Why not AZPod?

[jester44]

I am trying to figure out why people are not so high on AZPod.

It is true that their application process and interview day need work, but that is expected from a newer school. I was grouped along with the dental students most the day. The tour was given by someone who didnt know much about the podiatry end of things. I was only able to speak to 1st year students and not 3rd year students. But once you get past "appearances" and look at the school itself, it seems to be a very good school.

I have been accepted to CPMS and AZPod. If I had to make a choice purely based on the interview day, CPMS would win hands down. But AZPod seems to be a very good school for the following reasons:

1. The school is new and therefore the facilites are very nice.

2. The curriculum is very strong, similar to CPMS.

3. The first two years are more or less done along side of the DOs.

4. Being in a large city with a large elderly population, a student will have the opportunity to see more conditions and have a wider range of experience than they would get in a smaller or more rural clinic.

5. They have only graduated one class, but they had 100% board pass rates.

6. The Dean, Dr. Page is fantastic. He was the Dean up in San Francisco for 10 years. When I expressed some concerns I had after the interview day, I received a personal phone call from him and several emails. I was very impressed by the personal attention he gave me. He has 2 former CPMS people on staff and someone from Scholl. They bring experience and ideas from all those programs.


Purely based on the interview, I could see how someone would not like AZPod. But with a little digging, I have found AZPod and CPMS to be very similar and both very good. Because both my wife and I are from the West, like warm weather, want family close etc... AZPod is most likely the choice.


Putting aside the interview day, does anyone have additional insite to share about why they didnt like AZPod???

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[podoc123]

As a current first year at Azpod I can tell you it is a great school and I am really enjoying myself so far. We have a great class, everyone gets along, and I'm not quite sure why we get such a bad rap on here. Having all our classes with the med students was a huge plus for me because I know my education is the same as theirs, at least for the first two years. With a profession continually trying to prove and improve itself, I feel that Azpod's curriculum is the direction podiatry needs to go and I wanted to be a part of that.

As for the interview day, I felt mine was comparable to all the other schools I interviewed at, and I wouldn't put too much emphasis on it. It is the next four years of your life and you should choose to go where you feel you will get the best education and where your family will be the happiest. And I do believe that is the true bottom line

 

[geoff325]

i thought the interview disorganization said enough

 

[air bud]

why not?

other little things. we were told only internet access in library and one other place i believe. the reason was so students would stay focused? are you kidding? treat students like adults and make it as easy as possible to study and learn and have campus wide access.

anatomy lab sucked compared to scholl and dmu. 4 flat screens in entire room and hard to see from middle of room. no computers. look in books. i understand people have succeeded in the past this way, but get with the times.

no on campus clinic?

also, don't get caught up in 100 percent pass rate. i would rather now what the average scores were. if all people pass with 70 percent avg vs. 90 percent with 80 percent avg, which one do you want?

but talk to current students. that is my perspective from interviewing there, and I can't imagine a poorer, more disorganized interview day.

 

[podoc123]

There are eight 42" flat screens in the gross lab and I don't really have any trouble seeing them. Also, there is a clinic on campus. Actually its across the street, but I would consider it on campus.

Some other things: They just finished a new 2500 seat auditorium that can be sectioned off for smaller classes. A new gym will be finished in a month or two, a new research building was completed this last summer, and there are numerous other projects in the works as well.

As for the internet, I rarely bring my laptop on campus, but the few times I have it worked in places other than the library

 

[podoc123]

also, don't get caught up in 100 percent pass rate. i would rather now what the average scores were. if all people pass with 70 percent avg vs. 90 percent with 80 percent avg, which one do you want?

I'm not really sure if the scores are available. I'm pretty sure you don't get to see your own scores, only if you passed or failed, but whether or not the school has access to those, I'm not sure. Anyone?

 

[runner0382]

Completely homogenous classes.

The 3 M's: Male, married and mormon? AZPod's for you!

At least CPMS is somewhat diverse.

Otherwise, looked like a fine school, though not competitive with Scholl and DMU, imho.

