• Practice your interview with the new SDN AI Interview Coach. Choose a school, answer by voice or typing, and receive a personalized feedback report. Available now to all SDN members. Try the AI Interview Coach.

DPM Success Stories

Started by JAJE
Resident Insider — DPM residents get paid for wh
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
air bud said:
So again we have many people on here talking about 500k+ in MSG/hospital groups....but the average on Marit is 300ish for surgical....so where are all these people bringing it down?
Click to expand...
I think it's what @Hybrocure said: those are the associate and supergroup jobs. Those are well over half the DPMs working overall (any age/exp). Some of them hire hundreds of pods in multiple states... nearly all making under $200k, at least early on. Two or three or ten of those easily cancels out a SDN person working at some CAH in Idaho with decent rVU rate and making $600k.

The mantra here, SDN, is to find jobs not posted. Network to try to go to outer suburbs, go rural, call CAH hospitals, go to even way rural Montana or IHS or whatever to get a better pay and pay off loans and get BC and good scope of practice. It has worked for many ppl. Find jobs not advertised and usually in places most people haven't even heard of. Try to use mgma data and get paid to do work in places that can't recruit or retain MD surgeons. It's logical a lot of ppl here will have those type of jobs, and some network here to find those jobs too (and if they post here but can't find anything but normal associate/supergroup job, they usually won't post much about it). Overall, SDN is a tiny % of ppl out working as a podiatrist - and they're usually more interested in career than average DPM. It's awesome that they get mostly paid accordingly.

...But most ppl overall - pod or otherwise - live in cities. 90-95% of the urban pod jobs there are associate, supergroup, or maybe start your own office with limited room to run. I know a very few DPMs who've started/expanded PP that became a big group or supergroup, but it's very rare. The city hospitals in most metros have ortho and don't hire DPMs... or don't let them do a lot if they do hire them (wound care, forefoot). Even ppl with RRA and exp have trouble getting options that use full scope in big cities due to ortho politics and pod saturation. There are a tiny few podiatry docs who do a lot of pod ortho stuff in metro major hospitals or ortho groups, but they're certainly not the norm... they usually get refers from dozens of other DPMs (fellowship director guys, etc). Even most of the ACFAS speaker guys who are downtown in metros are just doing Charcot and that. Our biggest "hospital" employer, VAMC, does hire podiatry in city areas and sometimes they have good scope, but those will pay average or below, especially for metro area COL.
 
i'm finishing residency, board qualiified in rra and ffa and out of debt. i know i'm in a VERY small minority to do that so early but because of all of those things are done and out of the way I'm genuinely excited for practicing podiatry and helping people. High earning spouse for the win.
 
iridocyclitiss said:
i'm finishing residency, board qualiified in rra and ffa and out of debt. i know i'm in a VERY small minority to do that so early but because of all of those things are done and out of the way I'm genuinely excited for practicing podiatry and helping people. High earning spouse for the win.
Click to expand...
Congrats.

I’m very happy for you.

(Insert meme here)
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
iridocyclitiss said:
i'm finishing residency, board qualiified in rra and ffa and out of debt. i know i'm in a VERY small minority to do that so early but because of all of those things are done and out of the way I'm genuinely excited for practicing podiatry and helping people. High earning spouse for the win.
Click to expand...
Best way to start.
Best of luck. Go build your empire.
 
iridocyclitiss said:
i'm finishing residency, board qualiified in rra and ffa and out of debt. i know i'm in a VERY small minority to do that so early but because of all of those things are done and out of the way I'm genuinely excited for practicing podiatry and helping people. High earning spouse for the win.
Click to expand...
That's awesome... I would get her/him a great holiday gift. 👍

That $300k or so of tuition, housing, clerkships, books, supplies, etc savings is really like $500k or more total payback after residency +/- fellowship and at today's 7% interest by the time it's normally paid off in 10-20+ years. It's also just the huge factor of not having the weight of debt, large numbers staring at you, and the payments to make.

That is absolutely the way to go, if possible. We don't have kids, but my gf paid for undergrad for her nieces, so they now have full earn power right out of school in the same way... certainly a gift that gives for a lifetime. She didn't pay a dime of my student loans, but she has done the lion's share of our retirement investing. 😇🙃😇
I don't understand those families/couples that have plenty of money yet have the kid take out school loans (well, maybe back in the days of 2% or 3% interest loans... but definitely not anymore). It is such a huge advantage, for any profession, to have no edu debt and/or biz to step into.
 
