des moines

[pod]

Why do some people claim that Des Moines is better than the rest? Is it because the school has the word Surgery in its name? I noticed that Iowa doesn't include the leg and the hand in the practice of podiatry, whereas Ohio for example does, so one would think that Des Moines wouldn't be the best place to attend school. So this question is no joke. Could it be that people just want to have a diploma that says surgery on it, and do you guys think it's better to have a diploma that has the word surgery on it?

Thanks,
Pod

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[cool_vkb]

Why do some people claim that Des Moines is better than the rest? Is it because the school has the word Surgery in its name? I noticed that Iowa doesn't include the leg and the hand in the practice of podiatry, whereas Ohio for example does, so one would think that Des Moines wouldn't be the best place to attend school. So this question is no joke. Could it be that people just want to have a diploma that says surgery on it, and do you guys think it's better to have a diploma that has the word surgery on it?

Thanks,
Pod

i dont even know what to say abt the word "surgery" which you have imagined.

But in general DMU is considered a good school bcoz:-

1) Its actively integrated with a Med school/osteopathic school; that means you will be competing with med students in class.

2) They have great board pass rates which indicates to the level of education the college offes to it students

3) Since they are integrated and have great board pass rates, naturally they will be more popular among residency programs and employers, therefore giving you edge over other schools.

4) Since its a big univ as well as a med school. you get more opportunities outside regular podiatry in research, contact building, etc.

And the scope of state has nothing to do once you are in a university. The university is a whole different world. If thats the case then NY doesnt even have Ankle. yet they have a good succesfull college out there. Georgia even allows soft tissue upto thigh and hip, so if we go according to your theory then all schools open there. but georgia doenst even have one school.

 

[krabmas]

I agree with Cool.

 

[pod]

Good info, cool. Thanks for your time.

Which of the other 8 schools are integrated with MD/DO classes? And what are people's personal experiences on this issue?

Comparing DMU to Ohio and Temple, is DMU better by a long shot or just slightly better, for example, in terms of quality of education and getting into good residencies, etc.?

Comparing Temple and Ohio, which is better? Does being part of a well-known university give Temple a better reputation.

Can people please post their own rankings of DMU, Ohio, Temple (listed in alphabetical order here.. lol)

Thanks for your patience, guys.

Pod

i dont even know what to say abt the word "surgery" which you have imagined.

But in general DMU is considered a good school bcoz:-

1) Its actively integrated with a Med school/osteopathic school; that means you will be competing with med students in class.

2) They have great board pass rates which indicates to the level of education the college offes to it students

3) Since they are integrated and have great board pass rates, naturally they will be more popular among residency programs and employers, therefore giving you edge over other schools.

4) Since its a big univ as well as a med school. you get more opportunities outside regular podiatry in research, contact building, etc.

And the scope of state has nothing to do once you are in a university. The university is a whole different world. If thats the case then NY doesnt even have Ankle. yet they have a good succesfull college out there. Georgia even allows soft tissue upto thigh and hip, so if we go according to your theory then all schools open there. but georgia doenst even have one school.

 

[Feli]

If you run a search, there are a ton of threads on rankings.

DMU's big strength is academics. They will hold you to high standards, and anyone who wouldn't pass the boards will almost surely flunk out. Passing boards, good grades, and reading is what gets one a residency (assuming you have fair or better personality). The downside is that Des Moines is that the town is so small that there are not enough local clinics/hospitals and they have to send you out for rotations. I think they read so much because you can only cow tip and Jimmy crack corn so many times before you just break out the textbooks and journals for "fun"

I think it's probably the top program, but if you have a family or need a social life, it has its definite downsides. There probably isn't much of a nightlife, shopping, etc, and having to leave town for many months because the clincal education can't be given in Iowa is not ideal for some individuals...

 

[DietMtDewAddict]

Oh come on don't knock Des Moines that much! I grew up there and it really isn't a bad place to live - or to raise kids if that is for you. There is a lot to do in the summer and the shopping isn't half bad. If I grew up there and would go back to go to DMU it can't be that bad!

 

[discusdan]

I have a family and I would not put any other school above Des Moines in that category. I would not put my family in any of the other cities over Des Moines. There is great shopping in Des Moines, it is a safe city and my family has found enough "fun things" to do. It does depend on personal preference.

 

[jonwill]

The downside is that Des Moines is that the town is so small that there are not enough local clinics/hospitals and they have to send you out for rotations.QUOTE]

No, there are plenty of hospitals and places to rotate. They are sent out their fourth year simply to get more exposure to residency programs.