Also, weather: 96 degrees in late October? No thanks.

Dr. Page: "Our students are very active outdoors"

At what time? 6am when it's only 83 in the summer?

 

[NyMets85]

Go to AZPOD interview day and check it out. You will either feel right at home or COMPLETELY out of place. If you enjoy hearing about people's missions, AZPOD is perfect for you. If not, I would recommend a different place to spend your next four years.

I definitely did not fit in with the people there.

 

[jester44]

podoc123,

Do you know any 3rd year students who can respond to my posting? I appreciate your comments, but I would like to hear from someone who has been there longer.

what will the new gym have? full court basketball? indoor track? tvs on the treadmills?

 

[jester44]

There are eight 42" flat screens in the gross lab and I don't really have any trouble seeing them. Also, there is a clinic on campus. Actually its across the street, but I would consider it on campus.

Some other things: They just finished a new 2500 seat auditorium that can be sectioned off for smaller classes. A new gym will be finished in a month or two, a new research building was completed this last summer, and there are numerous other projects in the works as well.

As for the internet, I rarely bring my laptop on campus, but the few times I have it worked in places other than the library

Completely homogenous classes.

The 3 M's: Male, married and mormon? AZPod's for you!

At least CPMS is somewhat diverse.

Otherwise, looked like a fine school, though not competitive with Scholl and DMU, imho.

Also, weather: 96 degrees in late October? No thanks.

Dr. Page: "Our students are very active outdoors"

At what time? 6am when it's only 83 in the summer?

Putting aside the weak weather argument (because one could argue that Scholl and DMU are terrible because of the cold 7 months out of the year), why do you say AZPod cant compete with Scholl and DMU? My limited contact with Scholl was cold and uninviting, and theres no way you are going to see the same volume and variety of foot issues in Des Moines as you would in Phoenix. I saw the clinic across the street and it was with the times and high tech like Des Moines. Would you explain what you meant by your previous post?

 

[podoc123]

podoc123,

Do you know any 3rd year students who can respond to my posting? I appreciate your comments, but I would like to hear from someone who has been there longer.

what will the new gym have? full court basketball? indoor track? tvs on the treadmills?

There are some on here, hopefully they will chime in.

The gym will have a full basketball court, running track, it looks very large and should be very nice, but I'm not sure about the TVs on the treadmill?

 

[air bud]

There are eight 42" flat screens in the gross lab and I don't really have any trouble seeing them. Also, there is a clinic on campus. Actually its across the street, but I would consider it on campus.

i toured the clinic. it is not for students. it is basically private practice for some of the instructors. the people that worked there knew very little about the program and said students only come here volunteering. check with a current student on this, but this is what i was told.

in regards to the tvs, they are there for students to see and not use, as opposed to other schools that have hard drives and internet access for referencing and studying.

 

[podoc123]

i toured the clinic. it is not for students. it is basically private practice for some of the instructors. the people that worked there knew very little about the program and said students only come here volunteering. check with a current student on this, but this is what i was told.

We have had one class in the clinic so far. I'm not sure how many we have in the future or how much time we'll actually spend there, but our PodMed I class was in there. We used the exam rooms to practice on each other. Again, an upper class-man would be able to give more valuable input than me.

 

[air bud]

you go there and obviously know more than me, so i will sit this thread out. just giving my opinion from an interviewee

 

[streetsweeper]

Completely homogenous classes.

The 3 M's: Male, married and mormon? AZPod's for you!

At least CPMS is somewhat diverse.

Otherwise, looked like a fine school, though not competitive with Scholl and DMU, imho.

Also, weather: 96 degrees in late October? No thanks.

Dr. Page: "Our students are very active outdoors"

At what time? 6am when it's only 83 in the summer?

LMAO!!!

I heard their clinics are not organized from actual Azpod upperclassmen. As for the 100% part I pass rate for the first time ever... that's misleading. Didn't only 13 people take the test?

 

[Creflo]

I'm in second year at Azpod - if anyone is considering Azpod and has any specific questions, pm me and I'll be glad to help.

