Do NOT, I repeat Do NOT go into this field

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gnrh11

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I will save you 7 years of life and hundreds of thousands of dollars. Do not embark on this journey...why? there is no path that is more expensive to take that makes you 80k. Some teachers make more than podiatrists with a bachelors. Please, oh, please, this is not the career you want. Choose nursing. Choose janitorial. Anything makes more fiscal sense than this. I speak by experience. Literally everyone will take advantage of you along the way. School Residency and then your first job. Just don't and thank me later.

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I will save you 7 years of life and hundreds of thousands of dollars. Do not embark on this journey...why? there is no path that is more expensive to take that makes you 80k. Some teachers make more than podiatrists with a bachelors. Please, oh, please, this is not the career you want. Choose nursing. Choose janitorial. Anything makes more fiscal sense than this. I speak by experience. Literally everyone will take advantage of you along the way. School Residency and then your first job. Just don't and thank me later.

Are you still in residency?
 
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Not entirely certain of this, but I think making 80k during residency is pretty high. I believe it's normal to see 120-150k right after residency if you can sell yourself well. And it'd only go up from there (up to a certain extent) with additional years of experience.
 
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Not entirely certain of this, but I think making 80k during residency is pretty high. I believe it's normal to see 120-150k right after residency if you can sell yourself well. And it'd only go up from there (up to a certain extent) with additional years of experience.
Im talking about 80k after residency lol , during residency you'll make 50-55 probably. There are many ways to make 120 k without going to 7 years of school. Its very easy and youll never recoup your investment in podiatry.
 
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I will save you 7 years of life and hundreds of thousands of dollars. Do not embark on this journey...why? there is no path that is more expensive to take that makes you 80k. Some teachers make more than podiatrists with a bachelors. Please, oh, please, this is not the career you want. Choose nursing. Choose janitorial. Anything makes more fiscal sense than this. I speak by experience. Literally everyone will take advantage of you along the way. School Residency and then your first job. Just don't and thank me later.
why waste your breath? the prepod forum is a worse echo chamber than woke twitter. PS you are right...
 
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I will save you 7 years of life and hundreds of thousands of dollars. Do not embark on this journey...why? there is no path that is more expensive to take that makes you 80k. Some teachers make more than podiatrists with a bachelors. Please, oh, please, this is not the career you want. Choose nursing. Choose janitorial. Anything makes more fiscal sense than this. I speak by experience. Literally everyone will take advantage of you along the way. School Residency and then your first job. Just don't and thank me later.

:rolleyes: thanks

This field, unlike others, is what you make of it so..If you're making 80K after residency then it's your own fault and no one else's.

Good luck though and hope it gets better for you.
 
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This is from the 2018 ACFAS survey, although the sample size is small; it does give an overall picture. But don't take my word or anyone here on SDN..go do your own findings by talking to real ppl in this field.

Screen Shot 2019-08-28 at 1.46.56 PM.png
 
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One perspective doesn't represent the entire profession.

Smh.
 
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I did but I hate people who throw out random facts with no statistics whatsoever to support
Shouldn't you of all people be able to tell these pre-pods what their future is like? YOU ALL ARE MAKING A TERRIBLE FINANCIAL DECISION IF JUST NOW ENTERING PODIATRY SCHOOL.
 
Shouldn't you of all people be able to tell these pre-pods what their future is like? YOU ALL ARE MAKING A TERRIBLE FINANCIAL DECISION IF JUST NOW ENTERING PODIATRY SCHOOL.
What is wrong with you? Like seriously..
How is going into podiatry a poor decision? Money!? Look at the stats and if you don't believe the stats why don't you go talk to the local podiatrist. Everyone sees right through you. Something obviously happened to you that you find the need to tear down the profession the way that you do.
 
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I will save you 7 years of life and hundreds of thousands of dollars. Do not embark on this journey...why? there is no path that is more expensive to take that makes you 80k. Some teachers make more than podiatrists with a bachelors. Please, oh, please, this is not the career you want. Choose nursing. Choose janitorial. Anything makes more fiscal sense than this. I speak by experience. Literally everyone will take advantage of you along the way. School Residency and then your first job. Just don't and thank me later.
Sounds like someone had a bad day...
 
