Podiatric Residency

[sbhatt87]

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Hi, I'm applying to podiatric school next year and I was wondering about the residency spots afterwards. I have read on an older thread from 2002 that podiatric residency spots are few and there are a lot of podiatristic graduates doing menial labor for DPMs. Please let me know if this still is the case. Thanks.

 

[Feli]

This is largely false.
DPMs coming out now are very well trained on average, but you can't stop anyone from taking a crummy job offer (either pay, job duties, or both) if they want to. It's a free country.

FYI, no need to multi-post this same topic in different forums. Check out the forum rules and FAQs.

 

[j0ez0r]

Search function

 

[sbhatt87]

This is largely false.
DPMs coming out now are very well trained on average, but you can't stop anyone from taking a crummy job offer (either pay, job duties, or both) if they want to. It's a free country.

FYI, no need to multi-post this same topic in different forums. Check out the forum rules and FAQs.

Thanks for the response. But is it really hard finding a good paying job afterwards or do most DPMs struggle to make ends meet?

 

[biocmp]

what do you consider struggling?

every dpm i know eats mayonnaise sandwiches with a little purple drink for the first 5-10 years they are out of school.

But, they get to call themselves doctor. what's it worth to you? 🙂

 

[j0ez0r]

what do you consider struggling?

every dpm i know eats mayonnaise sandwiches with a little purple drink for the first 5-10 years they are out of school.

But, they get to call themselves doctor. what's it worth to you? 🙂

the dpms i know that are 5-10 years out of school are doing just fine....yours must be bad business men/women

 

[DPMstudent]

what do you consider struggling?

every dpm i know eats mayonnaise sandwiches with a little purple drink for the first 5-10 years they are out of school.

But, they get to call themselves doctor. what's it worth to you? 🙂

you still in pre-health? keep up the good work!

 

[jonwill]

Thanks for the response. But is it really hard finding a good paying job afterwards or do most DPMs struggle to make ends meet?

All the docs I know that have graduated in the last few years from my program are doing very well.

 

[runner0382]

How good is "well?"

To read that an average salary out of school is like 65k-85k for the first few years scares me. That a lot of years of lost wage for little return.

Then I read that some people pull into multi-specialty groups for 150-200k.

Which is it?!

I'm far from all about money, but as an older student, it's more of a consideration that it would be. It looks like all the studies done pretty much suck.

I am aware that private practice is tremendously difficult to start. If I do well in my class and get a good residency, what are my practice/income options?

 

[NatCh]

To read that an average salary out of school is like 65k-85k for the first few years scares me. That a lot of years of lost wage for little return.

Then I read that some people pull into multi-specialty groups for 150-200k.

Which is it?!

It's probably both. It depends on the contract you negotiate, but I don't know how a solo doctor or even a small podiatry group could afford to pay a new Associate $150K-$200K straight salary the first year out. That's pretty impressive if a small group could pull it off. Usually the idea is that you don't stay an employee forever, and that you become a Partner within a few years.

I can see how a big group could afford it though, since there are more docs to share the expense of the additional salary.

Do your due diligence though, because sometimes a large group has a higher buy-in and higher overhead. That means although you make more off the bat, it will cost you more to Partner and then you will have to see more patients to cover overhead expenses.

At one local multi-specialty group their docs often leave to join small practices so they don't have to work so hard all of the time to make a buck. The biggest complaint I hear is that it's a treadmill.

Remember, it's not what happens the first year but 4-5 years down the road that count.

 

[WannaBeDPM]

First off let me state that I don't know any podiatric residents ...nor any really fresh podiatrists....

[so anyone who is experienced that would like to invalidate any of this, please do so--]

However....from a year or two of researching the profession and reading these forums as well as my contact with the pods I shadowed I've come to this conclusion:

If you do halfway decent to well in podiatry school and are ambitious enough, you can land yourself a halfway decent to good podiatric residency...

[Don't be on the bottom half of anything...create contacts and relationships during clinicals...]

THAT is the ultimate goal...a good podiatric residency....

Now....if you have gotten yourself to this position...I don't see why you wouldn't minimally START with a $80k job out of residency...this is the beginning....

[Yes, loans are a burden and your social security number could probably use a breather....but if $80k starting out of health professional school isn't enough for you, then go to law school...become a corporate attorney and move to New York!]

After that, the rest is really up to you....you have to be GOOD, work hard at developing a patient base, perhaps learn a bit of marketing, find a good location etc....

The two pods I shadow did just that...and are about 7 years into practice now and they pull in a little over $250k/year...they work 40 hour weeks...do 1 day of reconstructive surgery a week....have 2 kids each and are happily married in upper middle class suburbs...

[my dream is to be living like that 10 years from now...boring to you? comfortable and secure to me...]

It's very possible to gain this result, so let me assure you, if you play your cards right....you can/will have this...

[Obviously, life throws many things at you and none of these things are "Easy" but they are quite possible and manageable if this is the field you decide you want to pursue...]

👍

 

[DPMstudent]

The two pods I shadow did just that...and are about 7 years into practice now and they pull in a little over $250k/year...they work 40 hour weeks...do 1 day of reconstructive surgery a week....have 2 kids each and are happily married in upper middle class suburbs...

what type of practice were these pods in?

 

[Feli]

what do you consider struggling?

every dpm i know eats mayonnaise sandwiches with a little purple drink for the first 5-10 years they are out of school.

But, they get to call themselves doctor. what's it worth to you? 🙂

I'd prefer mustard to mayo...
And hopefully since I'm a halfway decent student, I can afford a slice of baloney on mine?

...Honestly, I don't expect to make any more than about 100k on avg for my first 5yrs out... and most of what I make will go back into equipment, staff, etc for my office(s) that I plan to start right out of residency. I wil probably be buying digital XR and driving an S10 pickup while most of my classmates are buying a new BMW or Mercedes. In all actuality, I will probably be still taking out loans and making no (or even negative) net income for quite awhile if you ask my accountant. 😉

If you want a high salary/pay position, go do a high power residency program and then go work for someone else (hospital, group, etc). You will get good offers based on good training, but remember two things well:

"All that glitters isn't gold," and "if it seems too good to be true, it probably is."

The "podiatry eats its young" saying persists for a reason, but that's also very true of medicine in general. If you will work for moderate pay, you will have many offers. If you will work for low pay, you'll get even more jobs. Every associate offer (yes, even the 200k one) is not as good as it seems, and in the end, the contract is probably only as good as the people signing it. There are good people out there, but common sense tells me that the vast majority of rich MDs/DOs/DPMs offering deals to chief residents didn't get rich by overpaying their new associates.

 

[215512]

i love podiatry!

 

[WannaBeDPM]

what type of practice were these pods in?

It says "Reconstructive Specialists" on their cards...that's their M.O. and that is actually what they do...they also do "palliative care" and other things but also a fair share of reconstruction...

👍

 

[biocmp]

😀 at DPMstudent. I was being sarcastic, but thanks for the retaliation. I love messing with people who "here" a certain doctor is struggling, so the field must all be struggling.

Thanks for the encouragement though.

 

[215512]

.

 

[biocmp]

here isn't english? perhaps I should try the correct english word?

😀 at China too!