Unsuccessful MD/DO applicant who chose podiatry school... AMA

[Sweatshirt]

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Pretty bored right now, and I've never seen a thread like this before so why not try to see how this goes.

Quick background on me, I applied to MD/DO schools in the same cycle as applying to podiatry schools. My cGPA was a 3.7 with an MCAT of 499. I took the MCAT multiple times but I could never master it. Never had a test taking problem with any test except the MCAT. I had really good ECs in research, volunteering, and leadership. I got interviews at 1 MD school and 1 DO school with waitlists at both. I got into every pod school I applied to, it's much easier to get in to those schools.

I'm a first year student and highly recommend this as a backup career to anybody who wants to be a physician/surgeon. You get over the foot/ankle thing pretty quickly. It's definitely the closest you can get to an MD/DO. If this thread fails then whatever, I've already killed 10 min writing this up 🙂

You can also PM me if you want to ask anything privately

 

[ChymeofPassion]

Would you say that you have progressed or regressed towards the development of a foot fetish?

 

[aalamruad]

Why didn't you just reapply MD/DO the next cycle?

 

[DatInterviewDood]

noob question: why is podiatry school separated out from medical school?

 

[Sweatshirt]

Why didn't you just reapply MD/DO the next cycle?

My MCAT wasn't improving, and I had no desire to take it again. As I shadowed podiatry more and more I came to like it and knew I'd be happy with it as a career

 

[Sweatshirt]

noob question: why is podiatry school separated out from medical school?

noob answer: it's just always been that way. It started off as chiropody or something like that, and the demand for podiatrists keeps going up so the degree is still worthwhile. People compare it to why dentistry is separate, but it's not the best comparison

 

[LutGholein]

Pretty bored right now, and I've never seen a thread like this before so why not try to see how this goes.

Quick background on me, I applied to MD/DO schools in the same cycle as applying to podiatry schools. My cGPA was a 3.7 with an MCAT of 499. I took the MCAT multiple times but I could never master it. Never had a test taking problem with any test except the MCAT. I had really good ECs in research, volunteering, and leadership. I got interviews at 1 MD school and 1 DO school with waitlists at both. I got into every pod school I applied to, it's much easier to get in to those schools.

I'm a first year student and highly recommend this as a backup career to anybody who wants to be a physician/surgeon. You get over the foot/ankle thing pretty quickly. It's definitely the closest you can get to an MD/DO. If this thread fails then whatever, I've already killed 10 min writing this up 🙂

Is the ortho/pod animosity a real thing or do you guys generally get along with one another(from you perspective as a pod student)? Genuinely curious!

 

[Sweatshirt]

Is the ortho/pod animosity a real thing or do you guys generally get along with one another(from you perspective as a pod student)? Genuinely curious!

ehhh it's definitely a real thing but it isn't as prevalent now as say...10 years ago. As people learn more about the profession and the schooling and residency we go through they learn to respect it. There's always going to be those cocky orthopods who hate podiatrists, but I don't think that's too common nowadays. I know quite a few pods who have healthy relationships with orthos. Ortho groups have been hiring pods more and more these days so the relationship must be good. It's nearly identical how when the DO degree became a thing, MDs "looked down" on them. Now that's not really an issue for DOs. Podiatry is on the rise and I bet in the following years animosity will be extremely low

 

[bobtheweazel]

Is the ortho/pod animosity a real thing or do you guys generally get along with one another(from you perspective as a pod student)? Genuinely curious!

There will probably always be some tension, just because there's common turf. But in the past, and to a lesser extent now, there has been actual discrimination against pods, backed primarily by orthopedists and on a larger scale the orthopedic associations.

The thing is that their argument to limit any non MD/DO is patient safety, basically saying that other professions are not as well educated or trained. That argument isn't as useful for them now as it may have been 20 years ago, since podiatrists take classes with MDs and DOs, are taught in part by MDs and DOs, do residencies alongside MDs and DOs, and every study shows that podiatrists are the best equipped to deal with lower extremity care—especially for diabetics. Furthermore, there is a joint task force in California between MDs, DOs, and DPMs comparing MD to DO to DPM education and training. So far they've found everything in DPM school is equivalent except we're deficient in OB/GYN and psych. This group also did a study where they found that DPM residents outperformed MD residents in the internal medicine rotation of one program—but they haven't released any of this data yet because they're still doing more research on these topics and will probably release it all at once in the next year or two. This all kinda culminates to weaken the argument that pods are less than.

