DPM or DO/MD

[Bigbash]

so an awkward thing happened to me this past week. I discovered podiatry. I mean, I rediscovered the path to podiatry this past week.

Let me start off by saying there are so many reasons I want to be a physician. And NONE of them involve the letters at the end of my name.

I have applied this year to DO/MD school, after I had no luck the year before, and i have an interview this year.

My stats are competitive for DO so they are competitive for DPM as well.

I want to be an orthopedic surgeon In sports medicine. All my sports med doctors were DO when I grew up. I shadowed primary and cardiology so far and they are cool, but I always get brought back to ortho. Here is my dilemma....

DPMs tend to have more specialized training, pretty much guaranteed ability to do ankle and foot surgery in medical school, and have the same privileges as other specialist. This seems like a straight shot to my future goals. As a DO I would want to specialize in lower extremities anyways. I wouldn’t have a guarantee to ortho and if I got slapped into primary care I would be miserable, I think.

I would like to know some people’s takes on this situation.

Hypothetically if I were to get accepted to DO, MD, and DPM school would I be stupid for picking DPM over them all because it is the “easiest” way to get into ortho surgery and a straight shot instead of having to roll the dice on matching?

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[dohopeful12345]

I don't know much about podiatry but I heard that it has a really limited scope of practice. For example, if a patient has diabetes and comes to see you, you can't even change his/her insulin prescriptions. I don't know if that's true, just what I heard.

 

[gensurghopeful]

As a DO - you are HIGHLY unlikely to be a orthopedic surgeon, or even a surg to any degree unless you hit 80th percentile plus on board exams following OMS year 2.

I was going to do pod, if I didn't get into a medical schools this past year. I now am an OMSI in South Carolina. I want to do gen surgery, but I am comfortable with ending up in IM, something all osteopathic students should be okay with come match time.

 

[Weirdy]

Hypothetically if I were to get accepted to DO, MD, and DPM school would I be stupid for picking DPM over them all because it is the “easiest” way to get into ortho surgery and a straight shot instead of having to roll the dice on matching?

Few things you need to be aware of:

1) During your rotations, you may find another field you like more than surgery. Sounds crazy right? But don't shut out that possibility completely. It happens to more people than you think.

2) Have you shadowed a podiatrist? Do you know how often they would do surgery versus all the other stuff like diabetic wound care, toe nail clippings, orthotics etc? There are only so many TARs to go around.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

I don't know much about podiatry but I heard that it has a really limited scope of practice. For example, if a patient has diabetes and comes to see you, you can't even change his/her insulin prescriptions. I don't know if that's true, just what I heard.

I don't know what their license allows them to do, but I don't think any ortho would ever change someone's diabetic medications. They'd just have the medical floor deal with it. Diabetic medications are not exactly the easiest thing in the world given side-effects of some medications, regimens and patient education.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

so an awkward thing happened to me this past week. I discovered podiatry. I mean, I rediscovered the path to podiatry this past week.

Let me start off by saying there are so many reasons I want to be a physician. And NONE of them involve the letters at the end of my name.

I have applied this year to DO/MD school, after I had no luck the year before, and i have an interview this year.

My stats are competitive for DO so they are competitive for DPM as well.

I want to be an orthopedic surgeon In sports medicine. All my sports med doctors were DO when I grew up. I shadowed primary and cardiology so far and they are cool, but I always get brought back to ortho. Here is my dilemma....

DPMs tend to have more specialized training, pretty much guaranteed ability to do ankle and foot surgery in medical school, and have the same privileges as other specialist. This seems like a straight shot to my future goals. As a DO I would want to specialize in lower extremities anyways. I wouldn’t have a guarantee to ortho and if I got slapped into primary care I would be miserable, I think.

I would like to know some people’s takes on this situation.

Hypothetically if I were to get accepted to DO, MD, and DPM school would I be stupid for picking DPM over them all because it is the “easiest” way to get into ortho surgery and a straight shot instead of having to roll the dice on matching?

