Am I crazy to choose Podiatry?

[Nashfan]

SDNers I need your input. Two broken ankles "helped" me to become interested in podiatry. After shadowing several podiatrists, my interest in podiatry has only grown stronger. However, I have a 3.9 g.p.a and got a 32 on the MCAT. After doing some research into the pod schools it seems that only one person in the country entered podiatry school with a better MCAT than me in 2011. Am I crazy for wanting to do podiatry? Everyone tells me that I should go the MD route. Is anyone else out there in my situation? Am I wasting all of the hard work that went into getting those stats by going into podiatry?

If I were to do podiatry, I feel like I should at least use my stats to get me some scholarships. Which school offers the best scholarship?

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[Shinobiz11]

I understand where you're coming from. I have potential to go to MD/DO as well (well until I get my MCAT) but I just felt podiatry is a better fit for me. I honestly can't see myself in any MD/DO specialty, the hours, the not the patients, etc. I guess I mostly enjoy the variety of podiatry, as opposed to ortho where you would primarily do surgery. I know its not a popular decision and people look down on the profession, but if you're happy doing it, its great. I personally see them as FM's of the feet who also do surgery. I love how you have that relationship with your patient and you can make them feel better because you see them every month or couple of months. Most surgeons do their job on a person once and they might not ever see them again (except for follow-ups). Its cool though, I'm happy with what I chose; promoting this profession is now a personal goal of mine.

 

[cpinkows]

I'm applying md and pod this cycle with a 30 3.5, so kinda in the same position, just not on the same level lol. Im only a premed/pod but from what i see, the pay per hour is roughly on par for most md specialties, you get a balance between surgeries and clinical, if you maintain your academic momentum you could find yourself in a top residency program and work your way into whatever your interested in (ortho, multi speciality, academia, etc.), malpractice roughly a fifth of that of an orthopedic surgeon, and it seems to truly interest you. The draw backs from my limited exposure seems to be a large amount of prejudice in and out of the medical community of varying degrees (seems to be improving though in a similar manner to what DO's dealt with a few decades back), inconsistent state laws on scope of practice, possible issues with medicare (not 100 sure about this, could be heresay but not sure), and the fact your locked in with it if you change your mind down the road. Would be interested to see what any practicing pods have to say.

 

[feet2017]

I don't have the exact numbers, but from looking at others who have gotten accepted this cycle the older schools give the most scholarship money. Newer schools such as western, azpod, and dmu do not offer as much as the older schools. Other members who interviewed at the other schools will probably chime in with more knowledge.

 

[Robert De Niro]

I don't have the exact numbers, but from looking at others who have gotten accepted this cycle the older schools give the most scholarship money. Newer schools such as western, azpod, and dmu do not offer as much as the older schools. The most I have seen is a half scholarship from kent. Other members who interviewed at the other schools will probably chime in with more knowledge.

Kent gives half tuition if you have a 4.0 after your first year. From my understanding the highest amount they give out to first year students is $10,000, which is about 1/3 Of tuition. But if there was ever a first year student to get half off, it would be the OP though. Great stats!

 

[SLCpod]

CSPM will give you a $20,000 scholarship per year if you maintain a 3.0 in pod school. Wow. That would mean that you would be paying $15,000 each year. Plus you would probably apply for other scholarships and get them. Wow.

As said in above posts, there will probably be MD/DO schools that will give you a nice scholarship too.

 

[Cascade11]

Don't make decisions based on what other people want because 1. those people probably don't know what modern podiatry is and 2. they are not you, don't have your dreams, aspirations, expectations, needs. If you do choose podiatry, educate them about what the field really is about (not being a manicurist in a lab coat)
Don't feel like your hard work in college and on the MCAT are wasted, many of us have high stats, we just don't create "chance me" threads because we know we are good to go for the cycle. Podiatry is a right fit and that is why we are pursuing it; I can get into other professional schools easy, but I don't have a desire to apply there just because I meet the requirements. And of course the upside of being above average are the scholarships which always help people (given that you maintain great performance in pod school). For NYCPM you will probably get 30K (little over semester's worth of money) Don't kid yourself into thinking that just because the average stats are lower than for med schools it means that the people are dumber and the curriculum is not hard. Stats are just stats.

