The Podiatric Colleges

[the message]

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I would like to hear from the people of the other podiatric medical colleges about their experiences. I don't think it is fair that Efs and myself are the only students who speak on their schools. It really would have helped me save $30,000 if I had some idea from the students ahead of time. Please prove me wrong that the majority of podiatric students are selfish and are in denial! You can take a 15 minute study-break to shed some insight!

 

[thesaurus1]

Message,

I haven't had any pod school experience yet but I hopefully will. I'll let everybody know more later about my experiences as they come.

 

[efs]

the message,

I am sorry that you feel that you have spent $30,000 in vain. I am glad to see other pod students posting, but how many of us do? And does that portray an accurate representation of the reality?

While it is congecture, I would ask how do you think the majority of your classmates view things?
I think some of my classmates do not have an accurate view of what I see as the "reality". Howeveer, this is only one persons opinion. Some of them have positions waiting for them. Some of them have other contections lined up. Some ofthem have already found a number of positions avaiable in the areas they are interested in. I cannot identify ANYONE in my class that I think will have a problem finding a place in podiatry. Most have much to offer to the profession.

Is this a diference in the schools? Is it a differnce in the people? Is this a differnece in perspecitve?

What do you think?

 

[the message]

Efs,
There is a huge differece between podiatry schools! Your school seems to be very professional, which is how any graduate program should be conducted. Just yesterday, we found out that going into our second year, we are going to be working in the clinic a couple of days a week. Now this sounds like a great idea, but our classes are not going to be spread out a little. They are going to be firing more of the full time podiatrists that work in the clinic which makes me question their motives. Not to mention the common rumor going around is that our school is bankrupt. I would believe it b/c my classmates refund check bounced! The future of podiatry rests with the schools and the APMA. They have a responsibility of making the process of the student to DPM a smooth transition where everyone obtains a residency and is placed with an experienced podiatrist upon the completion of their residency. It is also their responsibilty of making podiatry known to the public so people would stop thinking podiatry means child-doctor.

The students in my school vary with the "MY DAD OWNS A PRACTICE" to the "I am going to be a millionare" students. Many are uninformed and will suffer in the end. I do not feel guilty about this b/c I try to talk about the issues at hand but many choose to ignore and follow the lead of these money driven school administrators! What is the point of being called Dr. if your making $60,000?

 

[efs]

I am not sure how to respond to your comments.

I only have a few thoughts worth passing on.

I don't beleive rumors. They have a bad tendency for not being the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. There is often some basis, but usually not enough to make them worth bothering with.

I do think the APMA (and the schools) have a responsibility to the profession and I think for the most part they have good intentions and are working on sorting through the various issues. I don't know if you are aware of what CPME is doing with residencies. If not, you will surely be haring about it soon. For more info you might want to take a look at apma.org/cpme and follow links to document 320. This is the proposed changes towards standardizing the residencies. I haven't yet had an opportunity to review it thoroughly, so I cannot comment more. It appears to be a step in the right direction, but I expect it will take some itme to implement. As far as them having a responsibilty to ensure placement with an experienced podiatrist I disagree. Finding a position after residency is mostly up to the individual. Not everyone will want to work with an "experienced" podiatrist. Some will want to open their own private practices, and others will be looking for positions working in a group practice. Lots of options, and at that point it will depend on what each individual wants to pursue. That is my opinion. Others may think differently, but I don't think there is any implied responsibilty for any organization to find you a job.
I do think they are working on making podiatry more visible to the general public (and to otehr professionals). There is a lot of work to be done here, and I think they are working on it. Get involved and help move things the way you think they should go. It is a relatively small profession, so individual opportunities to make a difference are out there.

 

[the message]

If PODMAN2004 is from a podiatric medical college, let us know the name of the school and your experiences for the rest of the podiatric community. Thanks in advance!

 

[aftershock]

the message,

The students inmy class are a pretty good group, there are 79 of us now, there were 86/7 starting out in my freshman class. But i heard a funny story for this years incoming freshman class: During open house in the summer, a potential student asked 'So...can we do...like...brain surgery?' I think the quality of the students are plummetting due to the fact that the application pool is drastically getting smaller. Some current freshman had no idea what podiatry was until they got a brochure from out school before they applied (TUSPM). I hope we didn't get off to a bad start 'themessage'...i was just looking for some constructive input/advice in the first place.

PM2004

 

[the message]

PODMAN2004,
I would never reccomend going to OCPM to anyone even if I hated them. I interact with the 3rd and 4th years and many will tell you to leave the school now. I have no reason to lie about my experiences and I am only looking to stop the next person from walking into the same trap. I have said on previous threads that TUSPM and Barry are my top two choices. I should have listened to David Martin! NYCPM has it's pits but I think Dr.Ross is really cool and is really trying to do the right thing with the program. Later!