Class of 2018

[cthaye309]

I am a little behind on the thread so I apologize, but as far as deciding between two schools.. Honestly I'd say go with the one that, as cliche as this sounds, felt right to you and most natural from the atmosphere to the people when you visited. For the most part you are going to be as good or bad a Podiatric physician as YOU want to be. Determined by your work ethic and how much you are willing to put in and for lack of a better term.. sacrifice. I really think it is mostly on you as an individual, and yes the professors do matter to a certain extent and some are better then others, but I believe that this is the case pretty much whatever school you go to even whether it be DO, MD, DPM as I have family in all that seem to relate. So I would go with the one that felt best from the get go. Easier said then done perhaps but it always seems to work itself out.

I am a current first year at KSUCPM and we are in our second semester that so far seems to be the most demanding without question, and too many feels a lot like a "weed-out" type term to figure out who really wants to and is capable of being here. This also is something I'm sure every school you'll go to encounter. This term we have Neuro, Phys, Lower Extremity, Immuno/Micro, and Physical Diagnosis. We are currently approaching our second round of exams in just over a week from today. Aside from the consistency of the term I like it here and am happy with my decision from the atmosphere here at school to the city of Cleveland as a whole. It is definitely as demanding as I expected it to be if not more, so for anyone who tells you differently about podiatry school.. let me tell you they are wrong. haha. Also we do have summer classes this year, I believe we have two and a half weeks off then start another load of summer classes which I'm not sure what all it entails at this moment, however I know it is less demanding but still.. well demanding none the less. So with all that being said I guess I've spent enough time away from studying so back to it ha. If anyone has any questions feel free ofcourse tho to ask! Also Good Luck with your decision.

I appreciate you taking the time to provide me with some additional info. Good luck to you as well with your studies.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[SLCpod]

I appreciate you taking the time to provide me with some additional info. Good luck to you as well with your studies.

Make sure to think beyond what students say about a first year experience. Zilla was smart to look at pass rates, placement and overall 4 year approach to learning. The reflection of the first 2 years would be the board pass rates while the reflection of the entire 4 year program is residency placement.

 

[Pod Zilla]

Before we talk about summer...when is Spring Break for everyone??? Ours is in two weeks!! A much-needed rest for sure.

 

[rayovac]

Before we talk about summer...when is Spring Break for everyone??? Ours is in two weeks!! A much-needed rest for sure.

Biomechanics is 6 weeks in the summer and we start clinics once a week during this time as well. Its strange bc it starts in may we stop for 3 weeks then start again the end of june for a total of 10 weeks.

We had our "spring break" last week. It was a great break from our dual weekly exams. Enjoy the time off!

 

[Pod Zilla]

Final stretch, everyone! Hang in there. We are almost a 1/4 of a doctor

 

[rayovac]

When is everyones last day? May 22 here, and it can't come any sooner

 

[Pod Zilla]

Our last exam is on May 26th then it's two months of freedom!!

 

[rayovac]

One more week!!!! Can't wait for break. Good luck everyone to these last couple weeks of class. 1/4 Docs!

 

[Pod Zilla]

May 26th can't come fast enough!

 

[torontopharm]

.

 

[Pod Zilla]

Hey just quick question for you guys What are the methods of evaluation in your 1st/2nd year courses? i.e are midterms/finals worth the greatest chunk of your mark? are you required to do a lot of assignments/projects/presentations etc.? Just trying to get a general idea about how much pod school differs from undergrad.

We are on a block schedule and each class will have a set number of exams, some with more and some with less. Each class ends at different times. For instance, we are down to only two classes, one ends Thursday this week and the other next Tuesday. It is nothing like undergraduate courses. Your grade is dependent solely on exams. There are no projects/presentations/assignments. It is all up to you to learn everything on your own then get tested on it. We have at least one exam every week, sometimes two. Each exam will cover anywhere between 10-20 lectures, depending on the course. Of course, this is my experience and every school is different.