You can believe what you want to believe. All of the current young/new podiatry attendings who post regularly were former pre-pod posters and former podiatry student posters. Most of us were bright eyed and bushy tailed. We heard the doom and gloom. Obviously we continued on through. There is an unwarranted degree of optimism associated with this forum and podiatry. Everyone is acting like this is Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" but they think this path is AMAZING even though they have rounded the first turn. Go a little deeper into the woods. Podiatry, best case, is to steal a recent Dave Chapelle joke - its ..good. Its an above ground pool. It ain't perfect, but its a pool. I crushed school. I worked hard in residency. My residency was at times great and other times deeply flawed. I think I learned a lot of good things that I think other providers may not know - I solve stupid problems others in my community create and I'm astounded by the things others do, but I still get crapped on regularly to my face. "My ortho said something totally different than you." "The FM doc said see you about the diabetes and the ortho about the surgery." "The ortho says I don't need an X-ray". I'm not hospital employed so my pay and benefits are meh. I'm board qualified in everything, but without significant changes to my practice structure I'm not sure how I'm going to certify - that's a barrier that my OWN profession put in front of me. Believe it or don't. I've got friends who are crushing it and I've got friends who are struggling. You are certain that you'll be in the former. There are no guarantees. A year ago I saw a top notch residency program get the axe from its hospital for a reason having nothing to do with them. Crap happens.
 
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You can believe what you want to believe. All of the current young/new podiatry attendings who post regularly were former pre-pod posters and former podiatry student posters. Most of us were bright eyed and bushy tailed. We heard the doom and gloom. Obviously we continued on through. There is an unwarranted degree of optimism associated with this forum and podiatry. Everyone is acting like this is Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" but they think this path is AMAZING even though they have rounded the first turn. Go a little deeper into the woods. Podiatry, best case, is to steal a recent Dave Chapelle joke - its ..good. Its an above ground pool. It ain't perfect, but its a pool. I crushed school. I worked hard in residency. My residency was at times great and other times deeply flawed I think I learned a lot of good things that I think other providers may not know - I solve stupid problems others in my community create and I'm astounded by the things others do, but I still get crapped on regularly to my face. "My ortho said something totally different than you." "The FM doc said see you about the diabetes and the ortho about the surgery." "The ortho says I don't need an X-ray". I'm not hospital employed so my pay and benefits are meh. I'm board qualified in everything, but without significant changes to my practice structure I'm not sure how I'm going to certify - that's a barrier that my OWN profession put in front of me. Believe it or don't. I've got friends who are crushing it and I've got friends who are struggling. You are certain that you'll be in the former. There are no guarantees. A year ago I saw a top notch residency program get the axe from its hospital for a reason having nothing to do with them. Crap happens.

Let me start by saying that I appreciate yours and a few others input in the resident forum.

10 years ago, I wouldn't go into this field but for the last 4-5 years or so things have been getting better slowly and one example of this is the accepted stats of students; they have been a lot better than what they were back in 2011-2015. Scope of practice also gotten better in certain areas like within the VA (for example).

Now, almost all the current attendings/pod that post regularly are making over 200K (or at least according to their posts I have seen); to say that they are the "outliers" or the top 10-15% of the profession and then say this profession is "crap" (and no one else can make that much) is just hypocritical & selfish IMO. Also, those that are doing well in this profession don’t have time for SDN; it is the ppl that are not happy with their current situation that bitc* and moan than others. True for failed students at Pod programs or those in practice or life in general.

No one on this forum is oblivious about the current scope of practice for this field or how the older pods/ppl working at the admin level are screwing the new residents (either with salary or board certifications)...That said, I don't remember reading here anyone saying that this field is "AMAZING"...lol. Granted, 1/3rd of my class is in this field because they couldn't get into an MD/DO program but that doesn't they think it will be all rainbows and ponies after residency (when compared to other healthcare fields). People taking acceptances do their search before they enroll, believe it or not. But as you said, you know ppl that are doing well and then others that are not...so its not up to you or me to tell anyone here that they shouldn’t pursue this field because it’s a career “suicide”. Let the applicant do their research and decide what they want to do for their life.

I like to believe that we are on a trend that will make this profession better 5-10 years from today and with current older pods retiring, newer mindset for new/young pods, work ethics, and hunger to be the best, will only allow this profession to move forward. Those that are in this field and are good at their job can easily make more than a general FM/IM. Period.

To the pre-pods, again, do your research before enrolling, shadow as many ppl as you can, take what I or ANYONE else say on these forums with a grain of salt.
 
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Let me start by saying that I appreciate yours and a few others input in the resident forum.

10 years ago, I wouldn't go into this field but for the last 4-5 years or so things have been getting better slowly and one example of this is the accepted stats of students; they have been a lot better than what they were back in 2011-2015. Scope of practice also gotten better in certain areas like within the VA (for example).