 

[MaxillofacialMN]

SDNers I need your input. Two broken ankles "helped" me to become interested in podiatry. After shadowing several podiatrists, my interest in podiatry has only grown stronger. However, I have a 3.9 g.p.a and got a 32 on the MCAT. After doing some research into the pod schools it seems that only one person in the country entered podiatry school with a better MCAT than me in 2011. Am I crazy for wanting to do podiatry? Everyone tells me that I should go the MD route. Is anyone else out there in my situation? Am I wasting all of the hard work that went into getting those stats by going into podiatry?

If I were to do podiatry, I feel like I should at least use my stats to get me some scholarships. Which school offers the best scholarship?

I thought that too, but I think the podiatry handbook might get rid of some outliers. I PERSONALLY know of 4 people that are going to pod school next year with >30 MCATs. Given that that handbook says that some schools cap out at like 28, doesn't quite jive with my personal experience.

Anyways, there are at least 4 people (3 of whom are going to DMU next year ) with a situation similar to yours. I cannot tell you how many of my medical school friends, and some professors at medical schools encouraged me to go for the "name brand." But, podiatry is an awesome field, so don't feel like you are "wasting" your scores by going into a profession that doesn't require what you have earned, because intelligence is never wasted!

 

[CapCrunch]

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[msion]

SDNers I need your input. Two broken ankles "helped" me to become interested in podiatry. After shadowing several podiatrists, my interest in podiatry has only grown stronger. However, I have a 3.9 g.p.a and got a 32 on the MCAT. After doing some research into the pod schools it seems that only one person in the country entered podiatry school with a better MCAT than me in 2011. Am I crazy for wanting to do podiatry? Everyone tells me that I should go the MD route. Is anyone else out there in my situation? Am I wasting all of the hard work that went into getting those stats by going into podiatry?

If I were to do podiatry, I feel like I should at least use my stats to get me some scholarships. Which school offers the best scholarship?

You are not crazy, the stats is a more of a self-rewarding proof that you worked hard and have what it takes to become a professional. That being said, you keep that attitude and work ethic then you will be successfull in any field. I was initially thinking about going for the MD route after my professors/relatives/friends tried to talk me out of podiatry. But then you know what? It's a small field and it's certainly getting more attention now. My decision to pursue podiatry is backed by the high quality training that the residents are having nowadays, and I am definitely excited for what I will be doing.

Plus I'm a fan of the Walking Dead, so I think podiatrists are more useful than any type of doctors during a zombie apocalypse. Think about it, people need to run, and pods also know how to deal with infectious diseases.

 

[pacpod]

OP, definitely do what you believe you will enjoy the most. If you became the world's greatest neurosurgeon (for example) but hated it, would the "prestige" be worth it if your real passion was something else? This same question could be asked but trade out neurosurgeon for podiatrist as well.

I interviewed at both MD and DPM schools but had decided podiatry was for me. I shadowed everything under the sun specialty-wise and kept coming back to podiatry. I love the mix between medical management of problems AND surgical correction of them. I felt this provided the mix I desired the best.

It really does come down to what you think fits best for your interests. You could even continue to apply and interview at both if you desire if you wish to keep your options open. That is what I ended up doing.

I hope this helps and I wish you the best of luck in your applications!

 

[rushrhees]

My parents are strongly against DPM too, i think it might be vestiges from the days when DPMs was a lot less organized, some did no residency some did extensive residencies, pre internet it was pretty much impossible to find this out. Anyway do what you feel is a better fit for you, it is your life no one elses. MD/DO does offer great challenges and to be blunt you do have much more earnings potential going that route. Just weigh the two and if you fell DPM is for you go with it, All of us here are likely going to be working for 35-40 years, that is an awful long time doing something you do not like.

 

[dyk343]

I was MD/DO vs PA vs DPT vs DPM

Obviously DPM won, and I didnt apply to any schools but DPM schools. I'm happy with my decision. Many people in my class were also the same. I also do not believe the reported MCAT score. In fact, I have first hand knowledge to believe that number is not correct, at least for the class of 2014.