Feli said:
That's awesome... I would get her/him a great holiday gift. 👍

That $300k or so of tuition, housing, clerkships, books, supplies, etc savings is really like $500k or more total payback after residency +/- fellowship and at today's 7% interest by the time it's normally paid off in 10-20+ years. It's also just the huge factor of not having the weight of debt, large numbers staring at you, and the payments to make.

That is absolutely the way to go, if possible. We don't have kids, but my gf paid for undergrad for her nieces, so they now have full earn power right out of school in the same way... certainly a gift that gives for a lifetime. She didn't pay a dime of my student loans, but she has done the lion's share of our retirement investing. 😇🙃😇
I don't understand those families/couples that have plenty of money yet have the kid take out school loans (well, maybe back in the days of 2% or 3% interest loans... but definitely not anymore). It is such a huge advantage, for any profession, to have no edu debt and/or biz to step into.
Click to expand...
You don't have to save for college since it's worthless and a waste of money especially in 12 plus years - insert think about it meme


That's my plan.
 
air bud said:
You don't have to save for college since it's worthless and a waste of money especially in 12 plus years - insert think about it meme


That's my plan.
Click to expand...
HVAC install today at my house... two guys (one electrician, one HVAC) under 4 hours work, two bathroom fans + switches... a bit over $4k.

Payment up front, they told us when it had to be (and rescheduled once or twice), they decided the prices (so basically nothing like medicine). 😆

$500+/hr + maybe $500 or less in nominal supplies = $1M/yr.
 
Feli said:
HVAC install today at my house... two guys (one electrician, one HVAC) under 4 hours work, two bathroom fans + switches... a bit over $4k.

Payment up front, they told us when it had to be (and rescheduled once or twice), they decided the prices (so basically nothing like medicine). 😆

$500+/hr + maybe $500 or less in nominal supplies = $1M/yr.
Click to expand...
4k for HVAC you got a deal....unless they has a wrapped van and an IPAD then you definitely got ripped off.
 
air bud said:
You don't have to save for college since it's worthless and a waste of money especially in 12 plus years - insert think about it meme


That's my plan.
Click to expand...
Blue collar millionaires is the next big boom. AI can’t do plumbing, electrical work etc.

I agree saving for college might be futile. Sooner than later cost of college will have to come down or there will be nobody who can afford it.

The only advantage in putting money into a 529 account is that it still grows just like any stock. I’ve got several kids and I’ve accumulated almost 141k between the accounts.

Looking at the past performance of the accounts I’ve been getting, on average, a ridiculous 17% return annually.

529 funds are a really good investment tool to grow you money.
 
Feli said:
HVAC install today at my house... two guys (one electrician, one HVAC) under 4 hours work, two bathroom fans + switches... a bit over $4k.

Payment up front, they told us when it had to be (and rescheduled once or twice), they decided the prices (so basically nothing like medicine). 😆

$500+/hr + maybe $500 or less in nominal supplies = $1M/yr.
Click to expand...
It really is incredible how the trades have exploded. My high school buddy came by recently and did a quick job for me (he's a self-trained handyman). I insisted I pay him and couldn't believe he charges $150 to start anything and that doesn't go towards his hourly $75 so a 2 hour job he walks out with $300 and he only works when he wants and it is all cash up front. He says he can work as much as he wants because he is turning away work daily.
 
I'm late to the party, but I'll go. I feel I hit the jackpot for a podiatrist. I am working multiple hospital based clinics in critical access, rural settings. I have to go to 4 entirely different towns to maintain 18-20 work days a month but I plan to cut back at some point to reduce the headache of so many EMRs and different staffs to deal with. I don't take call and do 90% clinic with 2-3 surgeries a week. I'll gross over 500k this year and if I keep up the pace I'm at for the 3rd and 4th quarters of 2025 then in 2026 I may hit 600k. I don't get any benefits but I'm starting to become more versed in tax strategies to reduce my huge hit as a high earning 1099 with minimal overhead. My commute (generally 2.5-4hrs of driving a day) makes the job fairly untenable for this pace for a career but I'm crushing my student loans and just moved into a nice custom built home. My wife doesn't have to work and she's able to hold down the fort with our kids while I work. Eventually I hope to scale down to 3 days a week and hopefully can enjoy my 40s a little more than I have my 30s.

Podiatry can be rewarding, but knowing what I know, I discourage the next generation from choosing it. Odds just aren't good enough for such a high investment of time and money. Go work the trades and make 200k easy before we ever even finish undergrad and be a net worth millionaire before a podiatrist finishes residency.
 