Now, as Sweatshirt said, it's getting more common every day to see podiatrists employed by hospitals and large ortho or multispecialty groups because they can turn a good profit off of pods. Pods use the OR, use radiology, use PT, etc. that all adds up for the employer. In recent years hospital organizations and ortho groups have started to refuse to try to limit pods when they seek a larger scope of practice or more hospital priviledges because pods are their employees now and so all these groups have a vested interest in what's best for podiatry. Why would they want to limit someone who could be making them money?

So now you have all but a few states with foot and ankle in the scope for pods, many states including the leg (below knee) and a handful of states including the thigh. In some hospitals pods are chief of medicine or surgery. In California, that joint task force of the CPME, CMA, and COA is moving towards giving podiatrists the same plenary license as MDs and DOs. So there seems to be less animosity and discrimination every day—though it does still exist.

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[Nietzsche's Barber]

Is the ortho/pod animosity a real thing or do you guys generally get along with one another(from you perspective as a pod student)? Genuinely curious!

I am in pretty well with a CT surgeon and he ****ing hates Pods (I have no idea why). One day a premed asked him his thoughts on chiro and he just said, "As long as you're not a pod I'll call you doctor".

 

[ScreenName23]

So how many people in your class would you say are in a similar boat where they were planning on medical school and switched to podiatry?

 

[bobtheweazel]

So how many people in your class would you say are in a similar boat where they were planning on medical school and switched to podiatry?

Not sure about Sweatshirt, but probably at least half of my pod class applied to MD or DO programs at some point. That's an assumption, but of the people who I closely associate with in my class that's the ratio.

Some applied and got nothing in the cycle prior and then applied DPM the following cycle and rolled with it. Some applied for MD/DO in the same cycle as DPM and either got waitlisted at MD/DO or got into MD/DO schools in locations they didn't actually wanna be in and si went DPM. At least one person in my close circle of friends was also accepted to the MD program at our university, but after all things considered decided to go with the DPM program—I'm assuming better scholarship but haven't confirmed. Two people were accepted to DO schools after we started DPM school and they left like midsemester.

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[Wiesal]

Are you fulfilled with becoming a podiatrist?

 

[bobtheweazel]

Are you fulfilled with becoming a podiatrist?

I've gotta say I'm very happy so far and the future is bright for podiatry.

If this were the podiatry of 50 years ago—trimming toenails, dealing with fungus, shaving corns and calluses, and not much else—then I would've done something else. Modern podiatry is good though in that it's a mix of many other specialties. Especially as a general podiatrist, I don't see how you could ever be bored. You do dermatology, you do vascular work, you do wound care, you do orthopedics, you do neurology, you do radiology, you do sports medicine, you do surgery and you can potentially do all of it in the same day. There's enough breadth in the scope that you could focus on as few or as many of those things as you want in practice. And as far as the education, I'm glad that we get a well rounded general medical education and will work side by side with MDs and DOs in residency, but I'm also happy that we have our specialty picked out from the start.

Believe me, I didn't choose podiatry because I want to cut toenails or trim calluses, I don't know why anybody would. But that's like no opthalmologist is choosing that specialty just to do eye exams and give out glasses and no dermatologist is choosing that because they have a strong internal desire to hand out lotions and creams.

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[ScreenName23]

But that's like no opthalmologist is choosing that specialty just to do eye exams and give out glasses

Hmm I thought opthalmologists did eye surgeries and optometrists handled the glasses portion?

 

[bobtheweazel]

Hmm I thought opthalmologists did eye surgeries and optometrists handled the glasses portion?

It's within their scope to do eyeglasses, and some do. Which is kinda my point. Not all podiatrists do nails and calluses either.

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[787593]

Pretty bored right now, and I've never seen a thread like this before so why not try to see how this goes.

Quick background on me, I applied to MD/DO schools in the same cycle as applying to podiatry schools. My cGPA was a 3.7 with an MCAT of 499. I took the MCAT multiple times but I could never master it. Never had a test taking problem with any test except the MCAT. I had really good ECs in research, volunteering, and leadership. I got interviews at 1 MD school and 1 DO school with waitlists at both. I got into every pod school I applied to, it's much easier to get in to those schools.

I'm a first year student and highly recommend this as a backup career to anybody who wants to be a physician/surgeon. You get over the foot/ankle thing pretty quickly. It's definitely the closest you can get to an MD/DO. If this thread fails then whatever, I've already killed 10 min writing this up 🙂

Which MD school gave you an interview???

 

[Sweatshirt]

So how many people in your class would you say are in a similar boat where they were planning on medical school and switched to podiatry?