I would honestly take the DPM if you're happy with that role and the limitations of their scope of practice. Being a DO and getting into ortho for graduates of 2020 and after is extremely uncertain and likely many times harder than before. Even for people that did AOA, they were still top of the class. If you were to go MD, I would say maybe gambling is the right thing. Even with an average score on boards if you have research and good auditions, I think you can land a seat.

 

[Bigbash]

Every answer hit the nail on the head. Thank you all! Thread is still open for other’s input also. As of right now I think I’m going to try to get an acceptance to POD school and see how the rest of the cycle plays out. If I get an MD acceptance I’ll pull out of POD if I get a DO acceptance I’ll have to do some hard thinking.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Hypothetically if I were to get accepted to DO, MD, and DPM school would I be stupid for picking DPM over them all because it is the “easiest” way to get into ortho surgery and a straight shot instead of having to roll the dice on matching?

If you get accepted MD then I say go that route, but if it comes down to DO and DPM then honestly I would choose pod if my aspirations were like yours. It's a good career, and is highly surgical if you do the right residency and set your practice up that way.

 

[Osminog]

If you're primarily interested in surgery, don't go to DO school. Only 54% of DOs trying to match into general surgery in the NRMP match were successful this year. For MDs, there was an 85% match success rate. It's clear that in a post-merger world, prospects for aspiring DO surgeons will be grim.

Given your interests and ambitions, going to podiatry school makes much more sense.

 

[de Ribas]

I don't know much about podiatry but I heard that it has a really limited scope of practice. For example, if a patient has diabetes and comes to see you, you can't even change his/her insulin prescriptions. I don't know if that's true, just what I heard.

Every specialty is limited in one way or another.

 

[gensurghopeful]

If you're primarily interested in surgery, don't go to DO school. Only 54% of DOs trying to match into general surgery in the NRMP match were successful this year. For MDs, there was an 85% match success rate. It's clear that in a post-merger world, prospects for aspiring DO surgeons will be grim.

Given your interests and ambitions, going to podiatry school makes much more sense.

AOA positions remain AOA positions and will most likely have bias towards osteopathic physicians even with a merger.

I honestly don't see much changing with the merger, other than the proper idea to have everything under one umbrella.

 

[allantois]

AOA positions remain AOA positions and will most likely have bias towards osteopathic physicians even with a merger.

I honestly don't see much changing with the merger, other than the proper idea to have everything under one umbrella.

Those "AOA" programs are already taking in MD students. Especially true for surgical specialties.

 

[NTT123]

If OP is more interested in a medical specialty, go for DO.

If OP is more interested in surgery, go for DPM. Don't let " limited of scope practice" fool you.

Your radiologist will not fix your fracture when he/she see it in x ray. Your cardiologist will not deliver your baby. Your dermatologist will not manage your psychotic medication.

In the real life, doctors want do less and not do more. Therefore, your orthopedist or or podiatrist will not manage your diabetes or hypertension. They chose a surgical specialty so they don't have to deal with it.

In UCLA, all surgeons include DPM send their patients to their PCP for Pre-Op H&P. They are licensed and trained to do but they let medical specialty handle it.

Every specialty relay on each other to provide the best possible care to their patients. Patients don't care the degree after your name, they care if they can get the best treatment.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

In UCLA, all surgeons include DPM send their patients to their PCP for Pre-Op H&P. They are licensed and trained to do but they let medical specialty handle it.

Well, to be honest on that, it's a CYA type of move, and even the PCP will cover themselves too. I've read "PCP" clearance done by PAs, and even when done by a family physician, it just basically says "patient has past medical history of X. He's currently taking Y. As of right now, the patient is medically state. It's the responsibility of the surgical team and patient to go ahead with surgery"

 

[Angus Avagadro]

Podiatry can handle anything from the hip to the toes. The vast majority limit their practice to foot and ankle surgery. They deal a lot with geriatric issues, diabetic feet, amputations, orthotics, ( which have helped me immensely), injections. They are fully licensed physicians, and can prescribe all meds. I have found them to be very skillful with local anesthesia and surgery. My college roommate is one and is VERY successful.

