EPT
back in july 2011 i posted a blog where i was studying for the MCAT. it's been a while since then so i figured i should give everyone an update!
i took that beast of a test back in september and i did ok on it. not as high as i wanted but i would probably have been slightly above average for DO schools.
why am i still in the application process when i took that test back in september? LORs, god dammit. if you are still an undergrad, or even about to graduate in a week please please please go visit your professors and ask them if they are willing to write you a letter. i went to undergrad in california and i moved to florida the week after graduation. trying to convince professors to write you a letter of rec through email is a terrible terrible thing to have to do. fortunately i managed to find a couple of profs who wrote letters for me, but it took a LOT of emailing (various followups, status updates, etc), and more importantly, a lot of time. get your apps in early in the cycle.
the questions i get the most frequently from people are "why podiatry?" or "podiatry? does that mean you work with kids?" i'll explain why i chose to pursue podiatry.
first, let me just say that podiatrists are not MDs or DOs. podiatrists are DPMs and are experts on the foot and ankle. first you have 4 years of professional school that follows the traditional medical school curriculum. 2 years of biomedical sciences and passing part 1 of the boards makes you eligible for your 3rd and 4th year rotations/externships/clerkships where you work at various hospitals. assuming you pass part 2 of the boards, this is followed by an intense 3 year surgical residency gives you the best training in the world if you want to be a F&A expert.
a lot of people think that podiatrists simply clip toenails. while that is part of the profession (for the diabetic patients), palliative care is merely one aspect of it. you also have things like complex forefoot and rearfoot surgeries. you get to see cool derm cases with all sorts of fungal infections. you can go into sports med. one of the podiatrists i met is the team doctor for the miami heat. you can go into podopediatrics (where you would actually be working with kids lol). most people don't know that podiatrists actually do rotations in anesthesiology, IM, neurology, radiology, dermatology, OB/GYN, etc. most people also don't realize that pods have hospital admit privileges and can prescribe any relevant medication. although podiatrists have a very limited scope (below the knee), the options for practicing are very diverse. there are also a lot of areas for research, especially in gait labs and statistical analyses for outcomes of surgical procedures.
i'm currently in the middle of interview season. i've had interviews at Barry University (BUSPM) here in miami, Des Moines University (DMU), and the Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine (OCPM) in cleveland, ohio. i've been accepted to BUSPM and OCPM and was waitlisted at DMU. coming up are interviews at Rosalind Franklin University (Scholl) in chicago, New York College of Podiatric Medicine (NYCPM) in NYC, and WesternU (in Los Angeles).
i'm pretty miffed about being waitlisted at DMU. but not just because the facilities were great or because i loved the vibe i got from the school. i'm pissed is because i had to suffer to get to my interview in des moines. my flight to des moines got cancelled, and the only options i had were to either fly to kansas city, MO, or st paul/minneapolis, MN. i arrive in MN at 11pm, get a rental car, and drive 4 hours through the rain to des moines where i arrive at my hotel at 3am. i think i passed more signs that said "deer crossing" than i saw cars on the road. anyway, i wanted to pass out but nope, gotta iron my suit. i finally get to bed, woke up after 2 hours to get ready for my interview at 8am. talk about being in zombie mode the entire day... only be waitlisted. but in retrospect, maybe it's a good thing because although the school itself is great... you're in iowa. lol
i'm excited about OCPM though. just reading about it online made me a bit wary of the school, but when i got there in person i liked it. i especially love the fact that a lot of the faculty at Case's med school are adjunct faculty for OCPM. also during your 3rd/4th years you do rotations at the cleveland clinic. that is so sick. out of the two programs i've been accepted to so far, i definitely liked OCPM more than BUSPM.
i'm actually leaving for my interview at Scholl in a few hours. tonight, i will be chilling in chicago with Milkis, Roffles, and Mystlord! next week i interview at NYCPM so i'll be hanging at TLHQ in NYC with hotbid, r1ch, waxangel, csheep and various other TLers!
i actually wasn't expecting to interview at westernU, but since i was going to be in LA for USC's graduation (my gf is getting her masters in biomedical engineering) anyway, i figured i might as well check out the school. i'm excited to go visit california again.
anyway, gotta start packing for my flight! hopefully i do well on my interview tomorrow
