college student here...couple questions about podiatry

[bobby boi]

I'm new here so plz forgive me if anything here has been discussed to death. I have a sister in a US MD school, so I am more familiar with it.

1. Are the first two years of podiatry school similar to the MD school curriculum?

2. How do 3rd years rotate? In MD schools they'll go their family med, psychiatry, OB/gyn, etc. How does this work with podiatry? Do they still rotate the same way even though their specialization is the foot? Do they rotate alongside MD and DO students?

3. How do residency programs work? For MDs, they can match into different specialities, but what can podiatry students do in the Match? They are already specialized

4. How is the future of this field looking? Bright, average, or getting worse?

5. Do most podiatrists work in a group hospital setting or have a solo practice? what are the benefits and drawbacks of each?

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[Homo sapien]

1. Yes
2. You have podiatry clinic given through your school in 3rd year. Podiatry is your specialty, not MD with subspecializations.
3.Podiatry students match to podiatry residencies. Most are three years, with a few being 4
4. It depends on who you talk to. So much is related to ability, business acumen, where one wants to live, what aspect (wound care vs general vs lots of trauma/recon) a person wants to practice
5. It varies. There can be groups, ortho groups, pod groups, solo, a couple of partners. Benefits and drawbacks are, again, person dependent.

 

[J29622]

I'm a 4th year, so I don't have the real world experience of an attending or resident, but I'll do my best to answer with my limited experience.

1. Yes, our curriculum is largely the same. Comparing our curriculum with my cousin's who is finishing up his MD, the classes we share aren't really watered down though there are some classes we don't take that they do and vice versa. A lot of podiatry schools have their students take their basic science classes side by side MD/DO students.

2. At my school, we have mostly podiatry rotations with some off-service rotations as well, such as vascular surgery and internal medicine. I know of some schools that rotate through general orthopedics and general surgery as well. 4th year there are more general electives that we can rotate through, such as trauma / burns, vascular, nephrology and internal medicine.

3. All residencies are podiatry, though some have different focuses. For example, the program I'm externing at right now is a major trauma program, so a vast majority of what I've seen here are trauma related cases. Others are heavier on other things such as wound care, forefoot surgery, reconstructive surgery, general bread and butter, pediatrics, etc.

4. It's impossible to tell the future, but most of the pods I've spoken to who work hard and are reasonably successful seem to enjoy what they do. Obviously some are not so happy with their line of work, but this is hardly unique to podiatry. Physician satisfaction surveys consistently have podiatry among the better specialties, so there's that.

5. From what I understand, the trend is towards group practices, whether that be in a private practice setting, multi-specialty group setting or a hospital setting. Solo practice seems to be slowly phasing out, a trend that true across most specialties of medicine.

 

[bobby boi]

3. All residencies are podiatry, though some have different focuses. For example, the program I'm externing at right now is a major trauma program, so a vast majority of what I've seen here are trauma related cases. Others are going to be largely wound care based, mostly forefoot surgery reconstructive surgery, general bread and butter, etc.

How much are you expected to do in your rotations? Do they allow 3rd years to actually perform a surgery (under supervision of course).

Also, what other types of residencies are there besides wound care and trauma based ones?

Thanks!

 

[Weirdy]

How much are you expected to do in your rotations? Do they allow 3rd years to actually perform a surgery (under supervision of course).

Also, what other types of residencies are there besides wound care and trauma based ones?

Thanks!

CASPR Directory, American Association of Colleges of Podiatric Medicine

Click on program name.

All residencies should teach you everything you need to know to get out and practice.
Some residencies are heavier in a specific category (sports med, woundcare, surgery, whatever) than others.

But they all should ideally teach you everything you need to know.

 

[J29622]

How much are you expected to do in your rotations? Do they allow 3rd years to actually perform a surgery (under supervision of course).

Also, what other types of residencies are there besides wound care and trauma based ones?

Thanks!

As a 3rd year, you won't be "doing" any surgeries. You will usually be allowed to scrub in and assist, however. You can do minor procedures under supervision, though. For example, I've done a few partial nail avulsions as a 3rd year under direct supervision. I know of others who have done percutaneous tenotomies, made bone cuts with a saw, used the camera to scope out an ankle, etc. Otherwise, you can work up the patient, provide basic conservative care (tapings, injections, callus paring, nail cutting, bracing, casting etc.) as a 3rd year student.

As a 4th year, I know of people who've done skin to skin surgeries. It's not super common, but it happens. It largely depends on the program you're clerking through and which doctor you're working with.

 

[J29622]

CASPR Directory, American Association of Colleges of Podiatric Medicine

Click on program name.

All residencies should teach you everything you need to know to get out and practice.
Some residencies are heavier in a specific category (sports med, woundcare, surgery, whatever) than others.