Not many people talk about it, but like bob said above I'd guess about half. I know out of my little friend group at least 3 of us applied to both MD/DO and pod. For some people podiatry was a 1st choice option, but I bet there's quite a few (including myself) who used it as a backup

Are you fulfilled with becoming a podiatrist?

Definitely. Bob covered a lot of the great aspects about podiatry above so I won't repeat him. Long story short I like how there's a ton of variety in 1 specialty (like he mentioned), it's guaranteed surgery, and I always loved the orthopedic aspect of medicine the best

Which MD school gave you an interview???

My undergrad university loves alumni so I think that helped me get an interview there. They aren't one of the top caliber MD schools. I think they're about average

 

[ScottTenorman54]

What went wrong with the MCAT? How many times did you take it, how did you study? Was there a particular section that was really bad, or were your subscores relatively even across the board?

 

[Sweatshirt]

What went wrong with the MCAT? How many times did you take it, how did you study? Was there a particular section that was really bad, or were your subscores relatively even across the board?

took it 3 times, took a princeton review class and a class at my undergrad. All my practice scores were good (508-510) just when I got to the testing center nerves got the best of me. When it came to the real thing all my section scores were average or above except CARS, that killed me. It's in the past though and I'm happy with where I'm at, hence why I started this thread in the first place

 

[Favoritefarm]

Thanks for being real and saying you didnt get in MD or DO and thats why you did podiatry. Mst people lie to themselves and on anonymous internet forums about not getting into a US MD school and "choosing" another degree.

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[Sweatshirt]

Thanks for being real and saying you didnt get in MD or DO and thats why you did podiatry. Mst people lie to themselves and on anonymous internet forums about not getting into a US MD school and "choosing" another degree.

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Yeah that's true. But I did create this thread to show people that podiatry is a great backup. I'm happy with where I'm at and where I'm going. I highly suggest anybody who didn't get into an MD/DO school to seriously consider podiatry

 

[mwsapphire]

Pretty bored right now, and I've never seen a thread like this before so why not try to see how this goes.

Quick background on me, I applied to MD/DO schools in the same cycle as applying to podiatry schools. My cGPA was a 3.7 with an MCAT of 499. I took the MCAT multiple times but I could never master it. Never had a test taking problem with any test except the MCAT. I had really good ECs in research, volunteering, and leadership. I got interviews at 1 MD school and 1 DO school with waitlists at both. I got into every pod school I applied to, it's much easier to get in to those schools.

I'm a first year student and highly recommend this as a backup career to anybody who wants to be a physician/surgeon. You get over the foot/ankle thing pretty quickly. It's definitely the closest you can get to an MD/DO. If this thread fails then whatever, I've already killed 10 min writing this up 🙂

"I took the MCAT multiple times but could never master it. " That kind of stuff freaks me out omg.

 

[TimmyTurner]

Thanks for being real and saying you didnt get in MD or DO and thats why you did podiatry. Most people lie to themselves and on anonymous internet forums about not getting into a US MD school and "choosing" another degree.

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One thing that does grind my gears- I'd say a chunk of my classmates go for Pod so they can still tell everyone that they will be a doctor, or that they 'got into med school'.
It's pretty sad to be so obviously reliant on external validation. It's also one of the things holding our field back, imo.
Our governing body wants Pod to challenge for the MD/DO applicant pool in the future, rather than riding in their wake. It could happen, but not anytime soon.

 

[Sardinia]

@Sweatshirt Get a 4.0 in all your podiatry classes to raise your GPA to a 3.99. Do two years of podiatry as clinical experience. Retake the MCAT and score around a 528. You should be good to go.

 

[Sweatshirt]

@Sweatshirt Get a 4.0 in all your podiatry classes to raise your GPA to a 3.99. Do two years of podiatry as clinical experience. Retake the MCAT and score around a 528. You should be good to go.

no thanks 😴

 

[raiderette]

I remember a few years ago, podiatry had a residency shortage. Has that improved?

 

[TimmyTurner]

I remember a few years ago, podiatry had a residency shortage. Has that improved?

Yes. We're currently operating at a Surplus (more res spots than graduates). Those excess spots are being filled by those who didn't match during the years there was a shortage. Not sure if those who didn't match all ended up in a residency spot but, for now and the forseeable future, there is no longer a shortage. The threat of course is, if those seats continually go unfilled, they will be closed. Anyone currently enrolled *should* not have to worry about this.

 

[bobtheweazel]

I think last I saw there were still a few extra students waiting for spots. But with the current surplus vs new grads there will be enough spots for those old grads to be worked through in the next one or two cycles.

