...Waste of money do get degrees you won't use in my opinion
This is basically my opinion. Barry has DPM/MBA or DPM/MPH available. A few people in my class are doing each of the dual programs, and the dual is a relatively good deal for people who really want that extra degree. If you do the extra degree while doing the DPM, it costs only maybe 50-75% of what it would if you went back and got it afterwards.
An MBA might be helpful if you're going to start your own practice or an MPH could be nice if you are interested in public health or research, but it really puts a strain on your schedule to take even an extra 3hr evening or Saturday class one or two days per week in addition to all the pod classes. As far as the extra degree helping land a good residency, I seriously doubt it... it might have the opposite effect if you're spending more time learning accounting or epidemiology versus lower extremity anatomy and pathology and your podiatry GPA or knowledge consequently suffers. You also have to consider whether you'd actually be learning much in the evening masters degree classes or whether you'd just be going through the motions and doing the minimum to pass them.
The place an extra degree may actually give an edge would be in getting a job afterwards: a hospital might like the MPH degree on your resume or an MBA looks good to a group practice by showing the partners you have some business sense.
I considered the MPH because public health is interesting and important, but it's just not for me even at the discounted price of $15k-20k or whatever it was going to cost. You have to consider that over the life of the loan (assume 20yrs to repay at 5% APR), that extra $20k principle loan turns into $32k that you've paid back by the time all is said and done. I'd rather just read a couple books on the subject or maybe do a similar degree during residency or later on down the line when my time and $ aren't already running extremely thin.
If you want alphabet soup on your business card, Barry lets you get an MS in biomedical sciences after the first 4 basic science semesters anyways because you've done the same classes. The criteria are just that you have a bachelors already, got a 3.0 in those basic sciences, pay $25 to take the MS comp exam, and that you obviously pass that exam. $25 for a masters degree certainly isn't bad and I think it's a great program by the pod administrators here. Some academic pod residencies also will offer the opportunity to earn some sort of MS degree later pretty cheap or even free (MS in clinical investigation, MPH, etc). Besides, you'll eventually get plenty of surgical affiliations acronyms anyway if you do a PMS-36.
Like I said, I'm not in a dual degree program and am not saying it's a bad idea... just not for me. I'm just providing a little info to get you thinking. Maybe you'll get lucky and someone who is doing one of the duals can chime in on how it affects their loans, schedule, etc so you get it from the horse's mouth. I'd say only about 20% of my classmates are doing a dual degree program. Many more did the MS degree for $25 and will have that on their CV, but that wasn't any extra classes or much more studying for that comp exam because they're the same courses you took for the podiatry program anyways.
I wudnt go there at all. if i liked research, i wud go and do a direct PhD which will just be 5-6yrs rather than doing a dual degree. Its so practical what would i do with a PhD in my medical practice, simply that much time gone.