 

[Feli]

The downside is that Des Moines is that the town is so small that there are not enough local clinics/hospitals and they have to send you out for rotations.

No, there are plenty of hospitals and places to rotate. They are sent out their fourth year simply to get more exposure to residency programs.

I didn't know that; sorry then. I grew up in a town roughly the same size: only about 150k greater area, and there were only two major hospitals (definitely not enough for a program's clinical students - the med school there, UMD, sends most of their students to Minneapolis/StPaul for 3rd and 4th year). I assumed Des Moines was pretty much the same size and consequently had that weakness also: either too many students packed into small clinics or having to send them out. How many local hospitals and pod clinics do they have rotations at?

 

[gustydoc]

The only other school I would have personally looked at besides DMU was Arizona. You can search the other threads to find some long discussions about the strengths and weaknesses of all the schools, but the realilty no other schools hold their student to the same standards as Iowa and Arizona. By the way even though the hand is technically in the scope of practice for Ohio you won't find a single podiatrist in the state treating anything hand related.

 

[cool_vkb]

By the way even though the hand is technically in the scope of practice for Ohio you won't find a single podiatrist in the state treating anything hand related.

Well officially you are right but i heard in Minnesota where hand's superficial layers are allowed (i think thats the one or cant remember the name of state) . Pods do give ointments and other stuff if patients walk in with hand and foot warts or whatever they are called. (iam just a 1st yr student, my medical terminology is literally zero). The Pod whom i shadowed said that there are many pods who do some really unique spectacular things in their practice that are wayyyy beyond our scope or even knowledge. they wont accept it on paper but they go on do doing it untill they are caught and send to jail.

 

[jonwill]

I didn't know that; sorry then. I grew up in a town roughly the same size: only about 150k greater area, and there were only two major hospitals (definitely not enough for a program's clinical students - the med school there, UMD, sends most of their students to Minneapolis/StPaul for 3rd and 4th year). I assumed Des Moines was pretty much the same size and consequently had that weakness also: either too many students packed into small clinics or having to send them out. How many local hospitals and pod clinics do they have rotations at?

The Des Moines Metro is roughly half a million so it is actually a decent size area.

 

[Buspar]

Oh come on don't knock Des Moines that much! I grew up there and it really isn't a bad place to live - or to raise kids if that is for you. There is a lot to do in the summer and the shopping isn't half bad. If I grew up there and would go back to go to DMU it can't be that bad!

Thats probably why you don't think its that bad...I would like to hear from from one who didn't grow up there because I visited little small towns in the past and one thing that I noticed is that the people who grow up there were always ok with it even though I coundn't see myself there.

 

[jonwill]

Well officially you are right but i heard in Minnesota where hand's superficial layers are allowed (i think thats the one or cant remember the name of state) . Pods do give ointments and other stuff if patients walk in with hand and foot warts or whatever they are called. (iam just a 1st yr student, my medical terminology is literally zero). The Pod whom i shadowed said that there are many pods who do some really unique spectacular things in their practice that are wayyyy beyond our scope or even knowledge. they wont accept it on paper but they go on do doing it untill they are caught and send to jail.

In Michigan, the hand is technically in the scope due to old chiropidy laws that have never been removed. However, I have yet to meet any pod that would touch the hand. If something went wrong, I don't think the law would save them and they'd be sued blind.

 

[IlizaRob]

Thats probably why you don't think its that bad...I would like to hear from from one who didn't grow up there because I visited little small towns in the past and one thing that I noticed is that the people who grow up there were always ok with it even though I coundn't see myself there.

I grew up in Phoenix, went to school at DMU. I have a wife and 3 kids. I truly believe there is no better place for family than Des Moines. Safe, clean, tons of family activities and very nice people. This is coming from someone who loves the city. With that said, I cant comment on the pros and cons of single life. I suspect that for one who enjoys the night life, bars, clubs etc, there are better places than Des Moines. However, you really dont have a lot of time for that anway, at least you dont at DMU. My wife would settle there in a heart beat. But I cant stand the bitter cold. Thats my only problem.

As far as training goes, JonWill is right. Leaving on rotations for the entire 4th year only works in your favor. That will become clear to you once you start looking at where you want to do residency.

 

[densmore22]

Thats probably why you don't think its that bad...I would like to hear from from one who didn't grow up there because I visited little small towns in the past and one thing that I noticed is that the people who grow up there were always ok with it even though I coundn't see myself there.