 

[runner0382]

I wanted to add that AZ Pod students were very nice and approachable, like the poster above, and like any students you'll be in contact with at all the schools. For how new AZPod is, it's a decently impressive place. The physical plant and other parts of my visit were just big turnoffs for me.

Good luck w/ your decision! It's never a bad thing to have choices.

 

[damhsoir]

I was very interested in AZPod until I heard the med school was adding an additional 100 seats to the class of 2013 and they were starting a new dental program. I go to a very small undergrad and the biggest class I was in had 80 people in it (intro bio)...I thought that was big. I could not imagine sitting through a biochem lecture with 380 other people. I hate big lecture halls and I don't think it would be a great learning environment for me.

From what I've read here in posts and PMs, it seems that the pod program takes a backseat to the med school and other programs. I don't care how integrated they are with AZCOM, if the pods aren't treated equally, I don't want to give them my $. I'm not saying that this is how midwestern really is, but if I have this attitude before I even start school, I don't think that environment will really work for me. It's just not my cup of tea.

Best of luck to everyone that goes there. I'm sure you will be very successful as an azpod grad!

 

[Gryhu]

...the biggest class I was in had 80 people in it (intro bio)...I thought that was big...

lucky you. Biggest class I've had so far in undergrad was about 1200 people for Gen Chem.

Thats what I get for going to a university that loves research!

 

[podoc123]

I was very interested in AZPod until I heard the med school was adding an additional 100 seats to the class of 2013 and they were starting a new dental program. I go to a very small undergrad and the biggest class I was in had 80 people in it (intro bio)...I thought that was big. I could not imagine sitting through a biochem lecture with 380 other people.

The class is rather large, but not 380, the dental students do not take classes with us so its more like 280 (they added the 100 extra seats this year). My undergrad was smaller as well, my biggest class was about 50 students and I've adjusted fine to the larger class size. I do however look forward to the podiatry specific classes because we only have 35 of us in those.

When we are in the large classes with the med students there is no differentiation between pods and meds (they don't report our grades separately or split the classes up in any way), so I haven't felt under appreciated or anything like that.

 

[Creflo]

two things i'd like to mention about azpod while reading through here, first to jester44 i forgot to mention in your pm that there is a class in the spring of the first year that is worth mentioning - its called podiatric surgery. the thing about this class is that the instructor is a very successful local podiatrist that will teach you how to give a shot that is excellent. may sound corny, but this is something that can set you apart in the real world and your patients will appreciate it. i heard once that people remember 3 things - the day jfk was shot, the day the space shuttle blew up, and the day they got their foot shot. this guy teaches some techniques that aren't used out there, and they work!

second, i frequently go for one on one help to the basic science instructors, and they don't treat me second class because im a pod.

im not saying the school is the best or perfect or anything like that, i think you have to find the school that is right for you and can get an excellent education at all of them. there are certainly things about azpod that i don't like, so again you have to find the place that's right for you.

 

[air bud]

the thing that impressed me the most was their curriculum and class schedule/breakdown

 

[JEWmongous]

Go to AZPOD interview day and check it out. You will either feel right at home or COMPLETELY out of place. If you enjoy hearing about people's missions, AZPOD is perfect for you. If not, I would recommend a different place to spend your next four years.

I definitely did not fit in with the people there.

Yea, felt the same way Mets

 

[tdhtim09]

Completely homogenous classes.

The 3 M's: Male, married and mormon? AZPod's for you!

I'm male, married and mormon and I will not be in Glendale next August. I'm sure those who choose to go there and work hard will be happy with the school but I didn't want to go to a school that made me feel like a second class citizen. I didn't talk to a single podiatry student when I interviewed there and I couldn't help but wonder why. Anyway, I'm going to OCPM and I'm happy with my choice.

 

[podoc123]

I didn't want to go to a school that made me feel like a second class citizen.

Just curious, but what made you feel this way?

