One of our newer members, TooOldToDream, has given me an idea. Maybe OPM should be more inclusive of other medical professionals? So, to test these waters, I have made his/her thread on “OldPreDents” a sticky & I am placing this thread out there for Podiatric medicine.
Honestly, I know precious little about podiatry - except I am personally grossed out by feet (my own issue, I know & my wife makes fun of me!). But, it is a viable & respectable profession & should never been seen a merely an alternative to MD/DO. This year, we have at least one School of Podiatry exibiting at our conference. I am excited & interested to meet them.
So, if there are any OPMers out there who are intrigued by Podiatry - speak up! If there is sufficient interest, we will certainly consider adding pre-Podiatry / Podiatry forums.
I have learned to have a lot of respect for the knowledge and willingness to see and take care of patients that the podiatrists have. Given a choice between paging the orthopods and the podiatrists, I always pick the podiatrists first. They have a tremendous amount of knowledge in their subject area.
Tara
Podiatry will be represented at our conference this year with some of the 8 US schools of podiatric medicine as well as the American Podiatric Medical Association being part of our vendor fair.
I have extensively shadowed a podiatric surgeon, my bother who has been practicing for 25 years. The training for a Doctor of Podiatric Medicine (DPM) requires a similar rigourous 4 years of school at the same level that a MD or DO program would have. Podiatrists can be seen as physicians who have specialized in feet in medical school prior to residency. The first two years are nearly identical to medical school and some DPM programs combine classes with their associated medical schools. The last two “clinical” years are similar with podiatrists having typical clerkships in internal medicine, general surgery, etc., but with extensive clerkships in areas related to the foot, which overlaps with physiatry, orthopedics, endocrinology,(for diabetes managment) as well as other areas. Most states require at least a PGY-1. Ohio State University, for example, the Podiatric PGY-1 includes rotations during the first year include endocrinology, rheumatology, pathology, medical imaging, trauma, anesthesia, vascular surgery, family medicine, and podiatric medicine. Many programs are at 3 years where graduates, for example again at Ohio State University, “should exhibit the knowledge and psychomotor skill concerning foot and ankle surgery equal to an orthopaedic surgeon fellowship trained in foot and ankle surgery.” My brother’s practice is about 1/3 surgery, 1/3 general foot care, and 1/3 related to diabetes management. Additionally, he is a ass’t clinical professor at USC medical school where he has MD residents and fellows in wound care.
SDN co-hosts along with the American Podiatric Medical Students’ Association (APMSA) forums for pre-podiatry students, podiatry students, and podiatry residency
http://more.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=1…
http://www.apmsa.org/
Same here, I am looking into Podiatry, I think it’s really cool that you have the option of doing surgery.
I recall, esp post-MCAT score release getting a lot of recruiting stuff from the Pod programs. Except for the fact I have a pretty strong aversion to feet - YUCK - I think that DPM represents something that should be considered by folks. It is a legit profession & they do cool some cool stuff - just restricted to the land of the feet.