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[Fluffy123]

what are some of the classes you have taken in your first year. Do you share any classes with med students (ex anatomy?) Are other classes specialized towards the feet (ex: neuro of the foot)
thank you

 

[bobtheweazel]

what are some of the classes you have taken in your first year. Do you share any classes with med students (ex anatomy?) Are other classes specialized towards the feet (ex: neuro of the foot)
thank you

So far at Temple podiatry, we share professors with the MDs and DMDs, but none of us take classes together. There are however multiple podiatry schools fully or partially integrated (side by side) with MDs or DOs.

Overall we share about 80% of first year curriculum and 50% of second year curriculum with the MDs (more overlap than the DMDs and MDs) and the rest are specialized classes.

First semester:
Biochemistry, general anatomy (head to pelvis/perineum/genitales), histology, embryology, physiology, neurophysiology.

Second semester:
Finish physiology, finish neurophysiology, neuroanatomy, microbiology and immunology, fundamentals of podiatric practice 1 (doctoring course + some very common foot pathology), lower extremity anatomy (hips to toes, much more detailed than done by MDs in their GA course, our DMDs don't do legs so we get their extras, altogether we take almost twice as much anatomy as our MDs), biomechanics, physical medicine and rehabilitation.

Other info:
The student clubs here (and their meetings) are primarily lower extremity based. We have interprofessional workshops with MDs, DMDs, PharmDs, OTs, PAs, nurses about once per semester.

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[piii]

Why didn't you go the PA or NP route? I think those are much closer to a physician in scope than a pod.

 

[JPSmyth]

Do you ever feel deep down inside disappointed in yourself for not becoming an MD? Not trying to be rude, asking genuinely.

When I was applying to schools I didn't even apply to DO because in my head I believed that I have the potential to become an MD and nothing less (I know DOs aren't "less" but they are less competitive.

DO school, podiatry (I got so many emails from podiatry and DO schools telling me to apply), or any other fields would never satisfy me. Maybe I'm insecure, but I would feel like a failure if I didn't achieve my goal of gaining an MD acceptance.

 

[Sweatshirt]

what are some of the classes you have taken in your first year. Do you share any classes with med students (ex anatomy?) Are other classes specialized towards the feet (ex: neuro of the foot)
thank you

First semester we took gross anatomy, biochem, genetics/embryology, ethics, histology, and 1 credit hour research class. It was 28 credits. Second semester we are in lower anatomy, neurobiology, physiology, microbio, and physical diagnosis. It's 27 credit hours this semester but the material is much harder. Supposedly it's the toughest semester we are going to have in school. I'm at Kent State, and we are strictly a podiatry school so we don't share classes with MD/DO students. There are a few schools that do, but personally I liked being with only the pod students. It depends on the person. So far, the only class that has been specific towards the feet is lower anatomy. We do an entire semester of anatomy from the hip down because we obviously have to know it really well. A lot of people think pod school is super specific towards the foot and ankle but that's not till like second year. First year you learn the entire body with gross anatomy, embryology, respiratory system, biochem pathways, everything neuro related, etc etc. It seems just like a traditional medical school until second year

Why didn't you go the PA or NP route? I think those are much closer to a physician in scope than a pod.

Lots of reasons. One reason is definitely the money/power issue, I'd be lying to myself if that wasn't true. Pods are still at the top of the food chain, right under MDs/DOs and we have a great salary. Second, after shadowing I genuinely started to like podiatry and knew I'd be happy with it as a career. You can specialize within podiatry, the profession is very diverse on a day to day basis, and it's guaranteed surgery. I always liked the orthopedic/sports med aspect of medicine the best, and I can do that with podiatry

Do you ever feel deep down inside disappointed in yourself for not becoming an MD? Not trying to be rude, asking genuinely.

When I was applying to schools I didn't even apply to DO because in my head I believed that I have the potential to become an MD and nothing less (I know DOs aren't "less" but they are less competitive.

DO school, podiatry (I got so many emails from podiatry and DO schools telling me to apply), or any other fields would never satisfy me. Maybe I'm insecure, but I would feel like a failure if I didn't achieve my goal of gaining an MD acceptance.

I was like that initially. It's a pretty common feeling to have if you've had your eyes set on something your entire life and suddenly it doesn't work out. But I got over it rather quickly. I worked my ass off in undergrad, and accepted the fate that whatever happens is supposed to happen. When I finally committed fully to podiatry, I looked ahead and saw a pathway I was happy with

 

[Lawpy]

One thing that does grind my gears- I'd say a chunk of my classmates go for Pod so they can still tell everyone that they will be a doctor, or that they 'got into med school'.
It's pretty sad to be so obviously reliant on external validation. It's also one of the things holding our field back, imo.
Our governing body wants Pod to challenge for the MD/DO applicant pool in the future, rather than riding in their wake. It could happen, but not anytime soon.

