What made you go into Podiatry?

[bkpa2med]

Was everyone pre-med at one time or are there people who were always pre-pod?

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[Dr_Feelgood]

Was everyone pre-med at one time or are there people who were always pre-pod?

I was pre-med and on the verge of going to Creighton. I then decide to take time away from school to see what I wanted and to grow up. The next year I applied again but did not get in. Then I look at what else I could do, and that is where podiatry came in.

Personally, I'm glad that I choose this over everything else. One, you get office work plus a chance to go into the OR. The next big thing is you specialize right away; you don't have to worry about what you are going to be when med school is done. You’re going to be a podiatrist. If you dream was to do surgery, there is a good chance that you may never reach that dream if you go the DO/MD route. Finally, you can choose you’re the level of your practice. If you want to be the all out surgeon on call every night, you can. If you want to cut nails all day and only work from 9-4, you can.

Podiatry seems to be a great route to make good money and still see you family at night.

 

[IlizaRob]

Pre-pod

 

[jonwill]

I always knew that I would go into medicine. I did all the pre-med stuff and took the MCAT, etc. A good friend of my family was an ER doc. When I told him that I was going into medicine, he suggested that I shadow a bunch of different doctors to see what I liked. I took his advice. I shadowed FP, ER, IM, Podiatry, Anesthesia, General Surgery, OB/Gyn, and peds. Podiatry is the one that I liked the most!
It's funny as an undergrad. Your first few years, everyone is "pre-med". By your senior year, it's neat to see where everyone that is left has branched off within the field of medicine.

 

[bkpa2med]

This is good feedback. Thanks alot guys.

 

[circle]

I had no desire to go into medicine while in undergrad. I played baseball and really just did not care about school. After my junior year I applied to nursing school graduated with a BSN went to work at Vanderbilt University Medical Center then got an MSN Acute Care Nurse Practitioner and worked in Neurosurgery. During my ACNP rotations I did a 9 week ortho rotation with pods and loved it! I did a post-bac to take the pre-reqs and also got a Masters of Biomedical Science and stared Pod school last fall. I love it and would like to do a lot of lower extremity trauma. Work, Work, Work!!!

However, I would agree with previous posts that most people in my class were pre-med, pre-dental or just bio or chem majors. We do have several MDs that were orthos in other countries and even have a Vet that did equine foot surgery.

 

[krabmas]

I had no desire to go into medicine while in undergrad. I played baseball and really just did not care about school. After my junior year I applied to nursing school graduated with a BSN went to work at Vanderbilt University Medical Center then got an MSN Acute Care Nurse Practitioner and worked in Neurosurgery. During my ACNP rotations I did a 9 week ortho rotation with pods and loved it! I did a post-bac to take the pre-reqs and also got a Masters of Biomedical Science and stared Pod school last fall. I love it and would like to do a lot of lower extremity trauma. Work, Work, Work!!!

However, I would agree with previous posts that most people in my class were pre-med, pre-dental or just bio or chem majors. We do have several MDs that were orthos in other countries and even have a Vet that did equine foot surgery.

what school?

 

[circle]

I really enjoy the profs, but some of the students they allow into this program have the worst attitudes. It makes some days really miserable because they complain about everything. At least that is the way the 1st year class acts. The 2nd and 3rd years are hard working and 4th years I rarely see.

I would have attended another school, but I did the post-bac and biomedical science program at barry. I also have a lot of family in the North Miami and Ft. Lauderdale area.

 

[gustydoc]

I was originally a pre-dent student before I switched to Podiatry. In undergrad I did all of the dental pre-reqs took the DAT and did an internship with a pediadontist. After graduation I applied to some schools and got in at UMKC. I was ready to go and had even sent in my seat deposit, but the more I thought about it the more I realized that I wasn't passionate about dentistry. I knew that I wanted to be a pediadontist or a maxillo-facial surgeon, but only the top 5% of each graduating class get into those specialties and I would likely end up as a general dentist. A friend of mine who is a dentist introduced me to his friend who was a podiatrist and the rest is history. He is part of a successful multi-specialty group and loves his job. I am now a second year student and I am so glad I chose podiatry. Whether you want to do surgery all day or specialize in wound care you can do whatever makes you happy.

 

[bkpa2med]

Here's a question for the experienced. Can you really just do surgeries? Would you have to be part of an Ortho group to basically just do surgeries? Do pods get most referalls from fellow docs or insurance companies just pile them in?

 

[Dr_Feelgood]

Here's a question for the experienced. Can you really just do surgeries? Would you have to be part of an Ortho group to basically just do surgeries? Do pods get most referalls from fellow docs or insurance companies just pile them in?

You can/will do surgery w/o being part of an ortho group. From my understanding, the pod in an orthopod practice is a new trend.

Just to give you an idea of the surgical diversity, the obvious area is orthopedic surgery of the foot (joint fusions, osteotomies). But pods also can work w/ vascular surgeons to "re-pipe" the blood supply to the lower limb, they can do work in plastics such as skin grafts and flaps, they can do surgery on neurologic pathologies, sometime if it is small enough, a pod will excise tumors and work w/ oncologists (this is a case by case). Basically anything that happens in the foot can be addressed by a podiatrist. The surgical diversity is immense.

As for referrals, come from there primary care physician and some from orthopods. It depends on the market and your relationship w/ your fellow physicians. Patients can also come to you w/o the necessity of a referral b/c podiatrists are classified as a primary care physician.

 

[bkpa2med]

bump

 

[nirvani]

Dr_Feelgood, thank you for your helpful feedback. I completely agree with everything you said, and especially like the part about how easily one can adjust working schedules in podiatry. I also appreciate the different scopes of surgery you mentioned -- surgery is a huge reason I decided on podiatry, and it's nice to know there are even more opportunities than I imagined! Thanks again

 

[do-ca]

Feelgood,

Where are you in your schooling and what do you think of school?

I think you are one of the true podiatry lovers on his site.

Thanks for the positive feedback.

 

[Dr_Feelgood]

I'm a second year at the College of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery in Des Moines, IA. Thanks for the compliment. I do truly love the art of podiatric medicine. I think that pods get the best of all of the areas of medicine. A dash of surgery with a pinch of clinical and a splash of research. Do-ca, I'm glad that we have a poster from Cal. We've had a few students ask about the program but have had no one to answer the questions. Hopefully, you can pull the weight for you college. So let's hear about you and your experiences in Oakland.

 

[capo]

I'm a second year at the College of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery in Des Moines, IA. Thanks for the compliment. I do truly love the art of podiatric medicine. I think that pods get the best of all of the areas of medicine. A dash of surgery with a pinch of clinical and a splash of research. Do-ca, I'm glad that we have a poster from Cal. We've had a few students ask about the program but have had no one to answer the questions. Hopefully, you can pull the weight for you college. So let's hear about you and your experiences in Oakland.

Feelgood, haha, that endorsement of pods sounds like a cocktail mix. LOL