sure you guys are right in saying that both are difficult tests. However, even at the "better" podiatric medical schools (Scholl, DMU, AZPOD, etc), the MCAT average of matriculating students is I believe around 22. And this isn't even considering CCPM, OCPM, Barry, etc. This is an average too meaning people are getting with probably sub-20 scores. I think the average of accepted students for allopathic med schools is around 30 and for osteopathic med schools around 25. Don't quote me on this, I was just searching on google. Yes, the MCAT is a hard test of course, but you don't need that stellar of scores to be admitted to podiatric medical schools (as of yet, I'm sure it will change in the future). I read recently the average test score of people who just take the MCAT is 24. I'm not sure how difficult it is to achieve this score as I have not taken the test yet but it is an average. With this perspective, it seems that if one puts in enough time studying for the MCAT, they should be able to get a decent score to get into pod school. What do you guys think? I'm sure there are some podiatry students that score around 30 but it seems theres many more with a score of 20 getting in right now. Thanks for the opinions.

 

[cool_vkb]

it is called challenging yourself and rising to the occassion. if you are not interested in doing that then do not enter my profession.

we are looking for people who want to challenge themselves and move the profession forward. stagnant causes clots and death.

and if you take the DAT, what is your excuse to the admissions committee? " it was easier?"

I wonder why r u so defensive abt Pod. may be the applicant hasnt completed Physics, may be the applicant is not a person who likes to sit for 8 hrs straight, may be the person wants to know his scores on the same day and spend his next 40 days in enjoyment rather than in tension.

i know u will say, haaa! then u cant succeed in profession bcoz podiatry requires physics, podiatry requires hours of reading, in the end u might even say podiatry is same as mCAT, so if u didnt took MCAT then u will not succeed at all in school, I wud just say! when admission commitee has allowed DAT and it has no problem with it. why are you discourage people saying MCAT is a challenge and DAT is easier. In the eyes of admission comitte its same. I know people who entered Podiatry with DAT with good scholarships.And whats wrong with it?

And for your question, what wud u reply if admission comitte asks why did u took DAT instead of MCAt ? i wud show them their admission requiremnts of entrance exams and say that it stated that one shud scores either from MCAT or DAT. So i took DAT. Its a personal choice.

By calling DATs lower and easier , are you saying that all Dentists are lower in academic standard then MDs ? bcoz dentists took DAT and MDs took MCAT.or do u want now dentists also too take a personal challenge and rise on occasion and take MCAT and show u that they are intelligent people when MCAT is of no need to them. And this is 100% true for Pods also.

Some people in SDN are creating a perception that MCAT is the only thing that is valid and u r seen as great Hercules if u took MCAT. The truth is u r as good with a 17 on DAT as with a 21 on MCAT. No difference at all. and this is just BS that people will favor MCAT thinking that you rose on the occasion and took the challenge. A 27/30 on DAT is always respected than a 21 on MCAT.

MCAT is just one of the tests required along with DAT, GRE, etc. Thats true that not all schools accept GRE or DAT. And MCAT is accepted everywhere. but at this moment and at this instance DAT and GRE are still valid and any interested pre-pods shud use it. When MCAT is just an option why in the earth are u making it mandatory on us or showing anyone else who takes DAT or GRE are poor performers or will not live up to the challenge of pod school.

Tats the job of admission's office let them worry abt it. and if they do make mandatory then ofcourse all shud write MCATs and score good. but till that time u r not supposed to say DAT is easier and u r a poor applicant and MCAT applicants are challege loving And seriously if you are not aware, This action can be compared as discrimination based on education. You feel MCATs as Superior to DATs. thats bad. These two are different exams of same standard. i wonder how u wud behave with fellow students who took DAT, do u see them also as people who dont like challenges and failures or u treat them equally.

And i should remind you that you are not representing any admission's office or AACPM here. so you are not supposed to say "WE" you shud have used " Me and mY friends are looking ..." . you used the stament "we are looking for people who want to challenge themselves and move the profession forward." Can i plz know what school do u attend. I wud love to call the admissions office and ask if this true regarding your school's admission policy that they see MCATs as superior to DATs.