Now, almost all the current attendings/pod that post regularly are making over 200K (or at least according to their posts I have seen); to say that they are the "outliers" or the top 10-15% of the profession and then say this profession is "crap" (and no one else can make that much) is just hypocritical & selfish IMO. Also, those that are doing well in this profession don’t have time for SDN; it is the ppl that are not happy with their current situation that bitc* and moan than others. True for failed students at Pod programs or those in practice or life in general.

No one on this forum is oblivious about the current scope of practice for this field or how the older pods/ppl working at the admin level are screwing the new residents (either with salary or board certifications)...That said, I don't remember reading here anyone saying that this field is "AMAZING"...lol. Granted, 1/3rd of my class is in this field because they couldn't get into an MD/DO program but that doesn't they think it will be all rainbows and ponies after residency (when compared to other healthcare fields). People taking acceptances do their search before they enroll, believe it or not. But as you said, you know ppl that are doing well and then others that are not...so its not up to you or me to tell anyone here that they shouldn’t pursue this field because it’s a career “suicide”. Let the applicant do their research and decide what they want to do for their life.

I like to believe that we are on a trend that will make this profession better 5-10 years from today and with current older pods retiring, newer mindset for new/young pods, work ethics, and hunger to be the best, will only allow this profession to move forward. Those that are in this field and are good at their job can easily make more than a general FM/IM. Period.

To the pre-pods, again, do your research before enrolling, shadow as many ppl as you can, take what I or ANYONE else say on these forums with a grain of salt.
Yes. Real shadowing like life depended, not for 1 day because you needed some dude to write you a LOR because it's the last thing you need for your application.
 
What is wrong with you? Like seriously..
How is going into podiatry a poor decision? Money!? Look at the stats and if you don't believe the stats why don't you go talk to the local podiatrist. Everyone sees right through you. Something obviously happened to you that you find the need to tear down the profession the way that you do.
Look at the stats? Lol. Maybe you should. Also don't forget to look at the right hand side of the column under debts. It costs too much to go to school. Time + debt (*interest) + opportunity costs = bad. Or are you counting on Bernie to cancel your loans?

Something happened to me? Lol. Per hour worked I guarantee too you I make more than any pod who doesn't own their own practice. I have it beyond good, others don't. Is it because I diid great in School graduated near the top of my class did a great residency and got good training? No I got lucky and was in the right place at the right time to get my job.
 
You can believe what you want to believe. All of the current young/new podiatry attendings who post regularly were former pre-pod posters and former podiatry student posters. Most of us were bright eyed and bushy tailed. We heard the doom and gloom. Obviously we continued on through. There is an unwarranted degree of optimism associated with this forum and podiatry. Everyone is acting like this is Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" but they think this path is AMAZING even though they have rounded the first turn. Go a little deeper into the woods. Podiatry, best case, is to steal a recent Dave Chapelle joke - its ..good. Its an above ground pool. It ain't perfect, but its a pool. I crushed school. I worked hard in residency. My residency was at times great and other times deeply flawed. I think I learned a lot of good things that I think other providers may not know - I solve stupid problems others in my community create and I'm astounded by the things others do, but I still get crapped on regularly to my face. "My ortho said something totally different than you." "The FM doc said see you about the diabetes and the ortho about the surgery." "The ortho says I don't need an X-ray". I'm not hospital employed so my pay and benefits are meh. I'm board qualified in everything, but without significant changes to my practice structure I'm not sure how I'm going to certify - that's a barrier that my OWN profession put in front of me. Believe it or don't. I've got friends who are crushing it and I've got friends who are struggling. You are certain that you'll be in the former. There are no guarantees. A year ago I saw a top notch residency program get the axe from its hospital for a reason having nothing to do with them. Crap happens.
Lol Chapelle was great. And that's a great application of that quote.
 
What is wrong with you? Like seriously..
How is going into podiatry a poor decision? Money!? Look at the stats and if you don't believe the stats why don't you go talk to the local podiatrist. Everyone sees right through you. Something obviously happened to you that you find the need to tear down the profession the way that you do.
Lol I am a pod. And I have a job that nobody believes is real....now it's not for everyone but it's good for me . But hey, things will be better in the future. The " leaders" of this profession have nothing but you best interests in mind, right @CutsWithFury? Don't worry fam, they got this.
 
