DrMoon,
Trying not to be disrespectful, but it sounds like you have MD envy. You are constantly comparing DPM's to MD's and DO's and to some extent DDS's to DPM's, MD's, DO's. If you want to be an MD or DO, then that is great! Go for it. However, it sounds like you are upset that you graduated from DPM and you did not have a "general" medical license. DPM and DDS's have "specialized licenses. Regardless of what state regulations or current attitudes are....Dentistry and Podiatry are specialties of medicine. You cannot separate the oral cavity from the patient or you cannot separate the foot from the patient. Currently, the DPM's and DDS's education does not encompass a general medical education. We get enough education to perform our specialty. I do not see how a rotation in Ob/Gyn is going to be useful to a dentist/podiatrist, as well as a rotation in Urology, etc. There are some rotations that I have had that do benefit. Hem/Onc., Pediatrics, Anesthesiology, etc. It just so happens that some specialties evolved around medicine that "within" medicine. An Opthamologist is just as comparable to a DDS, or DPM. The only difference is that the Opthamologist received a traditional medical education. Did they really need it?? Do they use their Ob/Gyn experience??? Would you want an Opthamologist coding a patient in the ER??? Technically an Opthamologist can treat anything, however I bet you won't find Opthamologists treating orthapedic problems, or even hypertension. Even though hypertension or diabetes, etc can affect the eyes the opthamologist is going to refer the management of the management of the HTN or DM to the endocrinologist and internal med. docs. Maybe someday we will see the full intergration of DPM/DDS into medicine. A DDS/DPM chooses from the "get go" to limit their practice of medicine. If you want to practice family medicine then don't go to Podiatry or Dental school. If you want to limit your scope to the oral cavity/head and neck region don't go to medical school. I am not saying that there are not problems in every profession. I am sure that podiatry has its issues as well as dentistry AND medicine. They all have their problems. Everybody dogs everybody else. You should listen to the MD's dog each other. Surgeons regard Orthopods as the "dumb" surgeons. MD's dog DO's...DPM's dog each other...Perio dogs Oral Surgery...Orthodontists dog Pediatric Dentists....Orthopods dog Podiatrists....Everybody needs to put someone else down in order to make themselves feel better.
You seem to feel that DPM's/DDS's are not real doctors, but Opthamolgists or Dermatologists are simply because the Opth./Derm. went to medical school and did some COOL rotations. How often does the derm. use his/her Ob/Gyn experience?? I doubt if the derm./Opth. remember anything from half of the rotations they experienced. The derm./Opth./ENT/Neuro/etc. have all limited the scope of their practice. Much of their medical training was "wasted" time. It was just a rite of passage. Something they had to do to get where they wanted to go.
Again, I am not trying to start an argument with you. Just observing things you have said. I hope that if you do get into medical school you won't join in and start dogging everybody else. If you will feel better about yourself having an MD, then that is great!! However, I know that DDS's have what they need to practice their specialty. I cannot say anything about DPM's, but from what I have been reading it sounds like they get what they need to practice. I know you have opinions on that issue. Regardless of what other people say or what some people use to define Doctor/Physician, etc. Podiatrists and Dentists are just as much Doctors/Physicians as Opthamolgists, Dermatologists, Psychiatrists, etc. Just because one does not practice Primary Care does not mean one is not a Doctor/Physician. However, I know that legally the term Physician is applied differently, but I bet you understand my point.
