OP has expressed his/her desire to go to med school the frustrations for not having a more successful app cycle, and it comes off and "becoming a doctor no matter what" when he/she created this thread. Picking podiatry as a backup without knowing what podiatry is like is a poor plan because unlike MD/DO, podiatry is a one-way ticket, you have no options to pick from later. As pre-pods, do you guys want this field to be filled with passionate students who genuinely are interests in Podiatry, to contribute collectively and to help Podiatry grow as a medical specialty, or do you want it to forever be the safety net for pre-meds?
1. OP has a passion to become a doctor, and like many MD/DO students, they don't even know what specialty they will have. Saying the OP being "trapped" in a specialty is very silly, because if you got the MD/DO route, then you have to prepare to be a family doctor, if things go awry, even if its not your passion. "one-way ticket" can be expressed in this situation just as easily.
2. People in podiatry school are as passionate about their specialty as typically any other student. The real passion comes from helping people increase their quality of life through medical care, which can translate to students wanting to do that through foot, ankle, and leg care and surgery.
3. You're a DO student, you're already in a safety net for pre-med students. Do you want to be also known as the safety net choice for pre-meds? See how silly that sounds?
Just more info on pod med schools before you say more silly things:
1.) Podiatric and DO (like you) take pre-clinical sciences together (the DMU DO/DPM school)
2.) Podiatric physicians have 3-4 years of residency
3.) fellowships are possible
4.) Sub-specialties exist in podiatric medicine