I will leave it at this. I really like my job. I have a great set up, make good money, don't work hard and get to do everything I was trained to do and have zero Ortho interfere. I enjoy helping others whether surgically or conservative. Someone giving you the power to cut on them and heal them is one of the greatest honors you could ever hope for. BUT, that doesn't mean a prepod in 2019 is making a smart financial decision. It's not about me, it's about you and your future and the costs associated with it.

1. Podiatry can be a great field, mentally, emotionally and financially rewarding.

2. Going to podiatry school in 2019 in this current environment of increasing school costs is a poor financial decision.

Both things can be true.
 
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This is the dumbest thread I've read in a long time. So misinformed. The attendings who participated in this thread have imparted some good wisdom. The podiatry students who are posting...please stop talking.

Podiatry is not a good profession. You won't realize it until you graduate from residency and try to find work. Then you will realize how corrupt the board certification process. Then you will realize how ruthless local DPMs will be when you come to their territory. They will get in your way when you are trying to establish your community presence. They will get in your way when trying to get privileges at their hospital. They will get in your way when you try to bring your first complicated reconstruction to their hospital.

I had friend who had TAR experience from residency that brought their first post-residency TAR to a hospital they had privileges at only to be stopped by a senior DPM who wrote the privileges at the hospital. The privileges essentially were that any DPM who wanted to do TAR had to present post residency graduation logs where they did first assist TAR with an ortho or DPM at the hospital who were allowed to do TAR at that particular hospital. Which was essentially nobody since the senior DPM was the only one who was allowed to do TAR. Yes, this is real life podiatry.

I wish I could go into more state specific circumstances I've personally encountered or have had friends deal with but I do not want to disclose who I am. But trust me there are far worse things that have occurred to young well trained podiatrists trying to make a living. It has mostly to do with being blocked by other podiatrists..."the leaders of our profession" (ACFAS podium regulars). They are not for the profession. They don't really care about you.

Defamation of character is a common practice in podiatry. If someone doesn't like you for whatever reason they will go to great lengths to ensure you don't get a fellowship, don't gain employment with a colleague of theirs, they won't sign off your residency logs, etc. If you can think of scenario it probably would happen if you got on someone's bad side.

The profession lacks any real power. When the AOFAS and AAOS publish defamatory and poorly written research articles comparing DPM vs ortho outcomes for Ankle Fracture ORIF and Total Ankle Replacement we didn't hear a word from ACFAS or the APMA. Not one word. We just took it. Joke. Why? Because if in the end our powerful leaders do not want to draw any controversy towards them because they are all hired by hospitals and ortho groups. God forbid if their MD/DO colleagues caught wind of their defiance.

If you are an employed DPM in a hospital you are there because ortho let you be there. That's it. If you piss ortho off you will be gone. Doesn't matter how productive you are.

If you are an employed DPM in an ortho group and you were the sole foot and ankle surgeon in the group and then the ortho group decides to hire an ortho foot and ankle surgeon and that ortho F&A doc now wants to do ALL the foot and ankle recon...guess what? You are back to clipping toenails or you can leave. I know DPMs that this has happened to.

When I was sick of the hospital politics at my current job I looked for private practice gigs. The best options that I could find at the time wanted to pay me 75K base salary (after I talked them up from 50K). Another one wanted to pay me 100K and told me that I would be on 1 year contracts and NEVER have an option to be a partner. When I tried to reach out to current DPMs hired at both practices nobody wanted to talk to me because they were pissed the group was considering hiring another DPM which would obviously cut into their work flow and production. This is how petty our profession is. DPMs fighting for scraps even within their own tiny private practice groups.

It has been said above that "podiatry is what you make of it". So true. But the obstacles you will face to be successful in this profession far exceed any other specialty. Somebody will always be on your case whether it be MD/DO and even your DPM colleagues. The level of respect DPM gets from other medical specialties is extremely geographic dependent.

The job market is extremely dry these days. I look for new jobs all the time. Anything worth your time that gets published online gets like an immediate 300 applications within 24 hours of being posted. The good jobs are not publicized. They are all about who you know. Who likes you. Not everyone can be hired by a hospital now. There are plenty of hospital jobs to be had. You just have to create the position yourself which can take a lot of effort.

The way things are I would not want to be a student heading into podiatry school.

For our profession to survive we need to get employed podiatrists into every hospital possible (community, level 1-3 hospitals, university hospitals, trauma centers, etc). For our profession to survive it's important that our young talent just start their own private practices forcing the old dinosaurs who destroy new podiatry associates annually to go extinct.

Do not work for another podiatrist. Just start your own practice.

