Podiatry will have a new face this fall, as Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, California opens up the ninth podiatric medical college in the country. The Southern California School already boasts a wide range of programs, including osteopathic medicine, physician assistant, nursing, pharmacy, and physical therapy curriculum. This August, the school will add podiatry, dentistry, optometry, and biomedical sciences to that list.
The College of Podiatric Medicine at Western University appointed Lawrence B. Harkless, DPM as the founding dean of the school. Dr. Harkless formerly worked as a professor in the department of orthopedics at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in San Antonio, as well as the Louis T. Bogy Professor of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery. Recently, Dr. Harkless received the 2008 Distinguished Achievement Award in Diabetic Limb Salvage, a great honor for anyone in the medical community.
The curriculum at the school will follow the “two-and-two” format, meaning that the first two years of education will focus on the basic biomedical sciences, with an emphasis on classroom learning. The final two years will be based on clinical experience. This is the typical curriculum of a podiatric medical school, as well as osteopathic and allopathic medical curriculum. Western University of Health Sciences will also take advantage of having many different programs under the same university by placing an emphasis on interprofessional health care teams.
The College of Podiatric Medicine at Western University of Health Sciences is currently in the process of getting its accreditation, through the Council on Podiatric Medical Education (CPME). There is space in the newly founded program for approximately fifty students. More information on the school, including how to apply, can be found at their website.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics anticipates a 9% increase in the employment of podiatric physicians between the years 2006 and 2016. It is in accordance to this statistic that the American Association of Colleges of Podiatric Medicine plans on opening up more schools soon. In 2007, Midwestern University in Arizona also opened up a college of podiatric medicine, with their inaugural class set to graduate in 2011. The new College of Podiatric Medicine at Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona will graduate its first class in 2013.
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