Career Outlook

[JMAT]

Im not a podiatric student but am hoping to be one soon. I was reading here ( http://www.umsl.edu/services/govdocs/ooh20022003/ocos075.htm ) that the job outlook is not that good because most podiatrists will remain working until they retire.

Does anyone know first hand about the struggles of obtaining a position. I was looking in my area (PAC NW) to see if there were any openings but found none.

2nd: Does anyone know of any good websites that are good for podiatric job searching. Or, the ratio of hospital/clinic podiatrists versus private practice ones?

Im thinking that working for large hospital would be nice because you dont have to do so much book/record-keeping.

Any information on these topics are appreciated. Thanks everyone John

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[Podman]

Im not a podiatric student but am hoping to be one soon. I was reading here ( http://www.umsl.edu/services/govdocs/ooh20022003/ocos075.htm ) that the job outlook is not that good because most podiatrists will remain working until they retire.

Does anyone know first hand about the struggles of obtaining a position. I was looking in my area (PAC NW) to see if there were any openings but found none.

2nd: Does anyone know of any good websites that are good for podiatric job searching. Or, the ratio of hospital/clinic podiatrists versus private practice ones?

Im thinking that working for large hospital would be nice because you dont have to do so much book/record-keeping.

Any information on these topics are appreciated. Thanks everyone John

John,

Your concerns are typical for many pre-pods and are fair. Before I begin, you have to realize that this is a small profession and the number of practitioners with high level training is even smaller. However, the opportunities for us are great - most newly trained podiatrists according to the APMA are employed in group practices, multi-specialty groups, and orthopoedic groups. Some choose to start off with private practice after residency but I personally am not an advocate for that decision because I'd rather learn as an associate first.

In regards to job postings, you have to realize that as a small specialty, you will not see our ads in every classified section. Usually our associate/job positions are founded by words of mouth i.e. during our time as residents or through alumini, etc. Other postings are available through the APMA publications, school's alumini associations, and state associations of course.

In addition, the website link you posted is not completely accurate because it doesn't take into account many factors: i.e. level or number of years of post graduate training, part-time vs full-time, location, and type of practice. I would probably refer to surveys taken by the APMA because they represent more current info.

Finally, regarding your personal situation (living in the PAC NW), there should be plenty of opportunity there as you are surrounded by many top residency programs over there.

 

[AZPOD Rocks]

Im not a podiatric student but am hoping to be one soon. I was reading here ( http://www.umsl.edu/services/govdocs/ooh20022003/ocos075.htm ) that the job outlook is not that good because most podiatrists will remain working until they retire. John

Just remember that just because the job outlook doesn't say "Excellent," doesn't make the job outlook poor. It does say that the opportunities are expected to grow about average as the population grows.

Also, keep in mind that in any business, the people who are go getters are going to get while those who are not will struggle more.

Good Luck to You,

AZPOD Rocks

 

[Cheetos]

Stats taken for that website was back in 2000. I was still in high school at that time. Times have changed

 

[Dr_Feelgood]

The comment about the effect baby boomers retiring is extremely false. Dr. Mahoney was discussing this last Friday and he comment that when he graduate from Scholl he had 150 fellow classmates graduate at the same time. The average class size has decreased across the board. SO each retirement the baby boomers make up a good majority of the profession, their retirements will have a profound effect on such a small profession.

 

[Dr_Feelgood]

As for websites with job listings, I don't think many physician openings are posted on websites like Monster. The jobs are kept underground via word of mouth and professional connections.

 

[JMAT]

thanks for the input yall!

 

[molldoll2010dpm]

Im not a podiatric student but am hoping to be one soon. I was reading here ( http://www.umsl.edu/services/govdocs/ooh20022003/ocos075.htm ) that the job outlook is not that good because most podiatrists will remain working until they retire.

Does anyone know first hand about the struggles of obtaining a position. I was looking in my area (PAC NW) to see if there were any openings but found none.

2nd: Does anyone know of any good websites that are good for podiatric job searching. Or, the ratio of hospital/clinic podiatrists versus private practice ones?

Im thinking that working for large hospital would be nice because you dont have to do so much book/record-keeping.

Any information on these topics are appreciated. Thanks everyone John

Any job outlook is good if you have what it takes!!!

 

[lillytwig]

Im not a podiatric student but am hoping to be one soon. I was reading here ( http://www.umsl.edu/services/govdocs/ooh20022003/ocos075.htm ) that the job outlook is not that good because most podiatrists will remain working until they retire.

