Podiatry Salary Outlook

[gunners123]

Hey SDN,

I am a health science pre med major (junior) and was looking at potential careers in the med field since it is what I want to pursue. I shadowed a cardiologist, family physician, radiologist and a podiatrist and I have to say, the podiatrist was definitely the one who was most satisfied with his practice. He did surgeries, diabetic care, wound care, the whole 9 yards. I asked him a lot of questions regarding salary and compensation and he said within most health professions, your compensation depends on you. He said if you have tons of clients and do surgeries along with clinical podiatry, there is no reason why you cant go upward of 300-400k a year. However, if you dont put in the effort with you clients and are not a hunger practitioner, you will struggle to make 120-150k a year. In essence, he said you can make as much money as you want to, just depends on you. I looked into applying to pod schools. The admissions look fairly easy and the schooling is not too bad. The only thing im scared about is residency placement since grades matter so much in pod school. I really love the scope of practice in podiatry and would love to do it. I definitely have the grades for MD/DO schools (3.6 GPA/ 3.55 SciGPA) and just took my MCAT, which I honestly felt great about. So SDN, what should scare me about podiatry? Should I pursue a different career path? Thanks for all the input and appreciate all of your responses.

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[I Drink Riesling]

The admissions look fairly easy and the schooling is not too bad.

Schooling is very similar to MD/DO curriculum with the addition of pod med classes, lower extremities anatomy, biomechanics, etc. It is just as bad.

what should scare me about podiatry?

A DPM degree will only allow you to do podiatry and nothing else. Some people fear specializing so early in the game. An MD/DO degree is more "powerful" in the sense that if you do not know what you want to do now, you have time to explore your options.

Should I pursue a different career path?

Only YOU can answer that question. You have done shadowing in many different specialties. Choose the one that will make you the happiest as you can be. Good luck!

 

[de Ribas]

Hey SDN,

I am a health science pre med major (junior) and was looking at potential careers in the med field since it is what I want to pursue. I shadowed a cardiologist, family physician, radiologist and a podiatrist and I have to say, the podiatrist was definitely the one who was most satisfied with his practice. He did surgeries, diabetic care, wound care, the whole 9 yards. I asked him a lot of questions regarding salary and compensation and he said within most health professions, your compensation depends on you. He said if you have tons of clients and do surgeries along with clinical podiatry, there is no reason why you cant go upward of 300-400k a year. However, if you dont put in the effort with you clients and are not a hunger practitioner, you will struggle to make 120-150k a year. In essence, he said you can make as much money as you want to, just depends on you. I looked into applying to pod schools. The admissions look fairly easy and the schooling is not too bad. The only thing im scared about is residency placement since grades matter so much in pod school. I really love the scope of practice in podiatry and would love to do it. I definitely have the grades for MD/DO schools (3.6 GPA/ 3.55 SciGPA) and just took my MCAT, which I honestly felt great about. So SDN, what should scare me about podiatry? Should I pursue a different career path? Thanks for all the input and appreciate all of your responses.

Wait for that MCAT score.

If you get into MD school, I would go MD for many reasons.

 

[IDontHaveAnyFeet]

If someone made it through podiatry school (not easy to do), they would make the effort to make that 300-400 k, wouldnt you?
Its not as easy as people make it sound.
At the end of the day is 7 years of education worth 120-170, maybe 200k? Not unless youre passionate about healing individuals feet.
Definitely go MD or DO

 

[dontbelatebegreat]

If someone made it through podiatry school (not easy to do), they would make the effort to make that 300-400 k, wouldnt you?
Its not as easy as people make it sound.
At the end of the day is 7 years of education worth 120-170, maybe 200k? Not unless youre passionate about healing individuals feet.
Definitely go MD or DO

Maybe? There are averages higher than that

 

[IDontHaveAnyFeet]

Maybe? There are averages higher than that

Yeah but it still comes down to OP's current standing where his bare bones is a 3.6/3.5 gpa, as long as he gets a room temperature mcat he will get a DO school.
All medical students shadow someone, MD, DO, podiatrist, Dentist, but how many of them are actually qualified enough to chose their specialty from day 1? If an MD student tells their professor they want to be an orthopedic surgeon on day 1 of medical school, the professor will probably laugh because of how much things change over a course of 4 years.
I dont want OP to go to podiatry school, end up not liking it and say, man I wish I went to DO/MD (when realistically) podiatry acceptance standards are so low, its very easy for him to renegade a DO and just go podiatry later in life

 

[ldsrmdude]

So SDN, what should scare me about podiatry? Should I pursue a different career path? Thanks for all the input and appreciate all of your responses.

I look at it in a pretty simple way. If you want to be a podiatrist and you’re confident that’s what you want to do, then go for it. If you’re not sure, or don’t think you’d be happy with doing some of the aspects of podiatry, look elsewhere. Podiatry is a great profession if you go into it with eyes open and have realistic expectations. If you only want to do surgery or would be disappointed if you end up doing a mix of routine nail care and wound care between elective surgeries like bunionectomies and hammertoes, then I’d look at MD/DO school. You’re in a good position where you’ll have options. It’s a good place to be

 

[GypsyHummus]

I think the best return on investment for the healthcare field is DDS if you can get into a cheaper state school. Its only 4 years after college, complete autonomy, ability to be your own boss, and they make around 150-200K typically.

MD/DOs have a much higher ceiling average-wise than Pods, Dentists, Optometrists, PharmD, but they are also working 50-60 hour workweeks for the 200-250K. They (MD/DOs) also have midlevels encroaching on their space.

Surgical MD specialties will obviously make more, but many surgical residencies have soft doors closed off to DO students. DO schools are also starting to get pretty expensive.

Most of the DPMs I shadowed worked 40-50 hour weeks and made 120-150K/year (they didnt tell me their exact figures, but what to expect generally after graduation). Though, there are plenty of DPMs on the forums making 200K+ if they find good contracts. I still think DPM is a good investment if one is smart about how much debt they take out. Going 300K+ for a DPM? Might be a tough swing. 150-200K? Fine investment.

At the very least, it seems like the Pod profession has staved off saturation unlike PharmD and OD.....for now.

If someone made it through podiatry school (not easy to do), they would make the effort to make that 300-400 k, wouldnt you?
Its not as easy as people make it sound.
At the end of the day is 7 years of education worth 120-170, maybe 200k? Not unless youre passionate about healing individuals feet.
Definitely go MD or DO