So I take it you oppose merging podiatry with medicine? Basically get rid of podiatry schools and just make podiatry a medical specialty in residency for medical graduates?

 

[Dr.Sticks]

So I take it you oppose merging podiatry with medicine? Basically get rid of podiatry schools and just make podiatry a medical specialty in residency for medical graduates?

This; Seems like podiatry would be better off if it was a specialty someone in med school could do.

 

[bobtheweazel]

Why didn't you go the PA or NP route? I think those are much closer to a physician in scope than a pod.

The day to day of a podiatrist is exactly the same as the day to day of any other physician specialty. If you give me a point by point breakdown of everything a regionally specialized MD does on a daily basis, like an opthalmolagist, and I gave you a list of the day by day practice of a podiatrist, they would essentially be the same list (of course with a different patient base, but I think you get my point).

The oversight is the biggest thing that I wouldn't be cool with. Even if the level of supervision is low, not being able to practice independently would kill PA or NP for me.

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[TimmyTurner]

So I take it you oppose merging podiatry with medicine? Basically get rid of podiatry schools and just make podiatry a medical specialty in residency for medical graduates?

This is a big debate among our Student Government and APMA right now. Our practicing Pods want this- simply because they want to be compensated at the same level as DOs/MDs for the same procedures (in some states right now, Pods are not compensated commensurate with MD/DO counterparts for the same exact procedures).

In theory, I'm not at all opposed to it. It's what we actually want and what we say our profession as- a specialty just like any other. The main difference being- we work on all systems for one section of anatomy, as opposed to working on one system (pulmonary, cardiology, vascular, neuro, Ortho, etc.) on the whole body.

In reality, bridging that gap is at this point- I just don't see how it can happen. Right now, one of the Pod school is taking the CBS (at the request of the APMA). Only one school is taking it. I've talked to some of these students- the problem is A) our curriculum does not teach to this exam, we have out own boards that emphasize lower extremity anatomy, and B) The students right now are our gerbils- there is no consequence nor benefit of their individual performance on this exam. Let me ask you- if you had an exam, mid semester, that had literally zero consequence in your life- how much time would you devote to studying for it?

The results of this CBS will determine whether or not these students get the green light to sit for the USMLE (again, only as an experimental trial). I don't think we'll get invited for that phase. I think we're failing to prepare, and thus preparing to fail. We have to change our entire curriculum first and make this exam consequential before we can compete.
In addition to that, Pod students generally scored lower on the MCAT than MD/DO students. We're now basically taking a very similar exam a few years later.
What makes us (Pod students) think that we will suddenly perform so much better on this exam?

TL;DR- I'd love to merge Podiatry with medicine, making a specialty. I don't see a tangible way to safely get there without radically changing our entire curriculum and field.

 

[TimmyTurner]

Why didn't you go the PA or NP route? I think those are much closer to a physician in scope than a pod.

PA and NP's can't hang a shingle and can't perform independent surgery. We have no restrictions on prescription writing. IN terms of scope, I'd lend the analogy that scope is like a pool- PA/NP is wide and shallow, where as DPM is more narrow, but much deeper.

 

[TimmyTurner]

Do you ever feel deep down inside disappointed in yourself for not becoming an MD? Not trying to be rude, asking genuinely.

When I was applying to schools I didn't even apply to DO because in my head I believed that I have the potential to become an MD and nothing less (I know DOs aren't "less" but they are less competitive.

DO school, podiatry (I got so many emails from podiatry and DO schools telling me to apply), or any other fields would never satisfy me. Maybe I'm insecure, but I would feel like a failure if I didn't achieve my goal of gaining an MD acceptance.

There are plenty of students in our class that fit this profile. They clearly have an inferiority complex being DPM. When people ask what they do, they respond- "I'm in medical school".... no you're in Podiatry school. So what you're describing does exist.

I'm personally OK with my decision (not re-taking the MCAT and applying for MD/DO)- the reality is, I wanted MD because of what everyone else (family) told me, and how I thought I'd feel if I was accepted. These are pretty ****ty reasons to pursue medicine.

Originally I felt the way you did. How could I settle for anything less?
The difference, for me, was a change in perspective. The only person who decides that this career is less worthy is me.

