Should I Pursue Podiatry School?

[BizPod]

Hey guys; finishing up my junior year at a university, and with an interdisciplinary studies degree (business, healthcare, and sociology).

I have always wanted to be a podiatrist due to various factor: intellectual pursuit, ability to help people, challenge, owning a small business, etc.

However, I still would need to take all my pre-reqs minus Chemistry 1 which I did horrible in because I didn't see the point (was originally going to do medical sales). Passing, but barely. I KNOW I could get A's and B's from here on out in those courses, but its hard to make this kind of decision because I currently make 60K a year (in North Texas) as a project manager (even before graduating). But it doesn't stimulate me intellectually or challenge me at all.

So here's my question, what do you think the top 25% or 10% of podiatrists make salary wise running a practice or business minded multi-specialty practice? Would 250K a year be pretty reasonable to achieve?

I'm pretty great at business/entrepreneurship and trying to learn a craft/skill which I can apply to it and also enjoy the challenge.

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[ashtonmccants]

A big part of this would be location and practice management. Those numbers can vary drastically, but it would all depend on you. You write your own ticket and make your own bills in private practice. It would be hard for someone to say, "You'll make $250,000 for sure in private practice." If we don't know how your practice is set up. There are also several forums that discuss these matters in the "resident/doctor" section of these forums. This section is for pre-pod question such as GPA, MCAT scores, interview questions, etc. I hope this helps. Just do some searching in the other forums. It will give you a general idea, but not a definitive one. Also remember that the pod journey is 7 years minimum. A lot of things can change in that time frame. Don't make a decision to attend podiatry school based on your ability to make smart business transactions. There are several areas that those skills translate very well. Having a business background will help in the long run, but trust me when I say it is nothing like what you were taught in school.

 

[BizPod]

Thanks Ashton; that's my thinking at the moment as well. It's an additional 7 years (+2 for the necessary pre-reqs). So all in, it'd be a 9 year journey. Which is why I am a bit on the hesitant side. I could probably save up enough over the next view years to make the loan's less than 6 figures, but still I feel its a tough trade off.

I've seen the facts and figures, I've seen the 'world is falling' and the 'podiatry is golden' and all the inbetween lurking over the past 3 years. I'm just at the point where I know that if I continue my current job I'll do fine, probably six figures low but six (like 120K) but it won't be intellectually intriguing work and not as hands on a I would like.

I know I won't be guaranteed that amount, pretty much the only amount guaranteed would be probably be low 100's. However, I'm curious where the cards lie in the upper reaches of the profession.

 

[ashtonmccants]

As I stated earlier, those number can vary drastically. Some guys are barely scratching the 6 figure surface, others are in the 4-5 hundred thousand category. Those are not as common as the low to mid 2's. Don't go into the profession for the money. Money will come. Do it for the love of the profession. There is too much training, money and sacrifice involved to make a decision based on that alone. Everyone wants to see a positive ROI with everything that they do. If you're really concerned about ROI in the long run, don't do podiatry. For example, you're making about 60k right now. Lets just say that you never got a raise. By the time you are done with pre reqs and pod school, you would have made almost 500k in that time frame that you would have attended school. This is 500k without $2000-4000 per month in student loan payments. Lets not even mention federal taxes and being in a higher tax bracket. 60k would put you in a lower tax bracket, which means you would ultimately take home more if you made less. Do it for the love of the profession and not for the money.

 

[rushrhees]

200k is acheivable a few years into the game. From what I am hearing starting 120-150 is easily acheiveable. If one is getting hired for less than 100k, then the new hire did something wrong

 

[ExGaucho]

200k is acheivable a few years into the game. From what I am hearing starting 120-150 is easily acheiveable. If one is getting hired for less than 100k, then the new hire did something wrong

Folks in academia aren't making 200K.

 

[bobtheweazel]

Folks in academia aren't making 200K.

But that's across the board in academia and they know that when they get into it, unless they're teaching at some super prestigious institution. But if that's what someone wants to do they should just save the $200,000 in loans and get their PhD.

Clinical podiatrists, whether part of a group or a business owner or whatever could potentially make significantly more. At least they won't be capped at a certain salary level based on experience like professors are.