Hey IX 8920
That screen name really has a good ring to it!
I definitely do not "live in Hell" on a day to day basis! And, I don't hate all of podiatry. And, to be fair with efs (who is defending podiatry with every last breath), I cannot speak for everyone. I love helping my patients, but most of what I see is calluses and nails. This can become rather tiresome and prompt one to wonder if they really are a doctor.
BUT, all I can tell you is that I was very concerned during my entire schooling and training because I felt as though we weren't really being trained as physicians (as I saw it). The first two years are very close and challenging. After that, you kind of cruise compared with DO's and MD students. That's when it started really getting to me.
I have wanted to be a doctor since 1984 and, though it was incredibly difficult, I prepared myself the best way I knew how and had some successes and some near successes. I literally DREAMED of being a doctor. I thought that it was the best possible job in the world and that I had some talents that could translate. Like I said before my grades were good, but not stellar (3.2 UCLA, 25.5 MCAT). This was in 1994 and med schools were a lot more competitive. Needless to say, I didn't even get interviewed at an MD or DO school. I was left with podiatry, which at the time I thought was a perfectly viable alternative. It is an alternative, but it wasn't for me.
Truthfully, I don't get discriminated by my patients (at all) or my staff. But I do feel it in public when I meet people or other doctors. Some people just kind of look at you sideways and go "ohh???" like, "Hmmm....you guys are doctors, right?" Sometimes people are really impressed. My feeling is that they don't know the difference between a DPM and MD. I've met a lot of intelligent people who think that DPM's are MD's. Frankly, the feeling rests mostly with me. I just don't feel like I've gone through adequate training to call myself a physician. I don't feel like I have the right to "join the club" (in my mind). Like, I've always enjoyed reading the New England Journal of Medicine and other periodicals and enjoy watching TV shows about medicince, etc. But, as a podiatrist, I just don't feel that I'm at that level. It's almost as if I've gone about 75% of the way, but got slowed down starting in my 3rd year.
I've experienced many things that made me feel embarassed or "less than a doctor". When I was at CCPM (1994-97) a lot of podiatry students were envious of the med students at UCSF and Stanford. I will tell you without hesitation that ANY of us would have traded places in a second. And, I DO NOT BELIEVE ANY student who states that they'd rather be in a podiatry school than, say, Stanford Medical School. That's BS. I volunteered along with some other pod students to go to a homeless shelter in S.F.. Well, there were also UCSF med students there. What was really embarassing was that the UCSF students were seeing patients for EVERYTHING like coughs, headaches, diabetes, depression, etc.. EVERYTHING. We were put in a corner (no lie, a corner away from everyone) and were responsible for cutting the @$#%ing toenails of all of these homeless people!! I was really mortified. I know that podiatrists cut nails, but it really hit home when I was watching the other "real" medical students doing a whole variety of things while we were cutting stinking toenails. I felt as though our paths would never cross again. I also felt like they were going on a magical journey while we were embarking on some sort of kindergarten odyssey.
That's just one example. There are so many more.
You also wanted to know about my income. First, I'll tell you that it almost doesn't matter what type of residency you do in terms of how much money you're going to make when you get out. You can ask around, but most DPM's (the vast majority) make most of their money on the basics. A big factor is going to be if you are working with someone or are trying to start out on your own. Unless you have someone funding you, starting out on your own is next to impossible. You may not see a profit for several years and there is the very real possibility that you will go bankrupt. What will probably happen is that you'll work for another DPM seeing patients in nursing homes and doing house calls. Very inglorious work. And it doesn't pay very well. You migh make about 40k doing this. The chances of working in a hospital are about zero. There just aren't any positions like this. I think Kaiser hires about one to two pods a year and you have to do their residency to be considered.
Hardly anyone has surgery as the primary focus of their practice. And, if you don't do at least one year of a PSR, you are never going to get enough training or feel comfortable enough to do ANY kind of surgery. The average salary for a one year trained DPM is less than 40k. I want you to know that this figure is totally incompatible with life. And, it was taken from (I believe) Podiatry Management or another periodical. I'm not making this up. Most MD or DO residents make more than this. You will simply not be able to survive on this type of income. Your student loans alone are going to run as high as $1700 per month. And, if you are going to be an independent contractor (as most DPM's are), then you're going to have to pay an additional 15% self employment tax. If you sit down and work it out, you'll find that you will have negative numbers at some point.
Most DPM's have to fend for themselves when they finish. It's a lot like being a chiropractor. There will be essentially NO JOBS when you finish your residency. I WILL GUARANTEE THAT THERE WILL BE NO REAL JOBS IF YOU ONLY DO A ONE YEAR RESIDENCY. The only job offers you will encounter will be from unscrupulous DPM's who want to break your back by sending you to nursing homes to cut endless pounds of nails. This is a fact. You will be incredibly lucky to make 50k doing this. And don't count on them paying for anything (taxes, insurance, etc.). I have kept in touch with 5 of my classmates and only one of them is making close to 60k. And he has two kids and a wife. He also got paid 10k for his PPMR at L.A. County (which doesn't exist anymore) and got paid NOTHING for a one year PSR in Arizona. You will never hear of such BS in DO or MD school. The other four friends, who have completed at least a two year or three year residency are making less than 50k and they've been out for one to one and a half years. Out of all 5 (all 5, mind you) only ONE has done a surgery! And that person has only done ONE surgery!!! You can't get boarded with those kinds of numbers.
I am the anomaly of anomalies. I fell into an extremely busy clinic in Southern California and I've made 6 figures for the last two years. It's great money, but believe me, it's beyond the exception. Everything worked out perfectly for me. And I haven't done a single surgery. Making money in podiatry is not about surgery. It's about seeing a lot of patients.
Isn't it both scary and ironic, though, that I'm planning on leaving and going back to medical school?? I just don't care about money. I want to be happy and being a fully trained physician is the only thing I can come up with (as far as a career....my girlfriend makes me happy).
I'll finish by saying that there are a lot of happy DPM's. Most of them, though, have been out for some time now and do not have the heinous debt or obstructions that a lot of current grads face. It's not an impossible task, but you have to know that it's going to be up to you. Completely. You might get lucky, but don't count it. Your best bet is to find an area in the U.S. that both needs a podiatrist and does not have a podiatrist within 300 miles of where you live.
Good luck