 

[rayovac]

We are on a block schedule and each class will have a set number of exams, some with more and some with less. Each class ends at different times. For instance, we are down to only two classes, one ends Thursday this week and the other next Tuesday. It is nothing like undergraduate courses. Your grade is dependent solely on exams. There are no projects/presentations/assignments. It is all up to you to learn everything on your own then get tested on it. We have at least one exam every week, sometimes two. Each exam will cover anywhere between 10-20 lectures, depending on the course. Of course, this is my experience and every school is different.

^This. Grades are purely based off exams. If you are a good exam taker, it helps.

 

[rayovac]

@Pod zilla enjoy the well deserved break! I'm 1 week in and it feels great haha.

 

[Pod Zilla]

Today is one week into my summer break and I can't put into words how great it feels to be done with the first year. Great job, everyone!

 

[rayovac]

Back to the grind for us at school with biomechanics. But only have to focus on this one course has been great to enjoy the city more! Hope everyone is enjoying their break. Soon to be P2!

 

[rayovac]

Onward second year!!! Good luck all

 

[acromium]

Hey, I hope everyone enjoyed their short-lived summer! How is everyone's second year going? I've been in school for about a month now and we are taking Path, Pharm, Micro/Immuno, Pathomechanics, Radiology, Casting, and some others. What classes is everyone taking? I'm sure soon once boards part I come around we will have a lot to discuss, but for now we can relax somewhat.

 

[Pod Zilla]

Summer definitely went by too fast. We are currently in Pharm and have started our system courses, cardio/pulm being the first set. Our Fall schedule is pretty chill but Spring will be jam packed again so I'm definitely enjoying the relaxing schedule for now. Yeah, we're all pretty quiet here on this thread, hopefully more people will jump on as we get closer to prepping for boards.

 

[rayovac]

Hey all. Late late response, Ive been swimming this second year. Our schedule is so busy. We taking peripheral vascular disease, sports med, derm, medicine, radio, path, pharm, pediatrics, surgery and then afternoon clinics every other week. Ill probably use this winter break to finally get all my stuff together for boards. How long are you prospective schools giving you to prepare?

 

[wakaflocka88]

Hey all. Late late response, Ive been swimming this second year. Our schedule is so busy. We taking peripheral vascular disease, sports med, derm, medicine, radio, path, pharm, pediatrics, surgery and then afternoon clinics every other week. Ill probably use this winter break to finally get all my stuff together for boards. How long are you prospective schools giving you to prepare?

Study hard and grind it out your 2nd year, and reviewing for boards will be much easier.

 

[TheSwedeness]

What subjects would you guys recommend that I re-study before starting pod school? I have 4 months of doing "nothing" so I am planning on studying some anatomy and maybe some Biochem??

 

[soccerfeet]

What subjects would you guys recommend that I re-study before starting pod school? I have 4 months of doing "nothing" so I am planning on studying some anatomy and maybe some Biochem??

Nothing. Don't study anything before. Biochem is so much different in undergrad it wouldn't even be worth it. This has been the opinion of many of my classmates as well.

Also 4 months would put you starting in February/March ish... Is that a typo?

 

[SLCpod]

Nothing. Don't study anything before. Biochem is so much different in undergrad it wouldn't even be worth it. This has been the opinion of many of my classmates as well.

Also 4 months would put you starting in February/March ish... Is that a typo?

Agreed. It would be good to look at some anatomy here and there but nothing more than that.

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

 

[TheSwedeness]

Nothing. Don't study anything before. Biochem is so much different in undergrad it wouldn't even be worth it. This has been the opinion of many of my classmates as well.

Also 4 months would put you starting in February/March ish... Is that a typo?

Thanks for your answer! I will begin in august, but 4 months prior to august, I will be off from school/work so I thought I might prep myself for pod school, but I guess I won't

 

[rayovac]

The 3rd years leave for rotations starting January so our clinic will be fully ran by us 2nd years. **** is getting real.

