Podiatry Profession...Is it Crashing?

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Hello, Podiatrists and Current students. I am a prospective DPM student and have been researching the profession. As with most research these days, I started with google. The first site that showed up in the search shocked me. I would like to know whether any of you know about this: http://www.angelfire.com/on/podiatry/

I want to know whether there is any truth to the claims about the DPM profession on this website? Since I do not know any Pods personally, I did not know where to turn for information (and the real truth). Thanks to everyone who replies.

The main reasons I want to be a Pod:

-I want to treat people with health problems (any kind) but I didnt want to go into the MD profession (too long and not so great personal life).
-I want to eventually have an independent practice since I like to be self employed.


Thank you all!
 
o bother.... 🙄

the once a year thread about his website from somebody who can't find the search button. look at the copyright of that website (2000). It is 9 years old.
 
Thanks for the reply. I did see that it is an old website but as you can imagine, any potential DPM student would want to know everything about the profession before committment. Also, I saw some posts on this forum of Pods who dont seem to like the field. As someone who is just starting to know more about the profession, all of these do raise doubts. I am trying to find out about this profession from all sources available to me without simply believing everything I read on the internet. Thank you.
 
mama said:
Thanks for the reply. I did see that it is an old website but as you can imagine, any potential DPM student would want to know everything about the profession before committment. Also, I saw some posts on this forum of Pods who dont seem to like the field. As someone who is just starting to know more about the profession, all of these do raise doubts. I am trying to find out about this profession from all sources available to me without simply believing everything I read on the internet. Thank you.
Click to expand...

have u tried actually calling/meeting with a podiatrist? i guarantee there is one near you
 
WTF?

No, it is not crashing. Shadow a Pod.
 
Being that Angelfire.com is a free website host that information could have been written by well.....anyone. Can't believe everything you read.
 
From bls.gov:

Employment is expected to increase about as fast as average because of increasing consumer demand for podiatric medicine services. Job prospects should be good.
Employment change. Employment of podiatrists is expected to increase 9 percent from 2006 to 2016, about as fast as the average for all occupations. More people will turn to podiatrists for foot care because of the rising number of injuries sustained by a more active and increasingly older population.
Medicare and most private health insurance programs cover acute medical and surgical foot services, as well as diagnostic x rays and leg braces. Details of such coverage vary among plans. However, routine foot care, including the removal of corns and calluses, is not usually covered unless the patient has a systemic condition that has resulted in severe circulatory problems or areas of desensitization in the legs or feet. Like dental services, podiatric care is often discretionary and, therefore, more dependent on disposable income than some other medical services.
Employment of podiatrists would grow even faster were it not for continued emphasis on controlling the costs of specialty health care. Insurers will balance the cost of sending patients to podiatrists against the cost and availability of substitute practitioners, such as physicians and physical therapists.
Job prospects. Although the occupation is small and most podiatrists continue to practice until retirement, job opportunities should be good for entry-level graduates of accredited podiatric medicine programs. Job growth and replacement needs should create enough job openings for the supply of new podiatric medicine graduates. Opportunities will be better for board-certified podiatrists because many managed-care organizations require board certification. Newly trained podiatrists will find more opportunities in group medical practices, clinics, and health networks than in traditional solo practices. Establishing a practice will be most difficult in the areas surrounding colleges of podiatric medicine, where podiatrists concentrate.
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http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos075.htm
 
I think there will always be people who oppose other professions or who made bad decisions and will use a profession to blame.

The best decision you can make is one that was based on sound research and experience - not a forum with anonymous strangers all feeding off of each others negative experiences.

After several months of trying to contact local podiatrists (tally up to 6 now), 2 have responded! One is a DPM residency director and the other is an instructor and private practice DPM. I plan to be very frank with my questions.

Education, careers, they are truly what you make of it.
 
Podiatry can be a great profession if you have good business sense. The loan debt is a big issue, though.
 
Hey Darklord, I hope I'm reading that thread correctly. It looks like there's a 7 year gap between the last post and the 2nd to last post?
 
It's not just you, there is a 7 year gap
 
Of course I noticed that. 🙂 But what surprised me was the recent post backing the 7 year old post up. So, if the person is dissatisfied with the profession, he/she are reflecting the training they received 6-7 years ago- assuming a two year residency? The seven year old post guy-Dr. Moon obviously was trained about 14-15 years ago. This training obviously affected his practice as he claimed is not able to perform surgery.
 
