Pharmacist considering podiatry school

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
F

farm_assist

Full Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
Jul 15, 2014
Messages
47
Reaction score
43
Members don't see this ad.
I am currently a practicing pharmacist. I am very interested in becoming a provider in some capacity (MD/DO or DPM) because I think it will be a more fulfilling life being more directly involved in patient care. Making more money is far from my primary motivator, however, I already have some student loans remaining (30k), and I would only add to that to go back to school.

I already earn around 110k/year and I'm not sure if I can justify the investment of time and money unless I could earn 175k or better since I will be taking a substancial loan for school. I am interested in foot and ankle surgery...I have 2 questions: 1) Is there a clear path that a pod student can take to have a practice that is focused on foot and ankle surgery (I ask because I understand that everyone is required to do a 3 yerar residency now) 2) Is my desired salary range a realistic goal? What are the chances that I could take out a big loan, invest 7 years, and come out making not much more than I already make?

Thanks in advance.
 
Last edited:
Making $110k/year and having the majority of your loans already paid off must be a hard situation to walk away from. Are your day to day operations that miserable? Any chance you can look for other pharmacy positions, maybe in hospitals, where you might have more direct patient involvement? With no guarantee that you'll land a podiatric position that you enjoy more than pharmacy, it seems risky considering a $200k+ educational loan and your 4+ years of lost income.
 
Actually I work in a hospital very closely with physicians. It is as much patient contact as I will ever get as a pharmacist. It is kind of a teaser, it's the reason I want to become a provider. I see the doctors and think "I would love this!" Any other position in pharmacy I could move to would likely be operations, which is a step in the opposite direction; away from patient care. I am not miserable now, but I do feel a bit stifled and stagnant. Being in charge of my own patients seems more fulfilling. Plus I love talking to them. If I can achieve that salary range I could maintain my current standard of living after school and knock out those loans in a few years.
 
I could certainly see myself as an MD/DO from experience...My interests in podiatry pretty much stems from what I read. On paper, it encompasses all aspects of medical care that attracted me to medicine. I would have to shadow a DPM before I could choose.
 
Creflo said:
It would be a bad financial move.
Click to expand...

I agree with what Creflo said. You are already making 110k a year and in podiatry there isnt a guarantee that your salary will increase much from this. It is possible you could double it or even more than that but you could end up with the same thing your sitting at now plus you'll have 150k+ in loans and the 4 years of loss income (440k). Just in 4 years that can set you back about 600k+ between student loans and lost income. If you were shooting for the MD I could see a bit of a better argument especially if your're a gunner and were looking to get into ortho, plastics or one of the higher paid patient contact specialties.
 
I'm just a student but unfortunately when it comes to podiatrist salaries there are no guarantees that a podiatrist will make a certain amount. Some podiatrists start with $70,00 and some start with $200,000. Some make $100,000 consistently for their whole career and never go above. Your patient interaction fulfillment may be overridden by the debt that you will have. It is not worth it at all in my opinion especially concerning the residency shortage where things might be improved in the future, or the residency situation could be worse.
 
Thank you all for your honest perspective. Yes MD/DO is definitely on the radar for me, even with the lost income and debt. I believe I would still fall in thae 175k range or better even with internal med. I'd have at least 20-30 years of career ahead of me and I'd break even on the lost income after 10 yrs or sooner...which I would accept to be able to do something I'm passionate about. Still arguably a questionable financial move but acceptable to me.

Pod might be a little sketchy in that regard from what I'm seeing. As a Pod I'd most likely be interested in specializing in foot and ankle surgery primarily. Can one can realistically go to pod school for the sole purpose of becoming a F/A surgeon or is it a gamble that you might end up as a general practitioner? Would that affect earning potential?
 
Last edited:
That is very insightful, Ankle breaker, thanks. No offense taken, I realize where my stats place me. However I also know that I was no where near prepared for the MCAT when I took it. 6 years out of school and very little prep. I am certain I can add 3 or 4 points to my score with enough time to prep, so I still have MD in the back of my mind although my GPA is also on the lower end.