Does anyone know first hand about the struggles of obtaining a position. I was looking in my area (PAC NW) to see if there were any openings but found none.

2nd: Does anyone know of any good websites that are good for podiatric job searching. Or, the ratio of hospital/clinic podiatrists versus private practice ones?

Im thinking that working for large hospital would be nice because you dont have to do so much book/record-keeping.

Any information on these topics are appreciated. Thanks everyone John

Don't do it!

 

[capo]

Looking for job listings in a field that you haven't even applied to it's schools yet, is like looking for a wedding cake for your wedding -- BEFORE you've even found a girl to go out on a 1st date with. It's kind of ludicrous, no?

 

[Dr. Foot]

This is a totally different story from a cake, a girl, or a wedding. I think it is common sense for anybody who want to invest more than $100,000 in school to look for the job outlook first before taking any risk.

 

[lillytwig]

This is a totally different story from a cake, a girl, or a wedding. I think it is common sense for anybody who want to invest more than $100,000 in school to look for the job outlook first before taking any risk.

yeah, i agree Dr. Foot, however I also agree with you, Capo that such a situation would be in deed very crazy, but that really isn't the same thing here. i mean what does a wedding cake cost--2K?? and grad school-100k+ and 4-7 years of life....not the same thing.
that was one of the first things i looked at: how hard it is to land a decent job. somone posted something about word of mouth and stuff. i have found that to be the case here in vegas. the guy i shadow offered me in on his little empire when i am done with school, the first day i met him. i agree that the "rub elbows with the guy you want to buy out" is real, at least in las vegas. anyway, i think talking to the pod you are shadowing is a good place to start. whether or not you actually want to take him over, present a scenario, and see how he responds. that might give an idea as to what current and real market conditions are like in your area.
i mean, wouldn't you want to drive a ferrari before you write the check? have a home appraised to see what the actual value is before paying a potentially inflated rate? trying to feel-out the market is a very smart thing to do before diving into everything.

 

[capo]

yeah, i agree Dr. Foot, however I also agree with you, Capo that such a situation would be in deed very crazy, but that really isn't the same thing here. i mean what does a wedding cake cost--2K?? and grad school-100k+ and 4-7 years of life....not the same thing.
that was one of the first things i looked at: how hard it is to land a decent job. somone posted something about word of mouth and stuff. i have found that to be the case here in vegas. the guy i shadow offered me in on his little empire when i am done with school, the first day i met him. i agree that the "rub elbows with the guy you want to buy out" is real, at least in las vegas. anyway, i think talking to the pod you are shadowing is a good place to start. whether or not you actually want to take him over, present a scenario, and see how he responds. that might give an idea as to what current and real market conditions are like in your area.
i mean, wouldn't you want to drive a ferrari before you write the check? have a home appraised to see what the actual value is before paying a potentially inflated rate? trying to feel-out the market is a very smart thing to do before diving into everything.

My point was that, things change over time. What you may want as an undergrad or someone "looking" into a career, may well change even after the 1st day or year of classes. Why do you think more people nowadays change careers? It's because what may look appealing in youth, may actually turn into a curse once you get it when you're a bit older. Just be aware that "all that glitters is not gold." Looking at a job market now for something that won't happen for 7-8 years down the road, is a tad premature.

It is fine to look into the career for investment purposes (like amount of tuition/money/time, lost if it doesn't pan out). But too many students get caught up in where they'll do their residencies, etc. BEFORE they even are accpeted or set foot in a school and lose sight of the day-to-day things that even get you TO that residency. Hard daily goals that you set out to attain, in order to get to those loftier goals.

 

[Dr. Foot]

You got it lilly

 

[lillytwig]

My point was that, things change over time. What you may want as an undergrad or someone "looking" into a career, may well change even after the 1st day or year of classes. Why do you think more people nowadays change careers? It's because what may look appealing in youth, may actually turn into a curse once you get it when you're a bit older. Just be aware that "all that glitters is not gold." Looking at a job market now for something that won't happen for 7-8 years down the road, is a tad premature.

