NYCPM- Facts and Advice

[DRFootball]

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Hello everyone!

This thread is intended to give prospective students the opportunity to discover how NYCPM can help them realize their goals of becoming a Podiatric Doctor. Please feel free to ask questions about NYCPM, the process of getting into podiatric medical school, or about podiatry in general.

I am currently a fourth year student at NYCPM and am in a unique position to offer many facts and pieces of advice to those that are seeking them.

My goal is simply to help you, the prospective students, navigate your way through a maze of information and help you to realize your own goals. Whether your path leads through NYCPM or not, the end of the road leads us all to the same place.

I look forward to talking to you, my prospective future colleagues!

 

[2work]

I am looking at attending the NY school to take advantage of the January class due to recovering health and had a few questions.

I noticed on the map the school is located close to central park, about how far away is it? Are there any other close parks or recreation areas?

What type of neighborhood is the school in? I went there twice around the same area but it was over 15 years ago and I have slept MANY times between now and then. 🙂 Where are the best places for students to live? I looked but cannot recall if there was any student housing.

Is there any type of match up board or posting area to find a room mate before getting the NY? What does rent average out there right now?

I have a three year old son and was wondering what types of places the other students with children use for day care and/or school. I know this may be out of your scope, but is there a family support group for spouse at the school?

Overall how would you rate the faculty at the school? Are they willing to help or are the type you have to dart and drag down for help?

I was curious what areas of the country have the graduates been placing? I know there are only a handful of schools, so I was not sure where all the residency places may be. In regards to residency is it setup like the typical med match or is actually just working for private doctors in their offices with a over site person?

Any items you definitely should or shouldn't bring with you?

Any other helpful tips on living in NY during the 4 years?

Thank you for any and all answers.

 

[JEWmongous]

Hello everyone!

This thread is intended to give prospective students the opportunity to discover how NYCPM can help them realize their goals of becoming a Podiatric Doctor. Please feel free to ask questions about NYCPM, the process of getting into podiatric medical school, or about podiatry in general.

I am currently a fourth year student at NYCPM and am in a unique position to offer many facts and pieces of advice to those that are seeking them.

My goal is simply to help you, the prospective students, navigate your way through a maze of information and help you to realize your own goals. Whether your path leads through NYCPM or not, the end of the road leads us all to the same place.

I look forward to talking to you, my prospective future colleagues!

New York does not have the ankle in the scope of practice for podiatrists while the 7 other states where pod schools are located do have the ankle. Thus, in the foot clinics of New York (at NYCPM), you should only be allowed to treat problems on the foot (no surgery on the maleoli). A few students told me that they do treat soft tissue up to the knee while at the school. Is this in fact true? I understand they do casting for clubfoot and all. However, I'm curious of your experiences on this issue.

It seems like you would be missing out somewhat at NYCPM as you would learn about the ankle from textbooks but not be able to treat anything in the clinic below the school. I would get the feeling students would want to do their 4 externships out of state to get some experience with ankle stuff.
For those who do all rotations in new york state, they may not even touch the ankle until residency. Let me know how you feel about this.

I understand about lobby day and students participating for increasing the scope. Seems to be a never-ending battle where the same bill is unsuccessful year after year. A few states in the northeast have increased scope recently (conn, mass) but idk what is up with new york.

 

[DRFootball]

Don't worry 2work, I am trying to get all of the info. that you inquired about. Jewmongous is seeking a bit less information.

The "scope of practice" issue is often one that other podiatry schools try to make a big deal out of. Scope of practice is an issue that deals solely with practicing, licensed podiatrists but I can understand why students may be concerned. It is true that students from NYCPM gain hands-on experience dealing with deformity and diseases at and above the level of the ankle. We are able to do this by working with many MDs and DOs, both in our clinic as well as in the hospitals that we cover. During our time at NYCPM, we routinely work with invasive/non-invasive vascular doctors (from Cornell and Columbia I believe), orthopedic doctors, internal medicine doctors, etc. Since we work under their supervision, the "scope of practice" for students at NYCPM extends far beyond that of a practicing podiatrist. This then lends itself to our students seeing even more cases, seeing more techniques and procedures, and increased exposure to different ways of treating similar problems.