However, I'm afraid I might never find the time to study enough to raise my score working full time with a family as well. That's what did me in the first time. So I have to look at the real possibility that my first score will be the one I have to ride with. I wouldn't be working while in school so I could study more then.

That being said, your post quite encouraging regarding pod. Definitely food for thought. On the other hand, yes I think I would enjoy internal med. Surgery seems cool too but the MD/DO path is quite long and I wouldn't be sure that I would be competitive. That is when pod entered the radar for me. Surgical, without the 5-year minimum residency. I will probably read your post several times over and chew on it...great post. Thanks!
 
newfeet said:
Yes it is possible that you could go to podiatry school, do a residency and in end up a general practitioner. Diabetic foot care is a big part of podiatry. You might even end up enjoying the non surgical side of podiatry.
Click to expand...

Indeed, Newfeet. I could very well enjoy the other aspects of podiatry. I definitly enjoy talking to patients, educating them, learning from them...By the way I hope my comment didn't come off as disparaging toward general practice. I just wanted to assess the chances of ending up doing what I originally set out to do, vs having an unintended change of plans.
 
farm_assist said:
Indeed, Newfeet. I could very well enjoy the other aspects of podiatry. I definitly enjoy talking to patients, educating them, learning from them...By the way I hope my comment didn't come off as disparaging toward general practice. I just wanted to assess the chances of ending up doing what I originally set out to do, vs having an unintended change of plans.
Click to expand...

I get it. I can't say podiatry was my first choice. It wasn't. I did do a lot of research before I applied. I don't regret. Yes there is a lot of fluctuation between the starting salaries in the country and there is a residency shortage. However if you can make it through intact its all worth it.
 
farm_assist said:
I am currently a practicing pharmacist. I am very interested in becoming a provider in some capacity (MD/DO or DPM) because I think it will be a more fulfilling life being more directly involved in patient care. Making more money is far from my primary motivator, however, I already have some student loans remaining (30k), and I would only add to that to go back to school.

I already earn around 110k/year and I'm not sure if I can justify the investment of time and money unless I could earn 175k or better since I will be taking a substancial loan for school. I am interested in foot and ankle surgery...I have 2 questions: 1) Is there a clear path that a pod student can take to have a practice that is focused on foot and ankle surgery (I ask because I understand that everyone is required to do a 3 yerar residency now) 2) Is my desired salary range a realistic goal? What are the chances that I could take out a big loan, invest 7 years, and come out making not much more than I already make?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

I was in a similar situation and decided to go back to school because I wanted to be happy with what I was doing more than making money. There was a thread on here a couple weeks ago that had salary data posted on it from some more reliable sources than what are normally posted on SDN (I believe pacpod posted it). Those numbers were in the ballpark of what the pods I worked around suggested as long as you stay away from some of the bigger, more saturated cities. My other advice is to maximize your current contribution to an IRA and see if your employer will match up to a certain percent bc there is no penalty to use your IRA to pay off student loans so that is like a big scholarship once you get out. Look into buying a foreclosed house/condo near the school you go to in order to cut living expenses and be able to at least rent/sell cheap after school (take this with a grain of salt based on what school you are going to and how much you trust yourself rehabbing a house/condo). Even if you only sell it for what you owe or for a slight loss, you will at least get most of your 4 years of house payments back, unlike throwing it down the drain with renting. I also believe that there was a DO student from several years ago here at DMU that did very well while working nights as a PharmD. If you don't mind putting in the years, I think you have a great opportunity to make a good investment if done correctly. Just my 2¢
 
farm_assist said:
That is very insightful, Ankle breaker, thanks. No offense taken, I realize where my stats place me. However I also know that I was no where near prepared for the MCAT when I took it. 6 years out of school and very little prep. I am certain I can add 3 or 4 points to my score with enough time to prep, so I still have MD in the back of my mind although my GPA is also on the lower end.

However, I'm afraid I might never find the time to study enough to raise my score working full time with a family as well. That's what did me in the first time. So I have to look at the real possibility that my first score will be the one I have to ride with. I wouldn't be working while in school so I could study more then.