Forcewielder said:
It really is incredible how the trades have exploded. My high school buddy came by recently and did a quick job for me (he's a self-trained handyman). I insisted I pay him and couldn't believe he charges $150 to start anything and that doesn't go towards his hourly $75 so a 2 hour job he walks out with $300 and he only works when he wants and it is all cash up front. He says he can work as much as he wants because he is turning away work daily.
Click to expand...
Yes, but much like a professional athlete, what are you going to do when you’re 45-50 years old, you have an arthritic back and your knees have blown out from plumbing work for the last 25 years?

The grass is always greener and trade work is far more demanding than cutting toenails and 1 hour OR cases.
 
Boba Foot said:
Yes, but much like a professional athlete, what are you going to do when you’re 45-50 years old, you have an arthritic back and your knees have blown out from plumbing work for the last 25 years?

The grass is always greener and trade work is far more demanding than cutting toenails and 1 hour OR cases.
Click to expand...
Disagree. First of all, they have time for compound growth on their side. Second, like Adam just said, you can farm out the hardest parts. I've got 3 older brothers in the trades and they're already to the point they just bid and sub out most of their work. They're on the back end of their careers, could retire any time and are in their mid 40s. Most people never push themselves or squander it when they're young. Anyone that did the steady 15% are so set up by the time you're saying they're beaten down. Don't just take my anecdotal rationale, listen to Dave Ramsey and the number of guys in their late 20s in the trades that are in paid off houses with IRAs that will be worth 3-5mil by 65 if they never contributed another dime... white collar is where you hear the disaster stories ha
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Meanwhile on some carpentry forum they're probably saying "look at that rich podiatrist working for the hospital grossing 500k just to do the same thing I do every day." The grass is indeed greener.

Edit: my point being there's outliers in every field, I definitely believe smart tradesmen are making big money and I also believe there are not so smart ones struggling just like anyone else. It's a bell curve.
 
Forcewielder said:
Disagree. First of all, they have time for compound growth on their side. Second, like Adam just said, you can farm out the hardest parts. I've got 3 older brothers in the trades and they're already to the point they just bid and sub out most of their work. They're on the back end of their careers, could retire any time and are in their mid 40s. Most people never push themselves or squander it when they're young. Anyone that did the steady 15% are so set up by the time you're saying they're beaten down. Don't just take my anecdotal rationale, listen to Dave Ramsey and the number of guys in their late 20s in the trades that are in paid off houses with IRAs that will be worth 3-5mil by 65 if they never contributed another dime... white collar is where you hear the disaster stories ha
Click to expand...
It all comes down to if you’re savvy. If you’re sharp enough to do MD/DO/DPM, pretty good chance you’d be able to figure out putting some money away and let that compound interest work while also finding a way to get out of the daily physical grind.

My high school had a pretty nifty vocational school so we had guys coming out with like 1+ years towards their apprenticeship. So at 18 they’re making relatively close to a resident if they want to work hard. The rest of us are probably 8+ years behind.

I wasn’t non-house debt free until PGY-10 or 11. That’s an awful lot of time to catch back up, even with a big Dave Ramsey shovel.
 
Adam Smasher said:
Meanwhile on some carpentry forum they're probably saying "look at that rich podiatrist working for the hospital grossing 500k just to do the same thing I do every day." The grass is indeed greener.

Edit: my point being there's outliers in every field, I definitely believe smart tradesmen are making big money and I also believe there are not so smart ones struggling just like anyone else. It's a bell curve.
Click to expand...
It is indeed a bell curve, but weren't all of us on the high end of the bell curve throughout our lives? It is what it is.

Your point is valid that the grass is always greener, but I've really been introspective lately. Feli had a great post earlier about contentment. It's elusive. You always think a certain dollar amount will make a difference but it really just changes the quality of toy, trip, or meal you buy. Again, it's worked out for me personally, but when giving advice I try to steer people towards what has the best chance of success, not the highest ceiling.
 
Boba Foot said:
Lost me there.
Click to expand...
Dave can be useful, but only in small bites. He does his best work as a cheerleader and is willing to tell people they’re making a dumb move, but doesn’t really have much other advice. It’s just entertainment.

With his overly dogmatic approach, he probably would have told me to save up to buy into my practice instead of getting a loan (leveraging debt), which would have put me around an additional 3 years behind schedule.
 