If others think less of me for being a Podiatrist and not a MD/DO, that's their business.
At the end of the day, I will still bill the same insurance companies for the same procedures of the lower extremity. We sit and eat at the same table.
I'm good with my decision, but I can't speak for my classmates. I'd guess that there are others that do feel that way. I'd also add that it's not a binary population pool (1- those who are happy being Pods, 0- those who will always want to be MD/DO). Many come in with that deep seeded inferiority complex in the black depths of our soul- but slowly lose it when they start seeing the scope and depth of Pod practice and work as hard as we do in our course work- they know the worth of their work after one or two semesters, and begin to take pride in it. Again, there will always be those who will always feel less than because of a perceived lack of external validation. I'd guess that these individuals would always feel less than, no matter what field they pursued or achieved.

 

[Lawpy]

This is a big debate among our Student Government and APMA right now. Our practicing Pods want this- simply because they want to be compensated at the same level as DOs/MDs for the same procedures (in some states right now, Pods are not compensated commensurate with MD/DO counterparts for the same exact procedures).

In theory, I'm not at all opposed to it. It's what we actually want and what we say our profession as- a specialty just like any other. The main difference being- we work on all systems for one section of anatomy, as opposed to working on one system (pulmonary, cardiology, vascular, neuro, Ortho, etc.) on the whole body.

In reality, bridging that gap is at this point- I just don't see how it can happen. Right now, one of the Pod school is taking the CBS (at the request of the APMA). Only one school is taking it. I've talked to some of these students- the problem is A) our curriculum does not teach to this exam, we have out own boards that emphasize lower extremity anatomy, and B) The students right now are our gerbils- there is no consequence nor benefit of their individual performance on this exam. Let me ask you- if you had an exam, mid semester, that had literally zero consequence in your life- how much time would you devote to studying for it?

The results of this CBS will determine whether or not these students get the green light to sit for the USMLE (again, only as an experimental trial). I don't think we'll get invited for that phase. I think we're failing to prepare, and thus preparing to fail. We have to change our entire curriculum first and make this exam consequential before we can compete.
In addition to that, Pod students generally scored lower on the MCAT than MD/DO students. We're now basically taking a very similar exam a few years later.
What makes us (Pod students) think that we will suddenly perform so much better on this exam?

TL;DR- I'd love to merge Podiatry with medicine, making a specialty. I don't see a tangible way to safely get there without radically changing our entire curriculum and field.

awesome stuff, thanks for this!

 

[GypsyHummus]

Pretty bored right now, and I've never seen a thread like this before so why not try to see how this goes.

Quick background on me, I applied to MD/DO schools in the same cycle as applying to podiatry schools. My cGPA was a 3.7 with an MCAT of 499. I took the MCAT multiple times but I could never master it. Never had a test taking problem with any test except the MCAT. I had really good ECs in research, volunteering, and leadership. I got interviews at 1 MD school and 1 DO school with waitlists at both. I got into every pod school I applied to, it's much easier to get in to those schools.

I'm a first year student and highly recommend this as a backup career to anybody who wants to be a physician/surgeon. You get over the foot/ankle thing pretty quickly. It's definitely the closest you can get to an MD/DO. If this thread fails then whatever, I've already killed 10 min writing this up 🙂

Real Questions
What do you tell extended family members at weddings what you are doing, medical school or podiatry school?

How did you get over the whole "Not going to be an MD" thing? Currently, I feel like I'm settling, but in all actuality, podiatry is probably a better profession than most of the medical specialties out there.

How much are you currently taking out in student loans?

How many hours do you study each day?

What does a typical weekday look like for you? Weekend?

How often are you tested?

Silly Questions
Are there any single ladies at your school?

Have you become more attractive since telling others your professional plans?

I wish I would have taken the MCAT before 2015. The intensive reading combined with the breath of knowledge from previous classes did not bode well for me (always had trouble with reading comprehension) whereas before, it was much more procedural based (like the DAT).

 

[Weirdy]

Do you ever feel deep down inside disappointed in yourself for not becoming an MD? Not trying to be rude, asking genuinely.

When I was applying to schools I didn't even apply to DO because in my head I believed that I have the potential to become an MD and nothing less (I know DOs aren't "less" but they are less competitive.

DO school, podiatry (I got so many emails from podiatry and DO schools telling me to apply), or any other fields would never satisfy me. Maybe I'm insecure, but I would feel like a failure if I didn't achieve my goal of gaining an MD acceptance.

Don't know if I'm qualified to answer this but got accepted so I'll bite.

A lot of relatives in family are MD. I knew I didn't have the grades or MCAT to realistically apply/get. Of course there's disappointment, self-resentment, even denial. When your family tells you you're only going any other route because you want the easy way out, you start believing it.

