O.k. here are some of the emails. I misplaced one of them that was a follow up to one of these emails. I will try to find it because it has some good info as well.
Thanks for your interest in this profession. We always need new (and improved) podiatrists in this marked, or in any profession. I would say the job market is still good in the St. Louis area, or in most other areas for that matter. It depends on how much of a business person you are. Competetition is mainly with other podiatrists, however, there is some competetition with orthopods as well. There are general market guidlines, which I've been told are generally one podiat rist per 20,000 people in a given market. I don't think St. Louis has passed that point yet, but you could do the numbers and check that out. Basically, there is plenty of work to go around.
I am from the Philadelphia area myself, and as I considered that area very saturated with podiatrists, and heavy HMO and malpractice issues in the area, I moved out here to an offer I received from an alumnus from the Temple school, which was then kno wn as PCPM. There seem to be the greatest concentration/saturation of podiatrists in areas where there are podiatry schools, especially in Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia, but I know several of my classmates are working in exactly those areas wh ich are the most saturated! So I doubt that St. Louis is a closed market.
I currently work for a podiatry group practice, and we have 7 offices and four podiatrists and have been growing every year and in fact are having trouble finding associates to hire to work here. Not a lot of people wa nt to relocate here, and not many in St. Louis are interested in podiatry, without a podiatry school here. I have never really felt like competetition, from other podiatrists or orthopods, has been or will be a problem in the foreseeable future.
At present, I work 5 days a week and every other Saturday morning, and have been in practice for 6 years as of last month. I cleared 6 figure salary after my second full year in practice, and am close to $200K this year, which will probably be a bout where I top out as far as salary compensation goes. There are other income opportunities as well, such as surgery centers, imaging centers, and other ventures that come along that can add, or subtract, from your income as a podiatrist.
I would say I average 5-6 surgery cases per week at present, but that is highly variable. There are rare occasions where I will go a week with no cases, and others that I may do 10 cases. I am satisfied with my current work load, but I cou ld be making more take-home money if I was working on my own instead of with a group. I'm still an associate at present. The advantage of group practice is I mainly go home and forget about work, while the partners take care of hiring/firing/t raining/marketing/rent/scheduling issues. I suppose it depends on your level of training and time available to manage those issues.
I do enjoy podiatry, but given my current work situation, I drive around a bit too much and would probably enjoy less running around even if it meant a little less money. What I like most is the variety of problems I can fix and the degree of challenge available, without too much call schedule. The schools will always hit you with sales pitches, but you have to decide what is right for you. If you wanted I would be more than happy to have you follow me at one of my offices for a day or half day to see what I do. I would highly recomm end you spend some time with several different podiatrists, perhaps some in groups and some solo, before making a decision.
Please let me know if I can be of any further help, and sorry I didn't get back to you sooner! Best of luck!
