$$ vs. enjoying what you do

I think nowadays, one going into the medical field in general has to ask themselves if this is something they love or greatly desire to do. The reality is that if money is your inspiration, none of these fields are going to satisfy you. I'll admit that wages tend to be lower for Podiatrists than most MDs. But, I commonly come across MDs complaining about not making what they feel they should make.
Next, going into Podiatry, you have to accept that making it in this field may take some perserverance. For some, things will fall in their lap, either because they earned it, luck, or personal connections. Others will have to work a little harder. But, if you put in the effort, you can make it in Podiatry. I know a few people who have failed. Many of those that failed were lacking in certain traits that would make them successful.
Podiatry can be a good profession, but there are no guarantees. For those that don't make it, paying off the type loans we had to take out can be pretty daunting.
For me, I'm very happy with my desire to go into this field. During my residency I found that I enjoyed doing Podiatry much more than other fields. Things aren't always brighter on the other side. I remember one day during my residency I had a patient walk out of my treatment room and tell me,"I feel much better." An internist in the next room over told me,"It must be nice to hear that once in a while."
1) I think that any of the schools are fine. People from all the schools get into good residency programs. My recommendation would be to go to the school that will cost you the least in loans overall.
2) In the retail industry they talk about how one negative customer negates 10 positive customers. This is simply because people tend to talk about negative occurances in life more than positive. This is just a function of humanity.
3) Spend some time with docs in different professions. Find out what you're interested in, grab onto it and go for it.