Does this is sound like a stable profession like orthopedics, general surgery, internal medicine, etc? Want to go into at least 200K of debt (if not a lot more) only to make 75K base salary?
 
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Truth bomb by @CutsWithFury
I can add another story - have a super smart friend, everyone loves him. Did one of the most well know fellowships, tons of TAR. Didn't get job he wanted out of fellowship because wanted to be near home for him and wife. Ok I get that. (PS just because you have done a fellowship doesn't mean there is a job you want where you want, but that has been discussed before...) Worked for a few years, found a great location, very fair buyout of a pod. Very close to family, excited about the PP thing.
I don't know all the particulars, but his state allows TAR. The ONLY hospital system in his area will not give him privileges to do TAR. Because podiatry.

Lol I am a prepod student who is trying to justify podiatry school and I like participation medals and free stuff and podiatry is what you make of it!!

Because podiatry
 
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Out of curiosity, are there any other medical fields that you would recommend besides MD/DO?

The job market for pharmacists is even worse where they all have to work for CVS or Wal-Mart. They're even scrambling over those jobs due to saturation. Dentists go into much more debt than podiatrists (3x or more, the average graduate comes out with $600K+ from dental school) and they make about the same salaries. If you head into the dentist forum, you'll see new graduates being happy to get offers for $100-120K starting (I've seen some get offers for $75K). With firms like Aspen Dental and others, we're seeing the same thing happen to them that happened to pharmacists. Optometry is the same and the job market is even worse AFAIK, with graduates scrambling to find job for $70K.

Besides dentists, I can't really think of optometrists/pharmacists starting their own businesses. The plus side for podiatrists, as you said, is that they can start their own practice. The debt is really not that much when you compare it to other medical professions.
No
 
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Here is another example of "because podiatry"

This is me - My first job out I joined an MSG. My state has lower leg privileges. I was denied achilles ruptures. The president of my group was an ortho, incredibly busy, made the hospital tons of money. Our group was the only show in town. Long story short - he didn't like doing achilles ruptures, thought they were too hard. So if HE thought they were too hard, then they had to be too hard for me. It didn't matter if I did 43 of them during my training. He said no. Nevermind that my group didn't get ASC fees for the surgery, didn't get advanced imaging fees, didn't get squat. I had to send it to another town an hour away.

Because ortho said so.

Because podiatry.
 
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This is the dumbest thread I've read in a long time. So misinformed. The attendings who participated in this thread have imparted some good wisdom. The podiatry students who are posting...please stop talking.

Podiatry is not a good profession. You won't realize it until you graduate from residency and try to find work. Then you will realize how corrupt the board certification process. Then you will realize how ruthless local DPMs will be when you come to their territory. They will get in your way when you are trying to establish your community presence. They will get in your way when trying to get privileges at their hospital. They will get in your way when you try to bring your first complicated reconstruction to their hospital.

I had friend who had TAR experience from residency that brought their first post-residency TAR to a hospital they had privileges at only to be stopped by a senior DPM who wrote the privileges at the hospital. The privileges essentially were that any DPM who wanted to do TAR had to present post residency graduation logs where they did first assist TAR with an ortho or DPM at the hospital who were allowed to do TAR at that particular hospital. Which was essentially nobody since the senior DPM was the only one who was allowed to do TAR. Yes, this is real life podiatry.

I wish I could go into more state specific circumstances I've personally encountered or have had friends deal with but I do not want to disclose who I am. But trust me there are far worse things that have occurred to young well trained podiatrists trying to make a living. It has mostly to do with being blocked by other podiatrists..."the leaders of our profession" (ACFAS podium regulars). They are not for the profession. They don't really care about you.

Defamation of character is a common practice in podiatry. If someone doesn't like you for whatever reason they will go to great lengths to ensure you don't get a fellowship, don't gain employment with a colleague of theirs, they won't sign off your residency logs, etc. If you can think of scenario it probably would happen if you got on someone's bad side.

The profession lacks any real power. When the AOFAS and AAOS publish defamatory and poorly written research articles comparing DPM vs ortho outcomes for Ankle Fracture ORIF and Total Ankle Replacement we didn't hear a word from ACFAS or the APMA. Not one word. We just took it. Joke. Why? Because if in the end our powerful leaders do not want to draw any controversy towards them because they are all hired by hospitals and ortho groups. God forbid if their MD/DO colleagues caught wind of their defiance.

If you are an employed DPM in a hospital you are there because ortho let you be there. That's it. If you piss ortho off you will be gone. Doesn't matter how productive you are.