Iam realy very sorry if i have used any bad language or hurted anyone's feelings. but plzzz for god sake stop this MCAT / DAT discrimination. let the administration decide. till that time treat us as equal.Open ur ams and welcome and encourage us like u wud do to ur little brothers and sisters. we need ur encouragement and guidance.

Thank YOU

 

[capo]

Krab is just being a 'crab'.. maybe it's PMS time, though.

Sorry Krab, couldn't resist defending your posts with this comment.

 

[OSUDDS]

I took the DAT and got AA19/TS20/PAT16. I want to apply to OCPM. Is this good enough?

 

[Dr_Feelgood]

I took the DAT and got AA19/TS20/PAT16. I want to apply to OCPM. Is this good enough?

I would contact the school to find out what is an acceptable score.

 

[Dr_Feelgood]

I think that that concept here is not level of difficulty but drive. Are you driven to be a DDS??? Or are you drive to be a DPM??? Podiatry has not affiliation w/ dentistry; hell, they are on the opposite ends of the body.

Podiatry is associate w/ medical schools and work closely w/ MDs and DOs. The same is generally not true for dentists.

These facts being said why would you take the DAT??? When you apply you must make excuses for taking the DAT and not taking the MCAT. If you take the MCAT it shows a certain amount of commitment to the medical schools.

Would you go to an Army recruiter to sign up for the Navy??? Would you take the motorcycle test to get your drivers license???

 

[ArashJoon]

I took the DAT and got AA19/TS20/PAT16. I want to apply to OCPM. Is this good enough?

wats your GPA


And to let u guys know wat i meant by easier test, im didnt mean the information i just meant in every aspect compared to the mcat.

And i took both tests. Before i applied to podiatry school i wanted to go to dental school, but a friend suggested i check out podiatry. Its like being a doctor with a dentist lifestyle.


But all of u guys make great points.



As for the DAT being a dental test and mcat being medical, i totally agree. But since the mcat is offered twice a year and lets say the school wants a up to date schore and possibly a higher one, they will ask for a DAT score.


this happened to someone i know who on the mcat got a 18 and had a gpa of 2.9. They asked him to take the DAT. the schools told him they dont care about PAT score. So he focused most of his time on the sciences. Ended up getting an 18 and they asked for a 16.

 

[krabmas]

I think that that concept here is not level of difficulty but drive. Are you driven to be a DDS??? Or are you drive to be a DPM??? Podiatry has not affiliation w/ dentistry; hell, they are on the opposite ends of the body.

Podiatry is associate w/ medical schools and work closely w/ MDs and DOs. The same is generally not true for dentists.

These facts being said why would you take the DAT??? When you apply you must make excuses for taking the DAT and not taking the MCAT. If you take the MCAT it shows a certain amount of commitment to the medical schools.

Would you go to an Army recruiter to sign up for the Navy??? Would you take the motorcycle test to get your drivers license???

right on, cowbell

 

[krabmas]

I wonder why r u so defensive abt Pod. may be the applicant hasnt completed Physics, may be the applicant is not a person who likes to sit for 8 hrs straight, may be the person wants to know his scores on the same day and spend his next 40 days in enjoyment rather than in tension.

i know u will say, haaa! then u cant succeed in profession bcoz podiatry requires physics, podiatry requires hours of reading, in the end u might even say podiatry is same as mCAT, so if u didnt took MCAT then u will not succeed at all in school, I wud just say! when admission commitee has allowed DAT and it has no problem with it. why are you discourage people saying MCAT is a challenge and DAT is easier. In the eyes of admission comitte its same. I know people who entered Podiatry with DAT with good scholarships.And whats wrong with it?

And for your question, what wud u reply if admission comitte asks why did u took DAT instead of MCAt ? i wud show them their admission requiremnts of entrance exams and say that it stated that one shud scores either from MCAT or DAT. So i took DAT. Its a personal choice.

By calling DATs lower and easier , are you saying that all Dentists are lower in academic standard then MDs ? bcoz dentists took DAT and MDs took MCAT.or do u want now dentists also too take a personal challenge and rise on occasion and take MCAT and show u that they are intelligent people when MCAT is of no need to them. And this is 100% true for Pods also.