That being said, your post quite encouraging regarding pod. Definitely food for thought. On the other hand, yes I think I would enjoy internal med. Surgery seems cool too but the MD/DO path is quite long and I wouldn't be sure that I would be competitive. That is when pod entered the radar for me. Surgical, without the 5-year minimum residency. I will probably read your post several times over and chew on it...great post. Thanks!
Click to expand...
I think you should try DO if your interest is in surgery (not particularly F/A surgery)... General surgery is not that competitive if you are willing to apply thru the DO match... 300k-400k salary as a general surgeon can certainly justify your switch to medicine...any potential salary <200k will not be a good financial move IMO... However, at the end of the day, you have to do what makes you happy... I was in the same situation; I walked away from 60k salary as a RT in my mid 30s to pursue medicine and I am happy and relieved that I did it...GL.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the help guys. I have just been admitted to an MD program, and after much consideration I have decided to go with that. Thank you for giving me your perspectives.
 
Congratulations! Try to enjoy the ride as a medical student. We all think too much about the end result, but you can continue to be happy NOW if you make a conscious effort. Complaining tastes good for about half a second, but it has a bitter aftertaste. A positive attitude will make the process seem like a privilege instead of a burden. Good luck, and happy studying.
 
Actually, one of the podiatrists I shadowed graduated from a renowned pharmacy school and walked away from the field to become a podiatrist. I asked him on two occasions whether or not he regrets his move; he told me that he never looked back and is content with his current lifestyle.
He owns his private practice at a highly populated city in the Western region.
Note that he didn't just quit pharmacy flat out.
Right after he graduated from podiatry school, he was a part time pharmacist in order to earn enough money to pay for his private practice.
Right now, he goes in the pharmacy every once in a while just to keep his license.
So it really depends on you, whether or not you see podiatry as a field you want to dive into.
I have to echo what others have said though, becoming an ortho would generate bigger bang for the buck.
 
Congratulations on getting accepted to med school ! Im a hospital pharmacist like yourself and also wanting to go to med school. I was wondering if I could ask you some questions regarding how you have planned for school - time and finacials. I realize these may be a little personal to share so please feel free to disregard:
1. I see you have a family - I do too and I could care less for lost income to get to my dream of being an MD but the fact that I have a family and I support my family is a big hurdle that I dont quite know how I would overcome. Was this ever an issue for you?
2. How long has been since you finished school? I have been working for about 4 years now - finished school in 2010. That means its been about 8-9 years since I did my gen chem/bio etc - Is it even possible to self study all that material for the mcats since its been so long? I would love to not take those classes again if all this material will just some how come back !! (besides my gpa in undergrad was 4.0 - so i dont want a lower grade to mess anything up now !)
 
I was going to tell you that many podiatrists' practices consist primarily of noncompliant diabetics, but I see you've already been accepted to med school.

Congratulations!
 
Thanks. When I did shadow a podiatrist he seemed to have a pretty good mix of a lot of things...diabetics, sports-related injuries, ankle replacements, etc. it seemed very cool...but yes I am choosing the MD route instead. Thanks!
 
Well between my savings and my student loans I calculated that we would be barely scraping by of finances. To clarify I have a fiancée and a six year-old daughter. The plan is for my fiancée to work while I'm in school and instead of scraping by we will be living on a comparable income to what my fiancée and I grew up on. I did not have any apprehensions about it because I know that one way or another we will make it work. I am also fortunate to have a small family and some savings from my pharmacy career.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Homo sapien
Podiatry ancillaries
Replies
30
Views
4K
air bud
air bud
D
  • Poll Poll
Time for change in Podiatry/Combined DPM and MD program
Replies
38
Views
1K
Aresnebula
A
M
Podiatry Broker.com
Replies
4
Views
1K
mandrew
M
DogSnoot
Pediatric Practice in Podiatry
Replies
20
Views
2K
heybrother
heybrother
Santyl Claus
States where Podiatry is less saturated?
Replies
27
Views
2K
Bluecollarmed
Bluecollarmed
Top