Undergraduate preparation for entry into podiatric medical school

Abstract

Student preparation for podiatric medicine is similar to that for general or veterinary medicine, but differences in both didactic and clinical training may require different undergraduate skills. Medical physiology at most podiatric medical schools is less quantitative; e.g., fewer equations are used in respiratory physiology since the lungs are not within podiatric physicians’ scope of practice. However, mathematics skills are useful for orthopedics/biomechanics which is taught as a didactic course and in clinical clerkships. Students should be well-prepared in mechanics, angular motion, and materials science from their undergraduate physics classes. Podiatric physiology emphasizes vascular more than cardiac, so undergraduates should also learn fluid dynamics. Undergraduate statistics would be more useful than the calculus, although a survey of calculus is helpful conceptually. Any undergraduate microbiology course should not sleight mycology, which is important in podiatry. Recent straw polls of podiatric medical students entering our college reveal that 80 to 90% have taken an undergraduate biochemistry and/or a physiology course (usually A & P). It may not be appropriate for pre-medical advisors to recommend these courses to all pre-podiatry students. All other undergraduate skills that would be useful for podiatric medicine are the same as those needed for general medical school: computer and database searching skills, ability to read graphs, writing and speaking skills, experience with group projects, test-taking skills, conceptual skills, and basic laboratory skills like careful observation and use of data-handling tools.