What is admission looking like for the classes of 2024-2027?

[Weirdy]

There are 4.0s who I wouldn't send my worst enemies to in clinic or surgery.
There are 3.0s who are fantastic in both clinic and surgery.
This is not the majority.

General rule- if you can do well in school, you will have had the basic academic chops to do well in residency.
Not unheard of for someone to struggle in school, work harder reinforce their weaknesses, and be a stellar resident.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[heybrother]

Everyone loves a good convenient anecdote that supports their life story, confirms what they already believe ie. their upward potential, their innate superiority etc.

-We all get to practice for 30 years. It would be nice to think we'll grow and change
-Patients with beautiful looking x-rays will continue to present to me, in pain
-Surgical prowess isn't necessarily correlated with financial success. It can be.
-Sometimes a person is a leader or up on a stage because they were the only person who volunteered.

 

[Feli]

...General rule- if you can do well in school, you will have had the basic academic chops to do well in residency. ...

This is what the adcoms at grad schools nationwide have been saying for yearrrrrzzzz!

 

[Robin-jay]

Its more than just answering calls. Can you be trusted to handle consults? can you be trusted with a blade? Does the resident actually know the anatomy and principles of surgery and medicine?

if a student does poorly in school they aren't magically going to learn those principles of surgery and medicine that they struggled with in school upon graduating... but it sounds like you have all the answers already lol best of luck.

Yes, but a student failing biochemistry 1st year isn't going to effect residency performance.

Podiatry isn't a particular hard field to learn, so even a mediocre student should be able to treat residency like a job to the point where they can overcome previous mediocrity.

 

[Robin-jay]

Everyone loves a good convenient anecdote that supports their life story, confirms what they already believe ie. their upward potential, their innate superiority etc.

-We all get to practice for 30 years. It would be nice to think we'll grow and change
-Patients with beautiful looking x-rays will continue to present to me, in pain
-Surgical prowess isn't necessarily correlated with financial success. It can be.
-Sometimes a person is a leader or up on a stage because they were the only person who volunteered.

Really, I'm just stating that scademic prowess doesn't correlate to residency success. Someone who fails biochemistry first year of medical school doesn't mean anything in the grand scheme of things.

And since there is no statistical data on academic prowess vs. residency success, I was just sharing examples.

In the real world, podiatry isn't that hard to learn. mediocre or good students can learn podiatry well enough, despite previous academic shortcomings.

 

[Bored Snorlax]

Really, I'm just stating that scademic prowess doesn't correlate to residency success. Someone who fails biochemistry first year of medical school doesn't mean anything in the grand scheme of things.

And since there is no statistical data on academic prowess vs. residency success, I was just sharing examples.

In the real world, podiatry isn't that hard to learn. mediocre or good students can learn podiatry well enough, despite previous academic shortcomings.

I don’t have statistical data either, but I’m willing to bet that the world would be a dangerous place without board exams, and a whole lotta malpractice suits.

 

[Robin-jay]

I don’t have statistical data either, but I’m willing to bet that the world would be a dangerous place without board exams, and a whole lotta malpractice suits.

I'm undecided on some of the boards, but I do not think boards part 1 is necessary for success in the clinical world. Those questions were more like trivia than actually useful for clinic. I believe passing classes is important, but boards, not sure.

 

[Treaty of Dorsi]

Really, I'm just stating that scademic prowess doesn't correlate to residency success. Someone who fails biochemistry first year of medical school doesn't mean anything in the grand scheme of things.

And since there is no statistical data on academic prowess vs. residency success, I was just sharing examples.

In the real world, podiatry isn't that hard to learn. mediocre or good students can learn podiatry well enough, despite previous academic shortcomings.

The arguement you’re making is based on a few examples you have. The issue is that in no aspect of science do exceptions make the rule. Outliers will always be around in any scenario (just because you’re 5’5”, does not mean you can’t become an NBA player, but it is very unlikely).

 

[Robin-jay]

The arguement you’re making is based on a few examples you have. The issue is that in no aspect of science do exceptions make the rule. Outliers will always be around in any scenario (just because you’re 5’5”, does not mean you can’t become an NBA player, but it is very unlikely).

But they aren't outliers. Its the norm.

 

[Treaty of Dorsi]

But they aren't outliers. Its the norm.

A norm in the circle of people you know does not make it a norm in society.

 

[Robin-jay]

A norm in the circle of people you know does not make it a norm in society.

No, the norm in general because most people in residency, regardless of their previous academic situation, tend to do just fine in residency.

 

[Treaty of Dorsi]

No, the norm in general because most people in residency, regardless of their previous academic situation, tend to do just fine in residency.

I’m really going to go out on a limb here and say not every residency has the same amount of expectations/workload

 

[Robin-jay]

I’m really going to go out on a limb here and say not every residency has the same amount of expectations/workload

I agree, but my point is that residents generally get through their residency regardless of previous academic records.

 

[Robin-jay]

Its more than just answering calls. Can you be trusted to handle consults? can you be trusted with a blade? Does the resident actually know the anatomy and principles of surgery and medicine?

if a student does poorly in school they aren't magically going to learn those principles of surgery and medicine that they struggled with in school upon graduating... but it sounds like you have all the answers already lol best of luck.

