Interviews for 2009!

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got interviews for NY and Temple today!
 
Redfox you're kidding right?? it only took them a day to go through applications
 
Nope, its that fast! The better schools usually wait a little bit before sending out the interview invites.

but even then the "wait" is only a week
 
Nope, its that fast! The better schools usually wait a little bit before sending out the interview invites.

lol......I was getting nervous when I saw that Redfox got an interview invite, but I quickly realized that it's only been (1) day.....I even called Mrs. Tomoko @ the AACPMAS, around 9 a.m, (EST)...She was actually looking at my application and knew my full name b4 I mentioned it.....Her job of previewing our applications b4 it's sent to the school, is pretty cool....

I only applied to 4 schools, but if I don't hear anything within ~1 or 2 months, I will freak out 😱 and :boom:
 
I only applied to 4 schools, but if I don't hear anything within ~1 or 2 months, I will freak out 😱 and :boom:
most likely the longest you will have to wait is 2 weeks
 
with your application in so soon you should hear something pretty quick!
 
yeah i applied really early. I was really surprised by the phone call from temple and ny. My app is pretty good i think, plus i'm a athlete so it helps i think. Good luck to everyone.
 
Actually, as of this morning at 9 am, I have received interviews from Barry, OCPM, and Temple. I am really hoping to hear back from NYCOM, Scholl, and Des Moines!
 
Actually, as of this morning at 9 am, I have received interviews from Barry, OCPM, and Temple. I am really hoping to hear back from NYCOM, Scholl, and Des Moines!

Do they have your LORs yet? Can you get an interview scheduled and send in the LORs weeks later? I'm asking because mine are not done yet!
 
Actually, as of this morning at 9 am, I have received interviews from Barry, OCPM, and Temple. I am really hoping to hear back from NYCOM, Scholl, and Des Moines!

It's NYCPM (not sure if that was a type or not). NYCOM is an osteopathic medical school on long island. NYCPM is an independent podiatric medical school. They are not affiliated.
 
I got interviews from Temple, Barry, and NYCPM. Does anyone know what kind of interview questions they will ask? Any resources for interview practice?
 
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I got interviews from Temple, Barry, and NYCPM. Does anyone know what kind of interview questions they will ask? Any resources for interview practice?

Look on the interview feedback area of SDN! I felt these three were the easiest interviews (Barry is the most chill and laid back).
 
Ok.......Just got an Invite to Barry.....1 down, 3 to go......🙂🙂

Not too bad since they don't have ANY of my transcripts or LOR's....lol......Gotta get on the ball....
 
I would venture to say that the type of interview you receive will be dependent on the type of candidate that you are. I found Temple and Des Moines to be my easiest interviews. if you have a solid application or better then they are more concerned in learning about you as a person and what you did. You won't have to defend yourself as if you were a below average applicant trying to "interview" your way into school. Its been said before, Pod school is not that difficult to get into especially if you apply early, but that doesn't mean you are guranteed to graduate, you still have to work hard.
 
I got interviews from Temple, Barry, and NYCPM. Does anyone know what kind of interview questions they will ask? Any resources for interview practice?

Please tell us honestly what you thought of the school. I heard that NYCPM is doing some remodeling, so let us know if it's anything significant.
I've read that Barry doesn't show applicants their podiatric clinics. Maybe you should ask to see them when you're there.
 
Redfox you're kidding right?? it only took them a day to go through applications


I'm sure they were all sitting around waiting for the moment the applications come in and processed them the second they were in and called you the moment they could. I'm trying hard not to think that this is pathetic because I might end up there. The "good" schools at least have the common sense to wait and make people think that they have so many applications that it takes time to process. I can't wait to go to NYCPM and Temple and meet these people! Hilarious.
 
I'm sure they were all sitting around waiting for the moment the applications come in and processed them the second they were in and called you the moment they could. I'm trying hard not to think that this is pathetic because I might end up there. The "good" schools at least have the common sense to wait and make people think that they have so many applications that it takes time to process. I can't wait to go to NYCPM and Temple and meet these people! Hilarious.

Oh just you wait! You are going to see a really "hilarious" character at Temple on your interview day 😀 Maybe some other people who interviewed will know who I'm talking about
 
You guys complain 'cause schools don't call you back fast enough.

You guys complain 'cause they call you back too soon.

Of course schools have people sitting around waiting for applications. That's why we have admissions offices. 🙄

Just go to your interviews. If you don't like it, don't attend.