Forcewielder said:
I'm late to the party, but I'll go. I feel I hit the jackpot for a podiatrist. I am working multiple hospital based clinics in critical access, rural settings. I have to go to 4 entirely different towns to maintain 18-20 work days a month but I plan to cut back at some point to reduce the headache of so many EMRs and different staffs to deal with. I don't take call and do 90% clinic with 2-3 surgeries a week. I'll gross over 500k this year and if I keep up the pace I'm at for the 3rd and 4th quarters of 2025 then in 2026 I may hit 600k. I don't get any benefits but I'm starting to become more versed in tax strategies to reduce my huge hit as a high earning 1099 with minimal overhead. My commute (generally 2.5-4hrs of driving a day) makes the job fairly untenable for this pace for a career but I'm crushing my student loans and just moved into a nice custom built home. My wife doesn't have to work and she's able to hold down the fort with our kids while I work. Eventually I hope to scale down to 3 days a week and hopefully can enjoy my 40s a little more than I have my 30s.

Podiatry can be rewarding, but knowing what I know, I discourage the next generation from choosing it. Odds just aren't good enough for such a high investment of time and money. Go work the trades and make 200k easy before we ever even finish undergrad and be a net worth millionaire before a podiatrist finishes residency.
Click to expand...
2.5-4 hours of driving daily is insane
 
Forcewielder said:
I'm late to the party, but I'll go. I feel I hit the jackpot for a podiatrist. I am working multiple hospital based clinics in critical access, rural settings. I have to go to 4 entirely different towns to maintain 18-20 work days a month but I plan to cut back at some point to reduce the headache of so many EMRs and different staffs to deal with. I don't take call and do 90% clinic with 2-3 surgeries a week. I'll gross over 500k this year and if I keep up the pace I'm at for the 3rd and 4th quarters of 2025 then in 2026 I may hit 600k. I don't get any benefits but I'm starting to become more versed in tax strategies to reduce my huge hit as a high earning 1099 with minimal overhead. My commute (generally 2.5-4hrs of driving a day)
Click to expand...

So you just found 4 different hospitals that were willing to start clinics for podiatry for the 1 day per week you're in town? Or do you work as a contractor for a company that already has all this set up with the hospitals?

Like how do you even find 4 different places that are willing to open a clinic for you? hahah
 
footpainhealer said:
So you just found 4 different hospitals that were willing to start clinics for podiatry for the 1 day per week you're in town? Or do you work as a contractor for a company that already has all this set up with the hospitals?

Like how do you even find 4 different places that are willing to open a clinic for you? hahah
Click to expand...
I have lived this life also. Not as much driving daily but it was a few times a week of driving a few hours back and forth to these outreach clinics.... Now if you were a boss like Ortho you just flew there in your own private plane and you had your own PA and each town.... But, it sounds like you're killing it man but that much driving you're not going to be able to do it forever and then the setup that you have that's a house of cards. Again I've lived this life You can't just live in this same dreamhouse of yours and pick up and go work in another hospital system or see patients on another part of town. There is no other opportunities other than what you've created and so you've just handcuffed yourself
 
eyeeye_captain said:
Dave can be useful, but only in small bites. He does his best work as a cheerleader and is willing to tell people they’re making a dumb move, but doesn’t really have much other advice. It’s just entertainment.

With his overly dogmatic approach, he probably would have told me to save up to buy into my practice instead of getting a loan (leveraging debt), which would have put me around an additional 3 years behind schedule.
Click to expand...
People don't like Dave because his advice is very boring but its pragmatic. People can't stand being honest with themselves when it comes to money. People hate conservative investing. It's why credit card debt continues to grow and grow.

Everyone wants to get rich quick. But if anyone followed his steps they would be in a way better and safer position. But people like to be irresponsible with their money and want that instagram life. It really is the truth.
 
I’ve known about Ramsey for about 20 years now. During that time, I’ve never met a wealthy person attributing their success to him. I have, however, met plenty of people driving 10 year old Corrollas musing about how someday they’ll be wealthy because they listen to the great Dave Ramsey. Someday they’ll be dead too, so who knows if the wealth or the death will happen first.
 
Retrograde_Nail said:
People don't like Dave because his advice is very boring but its pragmatic. People can't stand being honest with themselves when it comes to money. People hate conservative investing. It's why credit card debt continues to grow and grow.