A lot of it was just being brutal honesty to myself: With the grades you have, the weaknesses you carry, what can you do with at this point to push yourself to the next best thing?

Shadowed and enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Stopped looking down on careers and started accepting what my realistic options were with my profile. Still get chewed out by family with the "MD/DO or gtfo" attitude and in all honesty that mentality will probably never change. But you get to a certain point where you have to be realistic with yourself and be content with what you can do. Pod school will push me to my limits and beyond, but I had a realistic chance of getting in and finishing. Some people call that settling for the next best thing. Once I got rid of that mentality, it was a lot easier to truly have enthusiasm for podiatry and not be ashamed of it or do it for the "doctor" title.

 

[bobtheweazel]

Right now, one of the Pod school is taking the CBS (at the request of the APMA). Only one school is taking it.

I thought both California schools are taking it since it kinda rolls into the Joint Task Force they have going. Also, Western's curriculum should prepare them fairly well, shouldn't it? Not sure about Samuel Merritt.

 

[bobtheweazel]

What do you tell extended family members at weddings what you are doing, medical school or podiatry school?

I've seen this exact question come up a lot in the past on SDN. I'll put in my two cents here.

I probably say medical school half the time and podiatry school half the time, depending on who I'm speaking with and what the situation is. In a social situation, where I'm meeting new people, medical school sums it up concisely. It tells them I'm a student, what I study (medicine), that I'll be at it for many years, that I'm in debt, that I'll eventually be some kind of doctor, etc. If I say podiatry school, it's hit or miss. Of course, either way if they ask for more explanation I give it. But often times it's small talk and saying medical school is just easier, I don't need to go into the history of podiatry and how the field has evolved and the scope of practice and blah blah blah everytime I meet someone. That would be ridiculous. On the other hand, if I know I'm talking to someone in healthcare then I'll say either podiatry school or medical school, whatever rolls off the tongue. I don't really have a preference. I assume there are people in podiatry schools who 100% of the time say medical school and work extra hard to try to validate themselves, but...meh.

Also, I should point out that at Temple the administration and professors call it medical school as often as (if not more often than) they call it podiatry school. If the professors are trying to differentiate between the two (like their different office hours at the different campuses) then they'll call the MD school the medical school and us the podiatry school, but in general I hear podiatry school and medical school used very interchangeably at our school. There's also tons of "physician" thrown around which I know is gonna rustle some pre-MD jimmies, but I suppose it's all consistent with the APMA, CPME, AACPM, et cetera moving forward with branding podiatrists as physicians. And indeed in 23 states podiatrists are legally "podiatric physicians", in 7 states they are "physicians who practice podiatric medicine", and in 5 states they are either "physicians of the foot and leg" or "physicians of the foot and ankle".

I mean, where does a physician go to school? Medical school. So really either "podiatry school" or "medical school" or "podiatric medical school" (nobody's saying that last one) are fair game as far as I'm concerned. As long as you're well informed on it all and your intentions aren't to mislead people, then you do you.

 

[TimmyTurner]

I thought both California schools are taking it since it kinda rolls into the Joint Task Force they have going. Also, Western's curriculum should prepare them fairly well, shouldn't it? Not sure about Samuel Merritt.

From the recent APMSA meeting... As I understand it, only one is taking it. While their curriculum puts them at an advantage against other Pod schools that would take the CBS, they still don't have any other driving force for them to study for it. If it were rolled out to the other schools, they'd still have to give students time to study for it, or radically change the curriculum.

Edit; I'm overall torn over what's the best solution. I feel like we do need to move towards USMLE, but not before we change curriculum first. A recent consult showed Pod curriculum and MD/DO curriculums are very similar, with four exceptions:

1) We do far more LEA and Pathology.
2) We do far less OBGYN, Psych, and Women's health.

The message was 'do more of the subjects you're lacking' but it would mean cutting LEA, or something else out of the curriculum.

 

[bobtheweazel]

From the recent APMSA meeting... As I understand it, only one is taking it. While their curriculum puts them at an advantage against other Pod schools that would take the CBS, they still don't have any other driving force for them to study for it. If it were rolled out to the other schools, they'd still have to give students time to study for it, or radically change the curriculum.

Edit; I'm overall torn over what's the best solution. I feel like we do need to move towards USMLE, but not before we change curriculum first. A recent consult showed Pod curriculum and MD/DO curriculums are very similar, with four exceptions:

1) We do far more LEA and Pathology.
2) We do far less OBGYN, Psych, and Women's health.