Also, A side note. Sure some people get in with lower than ideal scores. But a very high percentage of those students fail out. The attrition rate for podiatry schools is atrocious. I'm curious what the average undergraduate GPA is of graduating students vs admitted students. I would expect it to be much higher.

 

[Ferocity]

I was MD/DO vs PA vs DPT vs DPM

Obviously DPM won, and I didnt apply to any schools but DPM schools. I'm happy with my decision. Many people in my class were also the same. I also do not believe the reported MCAT score. In fact, I have first hand knowledge to believe that number is not correct, at least for the class of 2014.

Also, A side note. Sure some people get in with lower than ideal scores. But a very high percentage of those students fail out. The attrition rate for podiatry schools is atrocious. I'm curious what the average undergraduate GPA is of graduating students vs admitted students. I would expect it to be much higher.

Bingo. We've lost quite a few people already and we still have a handful of people getting D's on the exams.

 

[dtrack22]

After doing some research into the pod schools it seems that only one person in the country entered podiatry school with a better MCAT than me in 2011. Am I crazy for wanting to do podiatry? Everyone tells me that I should go the MD route. Is anyone else out there in my situation? Am I wasting all of the hard work that went into getting those stats by going into podiatry?

There are several people on these boards with a better MCAT score than you, so I wouldn't say you are wasting hard work. As far as I know "they" are happy with their decision.

I don't think you're crazy. But the big drawback to Podiatry is that you have to be sure you want to become a Podiatrist. There is no flexibility. On my IM rotation a few MD students still weren't sure what they wanted to do and there really wasn't any pressure to figure it out anytime real soon. That can be nice, especially if you find multiple specialties/practice types that interest you. Of course, you could tank the USMLE, get stuck in IM and hate your life...

I'd take Ankle Breaker's advice and make sure you do plenty of shadowing in multiple clinics, covering multiple medical specialties and then decide if you like Podiatry that much more than everything else. If you do, go for it.

 

[CapCrunch]

My parents are strongly against DPM too, i think it might be vestiges from the days when DPMs was a lot less organized, some did no residency some did extensive residencies, pre internet it was pretty much impossible to find this out. Anyway do what you feel is a better fit for you, it is your life no one elses. MD/DO does offer great challenges and to be blunt you do have much more earnings potential going that route. Just weigh the two and if you fell DPM is for you go with it, All of us here are likely going to be working for 35-40 years, that is an awful long time doing something you do not like.

Out of curiosity, how/did you educate them on the field of podiatry?

 

[dudestheman90]

[

 

[hughesn2]

I was MD/DO vs PA vs DPT vs DPM

Obviously DPM won, and I didnt apply to any schools but DPM schools. I'm happy with my decision. Many people in my class were also the same. I also do not believe the reported MCAT score. In fact, I have first hand knowledge to believe that number is not correct, at least for the class of 2014.

Also, A side note. Sure some people get in with lower than ideal scores. But a very high percentage of those students fail out. The attrition rate for podiatry schools is atrocious. I'm curious what the average undergraduate GPA is of graduating students vs admitted students. I would expect it to be much higher.

I am currently a senior and I am nearly in the same boat. For my first year at college I was researching what I wanted to do, but during that year my advisor was an idiot and told me that DPM school was harder to get into than PA school. So for the next 2.5 yrs I only aimed and researched PA schools. Entering this fall my GPA was a 3.35 but then didn't realize that my biochem and physio classes are harder than med school classes and the class average is a 2.25, so my GPA is gonna be around a 2.28 after this semester.

So I started to research DPM vs. PA and finally realized that my advisor was a complete idiot and lied his @$$ off to me. I wanted to go into Podiatry throughout all of HS and my advisor told me that you needed at least a 3.5 GPA just to be given an interview, now to find out he must have been on crack.