I hope the future is looking bright. I'm seriously interested in podiatry, practicing and researching within the field... Also why can't the schools lower class sizes? Did they honestly need to open Western? It seems like almost anyone can get in pod school
 
Hmm I can't really dispute the guy/girl b/c I haven't even started 1rst year yet, but I will say that from my shadowing experiences the Podiatrists I followed were doing fine financially. But again that is just my own personal experiences just like his/hers. As for the training, you could PM the poster and ask which state he/she was practicing in and what level of residency training was obtained, b/c of the varying levels of scope I'd venture a guess that it was in a state that was more restrictive. I think everyone can agree that a good business sense is needed if you go the private practice route, and because of the 3 year residency switch-over there will (hopefully)be more opportunities for the incoming classes of the future.👍
 
mathlegend said:
Also why can't the schools lower class sizes? Did they honestly need to open Western?
Click to expand...
The reason Western is opening is because of an increased need for podiatric services now and in the near future:
  1. There is a significant need in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Riverside counties (southern CA) for podiatric health care (diabetic foot)
  2. According to the US Department of Labor, the demand for podiatric medical care should grow substantially in the coming years. Baby-boomers and the elderly will need more services as the are living longer
  3. More DPMs will be needed due to “greying” of the profession
Why have several existing podiatric medical schools recently increased their enrollment numbers? Hopefully for reasons #s 2 & 3, but more likely due to another reason (I'm sure you can figure that one out).

mathlegend said:
It seems like almost anyone can get in pod school
Click to expand...
"Almost anyone" can get in to some schools, but not all (probably due to the "other" reason as well.)
 
The impression I have of podiatry is largely reflective of the shadowing and reading I've done. Of course, the pods we shadow are largely a successful group, we don't shadow pods without offices who go from nursing home to nursing homem trimming toenails and calluses. Nonetheless, there will always be this disgruntled group-a generation who graduated-about a decade ago?

The only thing that stuck out to me (aside from the fact that this post was done in the clinicians forum) was that Dr. Moon pointed out podiatry's limited practice. Dr. Moon gave the example of volunteering at a clinic and only trimming toenails, while the MD/DO students were counseling patients on a variety of things. He was disappointed because he was restricted to the foot and ankle. This is an inconvenient truth for podiatry, a sentiment that is also present in the forum. If I decide to switch over to IM, am I screwed? What about if I want to practice EM on the weekends? If I were a cardiologist or a pulmonologist (or any IM subspeciality) this would be possible, but as not a podiatrist. The only way I can think of doing this is by becoming a PA. Lol, Darklord DPM PA-C!

As a side note, Mathlegend, you need not be worried about Western. You should be worried about the podiatry schools that accept anyone with a pulse for tuition, to stay afloat. You should worry about the schools that take students, even if they know the students will fail. I visited Western and was told that the school will stay open, even if they do no have an initial class of 50 students. This implies that Western is financially stable and does not need any tuition money. The school is in it for training podiatrists.
 
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PoddyMan said:
The reason Western is opening is because of an increased need for podiatric services now and in the near future:
  1. There is a significant need in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Riverside counties (southern CA) for podiatric health care (diabetic foot)
  2. According to the US Department of Labor, the demand for podiatric medical care should grow substantially in the coming years. Baby-boomers and the elderly will need more services as the are living longer
  3. More DPMs will be needed due to “greying” of the profession
Why have several existing podiatric medical schools recently increased their enrollment numbers? Hopefully for reasons #s 2 & 3, but more likely due to another reason (I'm sure you can figure that one out).


"Almost anyone" can get in to some schools, but not all (probably due to the "other" reason as well.)
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Huh, I didn't realize that SoCal is lacking podiatrists. Will there be a point where there are too many pods in the US?

Darklord said:
As a side note, Mathlegend, you need not be worried about Western. You should be worried about the podiatry schools that accept anyone with a pulse for tuition, to stay afloat. You should worry about the schools that take students, even if they know the students will fail. I visited Western and was told that the school will stay open, even if they do no have an initial class of 50 students. This implies that Western is financially stable and does not need any tuition money. The school is in it for training podiatrists.
Click to expand...
Yea, I'm not worried about Western, but to my understanding, it's the newest school, so I used it as an example in my kind of non existent example, more like a statement. (ehh im tired sorry if I don't make sense 😳) I'm not looking into schools that closely yet, I'll focus on finding a college/university to satisfy my undergrad needs first 🙂 I just really wish that that colleges won't take underqualified applicants, not saying that they won't turn out to be superb physicians as some do, but there is a higher chance of them being great if they were already well, good.
 
PoddyMan said:
All of the scenarios I've seen project a significant deficit of active DPMs by the year 2030.
Click to expand...
Sounds good, well in my case. If things go as planned, graduate hs 2011, graduate undergrad 2015, graduate pod school 2019, finish 3 year residency 2022. looks good!
 
Darklord said:
The only thing that stuck out to me (aside from the fact that this post was done in the clinicians forum) was that Dr. Moon pointed out podiatry's limited practice. Dr. Moon gave the example of volunteering at a clinic and only trimming toenails, while the MD/DO students were counseling patients on a variety of things. He was disappointed because he was restricted to the foot and ankle. This is an inconvenient truth for podiatry, a sentiment that is also present in the forum.
Click to expand...

Dr. Moon was one of my CCPM classmate and I wholeheartedly disagree with his perspective on podiatry. Volunteering at a HOMELESS student clinic and practicing podiatry are two completely different things and in fact, all of my fellow classmates HATED that HOMELESS clinic but that single experience did not stop them from moving forward with their education and training.

To be continued...
 
Don't you think there are many other professions where people are dissatisfied with their individual role and success? There are many dentists, physicians, PT, and other health care providers the like that are truly disgruntled about one thing or another.