Everyone wants to get rich quick. But if anyone followed his steps they would be in a way better and safer position. But people like to be irresponsible with their money and want that instagram life. It really is the truth.
Click to expand...
For sure... people are swinging for the fences - particularly young people. It can be sports betting, powerball, crypto, casino, whatever. People are feeling crushed with student loans, consumer debt. They are making minimum loan pays to be throwing up hail mary chances... only makes things worse.

george costanza swing and a miss GIF


It's just much easier to try for a quick win than than to pay debt, save, index. That is not appealing to be frugal when they scroll Fakebook and see other people with a Ford Raptor (sorry @air bud ) or fancy vacations or a big new house (that they'll be paying at least twice the "purchase price"on after all the interest).

Dave's advice is great for getting out of debt (stop digging/spending, sell stupid liability stuff, make a plan, stick to it)... but it's simplistic and questionable at best for building wealth and investing. Stock chats like Bogleheads or WCI or Peter Lynch books are a lot better for growing wealth imo. Everybody will do what they want in the end.
 
Retrograde_Nail said:
People don't like Dave because his advice is very boring but its pragmatic. People can't stand being honest with themselves when it comes to money. People hate conservative investing. It's why credit card debt continues to grow and grow.

Everyone wants to get rich quick. But if anyone followed his steps they would be in a way better and safer position. But people like to be irresponsible with their money and want that instagram life. It really is the truth.
Click to expand...

Like everything, he/you are partially correct, but it's more nuanced than that. The majority in financial trouble definitely aren't the "keeping up with the internet Joneses" types lol.

Even for the people that are responsible, they still can't keep up with rising costs of everything.

My parents purchased their house for 400 K in 2011. 14 years later, it is worth 1.3 million. A much smaller and less-upgraded house in our cul-de-sac just sold for 1.18 million in September, so there are definitely comps to confirm the estimate. A lot of states don't protect against property tax increases even if they're in the same house they've always been in.

That's just property, theres still discussions to be had about food, healthcare, energy costs, college/grad school.

Even responsible people making the equivalent of 120K per year in the early 2000's can not keep up their SAME lifestyle they had been able to EASILY afford for the last 20 years. And it's not "lifestyle creep". Twenty years ago, people still had cell-phones, gaming consoles, replace streaming services with cable/satellite, luxury cars still existed, etc.

20 years ago, a household making ~120 K per year drove a 5-series/E-class, and a Tahoe/Excursion, and owned 2 to 3000 square-foot home in pricier parts of the country (my entire childhood town was living proof).

Now, someone making 199K (per inflation calc. for 120k equivalent in 2005), can not afford the same cars or home. Maybe 1 or the other, but not both. You are considered "low-income" for a household of 4 by the state even if that household makes >90K. Its INSANE!
 
Last edited:
footpainhealer said:
...My parents purchased their house for 400 K in 2011. 14 years later, it is worth 1.3 million...

...20 years ago, a household making ~120 K per year drove a 5-series/E-class, and a Tahoe/Excursion, and owned 2 to 3000 square-foot home in pricier parts of the country (my entire childhood town was living proof)... Now, someone making 199K (per inflation calc. for 120k equivalent in 2005), can not afford the same cars or home. Maybe 1 or the other, but not both. You are considered "low-income" for a household of 4 by the state even if that household makes >90K. Its INSANE! ...
Click to expand...
This is utter nonsense. Nearly all of Boomers had great economy, pensions, cheap houses that appreciated a ton, all that. That's common knowledge.

To expect the same standard today is totally foolish.



...and yeah, most broke people are overspending. It's not fun driving an older (reliable) used car while most people have new leases, but it works. It's not great going camping while others go to Hawaii, but it should be done until student loans are gone. People just don't want to do it.
 
Feli said:
This is utter nonsense. Nearly all of Boomers had great economy, pensions, cheap houses that appreciated a ton, all that. That's common knowledge.

To expect the same standard today is totally foolish.
Click to expand...

You say it's nonsense, but then your second sentence aligns with everything I just wrote above.
Yes, boomers had the great economy, pensions, and cheap houses that allowed them to live the lifestyle that I described above. I'm not sure where the discrepancy is between what you're saying and what I said lol.

Regardless, I put the 2025 equivalent of the 2005-value of 120K (~200K) as the income in my statements.
Why would it be foolish to expect that 200K in 2025 should afford the same standard as what 120k did in 2005? That's the whole point of using the "adjusted for inflation" number of 200k haha. Of course a $100 bill right now is not going to afford the same goods/services as that SAME $100 bill being spent in 2005. But $170 today should absolutely afford the same goods/services as a $100 bill in 2005 (calculated per CPI/BLS).