I grew up in the Seattle area and I don't think Des Moines is terrible. I wouldn't want to settle here to practice in the future (family reasons), but if I didn't have that obligation, it really wouldn't be a bad place to live. I am engaged, did the long distance thing all last year so I went out w/ my buddies from class a lot and I can say I always had fun. There's every type of bar you'd want here. West Des Moines actually has more to offer, IMO, than downtown. You have the Iowa Cubs (baseball) and the Iowa Stars (hockey) farm teams here and they're cheap tickets and ALWAYS a good time. Court ave downtown has a lot to offer. West Des Moines has all the shopping and Northern suburbs (Clive, Urbandale) have a lot to offer also. I golf a lot and Des Moines has the highest concentration of golf courses per capita in the U.S. (or so I've been told, don't know if I believe that one yet), but what I'm getting at is that any place has things to offer, you just have to be willing to go out and find them and do it. I'm missing the water and mountains though, that's one definite draw back.

Also, you're a 3 hours drive from Minneapolis, 5 hours from Chicago, 3-4 from Kansas City, 6 from St. Louis, 12 hour drive from Denver, you're really centrally located and a lot of people in my class just take off for a weekend and go to these places to get away.

 

[bdaddyjolley]

The downside is that Des Moines is that the town is so small that there are not enough local clinics/hospitals and they have to send you out for rotations.QUOTE]

No, there are plenty of hospitals and places to rotate. They are sent out their fourth year simply to get more exposure to residency programs.

But everybody I have talked to that has visited des moines all said the same thing that the clinic was dead and all the students were either doing homework or on the internet. So that would make sense why someone would believe that more outside rotations helps make up for the shortfall.

 

[krabmas]

But everybody I have talked to that has visited des moines all said the same thing that the clinic was dead and all the students were either doing homework or on the internet. So that would make sense why someone would believe that more outside rotations helps make up for the shortfall.

you need to decide how you learn best. From seeing lots of patients or from reading books. Some people do not need as much hands on in the beginning.

I have met several students from DMU and while they may not have seen a sickle cell ulcer they know what one is. The students and residents that I have met from DMU know their stuff and function just fine in a clinic/surgical setting.

If you want to cut a ton of nails then go to a school with a busy clinic. Even though the busy clinics will see other stuff as well, you will see mostly nails.

If you can only learn if you are the one seeing the patients then reading at night about what you saw then go to a school with a busy clinic.

 

[jonwill]

But everybody I have talked to that has visited des moines all said the same thing that the clinic was dead and all the students were either doing homework or on the internet. So that would make sense why someone would believe that more outside rotations helps make up for the shortfall.

Tower clinic at DMU has slow days and busy days. Interviews are held on Fridays and the clinic schedule is slower on that day so that the interviewees can get some interaction with students and doctors in the clinic (not to mention the fact that most of the doctors are busy interviewing). 3rd year students also rotate through the VA, the county hospital, and clinics in Pella and Greenfield.

DMU'ers are trained very well clinically. I know that some of the other schools bag on DMU because of clinic volume but you have to remember that DMU has less than half of the student volume than some of the other schools. So even if some of the other schools have twice the volume of DMU, the DMU students will still see the same or more patients than students from the other schools. I think I saw a few thousand patients my last two years there.

And as Krab touched on, seeing tons of patients in a day won't help you much if it is all nailcare.

 

[PODonny]

you need to decide how you learn best. From seeing lots of patients or from reading books. Some people do not need as much hands on in the beginning.

I have met several students from DMU and while they may not have seen a sickle cell ulcer they know what one is. The students and residents that I have met from DMU know their stuff and function just fine in a clinic/surgical setting.

If you want to cut a ton of nails then go to a school with a busy clinic. Even though the busy clinics will see other stuff as well, you will see mostly nails.

If you can only learn if you are the one seeing the patients then reading at night about what you saw then go to a school with a busy clinic.

Personally, I think it's good to only see a few patients a day early on. How can you make sense of what you're is seeing in the office from a physiological standpoint, if as soon as you are done with one patient, you have to see another. It would be nice to sit down for a while and read up on about what you saw. Being really busy does not translate to a good understanding of medicine.

 

[bdaddyjolley]

. I know that some of the other schools bag on DMU .

Man, I haven't that word since the 90s, lol.

 

[discusdan]

Besides the clinics in Pella, Greenfield, the VA, and Broadlawns we also spend time out in Boone and every Tue. some students are in the wound center at Iowa Methodist.

 

[jonwill]

Man, I haven't that word since the 90s, lol.

Word to your mother homeboy