 

[footloose]

I'm a third year at AZPod. I understand- picking a school is hard. Here's the deal.
AZPod class numbers are small. About a third to half of each class has been of the 3M variety, and the other half is mixed M/F, +/- marriage, +/- more liberal. Everyone gets along pretty darn well, ans you're mixed in with the DO students, meaning, you will have DO friends. Half of my DO friends didn't realize I was a Pod until the second year.

As for weather, I am a runner, and getting up at 5am and having it be 83 degrees is not fun. The fix? Just treat summer like winter and reverse your training cycle, and it works fine. There are some beautiful desert trails in the valley and a decent triathlon scene. Plus there's a really nice Glendale pool a quarter mile away and a great tri training group in Glendale- pm me for more. Uh, but don't expect to train much your second year; you will be studying.

As for the curriculum, you will graduate from AZPod with a very sturdy foundation in overall medicine. The one current drawback is that we don't get much clinical hands-on time our first and second year to go with the Pod classes. That said, there are some great local podiatrists who will welcome you to come by any time and will teach you everything they know. Third year, welcome to your clinical life. They keep changing it and there were a couple hiccups this year with the organization of clinical (we are the third class) but it sounds like that will be fixed for future classes. Right now each student goes through a series of individual rotations. I don't know what the plans are for integrating the clinic; you'll have to take what the AZPod Office has told you on that.

The Anatomy lab is not amazing- but the anatomy teacher is, and that was worth everything. I also needed a tutor for anatomy (got a c+ on a test) and I had the previous DO class's top student spending hours and hours with me in the anatomy lab for the next two quarters- for free! I saw Scholl's anatomy lab too, and it is amazing, but we learned by dissecting and by walking around and finding the same structure on several cadavers, not by watching the flatscreens.

I hear the campus gym will open this year but go ahead and add a couple months to whatever you hear. The current gym is actually fine even though I was shocked when I first saw how small it is, and right now the school facilitates a membership to the city gym down the road for $100 per year.

Lastly, I'm surprised about the "Pods taking backseat" comments. The profs have done a great job integrating foot cases into the basic science classes, and I've never been treated any differently than a DO. In fact, I tease my DO buddies about paying less tuition for the same education.

I'm out of town starting tomorrow morning so please give me a few days for any pm's.

 

[Dr. Gangrene]

LMAO!!!

I heard their clinics are not organized from actual Azpod upperclassmen. As for the 100% part I pass rate for the first time ever... that's misleading. Didn't only 13 people take the test?

Not misleading. Every time azpod has sat for part I boards (3 times now) the pass rate was 100%.

The clinic is one year old. As the volume of patients increase, more rotations will be held there.

Here is your bottom line. If you think you might want to go to a school, go check it out. You can't just rely on other peoples opinion.

Also, for the person who interviewed with the dental students, you just got the shaft. That is not the normal process.

Azpod is an amazing school, and will prepare you for boards/residency. That is all you can ask. Also, most preceptors are super impressed with the upper classmans knowledge of medicine in general.

Last comment, what is wrong with Mormons? My class gets along great, Mormon or not. If you have some wierd image of Mormons having horns and whatever else, maybe talk to some instead of propagating hearsay you have heard in the past.

Anyway, you have to check a school out and see if you feel right there. That is the only way.

In the words of Napolean Dynamite, "Listen to your heart, that's what I do."

 

[JohnThomas]

Im going to have to agree with Dr. Gangrene on this one. I'm not mormon or married, and I love it here. That being said, it seems like there are a few misleading comments on this thread.

1.) We Have a ton of Large Flat Screens in our Cadaver Lab. It doesn't matter though, because we are not watching football.
2.) Wireless internet is available all over campus. I haven't found anywhere I cannot connect. Maybe it's because Mac's are better...
3.) If you came on a holiday, break, or a test day... you didn't get to meet any students. I think this holds true for all interviews.

Bottom Line:
If you don't Like the Cold - MWU
If you don't like the Heat - Not MWU
If you don't care about the weather - MWU

 

[yurgie16]

I agree with Dr. G and John Thomas,
But if we were to watch football games in the gross lab, we would have the entire anatomy faculty watching with us. Best faculty, top notch. Go Cardinals!