Yes, many factors should be assessed before trusting someone with consults, etc....but that leans more into my point of other factors besides academics and boards being the only factors.

If someone is able to pass all podiatry courses and boards, then they are by definition qualified to be able to handle residency via minimum competency in terms of knowledge.

To be frank, there isn't much to learn to be a competent resident in terms of relevant anatomy and principles in medicine and surgery, so I do think you could probably learn what you need in residency even if you had a couple weak points after you completed podiatric medical school and boards part 2.

 

[deleted1161719]

There are 3.0s who are fantastic in both clinic and surgery.
This is not the majority.

General rule- if you can do well in school, you will have had the basic academic chops to do well in residency.
Not unheard of for someone to struggle in school, work harder reinforce their weaknesses, and be a stellar resident.

I tend to agree. My class’s valedictorian (4.0 GPA) was brilliant in pod school. He matched at a top tier residency program: a real “traditional power” if you will. Then, he did an ACFAS fellowship. Sadly, he was sued early in his career for a complication and decided to give up surgery. He is now in Florida and practices as a C&C podiatrist…busting crusties.

The guy at the bottom of my class is now ABFAS certified. As I recall, he scrambled into an “okay program.” I remember that he was one of the few people who never “had resources” in school; he also asked a lot of questions and wasn’t afraid to be embarrassed.

The moral of the story is not to peak too soon! Keeping improving. 👍

Residency is the time to learn new skills. These skills will set you up for the rest of your career. Be sure to get a program where you manage your follow ups. Academic prowess in pod school is almost meaningless (It’s like being gifted in kindergarten). Hand skills, willingness to get out of your comfort zone, the ability to ask for help/be vulnerable, self awareness, the ability to adapt, people skills, drive, perseverance, and common sense are all more valuable then academic prowess in pod school. Older DPMs will talk more about their school experience because they only did 1 or 2 years of postgraduate training. Today’s 3 years of residency plus any fellowship is already equal to the time spent in pod school.

 

[GreenHousePub]

Academic prowess in pod school is almost meaningless (It’s like being gifted in kindergarten). Hand skills, willingness to get out of your comfort zone, the ability to ask for help/be vulnerable, self awareness, the ability to adapt, people skills, drive, perseverance, and common sense are all more valuable then academic prowess in pod school.

Based. I consider it to be the skinniest kid at fat camp but to each their own.

 

[Bored Snorlax]

I tend to agree. My class’s valedictorian (4.0 GPA) was brilliant in pod school. He matched at a top tier residency program: a real “traditional power” if you will. Then, he did an ACFAS fellowship. Sadly, he was sued early in his career for a complication and decided to give up surgery. He is now in Florida and practices as a C&C podiatrist…busting crusties.

The guy at the bottom of my class is now ABFAS certified. As I recall, he scrambled into an “okay program.” I remember that he was one of the few people who never “had resources” in school; he also asked a lot of questions and wasn’t afraid to be embarrassed.

The moral of the story is not to peak too soon! Keeping improving. 👍

Residency is the time to learn new skills. These skills will set you up for the rest of your career. Be sure to get a program where you manage your follow ups. Academic prowess in pod school is almost meaningless (It’s like being gifted in kindergarten). Hand skills, willingness to get out of your comfort zone, the ability to ask for help/be vulnerable, self awareness, the ability to adapt, people skills, drive, perseverance, and common sense are all more valuable then academic prowess in pod school. Older DPMs will talk more about their school experience because they only did 1 or 2 years of postgraduate training. Today’s 3 years of residency plus any fellowship is already equal to the time spent in pod school.

Outliers. Kudos to the guy who never had resources but grinded his way to excellence.

Best to keep good grades + first pass on boards to have options available.

 

[Seltonik]

DMU '26 started with 60. Rankings at the end of summer had us out of 55. Looking at the email list seems to put us down to 49 right now.

 

[Bored Snorlax]

DMU '26 started with 60. Rankings at the end of summer had us out of 55. Looking at the email list seems to put us down to 49 right now.

What happened?

 

[Seltonik]

What happened?

No idea, but like 12 people had to remediate the big foundational science 1 course over the summer, and we had already lost 5 or so before the end of the first semester.

 

[heybrother]

No idea, but like 12 people had to remediate the big foundational science 1 course over the summer, and we had already lost 5 or so before the end of the first semester.

DMU definitely has attrition during 1st year and there's still room to lose people 2nd year ie. lower limb, pharmacology, and maybe cardiology. There was some faculty turn-over when I was at DMU and the person who taught cardiac physiology / cardiology left to go teach at a different medical school. Had that person stuck around we would have lost more people. If you drop after 2nd year there's theoretically some different at play because there's not a lot of academic reasons to fail and things start to get a little bit more repetitive.

My somewhat skeptical feeling is that increasing the class size doesn't necessary increasing the graduating cohort. I think we started in the low 50s and were mid-40s by the time I graduated. It seems like you all are already cruising that way.