Some people in SDN are creating a perception that MCAT is the only thing that is valid and u r seen as great Hercules if u took MCAT. The truth is u r as good with a 17 on DAT as with a 21 on MCAT. No difference at all. and this is just BS that people will favor MCAT thinking that you rose on the occasion and took the challenge. A 27/30 on DAT is always respected than a 21 on MCAT.

MCAT is just one of the tests required along with DAT, GRE, etc. Thats true that not all schools accept GRE or DAT. And MCAT is accepted everywhere. but at this moment and at this instance DAT and GRE are still valid and any interested pre-pods shud use it. When MCAT is just an option why in the earth are u making it mandatory on us or showing anyone else who takes DAT or GRE are poor performers or will not live up to the challenge of pod school.

Tats the job of admission's office let them worry abt it. and if they do make mandatory then ofcourse all shud write MCATs and score good. but till that time u r not supposed to say DAT is easier and u r a poor applicant and MCAT applicants are challege loving And seriously if you are not aware, This action can be compared as discrimination based on education. You feel MCATs as Superior to DATs. thats bad. These two are different exams of same standard. i wonder how u wud behave with fellow students who took DAT, do u see them also as people who dont like challenges and failures or u treat them equally.

And i should remind you that you are not representing any admission's office or AACPM here. so you are not supposed to say "WE" you shud have used " Me and mY friends are looking ..." . you used the stament "we are looking for people who want to challenge themselves and move the profession forward." Can i plz know what school do u attend. I wud love to call the admissions office and ask if this true regarding your school's admission policy that they see MCATs as superior to DATs.

Iam realy very sorry if i have used any bad language or hurted anyone's feelings. but plzzz for god sake stop this MCAT / DAT discrimination. let the administration decide. till that time treat us as equal.Open ur ams and welcome and encourage us like u wud do to ur little brothers and sisters. we need ur encouragement and guidance.

Thank YOU

what school do I go to? it is on everyone of my posts. did you take the DAT? If the verbal is only look to find the anser in the passage can you even do that?

And if you read my past posts you'll see that I say good and bad things about my school. I try to be honest about that stuff. I am in no way recruiting for my school. I have done student interviews where I strongly encourage prospectives to look at the other schools before making a decision.

And for everyones edumication - the MCAT used to be the only accepted test to get into pod schools until the numbers started dropping. so it only makes sense that the MCAT should be the only test accepted now since the numbers are again rising.

and by "we" I meant the profession. the schools only care about the bottom line. they are not worried about the profession as much as they should be.

 

[gustydoc]

what school do I go to? it is on everyone of my posts. did you take the DAT? If the verbal is only look to find the anser in the passage can you even do that?

And if you read my past posts you'll see that I say good and bad things about my school. I try to be honest about that stuff. I am in no way recruiting for my school. I have done student interviews where I strongly encourage prospectives to look at the other schools before making a decision.

And for everyones edumication - the MCAT used to be the only accepted test to get into pod schools until the numbers started dropping. so it only makes sense that the MCAT should be the only test accepted now since the numbers are again rising.

and by "we" I meant the profession. the schools only care about the bottom line. they are not worried about the profession as much as they should be.

 

[cool_vkb]

what school do I go to? it is on everyone of my posts. did you take the DAT? If the verbal is only look to find the anser in the passage can you even do that?

And if you read my past posts you'll see that I say good and bad things about my school. I try to be honest about that stuff. I am in no way recruiting for my school. I have done student interviews where I strongly encourage prospectives to look at the other schools before making a decision.

And for everyones edumication - the MCAT used to be the only accepted test to get into pod schools until the numbers started dropping. so it only makes sense that the MCAT should be the only test accepted now since the numbers are again rising.

and by "we" I meant the profession. the schools only care about the bottom line. they are not worried about the profession as much as they should be.

Yes i already wrote DAT and iam writing MCAT this August month end .

Well ,u r right abt MCAT and its acceptance. but till the time the schools have open policy for GRE and DAT, i guess many more people will use the oppurtunity to get accepted. Now i dont know if this will hurt profession or not. but the truth is every year many applicants do get accepted with good scholarships. So i guess you guys who really feel that profession is getting hurt shud form a organization or association and protest this in AACPM. .