If you are an employed DPM in an ortho group and you were the sole foot and ankle surgeon in the group and then the ortho group decides to hire an ortho foot and ankle surgeon and that ortho F&A doc now wants to do ALL the foot and ankle recon...guess what? You are back to clipping toenails or you can leave. I know DPMs that this has happened to.

When I was sick of the hospital politics at my current job I looked for private practice gigs. The best options that I could find at the time wanted to pay me 75K base salary (after I talked them up from 50K). Another one wanted to pay me 100K and told me that I would be on 1 year contracts and NEVER have an option to be a partner. When I tried to reach out to current DPMs hired at both practices nobody wanted to talk to me because they were pissed the group was considering hiring another DPM which would obviously cut into their work flow and production. This is how petty our profession is. DPMs fighting for scraps even within their own tiny private practice groups.

It has been said above that "podiatry is what you make of it". So true. But the obstacles you will face to be successful in this profession far exceed any other specialty. Somebody will always be on your case whether it be MD/DO and even your DPM colleagues. The level of respect DPM gets from other medical specialties is extremely geographic dependent.

The job market is extremely dry these days. I look for new jobs all the time. Anything worth your time that gets published online gets like an immediate 300 applications within 24 hours of being posted. The good jobs are not publicized. They are all about who you know. Who likes you. Not everyone can be hired by a hospital now. There are plenty of hospital jobs to be had. You just have to create the position yourself which can take a lot of effort.

The way things are I would not want to be a student heading into podiatry school.

For our profession to survive we need to get employed podiatrists into every hospital possible (community, level 1-3 hospitals, university hospitals, trauma centers, etc). For our profession to survive it's important that our young talent just start their own private practices forcing the old dinosaurs who destroy new podiatry associates annually to go extinct.

Do not work for another podiatrist. Just start your own practice.

Does this is sound like a stable profession like orthopedics, general surgery, internal medicine, etc? Want to go into at least 200K of debt (if not a lot more) only to make 75K base salary?
Truth bomb by @CutsWithFury
I can add another story - have a super smart friend, everyone loves him. Did one of the most well know fellowships, tons of TAR. Didn't get job he wanted out of fellowship because wanted to be near home for him and wife. Ok I get that. (PS just because you have done a fellowship doesn't mean there is a job you want where you want, but that has been discussed before...) Worked for a few years, found a great location, very fair buyout of a pod. Very close to family, excited about the PP thing.
I don't know all the particulars, but his state allows TAR. The ONLY hospital system in his area will not give him privileges to do TAR. Because podiatry.

Lol I am a prepod student who is trying to justify podiatry school and I like participation medals and free stuff and podiatry is what you make of it!!

Because podiatry
Here is another example of "because podiatry"

This is me - My first job out I joined an MSG. My state has lower leg privileges. I was denied achilles ruptures. The president of my group was an ortho, incredibly busy, made the hospital tons of money. Our group was the only show in town. Long story short - he didn't like doing achilles ruptures, thought they were too hard. So if HE thought they were too hard, then they had to be too hard for me. It didn't matter if I did 43 of them during my training. He said no. Nevermind that my group didn't get ASC fees for the surgery, didn't get advanced imaging fees, didn't get squat. I had to send it to another town an hour away.

Because ortho said so.

Because podiatry.

Whatever you guys have stated here is very specific to those cases/the location/and the State of practice; ie...it does not speak for everyone and everything in this profession!

In other words, I am not denying what you guys are saying, but adding to the point to that there are others that are equally doing well with the DPM degree; either with an MSG, PP, or hosp/academia!

Moving on!
 
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Whatever you guys have stated here is very specific to those cases/the location/and the State of practice; ie...it does not speak for everyone and everything in this profession!

In other words, I am not denying what you guys are saying, but adding to the point to that there are others that are equally doing well with the DPM degree; either with an MSG, PP, or hosp/academia!

Moving on!

Talk to me when you graduate residency. Tell me how much you like the profession.

You literally know nothing Jon Snow
 
I think this thread has run its course. There is a lot of information here that may be helpful to pre-pod students, so I think it's best to close this discussion @SLCpod @ldsrmdude.
 
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If the moderators close this thread after actual ATTENDINGS have commented then this profession is truly lost. If you are not going to listen to us than you are totally screwed
 
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Wow, there are lots of things that could be said about this thread.

I think that podiatry can be a great profession. I have a lot of friends/classmates who have good jobs and like what they do, both in private practice and hospital groups. Some own their own practice and some are employed. Most are happy.