Now my issue is that I don't know how to tell my parents that I would have to take 4yrs in school compared to 2.5 yrs for PA school. My issue is more that I don't want my parents to freak out that they now have to pay for more school. Also, I know I can probably get accepted into Kent State, Barry, and Scholls. Yet PA schools don't really explain what their competitive GPA is to get accepted.
During this Christmas/Semester break I plan on talking with my two neighbors, one who is my podiatrist and the other a PA, to ask if their practice is moving in the right direction. I just feel like it is a burden on my parents to be paying $120K for 4yrs compared to $60-$80K for PA school.
So my issue is DPM vs. PA school and hoping my parents accept it.

 

[dudestheman90]

l

 

[hughesn2]

Let me the first to tell you that PA school is extremely difficult to get in. I wouldn't even bother applying w/o a 3.5 - 4.0 GPA. And you need a lot of healthcare experience that involves patient contact, at least 1 year. PA is not a good backup for MD/DO, you need the same GPA as if you were applying to medical school. Same thing with Dental School. Nursing, Physical Therapy and Pharmacy school are all much harder programs to get into by the sheer amount of students that apply. For Podiatry, I would say you need a 2.5 - 2.75 minimum cumulative GPA in order to apply. I've heard that podiatry isn't really an essential field since primary care docs, orthos, pt's and nurses, PA's do provide about 60% of foot and ankle care since there aren't that many podiatrists. I think when it comes to surgery, either a ortho doc, surgical PA/NP, or a podiatrist are the only ones qualified to perform the surgery. However a PCP/PA/NP can provide some routine foot and ankle care. When it's a complex case, it has to move up to a podiatrist or an orthopedic surgeon with training in the foot and ankle.

Which is why I said I was planning on switching over to DPM. PA programs are getting harder to get accepted into b/c many more people are trying to go into PA schools instead of D.O or MD professions.

 

[dtrack22]

I've heard that podiatry isn't really an essential field since primary care docs, orthos, pt's and nurses, PA's do provide about 60% of foot and ankle care since there aren't that many podiatrists. I think when it comes to surgery, either a ortho doc, surgical PA/NP, or a podiatrist are the only ones qualified to perform the surgery. However a PCP/PA/NP can provide some routine foot and ankle care. When it's a complex case, it has to move up to a podiatrist or an orthopedic surgeon with training in the foot and ankle.

In theory this is true. The problem in "medicine" is that the foot is largely ignored by our MD/DO friends. I don't really see why this would change anytime soon. Podiatrists have proven to save healthcare $$ and our education and training is finally (for now) uniform.

My experience is limited but I have had to explain to IM residents and an attending why ortho wasn't going to operate on one of the patients on our IM service...after going through an explanation on how to read the x-ray, primary vs. secondary bone healing, and AO principles of reduction and fixation. We have also had chronic ulcers that PCP's weren't able to get healed simply because they didn't understand what we would consider basic biomechanic principles of the foot and subsequent offloading techniques.

It's not that many "physicians" can't manage foot/ankle pathology. They absolutely can. My experience is that they have no desire to and really haven't been trained to do so as effectively as we have. Podiatry is no different than any other medical specialty once you get into the patient care aspect. It only exists here, on SDN...and the occasional d*** swinging contest with ortho at a handful of hospitals....

 

[dudestheman90]

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[Textbookversion]

I am currently a senior and I am nearly in the same boat. For my first year at college I was researching what I wanted to do, but during that year my advisor was an idiot and told me that DPM school was harder to get into than PA school. So for the next 2.5 yrs I only aimed and researched PA schools. Entering this fall my GPA was a 3.35 but then didn't realize that my biochem and physio classes are harder than med school classes and the class average is a 2.25, so my GPA is gonna be around a 2.28 after this semester.

So I started to research DPM vs. PA and finally realized that my advisor was a complete idiot and lied his @$$ off to me. I wanted to go into Podiatry throughout all of HS and my advisor told me that you needed at least a 3.5 GPA just to be given an interview, now to find out he must have been on crack.