 

[Bigbash]

Podiatry can handle anything from the hip to the toes. The vast majority limit their practice to foot and ankle surgery. They deal a lot with geriatric issues, diabetic feet, amputations, orthotics, ( which have helped me immensely), injections. They are fully licensed physicians, and can prescribe all meds. I have found them to be very skillful with local anesthesia and surgery. My college roommate is one and is VERY successful.

you say hip to toes, but that doesn't include surgery hip to toes. Right?.. I would assume a podiatric surgeon doesn't do ACL repair.

 

[gensurghopeful]

you say hip to toes, but that doesn't include surgery hip to toes. Right?.. I would assume a podiatric surgeon doesn't do ACL repair.

Pods get an ankle or two if they are lucky

 

[allantois]

What pod is doing THR or ACL?

 

[Angus Avagadro]

you say hip to toes, but that doesn't include surgery hip to toes. Right?.. I would assume a podiatric surgeon doesn't do ACL repair.

Generally they handle lower leg and foot/ankle issues. My friend is a country podiatrists and did hip and knee surgery in training. He has treated gsw's and hunting accidents in his office. Depends on where you are, but you would be correct that the vast majority handle lower leg/ ankle issues

 

[eberge3]

As a DO - you are HIGHLY unlikely to be a orthopedic surgeon, or even a surg to any degree unless you hit 80th percentile plus on board exams following OMS year 2.

I disagree with this statement. I think having a high board score will get you into ortho but at the same time if you get above a 230 (considered to be a good overall score) and make a good impression on the hospital/connections you can match ortho. I wouldnt be that pessimistic about it. There are a good amount of DO (with DO program directors/hospitals) ortho residency programs too that you can use to your advantage even after the merger too. I wouldnt be too discouraged with DO matching in ortho if you look at some match lists DO students do decently in matching in the field.

I do not know much about DPM however I think MD/DO will give you good options down the line in case you find a passion for a different specialty. I would talk to DPM docs and ask them this question. My question about DPM is why do I need a DMP surgeon when I can just go to a foot and ankle orth surgeon.

 

[HarmonicConvergence]

I disagree with this statement. I think having a high board score will get you into ortho but at the same time if you get above a 230 (considered to be a good overall score) and make a good impression on the hospital/connections you can match ortho. I wouldnt be that pessimistic about it. There are a good amount of DO (with DO program directors/hospitals) ortho residency programs too that you can use to your advantage even after the merger too. I wouldnt be too discouraged with DO matching in ortho if you look at some match lists DO students do decently in matching in the field.

I do not know much about DPM however I think MD/DO will give you good options down the line in case you find a passion for a different specialty. I would talk to DPM docs and ask them this question. My question about DPM is why do I need a DMP surgeon when I can just go to a foot and ankle orth surgeon.

I'd say pick your surgeons based on skill set rather than degree. Do your research to find the best surgeon in your area, look at reviews you can even ask to see there surgery log book. A FA orthopod might have only performed the surgery you need done 10 times in there fellowship where as the dpm has done over 100, or vice versa. Just bc a surgeon is a MD orthopod doesnt mean they're inherently better at foot and ankle surgery and just because a DPM has dedicated there entire residency, education, and career to the foot and ankle doesn't mean they're a great surgeon.

It's your job to do your research to make sure you're getting the highest of quality care

 

[Ho0v-man]

Probably not gonna match ortho as an MD.
Probably not gonna match surgery as DO.
Will definitely be a podiatrist as a dpm. It also has a wonderful lifestyle potential compared to most surgical fields.

 

[Isoval]

I dissected a diabetic foot in gross lab today.

I can confirm that I do not envy you.

 

[Angus Avagadro]

MDs dont care for the most part If you are a DO. Some programs are provincial and wont take a DO.. Dont apply there. Make sure you are a competetive applicant for that specialty. Programs will provide their avg step 1 score for their most recent class. Spend your time making yourself the best applicant, rather than complaining about some perceived injustice about not taking DOs. I have a student, not close to #1 in his class, 240+ step 1, who will probably match in a top 10 program. Any one on this list can do the same . If you are not getting what you want, you are not working hard/smart enough. And enough bravado about things being different now and older docs would not be competetive today. Sure, things are different now, but I would play the game different now, and I would still achieve my goals. Get to work! Good luck and best wishes!