But they all should ideally teach you everything you need to know.

This is true to an extent. All programs with a PMSR/RRA designation *should* get you the requisite surgical numbers to be licensed to do them. Whether you'll have the necessary training to be comfortable doing them is a different story. It also depends on whether those surgical numbers are from residents actually doing the case skin to skin or simply retracting and watching. If you, for example, want to be very comfortable taking on rearfoot trauma cases, you'll be better off going to a program that gets a large amount of trauma and has residents actively doing the cases.

 

[bobby boi]

As a 3rd year, you won't be "doing" any surgeries. You will usually be allowed to scrub in and assist, however. You can do minor procedures under supervision, though. For example, I've done a few partial nail avulsions as a 3rd year under direct supervision. I know of others who have done percutaneous tenotomies, made bone cuts with a saw, used the camera to scope out an ankle, etc. Otherwise, you can work up the patient, provide basic conservative care (tapings, injections, callus paring, nail cutting, bracing, casting etc.) as a 3rd year student.

good to know, i just wanted to ensure that I wasn't just gonna be standing there watching the entire time as a 3rd yr. I can just shadow if I wanted to do that. gotta get first hand experience

 

[DexterMorganSK]

good to know, i just wanted to ensure that I wasn't just gonna be standing there watching the entire time as a 3rd yr. I can just shadow if I wanted to do that. gotta get first hand experience

you will get plenty of real-world experiences before residency!

 

[bobby boi]

Physician satisfaction surveys consistently have podiatry among the better specialties, so there's that.

Do you have a source for this?

 

[DexterMorganSK]

Do you have a source for this?

You can also look at Medscape 2018 survey and see Ortho's satisfaction (its not the same but its something)...
https://www.aacpm.org/wp-content/uploads/2018-2019_CIB_FINAL_FOR-WEB-1.pdf

 

[bobby boi]

I'm a 4th year, so I don't have the real world experience of an attending or resident, but I'll do my best to answer with my limited experience

What's the biggest difference between 3rd and 4th year?

 

[J29622]

You have no coursework 4th year and you spend all day every day in the clinic. You spend about half the year out on externships, which are rotations outside of school affiliated clinics and are associated with residency programs, which essentially functions as month long auditions for said residency programs. You also get more months on "elective" rotations, where you get to choose which medical specialty you train under for that time. Options at my school include internal medicine, vascular, trauma / burn and nephrology among a few others. I know that others in other schools rotate through orthopedics and general surgery.

Expectations are much higher as a 4th year and responsibilities are higher as well.

 

[bobby boi]

You have no coursework 4th year and you spend all day every day in the clinic. You spend about half the year out on externships, which are rotations outside of school affiliated clinics and are associated with residency programs, which essentially functions as month long auditions for said residency programs. You also get more months on "elective" rotations, where you get to choose which medical specialty you train under for that time. Options at my school include internal medicine, vascular, trauma / burn and nephrology among a few others. I know that others in other schools rotate through orthopedics and general surgery.

Expectations are much higher as a 4th year and responsibilities are higher as well.

Is 4th year basically like residency then? You just don't have the degree and the prescription pad?

 

[DexterMorganSK]

Is 4th year basically like residency then? You just don't have the degree and the prescription pad?

in 4th year, you're auditing/preparing for residency by doing the externships.

You still get a pass/fail grades during 4th year unlike residency..where you're not graded but are responsible for another person's limbs/life

 

[AdrenalineJockie]

You have no coursework 4th year and you spend all day every day in the clinic.

But you still need to pay tuition?

 

[DexterMorganSK]

But you still need to pay tuition?

of course, the 4th year is still part of the 4 years of the DPM degree.

While you're not taking lecture-based exams anymore, your school helps to set up the externships/contracts to the different hospitals/clinics that they are affiliated with.

 

[bobby boi]

in 4th year, you're auditing/preparing for residency by doing the externships.

You still get a pass/fail grades during 4th year unlike residency..where you're not graded but are responsible for another person's limbs/life

I was more referring to the day to day of a 4th year vs an actual resident. Seems like it is more or less the same. You just dont get paid, cant prescribe, and get graded as a 4th yr.

 

[J29622]

I was more referring to the day to day of a 4th year vs an actual resident. Seems like it is more or less the same. You just dont get paid, cant prescribe, and get graded as a 4th yr.

It's not exactly the same, but it's sort of a transition year. You get to do more, you have more autonomy than a 3rd year, etc. That being said, the residents have much more responsibility and autonomy.

 

[heybrother]

The gulf between the two is wide and deep. I invite anyone who thinks being a 4th year is the same as being a resident to let us known how that went after their first week of residency.