But as i said earlier till the time schools are accepting DAT,everything is fair and no one shud question abt which is harder or which is easier. There is one thing u must agree. There is a thing called as Reality. The reality is many people still consider Podiatry as a second option. If the guy doesnt get accepted in Dental, he says aaah what do to do, lets join podiatry, The same with pre-meds, pre-pharmacy, grad students, etc, they all consider podiatry as a second option . And many schools have accepted that fact. thats one of the reasons why they allowed PCAT, DAT, MCAT, GRE etc. I personally think nothing is wrong with it. Its good that they will have so diversified applicants. And as far as i know and spoke to other people. Many people in Pod schools were actually wanna be MDs and wanna be DDS. but since they didnt got in they ended up at Pod schools. So i guess you have to live with the truth abt Podiatry admision standards and you cant do anything abt it except feel sad

I love podiatry from my heart. The only reason Iam writing MCAT is i am still deciding whether to join pod school or go for MD and then to Ortho and take Foot and Ankle there, i wanna go back to India and work there also and iam afraid Podiatry is not recognized as a Profession in India. if podiatry gets recognized in india then for sure i will join Pod school only. MY dat scores do meet the requirements of Pod schools.

 

[cool_vkb]

I think that that concept here is not level of difficulty but drive. Are you driven to be a DDS??? Or are you drive to be a DPM??? Podiatry has not affiliation w/ dentistry; hell, they are on the opposite ends of the body.

Podiatry is associate w/ medical schools and work closely w/ MDs and DOs. The same is generally not true for dentists.

These facts being said why would you take the DAT??? When you apply you must make excuses for taking the DAT and not taking the MCAT. If you take the MCAT it shows a certain amount of commitment to the medical schools.

Would you go to an Army recruiter to sign up for the Navy??? Would you take the motorcycle test to get your drivers license???

In comparision, here's waht i see. Suppose a person has to go from Chicgao to St.Louis. Now he can go there by plane, by car, by train. It doesnt matter how he went. All it counts is whether he reached or not. When schools themselves are allowing MCAT and DAT. why to say MCAT is for MDs and DAT is for dentists and since we work with MDs then we shud only take MCAT. MCAT and DAT are basically Entrance tests. They dont ask you any medical material nor DAT asks u any Dental material. Its just a method of testing devoloped by individual boards like ADA, AAMC, etc. Since Pod schools dont have any standardized test they accept all tests. Comparing Motorcycle license and a car licesnse is different then comparing MCAT and DAT with regards to pod school. With a motorcycle license u cant drive a car. but with a DAT u have full right to apply for pod school.

see MCAT or DAT or GRE nothing more than entrance test when seeing their importance for podiatry school admissions. They may get importance in their own respective fields. for example DAT's PAT scores are observed more carefully in Dental scores compared to pod schools, where as many Medical schools dont even spit at a 22 or someone who has a 4 or 5 in Verbal or Physiscs on MCAT but thats like a acceptable score for Pod school. I guess we shud not compare,just bcoz we work closely with MDs doesnt mean that we have to take MCAT. or do things that Pre-meds do. Our admission standards are different, our applicant pool is different. Hello! we were suffering from extra shortage of applicants in few years back. Now if we all go to MD level. schools have to close or literally be limited to a department in a medical school. and people have to specialize in podiatry after doing their MD. Things are not run by passion, they are run by money and need. and podiatry school needs are far diffrent from MD schools.

 

[capo]

what school do I go to? it is on everyone of my posts. did you take the DAT? If the verbal is only look to find the anser in the passage can you even do that?

And if you read my past posts you'll see that I say good and bad things about my school. I try to be honest about that stuff. I am in no way recruiting for my school. I have done student interviews where I strongly encourage prospectives to look at the other schools before making a decision.

And for everyones edumication - the MCAT used to be the only accepted test to get into pod schools until the numbers started dropping. so it only makes sense that the MCAT should be the only test accepted now since the numbers are again rising.

and by "we" I meant the profession. the schools only care about the bottom line. they are not worried about the profession as much as they should be.

Even though Krab can't write worth a crap nor punctuate a sentence, she does make alot of sense if you sift through the debris.