I'm happy with my job. It's not perfect. I work more than I wish sometimes. Some of my patients drive me crazy. Some of my partners at work drive me crazy. I get frustrated with hospital administration. But every job has some downside. If my kids wanted to pursue podiatry, great. One of my partners has a kid that is a podiatrist and he encouraged it. I would too. There are things that I don't like about this profession, but it fulfills all that I want in a job. I make a good living, get to help people every day, occasionally feel like I made a difference in somebody's life, etc.

As far as SDN goes, it is clearly not the positive echo chamber that it might have been in the past. If anything, there is much more negativity about the profession than there has been in the past, and as far as I'm concerned, there is much more negativity now than is deserved. As a moderator, I get to see a lot of different discussions in a lot of different forums. Every profession and specialty represented on here have their issues. Anybody who is telling you whether you should go into this profession or not is giving you their opinion. Take it for what it's worth. Everybody is allowed to voice their own opinion as long as it is in a respect manner.
 
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BUT, that doesn't mean a prepod in 2019 is making a smart financial decision. It's not about me, it's about you and your future and the costs associated with it.

1. Podiatry can be a great field, mentally, emotionally and financially rewarding.

2. Going to podiatry school in 2019 in this current environment of increasing school costs is a poor financial decision.
What about us, podiatry students that are currently in their 1st, 2nd or 3rd year?

In light of everything you tell us about podiatry, is it best if we quit now and seek something else more financially stable?
 
You all need to chill, APMA would never lie to us about podiatry. If they did lie to me, I’m going to be doing Brazilian butt lifts in Guadalajara.

Hopefully I get a good gig in a rural area after finishing residency. Finance is definitely the way to go right now.
 
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I'm 2 going on 3 years out.
I work hard (60-70hr weeks easy) and I am compensated well.
I made about 300k my first year out and between 350-400k estimated this year.

It is true that not all of us will get a job like that. But all the disgruntled posters above (claim to) have those jobs. One in particular works about 15hrs a week, makes at least 200k, takes care of his kid most days, works around the house fixing it up, lives in the mountains and hikes several times a week... yet still manages to hate his career. That is mind blowing to me.

There certainly are days when I am burnt out and do not want to work. But I do not hate my job at all. In fact I couldnt see myself doing anything else. I feel I am really good at it and I get a lot of respect from the medical community.

There are unhappy people in all professions and all medical specialties.Unhappy people usually take to the internet.

But as others stated. Shadow shadow shadow. Podiatry is what you make it.
 
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I'm 2 going on 3 years out.
I work hard (60-70hr weeks easy) and I am compensated well.
I made about 300k my first year out and between 350-400k estimated this year.

It is true that not all of us will get a job like that. But all the disgruntled posters above (claim to) have those jobs. One in particular works about 15hrs a week, makes at least 200k, takes care of his kid most days, works around the house fixing it up, lives in the mountains and hikes several times a week... yet still manages to hate his career. That is mind blowing to me.

There certainly are days when I am burnt out and do not want to work. But I do not hate my job at all. In fact I couldnt see myself doing anything else. I feel I am really good at it and I get a lot of respect from the medical community.

There are unhappy people in all professions and all medical specialties.Unhappy people usually take to the internet.

But as others stated. Shadow shadow shadow. Podiatry is what you make it.
Wow that guy sounds like an ungrateful jerk.


Anyways as I have said: future value < present value. Just because one person has said it's good or bad doesn't mean it's true. I think its a poor financial decision based on opportunity cost.

If I have put some doubt in someone's mind to re-evaluate their decision, then my work is done for the day. No really it is, I only had 2 patients this morning and all done.

Jk, I haven't seen anyone yet today.
 
Let me present this likely common scenario.


Do you think someone should go into this field if:
1. They are from a large metro area like NYC.
2. They did undergrad in said area (conservatively let's say 150k undergrad debt).
3. They plan to go to pod school in this area?
4. They plan to one day practice in this area and "make what they want out of podiatry."

I bet this scenario is much more likely than yours or mine.

Listen if you are some rich kid with no debt and parents paying for school and you couldn't get into MD school and you need to be called doctor to make your parents or Instagram happy, knock yourself out, I get it.

If not, take my thoughts into consideration. YMMV
 
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I’m blue collar. $150k just cutting nails 40 hrs a week is $40k more than my father made as a journeyman at 60hrs a week. Twice as safe and 100000x less physical. I guess I don’t want to get into measuring contests with other white coats. I can cut toenails until I’m 100 if my brain doesn’t fail, my earning potential is much greater. I will have a slightly smaller house in the same gated community as my ortho colleagues at the hospital, so be it.

