Podiatry is a very small surgical sub-specialty of medicine, and many people are not even aware of its existence. The application cycle for podiatry school opens every September (compare this to May for dental schools), and there are currently 8 schools. Although the standard entrance exam is the MCAT, some schools will accept the DAT. However, even these schools are in the process to stop accepting DAT scores within the next couple of years. Podiatry school is 4 years long, and awards the Doctor of Podiatric Medicine (DPM) degree. Residency is required, and there are two types:
PM&S-24 - 2-year surgery which allows for surgery on the fore-foot.
PM&S-36 - 3-year surgery which allows for surgery on both the fore- and hind-foot.
To my knowledge, podiatry schools are in the process of eliminating the 2-year residency, so that all podiatrists will require the 3-year one.
With that said, I would say podiatry and dentistry are very similar fields:
1) Both fields are procedural medicine, meaning that you get reinbursed for performing procedures (surgery, etc.). Overall, procedural medicine usually pays slightly higher than non-procedural ones (family practice, etc.).
2) Both podiatrists and dentists allow for financial stability. Here's a salary survey from 2006:
http://www.cejkasearch.com/compensation/amga_midlevel_compensation_survey.htm
Again, these are AVERAGES, so take them with a grain of salt.
3) Both podiatrists and dentists are usually in private practice, which allows greater job autonomy.
4) Both fields have similar hours: dentists work around 35-40 hrs. a week, while pods work around 40-45 hrs. a week.
5) Both dentists and podiatrists have full prescription (Rx) rights.
6) Both dentists and podiatrists are specialists in one area of the body: the mouth and lower extremity.
Students interested in podiatry should visit and bookmark the following sites:
Podiatry Today Magazine (Podiatry's equivalent to Dental Town)
E-AACPMAS (Podiatry's equivalent to the AADSAS)
AACPM (Podiatry's equivalent to the ADEA)