Just jokin' with ya Krab, you know we all love you!

 

[JEWmongous]

dude you're not even in podiatry school yet and probably have not applied yet either. I mean you don't know everything about the placement tests,admissions process, and especially all the types of students in pod scholl,etc.
There are a number of individuals interested in healthcare fields and pick the one that best fits their interest. However, this is not always the case. I think it may be "pre-med syndrome" you know where the undergrads on a pre-med track only consider allopathic medical school as their choice. Look at "ER" and all the ripoffs of the show along with the discovery health channel. It shows how "cool" and glorified medicine is. Students think they will be savings lives all the time and considered such great people. However, the individuals with these ideas in mind don't think of all the grueling hours, little sleep, tons of tests, practicals, insurance bs, patients that actually may die on you, etc of medicine. The fact is A LOT of people are NOT cut out for medicine, may it be their placement test scores, grades, or what have you. The problems lies in the fact they don't even look at other areas: osteopathic medicine, dentistry, podiatry, etc. Many of these ******* pre-meds will bash on the other professions too. Look how most pre-meds think of osteopathic medical schools/students. Sure they are the legal equivalent of MD's and have such a great similarity to allopaths nowadays, but the ones who bash them the most are these pre-med's set on "real" medical school which grants the MD. Of course the public doesn't really know what a DO is (think bone doctor of some sort) or as many citizens think the podiatrist is an MD with special training in the foot. Also, the public often thinks of pod doctors similar to pedicure techs. And it seems that a number of physicians think of pod this way as well.
However, Podiatry appears to be a growing profession which combines surgery, medicine, good hours, etc and not that many students appear to be med and dental school rejects, at least in recent years. I think if people REALLY want to get into medical school (or dental, etc) and get rejected for their first cycle, they will strengthen their application and reapply until they get in. You make it sound if a person gets rejected once they are going to jump to podiatry. Not many people would want to sell themselves short if they had a dream of becoming a physician and then look elsewhere. Look at you, you are considering both podiatry or medicine. I'm sure you might switch your mind at some point or bounce back between ideas. It seems that many people don't look at podiatry as a first choice profession (probably because the marketing of the profession isn't so great and others may not like feet of course). You don't hear of many or any pre-pod's going into their freshman year of college, it appears to be all pre-med's. However, if one researches this profession, shadow a doc, etc they can see that is offers a lot. I think many people begin to consider podiatry later in the undergrad career (or even after college) because they finally realize there's a lot of options out there and their pre-med ego shrinks a bit.
I jumped around from medicine, to dentistry, to podiatry just because of shadowing docs and researching the professions. I realize that as a pod physician, I can land a 3 year a PM and S-36 residency pretty easily and work in a lot of areas...diabetic wound care, surgery, trauma,sports medicine, derm, pediatrics with just this one degree. Sure pods are limited to the foot (and ankle in most states) but that is a vast amount of patients and pathology to be able to work with. The foot/ankle are very important in everyday life of course and if one's mobility is affected, it creates a huge problem. Also, It's a procedure based field that seems to be quite varied. I don't have to be a med school reject to think this is a good profession that offeres a lot.
I think your misconceptions about dental/medical rejects will change in the next few years as the pod applicants grow and have higher stats. It may seem like some pod students are med school rejects considering the average MCAT scores at the "best" pod schools are around 22/23, but you have to realize the average MCAT score for people just taking the exam is 24. Some people are plenty intelligent but are not good at standardized tests. As you know from studying, the MCAT is no work in the park and is plenty grueling for stamina, reasoning, and so forth. Futhermore, the better pod schools are going to require the MCAT once it goes computerized this January. This is another step for the field. For contrast, the average score to get into DO schools is hovering 25, which is barely above the average score of those who just take the MCAT. Not everyone is gonna get a 30 on the test.