[/soapbox]
 
You guys complain 'cause schools don't call you back fast enough.

You guys complain 'cause they call you back too soon.

Of course schools have people sitting around waiting for applications. That's why we have admissions offices. 🙄

Just go to your interviews. If you don't like it, don't attend.

[/soapbox]

I'm not complaining. Efficiency is awesome. I'm merely making observations about the practices of those admissions offices.

I truly believe that for the most part, all schools are created equal. But they do use different tactics to fight over us. If you think for a moment that we are at their mercy, you are delusional. If you have a 17 MCAT and a 2.75 gpa, you will get into one of the eight schools. If you have a 20 and a 3.0, just sit back and enjoy the parade they'll put on for you.

PS-I don't think I'm an expert. I have friends I found through Facebook at three of the schools, and they have given me an immeasureable amount of feedback and honest advice.
 
Oh just you wait! You are going to see a really "hilarious" character at Temple on your interview day 😀 Maybe some other people who interviewed will know who I'm talking about

HAHA! I know who you speak of! I met him at a fair.

Have you met the associate dean at NYCPM?? Not nearly as bad as DM, but not a nice person. Talked to her for awhile at their open house last year. I'm hoping other people can counter that experience...
 
Wait, they send out interview invites even without transcripts and letters of rec?? If I'd known, I would've sent the apps in the day it opened. Should I at least have everything prepared and ready to go, or should I just send in the apps even if things arent final, yet?
 
Wait, they send out interview invites even without transcripts and letters of rec?? If I'd known, I would've sent the apps in the day it opened. Should I at least have everything prepared and ready to go, or should I just send in the apps even if things arent final, yet?

Last year I was getting interviews w/o LOR, transcripts, or even a placement test. I made sure those things were in before the interview day though. I would have just applied ASAP. The interview invites seem to just be a numbers cutoff to me.
 
Hello again, I have another question. I'm currently gathering my letters of rec and in the process of faxing my colleges for sending my transcripts to the schools I'm applying to. My online application is pretty much done, so I was wondering if I should just send it in now, then gather up all the lors and send the transcripts after, or wait until I've gathered and mailed out everything before submitting?


I'm not sure that I spoke with you this morning or not regarding this matter - I've been so busy...
To answer for your questing. Please send your web application as soon as it is ready.
Sending your application to us is the first priority. Then send the papers to the colleges as soon as they are ready.
If you have any other quesitons, please contact me.
Thank you.
Tomoko
=~~=~~=~~=~~=~~=~~=~~=~~=~~=~~=~~=~~=~~=~~=~~=~~=~~=~~
Tomoko Schollenberger [[email protected]]
Application Service - AACPM
15850 Crabbs Branch Way (Suite 320)
Rockville, MD 20855
Tel: 800-922-9266 or 301-948-0957 Fax: 301-948-1928



So its best to apply first then get the other things sent out after 👍
 
Hello again, I have another question. I'm currently gathering my letters of rec and in the process of faxing my colleges for sending my transcripts to the schools I'm applying to. My online application is pretty much done, so I was wondering if I should just send it in now, then gather up all the lors and send the transcripts after, or wait until I've gathered and mailed out everything before submitting?


I'm not sure that I spoke with you this morning or not regarding this matter - I've been so busy...
To answer for your questing. Please send your web application as soon as it is ready.
Sending your application to us is the first priority. Then send the papers to the colleges as soon as they are ready.
If you have any other quesitons, please contact me.
Thank you.
Tomoko
=~~=~~=~~=~~=~~=~~=~~=~~=~~=~~=~~=~~=~~=~~=~~=~~=~~=~~
Tomoko Schollenberger [[email protected]]
Application Service - AACPM
15850 Crabbs Branch Way (Suite 320)
Rockville, MD 20855
Tel: 800-922-9266 or 301-948-0957 Fax: 301-948-1928



So its best to apply first then get the other things sent out after 👍

yes
 
As a first year pod student I will say that you should not base your decision on school on who has the best admissions staff or not go somewhere because the admissions staff are "characters." Because once you are in school, you hardly ever see them and deal with them unless you make a point too. Each school has pros/cons of their interview day.

Des Moines- Never got to see the clinic, or anatomy labs(due to respect of the bodies). I guess they couldn't remove the bodies or cover them for 5 minutes so the students could see their brand new labs. A student ended up showing me the lab after my tour

Scholl-- Their school clinic is laughable, and they are located 40 some miles from Chicago...hardly a school in Chicago.