Now my issue is that I don't know how to tell my parents that I would have to take 4yrs in school compared to 2.5 yrs for PA school. My issue is more that I don't want my parents to freak out that they now have to pay for more school. Also, I know I can probably get accepted into Kent State, Barry, and Scholls. Yet PA schools don't really explain what their competitive GPA is to get accepted.
During this Christmas/Semester break I plan on talking with my two neighbors, one who is my podiatrist and the other a PA, to ask if their practice is moving in the right direction. I just feel like it is a burden on my parents to be paying $120K for 4yrs compared to $60-$80K for PA school.
So my issue is DPM vs. PA school and hoping my parents accept it.

Why are your parents paying for your professional schooling? Student loans exist and you are an adult. Shouldn't you be financially independent?

 

[Ferocity]

Why are your parents paying for your professional schooling? Student loans exist and you are an adult. Shouldn't you be financially independent?

Are you bitter that his parents are willing to pitch in about $80k for professional school?

Take the $80k, use federal loans for the remainder.

 

[Ferocity]

If i had a choice btwn PA and podiatry, I would choose PA. The schooling is much quicker, some programs last only 24 months! It's half the cost of going to medical school and the field is wide open, you can work and specialize in anything w/o having to go to residency and even switch whenever you want. The avg. starting salary is 70-80k which is comparable to a DPM's starting salary if not even a little bit more. Nurses can start out making 60-75k per year, they do very well and theirs alot you can do in this profession. Specialty RN's like in ICU can make over 100k per year salary. I know PA's that specialize in surgery and make 150k per year. It's definitely a great profession!!! Try applying, i applied too 22 schools, got 11 rejections and 1 placed me on hold, still waiting to hear from the other 10 but i'm sure they will also be rejections since it's pretty late now. If your planning in applying to PA school I highly recommend that you apply to 20-30 schools, it's really that competitive. If you shoot for nursing, I'd apply to at least 10-15 schools, same with pharmacy, and physical therapy schools, all these professions are high in demand and require a High GPA. Dental school I'd apply to 15-20 schools. Don't settle for podiatry if it's not what you want to do, all these other professions i've stated are great, podiatry is a fall back.

le Sigh...

 

[dtrack22]

The avg. starting salary is 70-80k which is comparable to a DPM's starting salary if not even a little bit more. Nurses can start out making 60-75k per year, they do very well and theirs alot you can do in this profession. Specialty RN's like in ICU can make over 100k per year salary. I know PA's that specialize in surgery and make 150k per year.

If you are making 70-80k as a DPM, you are doing something very wrong. Very, very wrong. The problem with becoming a RN or PA, speaking purely financially, is that you are going to almost always be capped in terms of income potential. In almost every case you are salaried and will therefore always take home less money than you produced, minus overhead...why would any practice or hospital hire you if they couldn't make $$ off you?

150k seems to be a very reasonable starting salary as a DPM, when you speak to new practicioners and current residents. I would bet that's near the top of the PA pay scale.

There are plenty of reasons to choose one profession over the other, but in terms of earning potential it's not even close.

 

[zdlamkin8195]

I would agree. I haven't started DPM school yet, but I have plenty of real world experience...
PA's in surgery can make really good money, but every PA that I have spoken with tells me to go DPM bc they hate not having the privilege of being an independent practitioner. You must remember being a PA is like being a permanent resident, so when you are 50 years old and taking orders from a 30 year old hot headed Doc - just remember that it is what you signed up for! Also there is a push for PA's (and CRNA's) to get a doctorate in the future and you could be in a similar situation to the old school master level PT's.
I also feel that just because PA school is shorter, doesn't mean that it's a good thing. I know many young PA's that come out and are LOST when they first get to the real world. Many have even state that they wish school was longer and now they even have PA residencies available...
MD/Do will be very similar as DPM with a possible larger upside as far as money goes, but as stated earlier - what's the point if you hate your career/specially...just investigate each specialty and do what YOU want to do!

DPM will not make you rich, but it seems that it CAN give you a great career...just my 2¢. Good luck on choosing...

 

[hughesn2]

If i had a choice btwn PA and podiatry, I would choose PA.