 

[cool_vkb]

dude you're not even in podiatry school yet and probably have not applied yet either. I mean you don't know everything about the placement tests,admissions process, and especially all the types of students in pod scholl,etc. There are a number of individuals interested in healthcare fields and pick the one that best fits their interest. However, this is not always the case. I think it may be "pre-med syndrome" you know where the undergrads on a pre-med track only consider allopathic medical school as their choice. Look at "ER" and all the ripoffs of the show along with the discovery health channel. It shows how "cool" and glorified medicine is. Students think they will be savings lives all the time and considered such great people. However, the individuals with these ideas in mind don't think of all the grueling hours, little sleep, tons of tests, practicals, insurance bs, patients that actually may die on you, etc of medicine. The fact is A LOT of people are NOT cut out for medicine, may it be their placement test scores, grades, or what have you. The problems lies in the fact they don't even look at other areas: osteopathic medicine, dentistry, podiatry, etc. Many of these ******* pre-meds will bash on the other professions too. Look how most pre-meds think of osteopathic medical schools/students. Sure they are the legal equivalent of MD's and have such a great similarity to allopaths nowadays, but the ones who bash them the most are these pre-med's set on "real" medical school which grants the MD. Of course the public doesn't really know what a DO is (think bone doctor of some sort) or thinking the podiatrist is an MD with training in the foot. Podiatry appears to be a growing professions which combines surgery, medicine, good hours, etc and not that many students appear to be med and dental school rejects, at least in recent years. I think if people REALLY want to get into medical school (or dental, etc) and get rejected for their first cycle, they will strengthen their application and reapply until they get in. You make it sound if a person gets rejected once they are going to jump to podiatry. Not many people would want to sell themselves short if they had a dream of becoming a physician and then look elsewhere. It seems that many people don't look at podiatry as a first choice profession (probably because the marketing of the profession isn't so great and others may not like feet of course). You don't hear of many pre-pod's going into their freshman year of college, it appears to be all pre-med's. However, if one researches this profession, shadow a doc, etc they can see that is offers a lot. I think many people begin to consider podiatry later in the undergrad career (or even after college) because they finally realize there's a lot of options out there.
I jumped around from medicine, to dentistry, to podiatry just because of shadowing docs and researching the professions. I realize that as a pod physician, I can land a 3 year a PM and S-36 residency pretty easily and work in a lot of areas...diabetic wound care, surgery, trauma, derm, pediatrics with just this one degree. Sure pods are limited to the foot (and ankle in most states) but that is a vast amount of patients and pathology to be able to work with.
I think your misconceptions about dental/medical rejects will change in the next few years as the pod applicants grow and have higher stats. It may seem like some pod students are med school rejects considering the average MCAT scores at the "best" pod schools are around 22, but you have to realize the average MCAT score for people just taking the exam is 24. Some people are plenty intelligent but are not good at standardized tests. As you know from studying, the MCAT is no work in the park and is plenty grueling for stamina, reasoning, and so forth. Futhermore, the better pod schools are going to require the MCAT once it goes computerized this January. This is another step for the field. For contrast, the average score to get into DO schools is hovering 25, which is barely above the average score of those who just take the MCAT. Not everyone is gonna get a 30 on the test.

yep u r absolutely right! in my school i guess iam the only one who is a Pre-pod. and that too i have to explain them that it is my personal choice and not bcoz i feel i will be rejected in medical school. I will be more than happy to see the admission standard of podiatry increase and u r again 100% right abt marketting. Very few students know abt Podiatry. In fact there isnt a single pre-pod association or a honor society i ever heard and i would personally support that all schools shud increase the acceptance score.and abt MCAT scrores, Well not every one gets 30 in MCAT and thats the reason not evryone goes to MD school. and thats the reason they start looking at alternative options. and i didnt said that all med school rejects go to Pod. But a good number of them do consider Pod school. i was just giving an example of how some people end up applying to Pod school. i personally feel that is bad and this shows their lack of focus but dude tats the truth. u gotta live with it. thats how it works. it aint gonna change in one night. But u might also think why do our acceptance scores are even below the average of MCAT score that u said is 24? why shudnt we improve our scores or why not we have our own entrance exam. thats the best thing to show how comitted we are for this field rather than proving it by taking MCAT.i also know in abt 4 yrs Pod schools will have very high academic standards bcoz the number of applicants are growing. now there are not many applicants so schools have no option.

oh by the way, its not important if u r in pod school or not yet applied. you said i will not be knowing everything abt things, well even u r also not a pod student and i guess u r planning to go for 2012 class. but still u have done some excellent research here abt different schools. u seem like a person who knows a lot abt other health professions. Same is with me. i too spoke to the Pod whom i shadowed and other Pod school students who i happen to know in chicago regarding admission standadrs, their mcat scores, their experiences, etc. I am applying in early september for pod schools. i have been in constant touch with all pod schools this whole month regarding different questions i had including DAT scores. And many schools were very happy with my DAT scores. so i think i know atleast something that im talking here.