Temple- Dated facilities but maintained. Interview day is less than impressive.

In the end, you choose the school that is best for you. Personally, you get out what you put in so academically the schools are kinda a wash..clinic and rotations are going to be the driving factor. With that being said, the Dean of Temple said that last year their students saw more patients in clinic than 6 of the other Pod schools combined. That speaks volumes
 
just got interview invites to Samuel Merritt and Barry!!! wOohOoo :soexcited:
 
I am so proud of everyone with interview invites already. Just some advice, watch out for MensWare house. I went there to buy me 1 nice suit for my interviews and the guy was relentless to sale me liek 3-4K worth in suits. They claim you need 1 black, 1 blue, and and light colored suit. they claim you need all this stuff and you won't. I think I spend about 1200, but I like more expensive fashion. (My choice, I could afford too) However, the main thing to watch out for is the fact that they will not show you any price tags and you end up paying 300 dollars for a pair of shoes. Be careful guys and don't be afraid to get rude with the salesman and say NO!!!!!
 
thanks NavyLabtech! good advice for sure....thankfully i already have a midnight blue suit that i got tailormade on my trip to thailand for like $100, such a good deal.
 
the dates for samuel merritt are sept 24, 26 or oct 3...why do you ask?
 
Scholl-- Their school clinic is laughable, and they are located 40 some miles from Chicago...hardly a school in Chicago.


Haha, Scholl never claimed to be in Chicago. It's in a city called North Chicago. That doesn't mean the north part of the city of Chicago, it is an actual city 40 miles north of Chicago. If your goal is to be in a big city, go to New York or Phili.

And the clinic is really nice, hardly laughable, dude.
 
And the clinic is really nice, hardly laughable, dude.

I don't go to Scholl, but I agree that their clinic is very nice. After visiting a majority of the schools last year, I was very impressed with the Scholl clinic in comparison.
 
As a first year pod student I will say that you should not base your decision on school on who has the best admissions staff or not go somewhere because the admissions staff are "characters." Because once you are in school, you hardly ever see them and deal with them unless you make a point too. Each school has pros/cons of their interview day.

Des Moines- Never got to see the clinic, or anatomy labs(due to respect of the bodies). I guess they couldn't remove the bodies or cover them for 5 minutes so the students could see their brand new labs. A student ended up showing me the lab after my tour

Scholl-- Their school clinic is laughable, and they are located 40 some miles from Chicago...hardly a school in Chicago.

Temple- Dated facilities but maintained. Interview day is less than impressive.

In the end, you choose the school that is best for you. Personally, you get out what you put in so academically the schools are kinda a wash..clinic and rotations are going to be the driving factor. With that being said, the Dean of Temple said that last year their students saw more patients in clinic than 6 of the other Pod schools combined. That speaks volumes


For Des Moines, didn't you have the interview in the clinic tower? I thought everyone interviewed on the pod floor there.

Considering the interviews at Scholl and DMU, I thought they were the best (and I visited all 8 schools). Professional, friendly, knowledgeable, etc. I thought Cali was very good as well.

The idea of DMU not showing the anatomy lab out of respect is a pretty good thing in my book. Plus, I heard it was recently renovated and one can just look at the pictures of the lab on the website.

Trust me, Scholl's clinic is VERY nice. They may not have crazy patient volume but the place is great. The school never advertises itself to be in the city of chicago. They do have a number of rotations in the city though and you are an hour trainride if you wanna go. With the new curriculum, one could move down to the city or closer suburbs once clinicals start.

The thing I feel about interview days...it is much an interview for them as it is for you. And concerning temple, they do leave a piss poor impression in that area. I understand you should not focus on the admissions department when choosing a school, but first impressions are pretty important. Minus the bunch of dinks working there, I received an acceptance letter with some girl's name on it! 😴 I strongly considered attending temple...then I interviewed there.
 
...clinic is VERY nice. They may not have crazy patient volume but the place is great. The school never advertises itself to be in the city of chicago...
Patient volume is relatively low for most school clinics. That is somewhat by design. For a DPM with a lot of staff or resident assistance, you can schedule many more patients per day. On a couple of my clerkships, some attendings would see 50-80 per day with the help of residents and possibly a couple 4th year students. However, in student run teaching clinics, it takes much more time per patient since the doc has to supervise much more closely and double check everything. Simply put, 3rd year students still have much to learn and are not nearly as quick or competent at writing notes, doing physical exams, designing treatment ideas, etc (at least I sure wasn't very good/fast a year ago).