It is fine to look into the career for investment purposes (like amount of tuition/money/time, lost if it doesn't pan out). But too many students get caught up in where they'll do their residencies, etc. BEFORE they even are accpeted or set foot in a school and lose sight of the day-to-day things that even get you TO that residency. Hard daily goals that you set out to attain, in order to get to those loftier goals.

point well taken. i think, however, that one very appealing thing about healthcare, and especially podiatry (being the up and coming field, the best kept secret in medicine, and all the other pro-pod things mentioned on this forum) is job security. i know this guy who is a manager at home depot. he worked a trading desk in new york for 6 or 7 years, and then in like 2002 when the market took a huge hit, he and tens of thousands of his peers suddenly found themselves jobless. immediately, this guy began at home depot, with the idea to work his way to the top. the solace that we have is whether we are making 300k or 75k a year, chances are such that we probably won't need to find another job if something were to sour a bit, financially. career change reasons are many times two fold: the first being job dissatisfaction which we will all experience at one time or another (whiskers) but when coupled with the idea of making more dough in another profession, that is usally what will push people to change careers. if you can't look down the road and expect market conditions to either remain constant or improve, why the hell would even think about joining the profession?? we can all say that we do it ONLY because we love feet, but who are we kidding? it is more complicated than that. we love feet AND we love money, which is why we are willing to invest so much of ourselves in the process of getting ourselves educated. who wants to be a part of a dying job market?? in other words, how many pods or doctors do you personally know who have forsaken medicine to sell timeshares or some other sales job, because they couldn't make ends meet??
all other factors being equal, such as interest in the field, etc., I maintain that the decision to choose a medical specialty should be based on current and/or growing demands. how else can you approach this without being pre-mature??

 

[Catayst]

What I like about podiatry is that DPMs are not competing with each other--the more podiatrists there are, the more patients become familarized with the profession and the more often they will go to seek proper foot care.
If one podiatrist advertises, it increases patients for many DPMs. Perhaps there should be a national ad campaign promoting foot care.

Maybe direct it towards the youth:
"Feet are L33T"

 

[Dr_Feelgood]

What I like about podiatry is that DPMs are not competing with each other--the more podiatrists there are, the more patients become familarized with the profession and the more often they will go to seek proper foot care.
If one podiatrist advertises, it increases patients for many DPMs. Perhaps there should be a national ad campaign promoting foot care.

Maybe direct it towards the youth:
"Feet are L33T"

I guess I'm old b/c I don't know waht L33T means?

 

[Catayst]

Okay a slogan for everybody who didn't spend their high school years gaming:

Podiatrists: The Feet Elite

 

[JMAT]

Hey i just like to plan ahead. Going to graduate school is a huge thing for me. If i could honestly say that I love feet i probably wouldn't care as much. Im just as interested in having a stable job as i am enjoying my job. Sure, the average DPM has a good income but that doesn't necessarily mean that the job outlook is also positive. I dont consider the healthcare field to be volatile but given the current circumstances, whos knows???

I sure as hell don't want to go into the candy business, but i love it. Going into a business which PEOPLE NEED is important to me.

 

[Podman]

Hey i just like to plan ahead. Going to graduate school is a huge thing for me. If i could honestly say that I love feet i probably wouldn't care as much. Im just as interested in having a stable job as i am enjoying my job. Sure, the average DPM has a good income but that doesn't necessarily mean that the job outlook is also positive. I dont consider the healthcare field to be volatile but given the current circumstances, whos knows???

I sure as hell don't want to go into the candy business, but i love it. Going into a business which PEOPLE NEED is important to me.

your concerns are valid of course and you are entitled to investigate the profession because this is your investment afterall. To be honest with you, I think you may find it very helpful if you can contact current residents, residency directors, or current young (recently graduated) practitioners to ask them about their job offers and the outlook. They probably have the most accurate picture and you get to ask them first hand and you'll get a wider variety of answers.

For phone numbers and contacts, refer to the website for the American Association for colleges of Podiatric Medicine.

www.aacpm.org

 

[Dr_Feelgood]

your concerns are valid of course and you are entitled to investigate the profession because this is your investment afterall. To be honest with you, I think you may find it very helpful if you can contact current residents, residency directors, or current young (recently graduated) practitioners to ask them about their job offers and the outlook. They probably have the most accurate picture and you get to ask them first hand and you'll get a wider variety of answers.

For phone numbers and contacts, refer to the website for the American Association for colleges of Podiatric Medicine.

www.aacpm.org

 

[JMAT]

Wow. WHo would have thought someone could respond in a straight forward and coherent manner! haha