I took DAT 2 weeks back. And iam writing all these posts just bcoz i dont want anyone to make my hard earned DAT scores look like nothing. by reading the earlier posts one gets to belive that DAT is so easy test and its like a cake walk to get a good score. and we who took DAT are people who had nothing to do in our lives and just got up in morning and decided hey i wanna go to pod school today and just went and took DAT and got good scores. tats not true. i spent 2 months studying for DATs to get a good score. So iam irrititated. iam just defending my hardwork that i did to get some good scores in DAT.

 

[JEWmongous]

yep u r absolutely right! in my school i guess iam the only one who is a Pre-pod. and that too i have to explain them that it is my personal choice and not bcoz i feel i will be rejected in medical school. I will be more than happy to see the admission standard of podiatry increase and u r again 100% right abt marketting. Very few students know abt Podiatry. In fact there isnt a single pre-pod association or a honor society i ever heard and i would personally support that all schools shud increase the acceptance score.and abt MCAT scrores, Well not every one gets 30 in MCAT and thats the reason not evryone goes to MD school. and thats the reason they start looking at alternative options. and i didnt said not all med school rejects go to Pod. But a good number of them do consider Pod school. i was just giving an example of how some people end up applying to Pod school. i personally feel that is bad and this shows their lack of focus but dude tats the truth. u gotta live with it. thats how it works. it aint gonna change in one night. But u might also think why do our acceptance scores are even below the average of MCAT score that u said is 24? why shudnt we improve our scores or why not we have our own entrance exam. thats the best thing to show how comitted we are for this field rather than proving it by taking MCAT.i also know in abt 4 yrs Pod schools will have very high academic standards bcoz the number of applicants are growing. now there are not many applicants so schools have no option.

I know what you mean chief, good we agree on this. I mean the APMA was talking about making DPM's the legal equivalent's of MD/DO's by 2015. If they wanna become more serious, recognized, and comparable to medical physicians, then we sure as hell better requre the MCAT's and recruit better applicants. I mean the DO's have been "legal equivalents" to MD's since what, 1971 or 1972 and they still face a stigma, but its primarily with dumb pre-med's who don't know anything outside their small bubble. As I said, not many US citizens have any idea what the hell a DO is. Same with podiatrists as most think they are MD's. I'm very curious to see where podiatry is actually going, whether that be a universal scope across the united states (foot, ankle, and up to tibial tuberosity of leg/just foot and ankle/ect) or some type of equal practice rights. The one good thing I've noticed recently is Texas and Massachusetts now allow the ankle to be in their scope of practice. And Dirty Jersey (I'm from long island, couldn't resist) which is quite liberal with its scope, now allows DPM's assist general surgeons which is cool. They also allowed DPM's to do something else too but I cannot recall right now. It looks like the profession is moving foward and some of podiatric med schools are following this too. We can always move to Georgia if one is trained in a larger scope of practice. The only sucky thing is New York's scope of practice which is really limited. I'm considering NYCPM and taking a tour of it at 11:00am THIS morning so we'll see how the students are, what the schools like, etc. I'm going to ask around when I'm at the clinic to see if the students are affected by this crappy scope.