Yeah I agree with you that broke people are overspending. For the people living beyond their means as your last paragraph describes, that's on them. My concern is with people who have, and still are living within their means getting priced out or having to incur CC debt when they were completely stable and doing just fine for years. The demographic I am describing is not going broke because of cars, vacations, or gadgets. They're going broke because the world around them become so much more expensive. They already drive cheap cars and live in crappy apartments and don't go on vacations.

Edit: oh, I can see where my previous comments about 120K could be misconstrued. I edited it.
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot 2025-12-11 at 1.22.48 PM Medium.jpeg
    Screenshot 2025-12-11 at 1.22.48 PM Medium.jpeg
    27.6 KB · Views: 72
Last edited:
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Feli said:
This is utter nonsense. Nearly all of Boomers had great economy, pensions, cheap houses that appreciated a ton, all that. That's common knowledge.

To expect the same standard today is totally foolish.
Click to expand...
What makes you think that it's foolish to expect a better standard of life than your parents' generation, when that's been the standard for a century now?

Why is it OK for the upper percentile of society to gain exponential wealth as everyone else is stagnant?

Those two things are very much connected and to make an excuse for it is weak sauce.
 
Boba Foot said:
What makes you think that it's foolish to expect a better standard of life than your parents' generation, when that's been the standard for a century now?

Why is it OK for the upper percentile of society to gain exponential wealth as everyone else is stagnant?

Those two things are very much connected and to make an excuse for it is weak sauce.
Click to expand...
People can expect whatever they want. That's up to them.
A lot of the biggest dissatisfactions come from missed expectations: wanted to be a 'surgeon' yet cutting nails most of the days, wanted to be a baller like some people they know yet mediocre job and drowning in student debt, wanted to have kids go to private school yet can barely make the mortgage and take a basic vacation.

The reality of the world we live in is that most of us come out in DEEP student debt, cost of living is high (especially if they want what they see on TV or IG). There is no more cavalry for the old folks either... social security and other entitlements are crunched, and basically every business has abandoned pension for 401/403 or similar plans the employees have to fund.

The generations of our parents and grandparents was whole lot different. USA controlled the world reserve currency right after WW1 and WW2 when we had most of the gold since Europe had been spending all of theirs on wars. People in USA could finish high school or a cheap college degree (just pay for it with a summer job), and they'd be working at a good job, making good money with serious buy power, buy a low cost but good house, live high standards and/or retire early. Other goods and travel and things were more affordable also; we made a lot domestically, the rest of the world was selling them and still adjusting to our money supply (which was gold standard, to some degree, until 1970s... now completely arbitrary).

...The game is different, the rest of the world is now making the goods we buy, and our money is total fiat with less power... so that doesn't mean that "expect a better standard" and "keep their same lifestyle" are logical. The compound interest is working against us until we pay off the debt, and buy power is just not as good. It's up to each person if they want to buy what they can afford and pay their debt, if they want to limit educational debt, or they can just borrow a ton and then pay the minimums, keep buying, and see how that turns out. Those people who like to say, "I'm a bit behind on my retirement" or "I'll probably have to work until I'm 80" are usually not joking. 🙁
 
Last edited:
footpainhealer said:
So you just found 4 different hospitals that were willing to start clinics for podiatry for the 1 day per week you're in town? Or do you work as a contractor for a company that already has all this set up with the hospitals?

Like how do you even find 4 different places that are willing to open a clinic for you? hahah
Click to expand...
I have a company I work with that does the leg work. I can put you in touch if you ever want to know about it. They keep 10% but they've gotten me way more than I ever expected and they keep an eye on MGMAs and try to get me raises accordingly.
 
air bud said:
I have lived this life also. Not as much driving daily but it was a few times a week of driving a few hours back and forth to these outreach clinics.... Now if you were a boss like Ortho you just flew there in your own private plane and you had your own PA and each town.... But, it sounds like you're killing it man but that much driving you're not going to be able to do it forever and then the setup that you have that's a house of cards. Again I've lived this life You can't just live in this same dreamhouse of yours and pick up and go work in another hospital system or see patients on another part of town. There is no other opportunities other than what you've created and so you've just handcuffed yourself
Click to expand...
You're not wrong. I'm 4yrs into this and I am living off way less than I earn so I can always scale back if necessary. In those 4yrs I've managed to pay off 150k in student loans, pay cash for a couple newer cars and a boat, and put 400k towards my house with 300k in my retirement so far. I'll be a net worth millionaire next year. I'm at 18-20 days a month right now and kind of expect to maintain this 1 more year or so before going to 4 day weeks only. I'm also paying off the house at a 10yr rate so I tell myself I could be FIRE eligible by 45 if I wanted. Maybe eventually I cut down to 2 days a week and then just do some teaching or something to keep me engaged. Hard to turn down the money I'm getting right now though. Never know how things might change.
 