What you want to look for in the clinics is mostly the student-to-patient ratio. It's fine to only have 8 patients on the schedule if there are only 2 third year students there, but if there are 6-8 students, that's way too slow. Students are always slow and will take some time to see their patients and write the notes; it's a learning process. 3rd year pod students should be seeing their own patients one on one and then presenting the case to the attending. 4th years or residents might be there as backups but should be mostly just supervising.

Things to be on the look out for are 3+ students crammed into an exam room to see one patient "together"; that is a clear sign that there are too many students and/or not enough patients. It should also be a red flag if there are virtually no patients in the waiting room or exam rooms and a lot of students just sitting around in the clinic lounge reading, using laptops, etc. Finally, you'd like to see variety in the clinics... wounds, derm, surgical, sports med, etc. If it seems like nearly every patient is there for routine nail and callus care, that is pretty basic stuff that becomes a big waste of time for the students pretty quickly.

Just for example, my school has 4 university run pod student clinics ( http://www.barry.edu/podiatryclinics/locations/default.htm ), and patient visits per day probably range from about 5-15 on half days and 15-45 per full day. It depends on how many are new patients and which doc is working (his/her interest subspecialties, size of patient base, complexity of cases, etc). Some days at Bay Harbor, it might be 3 students and a doc to see 20 patients: 10 wound care, 5 patients with foot injuries, and 5 routine care. At the Mercy Hosp clinic with a different attending doc, it could be 4 students to see 30 patients: 10 sports/biomechanical, 5 post-ops, 10 at-risk diabetics, and 5 pediatric cases. I'm inherently biased, but I think that is the kind of clinic structure you should look for in a pod school. Once you finish the didactic years, you are ready to learn by doing. You sure don't want to finish 3rd year and head out on clerkships unprepared (afraid to do physical exams, incompetent with your instrument skills, etc).
 
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Haha, Scholl never claimed to be in Chicago. It's in a city called North Chicago. That doesn't mean the north part of the city of Chicago, it is an actual city 40 miles north of Chicago. If your goal is to be in a big city, go to New York or Phili.

And the clinic is really nice, hardly laughable, dude.


My comments were taken the wrong way. The clinic at Scholl is very nice but the day that I interviewed there, I saw 4 students, and not a single patient. The students were sitting around just shooting the breeze. That's why I called it laughable. With the school being 40 miles north of chicago, who wants to commute into the city for rotation, or commute from the city to the school?

If you want to pick your school based on how new things are then you should be looking at AZ, Scholl, DMU and Ohio. But I would advise picking a school that gives you the best rotations and clinic experience and no one can say Temple is not one of the best for that.

I strongly considered attending temple...then I interviewed there

What is your story by the way? Did you not start school already? I noticed you have avoided answering that question in another thread. If you base what school is the best by their interview day then you are the one that is losing in the end. One needs to pick their school on which one they can do the best at and get a solid residency. Residency is the name of the game, period.
 
...If you want to pick your school based on how new things are then you should be looking at AZ, Scholl, DMU and Ohio. But I would advise picking a school that gives you the best rotations and clinic experience and no one can say Temple is not one of the best for that....
VERY well said.^

As I've posted before, I think that Temple and Barry have the best and most diverse pod student clinics. From everything I've seen, their students generally enter 4th year clerkships competent and experienced in dealing with patients, performing procedures, etc. NY has high patient volume in their clinics, but toenail trimmings by the thousands doesn't really help you a whole lot. Maybe they become ambidextrous with the nippers, though? 😀

I will maintain that a student who will work and read hard can do well at any pod school. Each school has its strengths and weaknesses, but IMO, clinical experience - both volume and diversity - should be the #1 factor. You can always read on your own, but you can't see clinic patients if they aren't there for you.
 
sooo... what are your stats, for those of you who got interviews? if you dont mind me asking 😛
 
Quincy08 said:
I'm sure they were all sitting around waiting for the moment the applications come in and processed them the second they were in and called you the moment they could. I'm trying hard not to think that this is pathetic because I might end up there. The "good" schools at least have the common sense to wait and make people think that they have so many applications that it takes time to process. I can't wait to go to NYCPM and Temple and meet these people! Hilarious.

I'm not complaining. Efficiency is awesome. I'm merely making observations about the practices of those admissions offices.

I truly believe that for the most part, all schools are created equal. But they do use different tactics to fight over us. If you think for a moment that we are at their mercy, you are delusional. If you have a 17 MCAT and a 2.75 gpa, you will get into one of the eight schools. If you have a 20 and a 3.0, just sit back and enjoy the parade they'll put on for you.