By the way, you are considering doing ortho and then a foot and ankle fellowship, right? Considering a lot of ortho practices use pod physicians now to cover the foot and ankle cases, what do you think it's gonna be like in 10 years AFTER you finish college, so maybe 11 or 12 years for you and me (4 yr med school, 5 yr ortho residency, 1 yr fellowship i think). This practice will most likely be more widespread especially with all of these 2 and 3 year residencies that are surgically based. As people say on here, pods becoming a surgical subspecialty. Hey by that time, we are "supposed" to have similar practice rights to MD/DO's . Obviously, I don't see that happening anytime soon but maybe a universal scope of practice and more recognition of the profession seems somewhat reasonable, don't you think? Maybe it would be wiser going into pod, doing a three year PM and S residency, then maybe doing a fellowship or just practicing. I'm sure by the time we graduate there will be some changes for the better (hoping of course!) Have a good one

 

[cool_vkb]

I know what you mean chief, good we agree on this. I mean the APMA was talking about making DPM's the legal equivalent's of MD/DO's by 2015. If they wanna become more serious, recognized, and comparable to medical physicians, then we sure as hell better requre the MCAT's and recruit better applicants. I mean the DO's have been "legal equivalents" to MD's since what, 1971 or 1972 and they still face a stigma, but its primarily with dumb pre-med's who don't know anything outside their small bubble. As I said, not many US citizens have any idea what the hell a DO is. Same with podiatrists as most think they are MD's. I'm very curious to see where podiatry is actually going, whether that be a universal scope across the united states (foot, ankle, and up to tibial tuberosity of leg/just foot and ankle/ect) or some type of equal practice rights. The one good thing I've noticed recently is Texas and Massachusetts now allow the ankle to be in their scope of practice. And Dirty Jersey (I'm from long island, couldn't resist) which is quite liberal with its scope, now allows DPM's assist general surgeons which is cool. They also allowed DPM's to do something else too but I cannot recall right now. It looks like the profession is moving foward and some of podiatric med schools are following this too. We can always move to Georgia if one is trained in a larger scope of practice. The only sucky thing is New York's scope of practice which is really limited. I'm considering NYCPM and taking a tour of it at 11:00am THIS morning so we'll see how the students are, what the schools like, etc. I'm going to ask around when I'm at the clinic to see if the students are affected by this crappy scope.

By the way, you are considering doing ortho and then a foot and ankle fellowship, right? Considering a lot of ortho practices use pod physicians now to cover the foot and ankle cases, what do you think it's gonna be like in 10 years AFTER you finish college, so maybe 11 or 12 years for you and me (4 yr med school, 5 yr ortho residency, 1 yr fellowship i think). This practice will most likely be more widespread especially with all of these 2 and 3 year residencies that are surgically based. As people say on here, pods becoming a surgical subspecialty. Hey by that time, we are "supposed" to have similar practice rights to MD/DO's . Obviously, I don't see that happening anytime soon but maybe a universal scope of practice and more recognition of the profession seems somewhat reasonable, don't you think? Maybe it would be wiser going into pod, doing a three year PM and S residency, then maybe doing a fellowship or just practicing. I'm sure by the time we graduate there will be some changes for the better (hoping of course!) Have a good one

good luck with ur NYCPM tour. Hope u have a good day. Well the only reason iam think abt MD is bcoz of India. iN india i dont know if podiatry is recognized or not. we are not having state governemnts there that are responsible for Podiatry, everything is controlled by Medical Council of India and iam not able to find anything abt Pod there. i asked my cousin in india to find out abt it. he will let me know in 2 weeks and then only i will be able to decide. but iam preparing everything for Pod school. i have my DAT scores, LORs, transcripts evrything sent. Iam just waiting for AACPM to open its applications. Anyways, have a good day at NYCPM. hey if u can then dont forget to ask if they have any foreign exchange program like Barry Univeristy. I heard barry had some program with russian univeristy. iam not all sure though. just heard from soemone.

 

[teefRcool]

Give it 5 years pod will be the next thing after dental gets saturated. With growing population and competition pod will be right up with dent and med. Right now the are accepting all these different tests because there just aren't enough applicants. Once the applicants start increasing to a point then they will drop most of those tests and make it one tests such as the MCAT or possibly create their own placement exam.

 

[dpmgrad]

Give it 5 years pod will be the next thing after dental gets saturated. With growing population and competition pod will be right up with dent and med. Right now the are accepting all these different tests because there just aren't enough applicants. Once the applicants start increasing to a point then they will drop most of those tests and make it one tests such as the MCAT or possibly create their own placement exam.

Actually, the Podiatry schools will probably go back to accepting MCATs only. Prior to 2000, Podiatry schools only accepted MCATs for admissions.