It is much like that of a podiatry resident. While there is no state that I know of that allows podiatrists to perform general anesthesia, internal medicine, vascular surgery, or general surgery, podiatry residents work along side their counterparts in these fields.

The benefit of NYCPM's program, I believe, is that since the scope for podiatry is not as extensive as other states, we are involved even more with orthopedists and other specialties. This is tremendous for all of podiatry because it allows us to educate and advocate for our field even more. Also, it allows us as students to impress those MDs and DOs that do not know much about the training we as podiatrists receive. In all, we at NYCPM believe that cultivating relationships with these specialties will help us gain more respect within the medical community and move us closer to our goals of complete parity with our colleagues that hold MDs and DOs.

In my personal experience, I have not only learned everything I could ever want to know about podiatric medicine and surgery, but I have also learned a great deal about General Surgery, Emergency Medicine, Internal Medicine, Vascular Surgery, Orthopedic Surgery, Trauma, and Physical Therapy. I have seen more ankle fractures and sprains than I can remember while in NY. I have also seen knee replacements, femoral fractures, hip replacements, and a ton of femoral-popliteal bypasses.

At NYCPM, the philosophy is that you are trained as a doctor (equal to any MD or DO) first and as a podiatrist (due to scope of practice) second. With that knowledge base, we are able to communicate and work with doctors of all specialties without difficulty.

 

[JEWmongous]

Thanks for the info man, I appreciate it.

I just have an example for you. In the FCNY itself, lets say when you are doing a wound care rotation and the attending is a DPM, isn't it true you are not allowed to debride areas above the maleoli? I know the scope of practice strictly says foot (and if you're a student/resident, it depends on the attending whether it be an MD or DPM). I imagine at the affiliated hospitals and such you would do more (as there are MD/DO's working as well) but from I got at the FCNY, it is mostly DPM's who work there.

I will say that I have seen the pod I shadow in new york debride ulcers above the ankle. This is nothing out of the norm in penn, jersey, etc but not "allowed" in NY. I asked him about it and he more or less said if it helps the patient and everything works out, it was worth it (the risk).

Don't worry 2work, I am trying to get all of the info. that you inquired about. Jewmongous is seeking a bit less information.

The "scope of practice" issue is often one that other podiatry schools try to make a big deal out of. Scope of practice is an issue that deals solely with practicing, licensed podiatrists but I can understand why students may be concerned. It is true that students from NYCPM gain hands-on experience dealing with deformity and diseases at and above the level of the ankle. We are able to do this by working with many MDs and DOs, both in our clinic as well as in the hospitals that we cover. During our time at NYCPM, we routinely work with invasive/non-invasive vascular doctors (from Cornell and Columbia I believe), orthopedic doctors, internal medicine doctors, etc. Since we work under their supervision, the "scope of practice" for students at NYCPM extends far beyond that of a practicing podiatrist. This then lends itself to our students seeing even more cases, seeing more techniques and procedures, and increased exposure to different ways of treating similar problems.

It is much like that of a podiatry resident. While there is no state that I know of that allows podiatrists to perform general anesthesia, internal medicine, vascular surgery, or general surgery, podiatry residents work along side their counterparts in these fields.

The benefit of NYCPM's program, I believe, is that since the scope for podiatry is not as extensive as other states, we are involved even more with orthopedists and other specialties. This is tremendous for all of podiatry because it allows us to educate and advocate for our field even more. Also, it allows us as students to impress those MDs and DOs that do not know much about the training we as podiatrists receive. In all, we at NYCPM believe that cultivating relationships with these specialties will help us gain more respect within the medical community and move us closer to our goals of complete parity with our colleagues that hold MDs and DOs.

In my personal experience, I have not only learned everything I could ever want to know about podiatric medicine and surgery, but I have also learned a great deal about General Surgery, Emergency Medicine, Internal Medicine, Vascular Surgery, Orthopedic Surgery, Trauma, and Physical Therapy. I have seen more ankle fractures and sprains than I can remember while in NY. I have also seen knee replacements, femoral fractures, hip replacements, and a ton of femoral-popliteal bypasses.