The message was 'do more of the subjects you're lacking' but it would mean cutting LEA, or something else out of the curriculum.

I suppose we wouldn't need to completely scrap the extra LEA, as osteopaths never completely scrapped OMM, but are still generally accepted as equivalent. The other courses would have to change though obviously.

I heard the idea was also tossed around of a custom USMLE geared towards us. But I think that wouldn't solve much as it still wouldn't be THE USMLE.

I guess we'll see though. I think the one bit of hope for any of our brethren taking CBS or USMLE is it's not like pod students would need to ace these exams. Passing the USMLE is the only requirement. Even if pods could only pass by a single question, there are MDs and DOs who probably pass by only a single question, and since we have our own residencies that doesn't really matter. MDs have agreed that if you can pass their exam by any margin then you're fully qualified to move onward as a physician. Do I think every pod student could ace the USMLE? No. Do I think every pod student could pass the USMLE? No. Do I think a portion of podiatry students could pass the USMLE? Certainly. And that's all that should matter anyway to prove the point. Not every DO passes or even takes the USMLE, but they're generally recognized as equivalent. To require every single pod student to take and pass the USMLE for pod schools to be recognized as equivalent would be a double standard.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using SDN mobile

 

[bobtheweazel]

I would say the easiest solution for now may be to keep the APMLE but also allow some pod students to take the USMLE if they desire—maybe with a slight curriculum tweak. Also, the math is saying within the next couple of cycles we'll be through our backlog of previous graduates who needed residencies, and then we have the problem of our surplus residency positions potentially closing if they go unfilled. We should open up extra residency spots to MDs and DOs so that no spots go unfilled. Of course we would need to work with the American Board of Medical Specialties to get podiatry recognized, but it's possible.

I've heard many people, especially older pods, unwilling to make major changes to podiatry as it is. They want podiatry to always be different like that subset of DOs that won't let their profession forget about OMM already. I think that would ultimately hamper progress since a number of these people hold leadership positions in pod schools. In that case it might be easier to do what I said above and essentially start bringing MDs and DOs towards us (into our residencies) at the same time that we slowly move towards them curriculum and boards-wise.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using SDN mobile

 

[Sweatshirt]

Real Questions
What do you tell extended family members at weddings what you are doing, medical school or podiatry school?

How did you get over the whole "Not going to be an MD" thing? Currently, I feel like I'm settling, but in all actuality, podiatry is probably a better profession than most of the medical specialties out there.

How much are you currently taking out in student loans?

How many hours do you study each day?

What does a typical weekday look like for you? Weekend?

How often are you tested?

Silly Questions
Are there any single ladies at your school?

Have you become more attractive since telling others your professional plans?

I wish I would have taken the MCAT before 2015. The intensive reading combined with the breath of knowledge from previous classes did not bode well for me (always had trouble with reading comprehension) whereas before, it was much more procedural based (like the DAT).

wow, quite the post there!
1. My family in general all have a medical or engineering background, so to them I say podiatry school. If I'm talking to a complete stranger or someone without a medical background I say med school to save myself a long explanation of how podiatry school is different. If the stranger does have a medical background I say pod school
2. I answered this in one of my previous posts on this thread, so check that out. TL: DR I got over it fast, was happy with where I was and where my future was going.
3. Pod school is expensive, just like med school. I took out about $55,000 for tuition+living
4. My schedule varies, but I pretty much pull a 9-5 at school or a 10-5 if I workout in the AM, studying or doing lectures. Then I go home and eat dinner and chill, then start studying again from like 7:30-10
5. I just told you how my weekday goes, it's pretty repetitive. Throughout the weekday I also go to tutoring sessions occasionally for anatomy. On the weekends I always take Friday night off. Depending on how close exams are I may study a little on Saturday (2 hours) or a lot (all day). I take Saturday night off, and study most of the day on Sunday. Throw in working out about 4-5 days a week and that's pretty much my life
6. We have exam weeks at our school. So we have classes for about a month and a half, then take a full week and a half for just exams. The exams usually go W, F, M, W, F so we get a day between each exam. Gotta stay on top of your work so you don't fall behind. We have quizzes in a few classes, so grades aren't only tests. No papers or essays or anything
7. Yes, there's single ladies anywhere you go. Quite a few relationships have formed already
8. My dating stock has been pretty low cause I'm been in a relationship for awhile now, so I'm not the best person to ask!

 

[FutureDoc3094]

Would you recommend podiatry school for those who have both a low MCAT and GPA? Also, it is required to obtain an LOR from a podiatrist?