Forcewielder said:
You're not wrong. I'm 4yrs into this and I am living off way less than I earn so I can always scale back if necessary. In those 4yrs I've managed to pay off 150k in student loans, pay cash for a couple newer cars and a boat, and put 400k towards my house with 300k in my retirement so far. I'll be a net worth millionaire next year. I'm at 18-20 days a month right now and kind of expect to maintain this 1 more year or so before going to 4 day weeks only. I'm also paying off the house at a 10yr rate so I tell myself I could be FIRE eligible by 45 if I wanted. Maybe eventually I cut down to 2 days a week and then just do some teaching or something to keep me engaged. Hard to turn down the money I'm getting right now though. Never know how things might change.
Click to expand...

Geez man. How rural is this? lol

There's gotta be a catch somewhere. The commutes sound insane, but if your only in clinic for like 5 hours at one of these places for actual patient care, and it took you 2 hours to get there, and 2 hours to get back home, that's still only a 9 hour day.
That's not bad at all. I'm assuming you're getting some compensation for gas, so that's a moot point. 2 hours of driving is 2 hours of relaxing listening to podcasts or music, and getting paid for it (if your getting paid for the whole day regardless).

People already work 8-10 hours anyways and are away from home for those hours, so its not any different than the majority of the working worlds daily life anyways IMO.

Now if it's 2 hours of commuting there, 8 hours of patient care, and then 2 hours back home......yes, that's INSANE long-term. But I would totally still do it for like 2-3 years. No kids here so screw it. lol
 
Last edited:
footpainhealer said:
Geez man. How rural is this? lol

There's gotta be a catch somewhere. The commutes sound insane, but if your only in clinic for like 5 hours at one of these places for actual patient care, and it took you 2 hours to get there, and 2 hours to get back home, that's still only a 9 hour day.
That's not bad at all. I'm assuming you're getting some compensation for gas, so that's a moot point. 2 hours of driving is 2 hours of relaxing listening to podcasts or music, and getting paid for it (if your getting paid for the whole day regardless).

People already work 8-10 hours anyways and are away from home for those hours, so its not any different than the majority of the working worlds daily life anyways IMO.

Now if it's 2 hours of commuting there, 8 hours of patient care, and then 2 hours back home......yes, that's INSANE long-term. But I would totally still do it for like 2-3 years. No kids here so screw it. lol
Click to expand...
I work 8-3 with a 30 min "break" that generally just serves as a way to finish my morning congestion and make it to afternoon surgery (PRN). So assuming there's not a C-section or something that bumps me, I can expect to be done by 3-3:30. I'm home before by 5pm every day. May have to leave at 6am. Working out consistently is hard as it adds another 60-90min in the morning. But yeah man, it's hard to beat. A lot of white collar guys in my neighborhood have similar hours and they don't make crap compared to me. Honestly if you want to know more message me and I'd be happy to give specifics. A few on here know me by name already but just in case I say too much some day I prefer anonymity.

Edit: Also, meant to say I get irs mileage tax free so .70/mile which equates to $100-130/day
 
Last edited:
Lol yes the question is always how do you guys define rural.... My first critical access hospital I drove an hour and a half to Walmart 3 hours to Costco 3 hours to Target.... The next critical Access hospital was about 20 minutes to Walmart but still 3 hours to Target Costco was ..... Maybe 6 hours?


Even now I'm an hour from Target hour from Costco
 
air bud said:
Lol yes the question is always how do you guys define rural.... My first critical access hospital I drove an hour and a half to Walmart 3 hours to Costco 3 hours to Target.... The next critical Access hospital was about 20 minutes to Walmart but still 3 hours to Target Costco was ..... Maybe 6 hours?