I do see what you mean though, but the only issue with the response is that yeah I would like to be a PA b/c of the shortened schooling, but the problem is the getting accepted part. It was a very well thought out and well written response which I mostly agree with. Becoming a PA is one of the highest growing profession, but which is also why it has risen its acceptance grades compared to Podiatry's lower grade acceptance. Well, I wanted to be a podiatrist for years but when I got to college my advisor was an idiot and lied to tell me that Podiatry school was harder than PA school. Too bad I found out this was complete BS with just 17 credits left in college. Would probably be graduating in the Spring not next Fall if I knew this b/c I have taken at least 8 credits that I NEEDED for all PA schools but not required for my major.
But yeah. Podiatry wouldn't be a backup plan just b/c it is in the medical field. But it is something I have been interested in for years.
Sorry for commenting on nearly all post, I just want to put my word in to help others

 

[hughesn2]

Why are your parents paying for your professional schooling? Student loans exist and you are an adult. Shouldn't you be financially independent?

So yeah I am taking out student loans. So your issue with me is that I have parents that are willing to help out their son because they know he is responsible enough to pay them back. I know that after I graduate from whatever graduate or medical type school I will have a duty to pay back my parents.
Yeah, Podiatry School isn't gonna be covered in full by student loans.

Chill out dude! I am not sponging off my parents, I am simply going to pay back them and the loans because I don't want to be in debt for so much longer than normal medical students

 

[cpinkows]

If i had a choice btwn PA and podiatry, I would choose PA. The schooling is much quicker, some programs last only 24 months! It's half the cost of going to medical school and the field is wide open, you can work and specialize in anything w/o having to go to residency and even switch whenever you want. The avg. starting salary is 70-80k which is comparable to a DPM's starting salary if not even a little bit more. Nurses can start out making 60-75k per year, they do very well and theirs alot you can do in this profession. Specialty RN's like in ICU can make over 100k per year salary. I know PA's that specialize in surgery and make 150k per year. It's definitely a great profession!!! Try applying, i applied too 22 schools, got 11 rejections and 1 placed me on hold, still waiting to hear from the other 10 but i'm sure they will also be rejections since it's pretty late now. If your planning in applying to PA school I highly recommend that you apply to 20-30 schools, it's really that competitive. If you shoot for nursing, I'd apply to at least 10-15 schools, same with pharmacy, and physical therapy schools, all these professions are high in demand and require a High GPA. Dental school I'd apply to 15-20 schools. Don't settle for podiatry if it's not what you want to do, all these other professions i've stated are great, podiatry is a fall back.

Just to clarify, you would rather get a BSRN than a DPM? or are you referring to NP and CRNA?

 

[dudestheman90]

[

 

[MaxillofacialMN]

Why are your parents paying for your professional schooling? Student loans exist and you are an adult. Shouldn't you be financially independent?

If my parents wanted to pay for pod school, I'd let them... It'd be stupid not to...

 

[stones187]

I too am a recent graduate about to choose between DPM and DO. I have basically read every word in the pre-pod and pre-do forums for the last two years. However, I just do not understand all the hesitancy towards podiatry. Why does podiatry have such little interest?! I believe if you have the drive and dedication, either field can bring happiness and money. Is podiatry just that unknown for other undergrad pre-meds? To me, it seems like a career full of diversity and endless opportunity. I am torn because I like so many aspects of podiatry as well osteopathic medicine.

 

[dyk343]

le Sigh...

I'm thinking the same thing you are. Pretty familiar writing style. It's sad that I am now labeling every new poster this way, but in reality.... it's probably true.

 

[stones187]

Ferocity and dyk343, do you regret going into podiatry?

Ankle Breaker, thank you for your response.

 

[dyk343]

Ferocity and dyk343, do you regret going into podiatry?

Ankle Breaker, thank you for your response.

No I love it. Woke up this morning. Drove to the surgery center. Austin procedure then 20 minutes later assisted on a Lapidus on a different patient. Went for a quick lunch. Then off to clinic in the afternoon. Casted orthotics, heel pain, neuropathic ulceration, a few nails, and ordered an MRI for a very perplexing heel pain patient which we will further work up when the MRI comes back.