You are complaining but making +200k. I don’t get it...
 
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I’m blue collar. $150k just cutting nails 40 hrs a week is $40k more than my father made as a journeyman at 60hrs a week. Twice as safe and 100000x less physical. I guess I don’t want to get into measuring contests with other white coats. I can cut toenails until I’m 100 if my brain doesn’t fail, my earning potential is much greater. I will have a slightly smaller house in the same gated community as my ortho colleagues at the hospital, so be it.

You are complaining but making +200k. I don’t get it...
I am not complaining about MY job. Trust me I am completely aware of my situation. I am talking about the future prospects for potential students. That's all. The debt load on pod students with potential income, SPECIFICALLY the ones stated above, makes it a poor decision.

Again, rich knock your socks off. Poor and debt = bad decision.
 
If we strictly comparing podiatry to other hypothetical careers or successful financial decisions, then yes, maybe podiatry is not the best decision. But they are only hypothetical.

Unless you have rich parents, inherited some wealth or have some sort of capital to start some kind of business, you are limited in what you can do with your life.

If we really think that podiatry related issues, discussed at this forum, make this career path the least desirable considering time commitment and debt, then it is better not to be born. Pretty much any career path has its own issues. There are no easy money-making careers. And most 4/6 year degrees won't guarantee you 150k. People who become CEOs, successful entrepreneurs or make other successful investments will be successful no matter what they do. It's just part of who they are.

It has been mentioned here multiple times that for someone with useless Bio degree and maybe even a year or two of postbacc, podiatry is a solid choice considering people liked medicine from the start and shadowed to commit to this path.

Anyone who is considering podiatry or medicine in general must understand what they are getting into. And if they like it and are happy with it, who else is there to judge their decision.
 
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I think this entire thread will have some REAL CONTEXT once all the podiatry residents and students chiming in this thread finally get to the point of their careers where they are looking for a job. TALK TO ME THEN when you get to that point in your life and tell me I am wrong.
 
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There will always be dissatisfaction when you do the same work as ortho for half or less than half the pay imo

~just a student tho
 
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Seriously some of you podiatry students or residence chimed in with how much debt you have.
 
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From white coat investor. And these are he's talking about MD salaries being difficult at 2 to 1 or 3 to 1. Now we're talkin half of those salaries.

again if you have debt live in a big city do residency and inexpensive big city and want to practice in a big city you're an idiot if you go in this field
 
Finishing with 350k in debt and making 120 k for a couple yearas an associate and living in a big city come on people.

And that's a completely realistic scenario for a large number of students, think of all the people who go to New York and northern California in Chicago in Miami and Philly who are from there or large metro areas in plan on staying in large metro areas
 
You guys have no idea what it's like to be staring down that kind of debt with a podiatry salary. You want to start enjoying the fruits of your hard earned labor. It's really hard to dedicate 50 percent of more of your income to paying off debt. Especially in an expensive area with high cost of living. This isn't the days of our attendings and 2 percent interest. This isn't MD/DO where you can take on that debt and do PLSF or go rural and have low cost of living and or PLSF.

Again, I am amazingly lucky to have my employer paying off most of my debt. But I promise less than 1 percent is getting any loan reimbursement. Hell I bet less than one half of one percent is. This isn't MD/DO.
 
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Wait wait, it gets better. I bet your 3mployer contributes minimal to none to a 401k. Now you are responsible for your own savings. How are you going to save 20 percent of your income (minimum needed to live the lifestyle you want when retired. Remember getting a late start) and pay off this debt and live a decent lifestyle for your family? Don't make me get out an Excel file and a budget....
 
Two of my co-residents had $270K+debt at the start of their 3rd year of residency. They both went to DMU which I would have said is the most affordable school (California students I met during 4th year were paying 3x my rent in Iowa). When I applied to podiatry school DMU's tuition was ..$27K. Its $36K now and the health insurance price appears to have doubled (we experienced painful increases throughout my time there). If tuition increases $1K a year which it seemed to do while I was there at the end of 4 years a student starting as the graduating class walks out the door will pay $16K more than they did not counting the tuition increases they'll also experience during their school.
 
Maybe hire someone to make sure you don’t get the shaft in your contract??? Common sense???


I’m moving rural, so idk why you guys act like you have a better grip on reality.
 
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