New Pre-Pod, 1 comment & 1 question

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
1

184013

Greetings,

I have been an SDN member for several months now.
I am a non-traditional student as I have recently left the military with the goal of taking pre-requisites toward becoming a primary health provider.
I initially was very interested in the DO realm - but over time have become very interested in podiatry.

Last week I shadowed a podiatrist for the full work day - it was a great experience. It basically confirmed conceptual idea that I would like podiatry and has motivated me to pursue this as a career. I was invited back to observe some surgeries as well - and eagerly awaiting this.


So - if you have been unsure of the job and have been on the edge - I strongly recommend the shadowing experience~ I actually made contact with a DPM through the AACPM <http://www.aacpm.org> "mentor program".

---------------------------
Question:
Can any more experienced pre-pods help me on the admissions time line? I am finishing my pre-reqs and taking the MCAT spring of 2009.

Do you recommend that I apply for 2009 fall entry and try to gain a conditional acceptance based upon completely pre-reqs and meeting a given mcat score? This would benefit my personal time line and avoid waiting another year for school.
My current cGPA is just over 3.5 and my science cGPA is around 3.6.


Thanks!!

Members don't see this ad.
 
Welcome to the Podiatry "family." You should definitely aply for Fall '09 application cycle. With your experiences and above average GPA, you should have no problem. You should get a conditional acceptance based upon your MCAT scores. I know many people who have experienced this. I wouldn't take people's word alone on sdn when deciding what school to apply to. I would visit as many as you can to assess them yourself. I was surprised by a few schools. I was also on the edge between different health profession choices and shadowing pulled me towards podiatry as well. Good luck on the pre-reqs.
 
Welcome to the pod life! I was in your position a while ago and I made the same choice as you: Podiatry.

As far as applying, I agree with paulywog. Why waste another year when you could get conditional acceptance. I'm taking the MCAT in the summer of 2009, so I'm kind of in the same boat as you.

Good luck and study hard!
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Same here...I was accepted to D.O. schools, but pod was a much better choice for me. So glad I'm here...:D
 
Appreciate the feedback!

It's great to see people who have made the transformation from their initial 'ideal' medical career towards podiatry. This is probably comforting as I am in a similar scenario.

I do have a related observation .... I have noticed, as a "student consumer" - looking for a career / school house to work towards / apply is that DO, Pharm, Dental all seem to have a more aggressive or effective campaign / advertising to entice and lure students. I have come across several people in person and online that have moved from Dental, DO, or PharmD towards podiatry. Podiatry is usually discovered at a later time period...as opposed to being the initial 'choice'. Some will say that the 'foot' is just not as appealing to the masses.... I seem to think it's informing the public and educating patients and future students on the available opportunities...and providing a future statement of where the profession is going and how it will be staying competitive.

Granted I have received my APMA furnished 'podiatry as a career cd rom' and thought it was a great recruiting media... but I am making the 'assumption' that pre-meds as a collective group want to collect enough data to analyze until they are sick....

The MD's AMA, the PharmD's AACP and the DO's AOA present more useful material that enable potential students to make that career their goal. Granted podiatry has a smaller population and smaller overseeing entity...

In summary I'm not bashing the AMPA website as it does provide school links, matriculation stats, acceptance stats which are posted and available. I would like to find more information on the movement of podiatry as a collective group, current issues and 'turf' battles that could potentially affect the field in the future.

I understand that all careers have their pro's / con's. I am very interested in podiatry and want to continue learning more about the field (current and future issues... the short/long term podiatry 'vision' and goals) as I continue pre-reqs and preparing for admission.

Does anyone have recommend links that could provide me with some of these questions?
Thanks!!
 
Top