This is a private office. First surgery was at 8AM and we were done with our day by 5:30 PM. Not crazy hours. Good variety. Very thankful patients. The "worst" or "boring" part of my day was about 30 minutes of cutting nails. But it's also fun to chat with the patients. They always have good things to listen to while cutting their nails.

 

[Ferocity]

Ferocity and dyk343, do you regret going into podiatry?

Ankle Breaker, thank you for your response.

Not at all. Here's the problem on SDN and this is relevant to any 'review' of anything. When somebody has a negative review, they'll tell 20 other people. However, when somebody has a positive review, they'll only tell a few people. You'll notice that we have a few trolls on the forum that continuously trash podiatry. We suspect that this person probably failed out of school and is quite bitter these days. Some of these trolls to be weary of go by the name of Cizzen, Duped, or Traum. They make new forum names every now and then after eventually getting banned. Anything he says I would take with a grain of salt.

Anyways, it's friday night! So I'm gonna go back to studying now...

Carry on for podiatry.

 

[CapCrunch]

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[Ferocity]

Thank you for the translation. It was difficult to pick up on the dialect, Podiatric is somewhat nuanced, your explanation does clarify things. Good luck paying back those student loans.

Will we be taken on another journey through the secret world of podiatrists, their language, customs, and cuisine, or can we explore another field? Maybe engage some other endeavor that's been absent from history's mysteries...I discovered that Abe Lincoln's chiropodist had one hell of a backstory...some theorize he may have even been a spy. I didn't get to the part about whose side he was on, but maybe someone can enlighten me. After all, history is written by those with the most aggressive literary agent. Maybe the true secrets were written in PODIATRIC as a sort of code. We'll see.

I think that I'm catching on, "nerd" in podiatric, means: a real doctor that I am trying to impress by saying something haughty, and following up with some bluster suggesting an equal to or better than comment, as in rushing off to an "OB-GYN rotation" - It's some language. I bet they do great impersonations too.

Caddypod is just too obvious. Of course of course, there's no confirmation. We need more proof, much more proof.

I HAS A PODIATRIC!

 

[Ferocity]

You must be extremely bored with studying. Unfortunately I'm in the same boat.

Yes, when I has a studying of the podiatric, some boredom certainly can occur.

 

[billBOB213]

If you are making 70-80k as a DPM, you are doing something very wrong. Very, very wrong. The problem with becoming a RN or PA, speaking purely financially, is that you are going to almost always be capped in terms of income potential. In almost every case you are salaried and will therefore always take home less money than you produced, minus overhead...why would any practice or hospital hire you if they couldn't make $$ off you?

150k seems to be a very reasonable starting salary as a DPM, when you speak to new practicioners and current residents. I would bet that's near the top of the PA pay scale.

There are plenty of reasons to choose one profession over the other, but in terms of earning potential it's not even close.

Totally agree
I think it's absurd when people bring up the 70-80K as a starting salary (maybe some people are, so I shouldn't say absurd, but I don't know of any and all the pods I shadowed don't know any either). I shadowed 2 pods (one private practice, the other in a group of 6 pods)...all made well over 150K but most started out at about that if not more. The average salary gets brought down by part time DPM's (as has been said before on many threads on SDN) and I think if you have good business sense/skills you will be fine.

I love the fact that podiatry is specialty program right from the start. I want to be the expert on a part of the body, have a skill that no one can take from me and be able to make a good living. I am in sales right now and have been for the past 6 years. With the economy it has been tough, you have to scrap and stay hungry every day, but in 15 years I don't want to be 45 and working in sales with a bunch of kids out of college. I want a skill that is sought after and needed. One that I can help people with each day and see results. Podiatry is such a rewarding field and I am very glad to be going into it.

 

[ldsrmdude]

Totally agree
I think it's absurd when people bring up the 70-80K as a starting salary (maybe some people are, so I shouldn't say absurd, but I don't know of any and all the pods I shadowed don't know any either). I shadowed 2 pods (one private practice, the other in a group of 6 pods)...all made well over 150K but most started out at about that if not more. The average salary gets brought down by part time DPM's (as has been said before on many threads on SDN) and I think if you have good business sense/skills you will be fine.

