I applied and went through the whole podiatry process..... I was granted an interview for 6 schools within 2 days of submitting my online app(just the app, nothing else). Let's see... I was wined, dined and hoteled in San Fran(Japan Town), huge scholarships in Des Moines... and treated to cafeteria food in North Chicago(with a decent scholarship).

Oh yeah, I'm here in the Caribbean with no scholarships and no wine but sometimes dined with the occasional white coat mixer that I sneak to for some free pizza. It all depends on what you wanna do.

Opinion: Podiatry seems like it's begging for students and they seem to get close to their quota but AUC also has a handful of podiatry students who left Pod schools to become an MD. Take it for what its worth...

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Finally beat Super Mario Bros within 7 mins.

Conversely, if Uma Thurman pays you to go through podiatry and have you take care of her feet, run as fast as you can to the nearest plane to the Caribbean.

You know, being a leg man myself, I do think feet are pretty important to the package.

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It was green... Green feet are hot...

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Finally beat Super Mario Bros within 7 mins.

I am apodiatrist and MD. I must tell you if you want to combie medicine and Surgery go podiatry, if you want to make more money go Podiatry, if you find yourself limited then go MD, you must be ready for the boring job with no surgery if you are pediatrician,psychiatrist, etc.
The cosy of Podiatry is 3 times as more expnesive than MD program, but at least you will for sure get a license any where in the stae and make 6 figures in the firt year. I have MD and DPM because I am involved in research. If you go to carrebian school for MD then after you survive the ego of having you MD the be ready for the real world of kissing ***** of evey doctor to give you recommnedation and a spot at the hospital, if you pass step1,2,3 csa the be ready for the real world of getting a licnes to practice..

THE LAST POSTER IS DELUSIONAL (ATIYENSALEM)!!! MORE MONEY IN PODIATRY. THAT IS A JOKE. A GRADUATING MD (REGARDLESS OF SPECIALTY) is going to make much more money than a graduating podiatrist. I am currently a 2nd year medical resident and am making as much as my first year out as a podiatrist, post residency.
Some pods do very, very well, but those folks have been in practice for a long time and are likely better businessmen than they are podiatrists.
That is the only way you will do well in podiatry.
If that is what you like, then go for it. 6 figures out of podiatry school/residency? What a joke!
To the originial poster. If you want to be limited to just feet and accept a role as a pseudo-doctor then go to podiatry school. You will be somewhat limited as a caribbean doc but if you do really well on boards, get good letter of rec then you can still chose your specialty.
Good luck.

you arr not guaranteed surgical training in pod school are you? the pods i talked to said it was highly competitive and an advertising gimmick used on students telling them they can do surgery when in fact very few do....

and by surgery i mean the hammer toe corrections not bunionectomies...

with the mass of podiatrists out there i doubt the matket pays that well.. so you are in research?

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OBGYN PGY II
I see light at the end of the tunnel!!!...wait a minute its just another freakin tunnel!

As previous postings indicated, you need to determine what you want to do. If you are truly interested in the Podiatry profession, then I say go to podiatry school. If you always wanted to be a MD, then go to the Carib MD school. Podiatry school is not a substitution for MD school.

It is pretty sad to see how misguided you are about the Podiatric Surgical profession. As a practicing Podiatric Surgeon, I can say that I have not been treated as a para professionals by majority of the health care professionals that I have come across in the health care settings. The few health care professionals that view Podiatry as a para professional are people that are not familiar with the Podiatry profession or familiar with the older Chiropody profession. Podiatry has changed tremendously over the years.

As for being a primary care provider, you are correct that Podiatric Surgeons are not primary care provider. In fact, most of the medical specialists are NOT primary care providers. The only medical specialties that can be classified as primary care provider are Internal Medicine, Family Practice, OB/Gyn, Pediatrics. Hence, an Orthopedic Surgeon are not primary care physicians.