At NYCPM, the philosophy is that you are trained as a doctor (equal to any MD or DO) first and as a podiatrist (due to scope of practice) second. With that knowledge base, we are able to communicate and work with doctors of all specialties without difficulty.

 

[JEWmongous]

What were your non-pod rotations like while as a student at NYCPM? ie general surgery, emergency med, etc. I have heard that the pod students are 4th years doing these rotations while the MD students there are 3rd years. I heard that the MD students are given priority over procedures and patients because they have specific requirements to meet. In addition, the pod students can more or less just show up, not do much, and get credit for the rotation.

How many rotations can be done outside of NYCPM and its affiliated hospitals? I understand that you guys only have 4 externships (it recently was only THREE) which was the lowest of all the pod schools, cept for cali. For the 2 month senior surgery of the foot and ankle, I believe it can be completed at West Penn or UMDNJ if you have over a certain GPA,correct? Where does the 2 month rotation in Israel come into play, does it count for senior surgery of the foot and ankle?

One of the things I liked about DMU is that the 4th year can be done pretty much anywhere in the US. It seems a bit more limited at NYCPM with less freedom. I personally would rather have some training away from the school itself, to have interaction with other pod students, attendings, etc.

 

[DRFootball]

Much of what I was discussing earlier was actually done during my third year with the exception of Emergency Medicine and General Surgery. In the 4th year, there are one month rotations in General Surgery, Emergency Medicine, and Internal Medicine. Internal Medicine is also part of the Medicine A rotation during the third year where you follow patients in an area hospital and present full H & Ps.

As far as the information about podiatry students being able to just show up and get credit. As was explained to me by attendings in each of my 4th year rotations...."this is adult education, if you don't want to learn, we aren't going to waste our time with you". And I could not agree more. However, the attitude of just showing up, with rare exceptions, will result in the student being failed for the rotation and having to make up the time they missed.

I can tell you that during every rotation I had this year, my group showed up, wanted to learn, and were well received by the residents/attendings we worked with. It is true that the MD students are third years and in my experience, they often looked to us for guidance. In General Surgery, I was able to scrub into vascular surgery cases, laparoscopic cholecystectomies, orthopedic cases, and breast cancer removal surgeries. Obviously, there came a point where we would defer scrubbing in to one of the MD students because it is more practical for them to be in there. We were able to do a couple of cases and that was enough for us since we aren't doing them in practice. It was a great learning experience and a lot of fun. ER rotation was amazing, I got to do everything and saw about 15 patients a day. I was basically on my own (still had to present the case to the attending) and got to do all orders and treatments myself. I sutured lacerations, put in IV lines, drew blood for labs, gave fluids and meds.

NYCPM offers 4 externships in the fourth year. One month of senior surgery may be done at UMDNJ or West Penn (I believe there is an application process for West Penn). I believe the Israel two month rotation can be used as externship or senior surgery. Since it is two months and a lot of traveling, things are often worked out with the Clerkship advisor.

And I understand the appeal of being able to go to other areas when in your fourth year. However, I don't think there is anywhere else in the world that offers the medical education or the variety of cases like NYC. There are just so many doctors, hospitals, clinics, and cases. There is nothing in Iowa that can compare to NYC hospitals. I would want to get out of Iowa too, not that its a bad place or bad school, but NYC is NYC after all.

 

[krabmas]

What were your non-pod rotations like while as a student at NYCPM? ie general surgery, emergency med, etc. I have heard that the pod students are 4th years doing these rotations while the MD students there are 3rd years. I heard that the MD students are given priority over procedures and patients because they have specific requirements to meet. In addition, the pod students can more or less just show up, not do much, and get credit for the rotation.

How many rotations can be done outside of NYCPM and its affiliated hospitals? I understand that you guys only have 4 externships (it recently was only THREE) which was the lowest of all the pod schools, cept for cali. For the 2 month senior surgery of the foot and ankle, I believe it can be completed at West Penn or UMDNJ if you have over a certain GPA,correct? Where does the 2 month rotation in Israel come into play, does it count for senior surgery of the foot and ankle?

