Disclaimer: I am not a podiatrist, nor i am not on a admissions committee for a podiatry school. I am simply a student trying to give advice to the best of my ability..so you should not base your decisions solely on what i say. 😀
1. Podiatry should not be a back up plan, unless you are sincerely interested in ankle/foot care. Otherwise, you will find yourself possibly very unhappy down the road because the scope of practice is very limited and you will not have the chance to move into other fields of medicine. Shadow a podiatrist and see if you like it before you think about applying. You willl find that, yes, podiatry has a lot to offer, but for some people it is not the right path. If you are looking for a broader medical education, i would suggest going the PA route. BUT.. do some research for sure!
2. As for how competitive podiatry school is, it is SIGNIFICANTLY less than MD or DO schools. I would say average cgpa is somewhere around 3.2-3.3 and sgpa is somewhere in there too. I think the mcat average is about a 21 or 22. (you can check the AACPM website.. it is all on there).
-it is still beneficial to do as much extracurricular work as possible..it never hurts
-i havent come across too many pod students that did research during undergrad, but you will have that opportunity in pod school
-you are required to shadow a podiatrist if you want to get accepted anywhere
3. prereqs are the same, except you are not required to have completed a bachelor's degree (i think it is something around 90 credit hours or something like that). but once again, it is to your benefit to complete your degree, as it makes you more competitive and will better prepare you for the courses you take in pod school
Check out the AACPM website, talk to a podiatrist, and think about what you really want out of your medical education. Just make sure you have a well-rounded idea of what podiatric medicine is before you completely change your mind about switching.
For me, discovering podiatry was like finding a treasure in the world of medicine.. and maybe it will be that for you too 😀
Good luck!