As for having a MD signing off for DPMs in the hospital and surgery centers, I am not sure what you are referring to. I have never had a MD or DO sign off for me. The only thing that MDs / DOs do for me is that they medically clear my patients for surgery. I admit my own patients into the hospital onto my service and consult medicine service if they have medical issues that need to be managed.

In terms of surgery, I perform surgery at the hosptial or surgery centers. With my residency training, I am currently Board Qualified (soon to be Board Certified) in both forefoot and reconstructive rearfoot surgery. Procedures that I perform include hammertoes, bunions, neuroma excision, foot and ankle fractures, flatfoot reconstruction surgery, ankle arthroscopy, ankle fusions, triple arthrodesis, limb deformity correction with internal and external fixation, charcot foot reconstruction, diabetic foot, etc... I currently take foot and ankle trauma call from my hospital's ER. I also have two local orthopedic groups referring to my group the reconstructive foot and ankle cases that they don't want to handle.

Of course, not all Podiatrists do the same type of procedures that I do. Many of the Podiatric Surgeons will only perform forefoot surgery (hammertoes, bunions, neuromas, etc...). There are some Podiatrists who do not do any surgery and are focused on routine foot care and conservative management of various foot ailments. Podiatrists usually restrict what they do based on either their residency training or what they want to do. As for me, I was fortunate to complete one of the those three years Podiatric Surgical residency programs that trained me in both forefoot and reconstructive rearfoot surgical procedures. I have had the opportunity to complete one of the AO/ASIF Orthopedic Trauma Fellowship. Currently, I am scheduled to go to the Ilizarov Institute in Kurgan, Russia for a fellowship on Limb Deformity Reconstruction using Ilizarov External Fixation Principles.

As you can see, the Podiatric profession has come a long way. Majority of the Podiatry School's curriculum are mirrored after the MD/DO curriculum. In fact, Podiatric students at Des Moines University and Arizona Midwestern University sit in the same basic science courses as the DO students and are graded on the exact same curve as the DO students. The Podiatric Surgical residency graduates today are far better trained than most of the older Podiatrists. Of course, there are several older Podiatrists that are very talented and have helped to advance the Podiatric professions.

In the past, only the students that did well in podiatry school were able to get into one of the Podiatric Surgical residency programs. However, that is changing now in that most of the residency programs are being revamped into one of the two new podiatric surgical residency model. Both of the new podiatric surgical residency models will allow for the resident to get surgical training. The difference between the two models is that one only trains the resident in forefoot surgery (hammertoe, bunionectomy, neuroma excision, metatarsal fracture, etc...) and the other model will train the resident in both forefoot and reconstructive rearfoot surgery (ankle fracture, flatfoot reconstruction, limb deformity correction, ankle fusion, triple arthrodesis, ankle arthroscopy, etc....). Hence, all of the new podiatry school grads should get some form of podiatric surgical training in the near future.

Like all professions, we all have those that are disgruntle with their respective profession. There are several practicing Podiatrists whom are disgruntled with the profession because they are not able to do surgery or perform some of the more complex foot and ankle surgeries due to the fact that they were not able to get into one of those surgical residency programs due to whatever reasons (horrible grades, horrible clinical skills, etc....). There are some disgruntled Podiatrists that were medical school rejects and are unhappy with the profession because they really wanted to be a MD and were never interested in Podiatry. As I tell prospective podiatry students, podiatry school is NOT a subsitute for MD/DO school. If they are interested in Podiatry, then go to Podiatry School. If they are are interested in MD/DO school, I tell them not to go to Podiatry school and should concentrate on their efforts in getting into a MD school.

Several of my classmates from Podiatry school started above 100,000 annually right out of residency training. So, it is possible. However, I do have to point out that it is currently not the norm for a new podiatric surgical residency grad to start above 100,000 annually. This may change in the near future. As for Podiatric Surgical Residency salaries, many of the podiatric surgical residents are paid on the same salary scale as their MD/DO resident counterparts at the same hospital. I was paid the exact same salaries for PGY-1/2/3 as the MD residents in my hospital.