 

[Pod Zilla]

Sorry, I've been off the radar for awhile. Not a whole lot is happening here. We finished Pharm a couple weeks ago and we're just down to one class. I know, it seems pretty light and ridiculous (which I agree), but our second semester will be much more hectic. It's interesting seeing that all of you have taken so many pod-oriented classes already. We don't start any of those until next semester.

Speaking of boards, has anyone thought of any strategies? Like timeline, materials, etc

 

[rayovac]

Sorry, I've been off the radar for awhile. Not a whole lot is happening here. We finished Pharm a couple weeks ago and we're just down to one class. I know, it seems pretty light and ridiculous (which I agree), but our second semester will be much more hectic. It's interesting seeing that all of you have taken so many pod-oriented classes already. We don't start any of those until next semester.

Speaking of boards, has anyone thought of any strategies? Like timeline, materials, etc

Yeah the material will get much more interesting once the pod focused material hits with your school. We wrap up pharm in February. I hope you learned it well bc it is incorporated in almost all of our pod focused classes. In our medicine course we have these 1 question quizzes at the beginning of class where we have to essentially write a prescription for some kind of drug and know the dose, how often they are taken, how many to dispense etc etc.

I plan on doing some more research on boards over break. A lot of upper classmen have given me all these tips and hints, but Ive just threw them in a pile of stuff I gotta sort through. Ill post up later what I plan on using and maybe others can add or recommend stuff. I think there might be some good threads here with advice as well that Ill have to look through. 1 more week and finally break. Good luck with the rest of your exams and enjoy this break!

 

[wakaflocka88]

Yeah the material will get much more interesting once the pod focused material hits with your school. We wrap up pharm in February. I hope you learned it well bc it is incorporated in almost all of our pod focused classes. In our medicine course we have these 1 question quizzes at the beginning of class where we have to essentially write a prescription for some kind of drug and know the dose, how often they are taken, how many to dispense etc etc.

I plan on doing some more research on boards over break. A lot of upper classmen have given me all these tips and hints, but Ive just threw them in a pile of stuff I gotta sort through. Ill post up later what I plan on using and maybe others can add or recommend stuff. I think there might be some good threads here with advice as well that Ill have to look through. 1 more week and finally break. Good luck with the rest of your exams and enjoy this break!

I just used class notes (LEA, pharm, micro, gross anatomy, physio) and First Aid (2014 version) and BRS Physiology. You shouldn't be "studying" for boards if you busted your ass first 2 years and grinded it out. To each their own.

 

[BTR1208]

Curious 1st and 2nd year how much time you spent on school work?

Is it possible to enjoy life/family during school? Might seem odd but it's a very important factor to me. Not talking anything crazy but an hr or 2 a day. I know pod school and any professional school will be a lot of work.

 

[SLCpod]

Curious 1st and 2nd year how much time you spent on school work?

Is it possible to enjoy life/family during school? Might seem odd but it's a very important factor to me. Not talking anything crazy but an hr or 2 a day. I know pod school and any professional school will be a lot of work.

You will have time for your family. You need to plan the time you need to study and the time you need to be with your family. There'll be those busy weeks when you're studying for finals that you won't get to see much of them. There will also be those months during your fourth year that you are doing externships that you will be gone. There are quite a few people in my class that have families and are doing very well.

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

 

[rayovac]

^bump. 5 months til boards. Maybe its just me but anyone feel like second year flew by faster then first?

 

[rayovac]

I registered. 7/7 creeping up!

 

[rayovac]

3 weeks til Boards. In case any others are interested or lower classmen/women. This is what I am using for board prep. Ill update once I actually pass
Scholl Lower Anatomy notes
Sketchy Micro
Pharm Recall
BRS Physio/Anatomy
First Aid- Just for Immuno and quick Biochem review
Pathoma

A lot of this I'm going through quickly. The concepts will come back to you much faster the second time around and those that don't, you can spend more time figuring out.