One of the things I liked about DMU is that the 4th year can be done pretty much anywhere in the US. It seems a bit more limited at NYCPM with less freedom. I personally would rather have some training away from the school itself, to have interaction with other pod students, attendings, etc.

While everything you mention is true, you get out of the rotation what you put into it.

The students that leave NYCPM thinking that they did not learn anything and that the school failed them - those are the students that will most likely be miserable anywhere, didn't choose challenging externships and chose not to show up to rotations or chose not to see patients in clinic.

If you (general you) are going to be a lazy student and try not to see patients while in clinic then you have chosen the wrong school. The reason to go to NYCPM is for the patient exposure. However, you must learn the academic stuff on your own (don't rely on the school to each it) before getting into clinic. The classes may guide you, but they are not all inclusive. I've said it before that if all you know is diabetic = nails then all you will do it cut nails. If you have a larger knowledge base you will diagnose and see more and the patient will benefit more.

The clinic (when I was there) had a vascular surgery rotation w/ vascular surgeons from Columbia U. They were great if you wanted to learn. But could be terribly mean if you were lazy.


I did all of my externships outside of NY. I agree that most externships should be done outside of NY as well as Residency. But, I'm sure there are some decent programs in NY.

Where ever you decide to go to school in order to be successful you will need to put in lots of time of independent study. If you start while in pod school it will be easier to continue into residency and in your professional life. Just like bad habbits good habbits are hard to break.

 

[DRFootball]

Alright 2work, let's see if we can answer some of your questions!

One edge of Central Park is about 14 streets downtown and 1 avenue west of where NYCPM is located. Maybe 10-15 minute walk or so, not completely sure. There are a few other parks nearby (Riverside Park, Marcus Garvey Park, Randalls Island), but in the city with public transportation, everything is closeby.

NYCPM is located in the Harlem section of NYC. The area has improved over the past decade as more money is being spent to rejuvenate the area. My friends and I have visited many of the local eateries during breaks from school and found it to be pleasant. No one bothers you and they realize that you are the medical students that are there to take care of them. I have seen many of my patients, mostly at Popeye's Chicken since my friends like the food there.

There is housing at a couple of different places. One is Draper Hall which is around 99th St. and 1st Ave. There is a school shuttle van to and from this dorm-style housing. Parkchester is another housing option located in the Bronx I believe. These are nice apartments from what I am told and very accessible to the subways and buses that lead to the area where the school is located. The admissions department has more information and can give you more options and pricing information.

As far as daycare and things of that nature, I would have to suggest speaking to the admissions people. I am as yet not a parent and wouldn't even know where to start on this one. I can tell you that there are plenty of students at NYCPM that are parents and the school may be able to connect you to one of them for info.

As for the support group...you will find that your classmates will become like family. My friends and I are extremely close and enjoy many social events together. My fiancee has met almost every member of my class and their significant others as well. We are all eachother's support group.

As for faculty, I believe that they are excellent. Many of our faculty also teach at the surrounding medical schools. Just to highlight a few, our pharmacology teacher started out as a pharmacist before gettting his DPM so he knows more than your average DPM about the subject. The immunology teacher is a well-known doctor in Europe and frequently still goes back to Germany to give lectures. Our anatomy lab director also teaches anatomy lab at Cornell and is an encyclopedia of information. Our physical diagnosis teacher was/is a cardiologist from Mt. Sinai and actually wrote the textbook that virtually every medical school uses on the subject. I could go on but you get the idea. The faculty often wait around the classroom to give students the chance to ask questions. They also have office hours and can be reached to set up appointments if need be. The faculty will know you by name, face, and where you sit. They take a very big interest in you as a person and student.

Graduates are placed in residencies all over the country. I have friends going to California, Florida, NY, NJ, Kentucky, and everywhere inbetween. The average residency is about 3 years and includes rotations in Emergency Medicine, Internal Medicine, Anesthesiology, and other rotations that vary between programs. Residencies are conducted through hospitals though some programs do offer opportunities to rotate through private offices.

NYC is an amazing city to live in. There are tons of restaurants, museums, libraries, theatres, nightlife locations, etc. My advice would be to learn how to get around using public transportation (buses, subways). It is quite an experience to be in the "city that never sleeps".

Hope this helps and thanks for your interest.