PS-I don't think I'm an expert. I have friends I found through Facebook at three of the schools, and they have given me an immeasureable amount of feedback and honest advice.

Your making more than an observation. Your specifically calling out two schools which YOU applied to. I'm not saying you specifically, (because I don't linger on your every word so I don't know), but a lot of people on here jump all over Barry, Temple, and NYCPM. If you would feel pathetic going to any of these schools, don't go. Let someone who can excel take your spot. I'm not trying to make every school sunshine and roses. I know that all of the schools have issues. I also think that we need to hear about the good and bad about each school, in an effort to make our education better. But your pre-interview opinions are puerile.

:laugh: I would hope that you are not at their mercy. I'm not delusional; I was in your position, not long ago. I know how admissions work. 👍

I suppose that we just had entirely different reactions at getting interviews. I was on cloud nine because Temple called me the next day. I had a lot of interviews, and with each invite, I was elated. But, I respect your opinion; however much I disagree.

And what do your friends on Facebook have to do with anything? It's non sequitur.
 
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VERY well said.^

As I've posted before, I think that Temple and Barry have the best and most diverse pod student clinics. From everything I've seen, their students generally enter 4th year clerkships competent and experienced in dealing with patients, performing procedures, etc. NY has high patient volume in their clinics, but toenail trimmings by the thousands doesn't really help you a whole lot. Maybe they become ambidextrous with the nippers, though? 😀
.

haha. Can't wait. Curious though, isn't general podiatric medicine an essential part of the field, and doesn't it bring in a lot of money in a private practice? This is what I've been told by a pod. He said all the other stuff is great, but several patients a day will come in for general care and that's where you make the easiest money while getting to know your patients.

Has anyone shadowed in Temple's clinic AND NYCPM's? Can anyone comment on the comparison?
 
...I think that Temple and Barry have the best and most diverse pod student clinics. From everything I've seen, their students generally enter 4th year clerkships competent and experienced in dealing with patients, performing procedures, etc. NY has high patient volume in their clinics, but toenail trimmings by the thousands doesn't really help you a whole lot. Maybe they become ambidextrous with the nippers, though? 😀...
haha. Can't wait. Curious though, isn't general podiatric medicine an essential part of the field, and doesn't it bring in a lot of money in a private practice? This is what I've been told by a pod. He said all the other stuff is great, but several patients a day will come in for general care and that's where you make the easiest money while getting to know your patients.

Has anyone shadowed in Temple's clinic AND NYCPM's? Can anyone comment on the comparison?
Yes, general (aka "routine") podiatric care like nails, corns, calluses, etc is a big part of practice for many DPMs. But keep a few things in mind:

1) Compared to surgery, complicated F&A pathology, etc, the routine care is very easy, though; it doesn't take a long time to learn.
2) After a little while, doing rountine case after case as a student (or worse, a resident) just turns you into a workhorse that is making more money for the attending docs.

You want some routine caren experience, especially when you are beginning as a clinical student (new 3rd year). It's good stuff to start out with since it's easy. However, you should be gradually exposed to a VARIETY of patients in clinics... bunions, flatfoot, wounds, pre-ops, post-ops, sports injuries, private insurance patients, poverty patients, young patients, old patients etc etc. If you go to pod school clinic and nearly every patient is there for geriatric nail care, that is certainly not ideal. You will run into those "nail clinics" at some places, and it should raise questions since those are not very high quality student rotations. Your time could be better spent as a student... your school should let you see all kinds of pathology and make up your mind about what you want to focus on.

When you are done with school and out in practice, then it's up to you. Do you want "easiest money," or do you want to deal with "all that other stuff" and use your medical and sugical skills? To each his own. Most DPMs will do what they are trained for, and much of that depends on residency.
 
Got an interview invite from Barry....very excited (first one) 😀
 
congrats illi! welcome to the interview cohort
 
just got interview invites to Samuel Merritt and Barry!!! wOohOoo :soexcited:

Same! Though I'd really love to find out more about Samuel Merritt since there isn't much info around...
 
sooo... what are your stats, for those of you who got interviews? if you dont mind me asking 😛

3.65 overall from an Ivy
3.55 Postbacc GPA
waiting on MCAT (probably 28-32...)

very unique extracurric's that I don't want to reveal for fear of an adcom finding me on here 🙁

Good luck to everyone!
 
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