DPM Student to DO?

[podmedstudent3]

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I am looking for advice from anyone who has been or knows someone in my current situation. I'm a current DPM student with a high GPA and zero debt so far (scholarships and family support for rent). For the past 6 months I have been considering withdrawing in excellent academic standing and pursuing MD/DO. I have never previously applied to MD/DO programs but my stats are 3.7 CGPA and 85% MCAT with plenty of ECs, research, etc. My main concern is future job security and interest in other specialties. I am curious to know if any DPM students have successfully matriculated DO or MD in the past and if having been in a pod med school impacted their application at all. Any insight would be much appreciated as I want to make this decision ASAP.

 

[Aresnebula]

Not me, but two of my classmates went to DO school after completing 2-3 years of podiatry school. I believe they had to start from the beginning so that is something up to you. If you really want to go MD/DO route then I suggest applying to schools and see where you get accepted prior to withdrawing (although when you ask for your official transcript to be sent, it will raise an eyebrow or two). I am unsure how those two classmates of mine are doing right now though but I am hoping they are happy with their decision.

 

[Winograd1717]

know someone who did the same, they are in residency now for family medicine. they think they would have rather gone the surgery route with podiatry, but again they dropped pod school before even getting their feet wet with surgery so who knows. anyway, yes its possible, not sure if they are happy.

 

[Feli]

Nobody knows what you value, man.

I know plenty of MDs who've dropped out of clinical medicine. Many others retired fairly young or very young (burnout).

Plenty of DPMs work for pretty low pay at VA or IHS to avoid the rough job market. Others do even worse. Others work until 75.

Figure out what you want and do it. Lifespans are finite...
It's all amazing while in training (hopefully), and then it's pretty much just work and debt to pay + retirement to fund after a late start.

 

[Adam Smasher]

If you have zero debt then the only thing you're sacrificing is time. I'd say go for it, if you withdraw from pod school but need to go back, it's not like they'll turn you away

 

[Prehealth1011]

I’m a DO who considered DPM many years ago. You’ll probably get in with that MCAT but you’ll have to start over.

Apply broadly, including NOVA (they had a DPM to DO bridge before) and definitely the newer DO schools.

 

[heybrother]

My suspicion is that some reasonable percentage of podiatry students who showed up and did well in DPM school thought - wait, I could have been successful as an MD/DO, why didn't I believe in myself. I don't think you are the first person to wonder this.

You didn't say what year you are. You also didn't say what your interests are. Theoretically, we are all supposed to have shadowed and to have a strong and defined interest in the foot and ankle. Unfortunately, I think we all know that applicants interest level is often quite shallow.

The student loan system isn't getting any forgiving. At some point - you have to work. And in the end - you are in a clinic/hospital floor having to churn out encounters and write notes no matter what your specialty is. Yeah, podiatry deserves better compensation and other physicians are more profitable, flexible etc

Kennedy and CMS right now are on some big thing about "medicine" specialties and prevention verse all the big bad proceduralists. There is a part of this that is annoying to me because the people who actually do stuff are often the people who solve problems. I'm obviously presenting a one sided approach on the healthcare dynamics for an entire country. I always found that podiatry fairtale about happy patients leaving clinics dancing away nauseating, but there's a part of me now that appreciates what I'm able to do for people and often how satisfied they are. There is also something satisfying about treating problems that have been hopelessly mismanaged because no one gives a sh&t about the foot. Best of luck with your choice, but watch out for grass that might or might not be greener. The more time you spend reading the entirety of SDN the more you'll see intense variation across specialties generated by changing government and payor dynamics.

 

[dpmgrad]

Over the years, I have known several DPM students or graduates that have switched over to DO / MD. Many of them ended up going to DO schools. A handful went to Caribbean MD schools. Very few went to American MD schools. With the ones that I was able to locate some residency info about, most of them ended up matching into Family Medicine, IM, Pediatrics, or ER. I know of one DO (former DPM) that matched into Orthopedic Surgery. One MD (former DPM) went onto Radiology. With very few exceptions, most of them started over again as MS1. As someone mentioned, NOVA used to have a "slightly" accelerated DO track for DPM graduates.

As others have suggested, you need to do a deep dive and figure out what you want to do. If you are thinking that you are no longer interested in Podiatry, but may be interested in one of the other medical / surgical specialties, then you should apply and go to MD / DO school. Remember, surgical specialties and "desirable" medical specialties are competitive to get into. The fact that you are doing well academically in DPM school does not necessary mean that you will do equally as well in MD / DO school. Right now, you currently do not have any student loan debt, which is a great and ahead of many DPM grads. If you are interested in Podiatry and your concern is about jobs, I think that you should focus on doing well in school and clerkships and get into a good residency program. Many graduates from good residency programs and/or fellowships do find good / decent jobs.

As for the VA positions, many of the positions do not pay "low" salaries. Many of them are in the $200K + range. There are a bunch that are in the $300K + range, such as some of the DPMs at VA hospitals in Oklahoma.