Good luck C/O 2018 with studying. Message me if you have any questions regarding my study materials.

 

[acromium]

Good luck with studying everyone. This is what I have been using to study (other than LEA notes):
- Sketchy Micro & memorizing BRS Micro flashcards
- First Aid (biochem, immuno, pharm, anatomy, rapid review)
- BRS Physiology
- BRS Pathology flashcards (Pathoma seems like overkill)
- Pocket LEA app, have board vitals, but I wish there were more free practice questions for LEA available.

 

[rayovac]

I just wanted to wish everyone the best of luck on Thursday. I hope everyone has success in passing step 1. Whatever the outcome may be take time for yourself to celebrate afterwards, this process has been long and grueling.

 

[acromium]

Well now that it's over, what did everyone think about Part I ? I thought the exam was pretty straightforward. My exam was primarily LEA, micro, and pharm like everyone has said before. I had some obscure path/anatomy that I didn't know, but I expected that.

 

[rayovac]

Passed Boards! woo hoo. I hope everyone else has as good of luck!

 

[acromium]

Yep same here! Does anyone know the pass rates for their respective schools? Overall it was about 84% pass rate

 

[Allykat2006]

Anyone know National Pass rates?

 

[rayovac]

I think acromium stated that above. around 84%. I think my school had similar first time pass rates as nationally.

 

[Allykat2006]

Yep same here! Does anyone know the pass rates for their respective schools? Overall it was about 84% pass rate

thanks... KSUCPM 74% pass what about your school?

 

[rayovac]

clerkship rotations 1st round pick soon. Crazy.... everything is going by so fast now!

 

[rayovac]

Good luck on round 1 clerkships picks today!!

 

[acromium]

For round 1, does anyone have just "requested" for a month? With neither an accepted or rejected option. Many have said it's a waitlist or a glitch in the website, but I'm not sure. Any thoughts?

 

[Allykat2006]

For round 1, does anyone have just "requested" for a month? With neither an accepted or rejected option. Many have said it's a waitlist or a glitch in the website, but I'm not sure. Any thoughts?

Yes I too have one, our clerkship director at Kent told us it was a waitlist type deal. Hope this helps

 

[chrisv2k]

acromium, who are you? I'm in your class

 

[rayovac]

I hope that everyone got their schedules squared away for clerkships with this final round of acceptances. For the next incoming class do any of you have tips about how you would have gone about scheduling your clerks knowing what you do now? Ill start. If you have to go into the 2nd round and you dont get all your matches in 1 swing, its not the end of the world. I got some amazing offers my second round. Of course this depends on your class rank and stats, but I did take a chance and did not take an acceptance for 1 of my months bc it was my last choice and I reapplied to other programs that i couldnt fit into my schedule my first round and was offered almost a spot from all of them. Now Im not saying that this is how it will turn out for everyone who will do this, but dont despair if you dont fill up everything with 1st round.

Also that requested is a waitlist is sort of true and not. Some programs will not decline you and leave you as this status, others will switch it to decline and let you know. The thing about that is when they leave that as requested, that request ends up counting as a school the next round of applications, so for those who don't change it to declined it affects you by wasiting a potential spot that you will never have gotten. However I did have one program that was request turn to an acceptance the second round. (If I am incorrect about this and there was some option to remove previous choices, I was unaware and let me know so I can edit this post)

Also some programs for some reason or not didnt even make it on time for acceptances the first round. I feel like DMC was late to their first round and nobody received anything from there.. I might be wrong on this one as my sample pool was just my other classmates, but someone else could chime in. Second round however a lot of people got them.

Its getting real, clerkships will be here soon!

 

[pod9764]

(If I am incorrect about this and there was some option to remove previous choices, I was unaware and let me know so I can edit this post)

There is no option for removing previous choices. All designations count towards the total.

 

[rayovac]

crazy, I finished my last didactic exam of my pod career.... feels unreal

 

[rayovac]

CSPE part II, $1230.... ridiculous