06/23/2025    Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD

Other non-MD, non-DO Doctor Healthcare Providers

I thought it might be interesting to look at the
data surrounding other non-physicians, but in a
non-judgmental view, of course. Draw your own
conclusions but be sure to refrain from rash
judging anyone blowing their own horn about how
hard they work and the good they do. A lot of the
following data had large ranges, so I used the
Jethro Bodine average technique. For those who
aren’t familiar with Jethro it went something
like; “Cipher, carry, naught, naught, carry,
cipher, etc…”

Doctors of Chiropractic

There are 18 accredited chiropractic colleges in
the US with 2800 first year students right now. In
2023, approximately 2700 students were awarded a
Doctor of Chiropractic degree. Tuition per year
averages about $30,000 and the average income is
$89,000 per year. Average admission GPA is 3.38
and a school can suffer loss of accreditation if
they admit anyone with a GPA below 3.0. Most
accredited chiropractic schools offer business
courses in practice management, business
administration, ethics and law, and professional
development. These include office set up, billing,
insurance, CPT/ICD, accounting, budgeting,
marketing, risk management, HIPAA,
entrepreneurship, and time management.

Chiropractors have fellowships and chiropractors
call themselves “sports, neurologic, pediatric,
rehabilitation and orthopedic chiropractors.”
There is a sports chiropractor who has patented,
yes patented, certain chiropractic techniques and
supposedly a chiropractor is not allowed to use
them without paying this person to learn them. I’m
not sure what happens if a run of the mill
chiropractor pushes on a motor point without
permission. There are threats of suits over
advertising about the use of the technique without
permission from the inventor/discoverer or patent
holder.

There are several organizations that accredit or
better recognize different fellowships. It doesn’t
look like there is a central recognizing
organization meaning you could start your own
organization and certify yourself?

Doctor of Dental Surgery or Medical Dentistry
There are 76 accredited dental schools in the US
with 7,000 first year students. Approximately
6,800 students were awarded Doctors of Dental
Surgery or Medical Dentistry degrees. Tuition
varied greatly between public and private schools
and between in state and out of state tuition. The
overall tuition average is about $50,000 per year.
The average income is $180,000 for non-surgeons
and about $350,000 for surgeons. Average GPA is
3.53 overall and is 3.4 for science GPA.

There have been recent legal disputes and threats
of lawsuits concerning dental certifications and
specialties. It may sound familiar but these
squabbles concern advertising rights, titles such
as surgeons, oral surgeons even when one is a
doctor of dental surgery. Credentialing at surgery
centers also comes into play with the use of
titles and procedures. In some states specialists
may not perform routine dental fillings if, say,
one has completed an orthodontia residency and
dentists without a surgical residency cannot
insert implants.

Doctor of Veterinary Medicine

There are 33 accredited colleges of Veterinary
Medicine in the US with 3,860 first year students.
There were 3,000 graduates in 2024. The average
tuition per year is $50,000 and the average income
is $136,000. The average undergraduate GPA is
between 3.3 and 3.7 for top-tier vet schools.
There are no required admission tests for
veterinary medicine schools but students need to
distinguish themselves showing a keen interest in
animals.

Veterinarians are often required to complete post
graduate training in programs that mimic human
systems like cardiology, neurology, anesthesiology
or emergency medicine, critical care, large
animal, or zoological medicine and become board
certified. Our vet recently saw one of our
Shiatzu's and called when the lab results were
back. He said it was refreshing to talk to patient
owners who knew what he was talking about.

Doctor of Optometry

There are 26 accredited optometry schools with
2,079 first year students. There were 1800 OD
degrees awarded in 2024. The average GPA for
admission to optometry school is 3.55. The average
tuition is $40,000 per year and the average yearly
income for optometrists is $134,000. Optometrists
often complete a one year residency and some go on
to do more extensive residencies in areas such as
contact lenses, pediatrics, geriatrics, neuro-
optometry. It appears all are non-surgical.
There is a board certification process involving
three years of practice or a residency then an
examination. It seems there are multiple boards
but the American Board of Optometry is the most
respected.

Doctor of Nursing (certified Register Nurse
Anesthetist)

There are 141 accredited 3 year nurse anesthesia
doctoral granting schools in the US. There are
about 3,000 first year nurse anesthesia students
in the US and 2,400 nurse anesthetists were
graduated last year. The average admission GPA
from a BSN program to the nurse anesthetist
doctoral programs ranges from 3.5 and to 3.75 for
top nurse anesthetist schools. Most programs
require the RN to have at least a year’s
experience, some more, in a level one trauma
center ICU prior to application.

Overall, the tuition for the nurse anesthesia
three-year program is $60,000 per year. There are
public in-state programs with tuitions as low as
$25,000 per year compared to private school
tuition as high as $80,000 per year. The average
cRNA salary is $223,000 for a 10- hour, 4-day
week. Some salaries are over $300,000 with the
paid benefits that an RN would receive in a
hospital. Almost all cRNAs are employed with very
few in private practice, but in some states nurse
anesthetists can work independently without a
supervising MD or DO anesthesiologists. In these
states they can work in a dental or podiatry
office and administer general anesthesia and bill
on their own. Some cRNAs complete fellowships in
pain management or critical care. There is a test
to become board certified and is required for
licensing.. Some fellowships are accredited by
ACGME if they take place with MDs or DOs in
teaching hospitals.

How do you think we measure up against these other
professions and if we’re on even ground why do we
get a few hundred applicants and they get
thousands? And that’s not matriculated students.

Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD, Columbus, OH

Other messages in this thread:

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06/26/2025    James DiResta, DPM, MPH

Other Non-MD, Non-DO Doctor Healthcare Providers (Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD)

While I don't disagree with the need for podiatry
to visit more colleges to gain more exposure to
potential applicants, I am more concerned about
the watering down of our applicants' strength to
schools of podiatric medicine. The problem as we
have stated over and over is how can we possibly
get enough qualified students is this diminishing
pool. Schools of osteopathic medicine are growing
exponentially? For example, have you ever heard of
Debusk College of Osteopathic Medicine? It has 2
schools in Tennessee now and a third opening in
Florida in 2026. Did you know MSU has 3 campuses
now of osteopathic medical students. How about
Meritus School of Osteopathic Medicine in
Maryland? How about The Edward Via College of
Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM) now in 4 campuses!

There are 43 osteopathic schools listed but in
reality there are presently 69 campuses and many
more coming. The mean MCAT of all their schools
for 2024 is 502.43 and falling. Several of the
schools are below 500. The mean score at one
school is 497. Unlike AACPM, AACOM is quite
transparent in revealing the data if you are
willing to search for it. A score of 497 puts you
at the 39%percentile and considering half the
class score less than that how the heck is
podiatry going to get enough matriculants to our
schools of limited licensure when you can get an
unrestricted medical license by attending a school
of osteopathic medicine.

I cannot believe that our leadership didn't see
this day coming. BUT no time to place blame. Our
leadership must try to pave a path forward. Listen
to Rod Tomczak, we need to make a deal with
osteopathic medicine to get our students a DO
degree with or without the DPM and to establish a
specialty residency of podiatric medicine and
surgery under their wings. Applicants need an
unrestricted license if we want to stay the 4-4-3
route.

The other alternative is to either keep reasonable
standards for applicants and watch our profession
evaporate or throw all we have accomplished away
and go backwards to a profession of glorified
chiropodists. Drop the MCAT requirements, lessen
prerequisites to 2 years of college and make the
schools of podiatry three years in length. Forget
you ever had parity. The podiatry profession needs
to wake up!

James DiResta, DPM, MPH, Newburyport, MA