Even now I'm an hour from Target hour from Costco
Click to expand...
I'm at a CAH that's 20 minutes from a small city (500k population with suburbs) and I live about 20 minutes away (not in the city) close to costco, home depot etc. There's a large newer walmart in the same town as the hospital and the town itself is about 10k population. We're classified as rural but we really aren't.
 
footpainhealer said:
If you as a podiatrist are grossing 500k doing this set-up, I can't even imagine what ortho or vascular or cardiology that also does critical access one day a week at multiple places are bringing in. I'm assuming it's seven figures at that point right?

But you're set up reminds me of this dude I saw on social media where he tries to hook up other doctors with something similar to what you're doing cause he's always talking about driving. I think he's EM or IM. I never really paid attention to the stuff he talks about, but he rolls around in a black Lamborghini Aventador, a McLaren 720 , and Rolls Royce Cullinan in all of his videos. I can't remember his name off the top of my head.

Do you get to live (where you built your home) in a decent size town or city or is your set up so rural that even going to a grocery store is a one hour plus excursion? How far is the nearest Costco or BestBuy (or any major well-known retailer)? Just trying to gauge exactly what rural means in this case lol. I drove from one coast to the other (E to W) during clerkships (basically did the entire I-40 one way, and I-10 the other way), and some of these places literally had NOTHING except a gas station even if 1000 people lived in that town.

Some might consider an area where the entire population of all the towns combined in a 50 mile radius is 5-10K to be rural. Others may consider a population of 100-150K in that same scenario to be rural. Others, 300k+ to still be rural.

Sorry if I sound silly with all these questions. Im just trying to visualize, and paint a picture in my head as to what a life practicing with your setup is like in detail.
Click to expand...
I couldn't get my wife to consider living in one of the towns I work in so I'm on the outskirts of the suburbs. Where I live has all places you mentioned within 15-30 minutes. My commute is pure highway and rarely has any form of traffic. If I drove into the city I'd spend nearly as long going those 25 miles as I would driving 75 miles to a hospital.

Like others have said. There are degrees of rural. I've lived in towns with a population of 25k and over an hour from the nearest "city", but where I am now is far from rural in my opinion.
 
Bluecollarmed said:
I'm at a CAH that's 20 minutes from a small city (500k population with suburbs) and I live about 20 minutes away (not in the city) close to costco, home depot etc. There's a large newer walmart in the same town as the hospital and the town itself is about 10k population. We're classified as rural but we really aren't.
Click to expand...
Forcewielder said:
I couldn't get my wife to consider living in one of the towns I work in so I'm on the outskirts of the suburbs. Where I live has all places you mentioned within 15-30 minutes. My commute is pure highway and rarely has any form of traffic. If I drove into the city I'd spend nearly as long going those 25 miles as I would driving 75 miles to a hospital.

Like others have said. There are degrees of rural. I've lived in towns with a population of 25k and over an hour from the nearest "city", but where I am now is far from rural in my opinion.
Click to expand...

Wow. That is not what I expected when you guys talk about critical access and rural lol.
I was expecting like being in the middle of the desert or cornfields where the nearest >5K population is 3 hours away or more.

You guys both sound like you just live in any other suburban area. Maybe not as densely populated as suburbs of NYC, LA, or denver, but also not some of those vast empty places I've encountered while driving across the country.
 
I am 8 years out. Started career in mid 250s and last two years made $400k.

Call 1 every 8 to 10 weeks
4 days a week
5 cases a week
20 pts a day when in clinic
Full health and other benefits with good match and tax benefits
Second tier city (1 mill plus population)
Hospital employed

Feel I got a lot of good out of this career already. Hopefully it keeps getting better
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
In PP I find it hard getting cases tbh unless you press patients into stuff. I’m curious how many of these hospital employed x call week cases per week are inpatient cases vs electives. I trained at a hospital where while you might be on call once a week every 6 weeks you still had to deal with some sort of inpatient bs at all times and rotating personal patients coming back in for hospital surgeries on your “off” weeks
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Bored Snorlax
Interesting FPMB registered DPM counts by state
Replies
18
Views
2K
Sole Badguy
S
C
DPM-> MD/DO
Replies
19
Views
4K
eyeeye_captain
eyeeye_captain
Adam Smasher
"Each Additional DPM per 10k Medicare pts reduces odds of amputation 19.1%"
Replies
0
Views
622
Adam Smasher
Adam Smasher
N
DPM job move question - urgent - need experienced input. Please and thank you!
2
Replies
81
Views
6K
Adam Smasher
Adam Smasher
D
  • Poll Poll
Time for change in Podiatry/Combined DPM and MD program
Replies
48
Views
7K
gsrimport
G