The reason I think the negativity some have for Podiatry stands out so boldly, is that it is a much smaller profession. Our MD brothers have a much larger field and I would say having worked in hospitals and physicians offices there are plenty of highly dissatisfied and unsuccessful individuals in the various fields there as well.

The bottom line being, podiatry is a great field and one can enjoy a great lifestyle and career of helping people. However, if you enter the field for the wrong reasons (this goes for any field or specialty) then you will not enjoy working.

sorry for the long rant, all charged up from the 6 hours of sun earlier today.
 
Just a quick note regarding the comment regarding going from "nursing home to nursing home trimming toenails". For those of you looking to start a practice, PLEASE don't overlook this as an excellent way to supplement your income. Put your ego aside and consider this service.

Nursing home patients are a "captured" audience that don't cancel when it rains, snows, sleets or storms. There is no overhead when you provide nursing home care and patients need your care.

I have a friend that decided to give up surgery due to the ridiculous malpractice rates in Pennsylvania. He has several nursing homes and brings home about $160,000 with no overhead and no worries, etc.

No, it's not very challenging, but he brings home a respectful income and provides a needed service.

I perform routine palliative care on a daily basis in addition to performing major rearfoot and ankle reconstructive surgery. No patient comes into my office with a problem to "trivial" or simple for me. My ego is put aside when I walk in the door. And if a patient wants his/her nails cut, I'm happy to oblige and I'm happy to have them pay be for my service. Every dollar adds to the bottom line, including every toenail cut, every callus trimmed and every subtalar arthrodesis.
 
PADPM said:
Just a quick note regarding the comment regarding going from "nursing home to nursing home trimming toenails". For those of you looking to start a practice, PLEASE don't overlook this as an excellent way to supplement your income. Put your ego aside and consider this service.

Nursing home patients are a "captured" audience that don't cancel when it rains, snows, sleets or storms. There is no overhead when you provide nursing home care and patients need your care.

I have a friend that decided to give up surgery due to the ridiculous malpractice rates in Pennsylvania. He has several nursing homes and brings home about $160,000 with no overhead and no worries, etc.

No, it's not very challenging, but he brings home a respectful income and provides a needed service.

I perform routine palliative care on a daily basis in addition to performing major rearfoot and ankle reconstructive surgery. No patient comes into my office with a problem to "trivial" or simple for me. My ego is put aside when I walk in the door. And if a patient wants his/her nails cut, I'm happy to oblige and I'm happy to have them pay be for my service. Every dollar adds to the bottom line, including every toenail cut, every callus trimmed and every subtalar arthrodesis.
Click to expand...

And, as you well know, the need for DPMs to provide this service will continue to grow as the large # of baby boomer patients and DPMs retire. DPMs-to-be should remember that this is all part of being a DPM and, as PADPM so wisely stated, put your ego aside.
 
How is the future of research in podiatry?
 
PoddyMan said:
And, as you well know, the need for DPMs to provide this service will continue to grow as the large # of baby boomer patients and DPMs retire. DPMs-to-be should remember that this is all part of being a DPM and, as PADPM so wisely stated, put your ego aside.
Click to expand...

Sure, you can provide this service and be happy doing it, but I'm convinced this isn't a service that requires a doctor to perform. The service could easily be performed by a nurse or technician with minimal training. There are courses training "foot care nurses" now which teach them how to debride nails properly.

This allows the doctor more time to devote to more cerebral things.
 
Podmeister said:
Dr. Moon was one of my CCPM classmate and I wholeheartedly disagree with his perspective on podiatry. Volunteering at a HOMELESS student clinic and practicing podiatry are two completely different things and in fact, all of my fellow classmates HATED that HOMELESS clinic but that single experience did not stop them from moving forward with their education and training.

To be continued...
Click to expand...

Thank you for pointing that our Podmeister. I agree that there are many people dissatisfied in all health care professions: notably nursing 🙂

diabeticfootdr said:
Sure, you can provide this service and be happy doing it, but I'm convinced this isn't a service that requires a doctor to perform. The service could easily be performed by a nurse or technician with minimal training. There are courses training "foot care nurses" now which teach them how to debride nails properly.

This allows the doctor more time to devote to more cerebral things.
Click to expand...

I agree completely. Why, may I humbly ask, do nurses not do this?

mathlegend said:
Sounds good, well in my case. If things go as planned, graduate hs 2011, graduate undergrad 2015, graduate pod school 2019, finish 3 year residency 2022. looks good!
Click to expand...

Hey Mathlegend, you forgot your two year academic podiatry fellowship 😉.
 
All I have to say is Forbes.

Forbes top 25 highest paying jobs in America: Podiatry is #15 currently

http://www.forbes.com/2009/05/04/am...ip-careers-jobs-slide_16.html?thisSpeed=15000
Forbes ranks Podiatry as one of the best jobs in America

It's only going to get better folks. And depending on how aggressive you are in the business field of it all, you can easily make 4 or 5 times that amount. Ive seen it and shadowed a very successful Podiatrist.

Read it and Weep.:laugh:
 
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