I love the fact that podiatry is specialty program right from the start. I want to be the expert on a part of the body, have a skill that no one can take from me and be able to make a good living. I am in sales right now and have been for the past 6 years. With the economy it has been tough, you have to scrap and stay hungry every day, but in 15 years I don't want to be 45 and working in sales with a bunch of kids out of college. I want a skill that is sought after and needed. One that I can help people with each day and see results. Podiatry is such a rewarding field and I am very glad to be going into it.

I don't know if those figures are that crazy. Seeing some senior residents go through the process, I saw that there are a lot of those offers out there. One graduating resident I know took one of those jobs because it was in a location he wanted to be in and there weren't many options there. Plus, a lot of times when people talk about salary they are talking about base salary without incentives such as production bonuses, malpractice, etc. I think 80k as a base with a good production incentive structure and some paid malpractice, vacation, retirement, etc is very realistic and far from absurd. If you are well trained and willing to move to wherever you can find the best opportunity, more starting salary is not out of the question from what I have seen.

 

[Ferocity]

You must be extremely bored with studying. Unfortunately I'm in the same boat.

The mod thing didn't work out for you?

Funny how our posts got deleted regarding Cizzen and Duped being Caddypod's duplicate aliases, yet neither account has been permabanned yet.

 

[Ferocity]

Nope I've been removed from moderating because I accidently broke a non-disculosure clause in the volunteer contract. It's not going to really stop me from posting here so it's not that big of a deal.

There are bigger tragedies in the world.

You get instantly removed from mod status while Caddypod still uses his unbanned duplicate accounts to troll as hard as possible. Shame.

 

[dyk343]

Lets not turn this thread into a pissing match....

Edit: and in reality it doesnt matter if Traum/Caddyshack/Cizzen/Duped or whatever name he has that day is banned. He will just sign up under a new name. At least when he posts under these names we already know who he is.

 

[Ferocity]

Lets not turn this thread into a pissing match....

Edit: and in reality it doesnt matter if Traum/Caddyshack/Cizzen/Duped or whatever name he has that day is banned. He will just sign up under a new name. At least when he posts under these names we already know who he is.

No pissing match. I think it's STUPID that AB got his mod status revoked while at the same time Duped and Cizzen accounts are still active.

Edit: You reading this SDN admins? Put AB back as a mod, ban Duped and Cizzen accounts, make the podiatry forum a better place so that more people in the community will post here.

 

[nikkisorous]

I don't know if those figures are that crazy. Seeing some senior residents go through the process, I saw that there are a lot of those offers out there. One graduating resident I know took one of those jobs because it was in a location he wanted to be in and there weren't many options there. Plus, a lot of times when people talk about salary they are talking about base salary without incentives such as production bonuses, malpractice, etc. I think 80k as a base with a good production incentive structure and some paid malpractice, vacation, retirement, etc is very realistic and far from absurd. If you are well trained and willing to move to wherever you can find the best opportunity, more starting salary is not out of the question from what I have seen.

Completely agree 100%. 70-80k is not an absurd starting salary at all, in fact if I recall correctly , Temple advertises a salary near that in their interview booklet.

 

[hematosis]

I don't know if those figures are that crazy. Seeing some senior residents go through the process, I saw that there are a lot of those offers out there. One graduating resident I know took one of those jobs because it was in a location he wanted to be in and there weren't many options there. Plus, a lot of times when people talk about salary they are talking about base salary without incentives such as production bonuses, malpractice, etc. I think 80k as a base with a good production incentive structure and some paid malpractice, vacation, retirement, etc is very realistic and far from absurd. If you are well trained and willing to move to wherever you can find the best opportunity, more starting salary is not out of the question from what I have seen.

Is it possible to pay 225-250K loans on a 70k-80k salary?

 

[MaxillofacialMN]

Is it possible to pay 225-250K loans on a 70k-80k salary?

A better question: Is it possible to live out of a car, and still practice podiatry?

 

[Ferocity]

A better question: Is it possible to live out of a car, and still practice podiatry?

+1

I need to know this.

I want to buy a Ferrari after completion of my residency.