New Pod School?

[dawgtired]

What's everyone hearing about the new podiatry school that will be opening next year?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[busupshot83]

What's everyone hearing about the new podiatry school that will be opening next year?

it's on schedule to open: http://www.westernu.edu/xp/edu/prospective/newprograms2.xml

 

[Feli]

It's a fairly hot topic among students and podiatry's leaders.

The program looks great on paper; it is integrated with a DO school at Western Univ in Pomona and the program director is very well respected in podiatry. The potential problem is not the school by any means... it's just the issue of residency spots and app:acceptance ratio. There are currently enough quality residency spots for graduationg pods, but it might get close in the next few years with the new school opening and other schools increasing class sizes (especially at OCPM lately, and AZ surely plans to expand sizes once they get accredited).

Furthermore, the goal for podiatry programs overall is to get more applicants and make admissions more comptetitive. That would make student talent increasingly more impressive and consequently help the profession reputation and patient care, research, etc. That improvement has been happening, but it's counter-productive when a new program pops up or schools keep increasing class sizes just because they're getting more applicants.

There is plenty on this Western program and related issues if you search the pod forums a bit...

 

[gustydoc]

Actually, Dr Harkless said that the school may not actually take its first class until 2010 now.

 

[bdaddyjolley]

What's everyone hearing about the new podiatry school that will be opening next year?

Well some like it and some don't. A friend of mine at the CA school doesnt like it because it might hurt that school since a lot of its students are from Southern CA. That means it might be harder to recruit these students to the Bay area and this might affect the school itself. Also he said, that it will put a lot more competition on those CA residencies and there won't be enough there so students will have to go out of state to find residencies or not get one at all unless more programs pop up. They should have put the new school in a state that doesn't already have a pod school like Texas.

 

[cool_vkb]

Well some like it and some don't. A friend of mine at the CA school doesnt like it because it might hurt that school since a lot of its students are from Southern CA. That means it might be harder to recruit these students to the Bay area and this might affect the school itself..

Yeah and that can lead schools to lower their admission standards more. I think 8 schools are more than enough. Nearly all people who apply to Pod school with stats around 3.0 and MCAT 19-21 already get admission. Its not like 1000 kids are rejected and they need a school.

They should not open school just because they have resources. But should open a school to meet the demands of profession and looking by stats i dont think there is a dire need of school right now. and that too in california, thats simply gonna create problems for that school as well as Cali school.

If they really want to open a Pod school and help the profession. Perhaps they should think abt Canada. Those poor people have to leave their country and travel here to study Podiatry. It will be great for them to have a Pod school there. Or probably open a school in Oregon or nearby so that the population of that area is covered.

 

[Red Head]

I don't understand why they are putting in cali... but very true Texas or Canada would be better (i think we are ok with the number of Pod schools we arleady have now though)

 

[Feli]

... They should have put the new school in a state that doesn't already have a pod school like Texas.

I think Harkless tried for years and years when he was at UTHC.^
I'm sure the practicing guys in the Texas Pod Med Assoc didn't want a pod factory in their back yard. I know I would have voted and lobbied to CPME against a new pod school if I was a Texas pod making a great living.

Whenever a pod school opens, a bunch of residencies will pop up, those residents will want to stay in the area, and the area will eventually become oversaturated with podiatrists where you can't throw a rock without hitting 5 pod offices. That lowers the income and patient list of most or all pods in the area due to so much competition, it makes it hard for new pods to get on insurance plans, etc. That abundance of pods is evident pretty much everywhere that there's a school - except AZ (because it's still too new) and DMU (because it's friggin Iowa ). I don't think the residency shortage issue for graduates is going to become a real issue. New LA area residencies will pop up, and existing programs will continue to add spots.

The more real problem is just the applicant pool and quality of students. As was mentioned, just because there are more applicants doesn't mean we need to accept more. When some less selective schools are finally starting to get more and better applicants, this new school or existing schools increasing sizes of incoming classes just puts us back at square one...