For someone interested in research/publications, which podiatry school would you recommend and WHY?
DMU vs Kent vs Temple
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DMU for one simple reason: class sizes. It will be much easier to build meaningful relationships with doctors/professors when there are only 50 students in the class compared to 100+.
I'm not sure what student:faculty ratio look like at all the schools, but it's a small numbers game regardless. Here's why.
Let's say 20% of all pod students are interested in research (just made that up, for argument's sake). Let's say DMU has 50 students, and Kent and Temple both have 100 students each (again, just very rough numbers). This means there are going to be 10 students per class at DMU that are interested in research, and 20 at the bigger schools.
Let's say DMU has 5 available doctors/professor, and big school x has the percentage equivalent, so 10 available PIs.
Right now you're thinking, "Where is he going with this? At each school I have 50% chance..."
Sure, that's true, but DMU's 50% is a LOT easier than Kent/Temple's 50% chance. At Temple/Kent you need to be vetted by 10 different doctors. At DMU, only 5. This takes up your time, and theirs to get to know them, their research, etc etc.
At DMU those 5 professors need to have 50 interactions (5 profs x 10 students). At Kent/Temple, those 10 professors need to have 200 interactions (10 profs x 20 students). Or, a 4x higher number at Kent/Temple than at DMU.
Realistically though, if you have your act together in class, you can probably get matched up relatively easily with someone to do research. At all my interviews people said, "Research is readily available to those students desiring it." I
I'm not sure what student:faculty ratio look like at all the schools, but it's a small numbers game regardless. Here's why.
Let's say 20% of all pod students are interested in research (just made that up, for argument's sake). Let's say DMU has 50 students, and Kent and Temple both have 100 students each (again, just very rough numbers). This means there are going to be 10 students per class at DMU that are interested in research, and 20 at the bigger schools.
Let's say DMU has 5 available doctors/professor, and big school x has the percentage equivalent, so 10 available PIs.
Right now you're thinking, "Where is he going with this? At each school I have 50% chance..."
Sure, that's true, but DMU's 50% is a LOT easier than Kent/Temple's 50% chance. At Temple/Kent you need to be vetted by 10 different doctors. At DMU, only 5. This takes up your time, and theirs to get to know them, their research, etc etc.
At DMU those 5 professors need to have 50 interactions (5 profs x 10 students). At Kent/Temple, those 10 professors need to have 200 interactions (10 profs x 20 students). Or, a 4x higher number at Kent/Temple than at DMU.
Realistically though, if you have your act together in class, you can probably get matched up relatively easily with someone to do research. At all my interviews people said, "Research is readily available to those students desiring it." I
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So far, I have been to DMU and CSPM interviews and here's what I realized about class sizes:
DMU integration with the DO class raises the class size to well over 100 students in every class. Yes, there are some faculty offices that are separated, but I was told by students that office hours can be integrated and are very hectic.
CSPM has a hard cap at 48 students, and that's it. The faculty ratio is extremely higher and they focus soley on podiatry students.
Given this, I still love DMU
not bashing it at all.
DMU integration with the DO class raises the class size to well over 100 students in every class. Yes, there are some faculty offices that are separated, but I was told by students that office hours can be integrated and are very hectic.
CSPM has a hard cap at 48 students, and that's it. The faculty ratio is extremely higher and they focus soley on podiatry students.
Given this, I still love DMU
not bashing it at all.
D
dyk343
This forum will tell you DMU is the holy grail of podiatry schools. I really dont know why they have such a presence on here. But most posters will say to choose there, mostly because they all go there.
Dont get me wrong, DMU is a great school. But the other schools are good as well. Its all about what is perfect for you. There are 9 options. All of them have top notch students who get top notch residencies and become top notch podiatrists. DMU could be the perfect school for you, but dont dismiss the other 8 schools.
Good luck.
Temple would have good research. I know DMU has research going on, and Kent I really do not know. Maybe someone else can comment.
Dont get me wrong, DMU is a great school. But the other schools are good as well. Its all about what is perfect for you. There are 9 options. All of them have top notch students who get top notch residencies and become top notch podiatrists. DMU could be the perfect school for you, but dont dismiss the other 8 schools.
Good luck.
Temple would have good research. I know DMU has research going on, and Kent I really do not know. Maybe someone else can comment.
Thank you for the replies. Just want to clarify. The question is focused more on research, less on which school is better overall.
DMU - I will be visiting soon. Collaboration with DO/MD could be very useful. Especially in research topics such as derm, infectious disease etc. where your research may be applicable to areas outside the foot <gasp>.
Kent - New facilities. Everything is bright clean and fresh. They have a research coordinator but I that is all the information I could find.
Temple - Had a PhD program affiliation which apparently they lost according to another SDN poster. The equipment appears to be older. However,Temple Medical School is very well known. I don't know if an affiliation with Temple MD would be advantageous. Apparently Temple is building a new "research center" building.
DMU - I will be visiting soon. Collaboration with DO/MD could be very useful. Especially in research topics such as derm, infectious disease etc. where your research may be applicable to areas outside the foot <gasp>.
Kent - New facilities. Everything is bright clean and fresh. They have a research coordinator but I that is all the information I could find.
Temple - Had a PhD program affiliation which apparently they lost according to another SDN poster. The equipment appears to be older. However,Temple Medical School is very well known. I don't know if an affiliation with Temple MD would be advantageous. Apparently Temple is building a new "research center" building.
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My info for Kent is solely based on my interview visit, which means it could be "over-hyped," but interesting none the least.
They have a full bio mechanics lab studying effects of shear forces on diabetic wounds. They also had a project sponsored by Vibram to test the quality and effectiveness of their five finger shoes (we were told students who participated in the study got a free pair). They had other projects but those were the two that I remember. They also will have a dual DPM/PhD degree within the next year or so, which will allow you to research at Kent's main campus in a plethora of subjects.
Like I said this is all from my interview visit back in Nov, so take it with a grain of salt. Would love to hear from a current student.
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I can only comment on DMU and Kent.
While Kent was sponsored by vibram and they are able to do some there, it seemed to me that their resources for research were quite primitive. They did mention they will be adding new equipment in the next few years though. From what I remember their primary tools for measurements were common materials that students had used to"make it work" rather than dedicated instruments.
DMUs research lab was much more Impressive to me. They had a full room with some force plates in the floor as well as motion cameras all around the room. The same stuff you see unmaking of video games where they tack those little reflective balls all over someone and it records their movements.
I have no doubt that Kent is dedicated to research as I spoke with the dean while I was there and he mentioned several interesting topics they were pursuing, it's just a matter of hoping that they have the funds and have purchased more dedicated equipment by the time you go through.
My .02.
While Kent was sponsored by vibram and they are able to do some there, it seemed to me that their resources for research were quite primitive. They did mention they will be adding new equipment in the next few years though. From what I remember their primary tools for measurements were common materials that students had used to"make it work" rather than dedicated instruments.
DMUs research lab was much more Impressive to me. They had a full room with some force plates in the floor as well as motion cameras all around the room. The same stuff you see unmaking of video games where they tack those little reflective balls all over someone and it records their movements.
I have no doubt that Kent is dedicated to research as I spoke with the dean while I was there and he mentioned several interesting topics they were pursuing, it's just a matter of hoping that they have the funds and have purchased more dedicated equipment by the time you go through.
My .02.
