Podiatry Within A Hospital

[JRL787]

Hello,

I have been studying the different roles of Podiatrists, and I have found the field to be very broad, which can be nice. I know that Podiatrists have the option of going into private practice, or in a partnership, or to work for an actual hospital full-time.

So first off, my question is this: are Podiatry school graduates recruited by hospitals and practices? And I know obviously with the undergraduate degrees, it could take several months or even years to find a job within that field. Are pretty much all podiatry graduates hired/recruited upon graduation? Or do you go out searching for the jobs?

Ok, and now for the more specific question(s): if I wanted to work in a general hospital as a podiatrist, is this a simple route to go after graduating? Because I could see both sides where the hospitals only wanted the best pods, but I can also see where the best pods may want to open their own practice. So this got me to thinking if becoming a hospital pod is a difficult task.

Secondly, how does the pay differ from a hospital pod to a pod working in a private partnership/practice?

Third, are the hospital pods geared more towards foot & ankle surgery, or?

Alright sorry for so many questions. I didn't think it would be so many when I initially started the thread. But truly, I appreciate the help you can give.

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[PADPM]

Although you will get different answers on this subject, I can only provide you with my opinion based on 20+ years of experience.

Just like any field, there are those who are recruited due to their outstanding skills and training, and those that will have to pound the pavement and seek jobs. Not everyone will have his/her phones ringing off the hook with job offers. Many will have to work hard to find a good position, or may not find that perfect position at all, and may choose to open a private practice.

Every hospital has different privileges that will be granted which will also be dependent upon the training of the doctor and the laws of that state and the bylaws that are pre-existing in that hospital. Some hospitals are more podiatry friendly than others.

Although there are some hospitals that employ podiatrists full time, at the PRESENT time, I personally believe those positions are minimal. Veterans Hospitals do employ DPM's full time, and as a "general rule" these hospitals offer good benefits but are not at the upper end of the pay scale. I know of very few DPM's who are employed by hospitals, though that has increased over the years and hopefully will continue to increase.

Some places like Kaiser-Pemanante (sp) in California I believe hire DPM's and other hospitals have DPM's on their academic staff, but once again, those numbers are presently very low compared with the MD/DO community. I know of ZERO hospitals within a 75-100 mile radius of our offices that employ a DPM full time.

DPM's working for or with an orthopedic group has gained significant popularity and DPM's working with/for other DPM's is also gaining popularity vs. solo practice. Additionally, DPM's working with muti-specialty groups is gaining momentum.

So, to answer your original question, although there are DPM's employed by hospitals, at the present time those numbers are relatively low, but will hopefully continue to rise in the future. If that's your ultimate goal, you should find a DPM who IS currently employed by a hospital and learn as much as possible from this doctor.

 

[Paulywog]

Hello,

I have been studying the different roles of Podiatrists, and I have found the field to be very broad, which can be nice. I know that Podiatrists have the option of going into private practice, or in a partnership, or to work for an actual hospital full-time.

So first off, my question is this: are Podiatry school graduates recruited by hospitals and practices? And I know obviously with the undergraduate degrees, it could take several months or even years to find a job within that field. Are pretty much all podiatry graduates hired/recruited upon graduation? Or do you go out searching for the jobs?

Ok, and now for the more specific question(s): if I wanted to work in a general hospital as a podiatrist, is this a simple route to go after graduating? Because I could see both sides where the hospitals only wanted the best pods, but I can also see where the best pods may want to open their own practice. So this got me to thinking if becoming a hospital pod is a difficult task.

Secondly, how does the pay differ from a hospital pod to a pod working in a private partnership/practice?

Third, are the hospital pods geared more towards foot & ankle surgery, or?

Alright sorry for so many questions. I didn't think it would be so many when I initially started the thread. But truly, I appreciate the help you can give.

1st- Podiatry students are not recruited by hospitals and practices. We do a 3 year residency after graduating form Pod School. So technically you are hired by the hospital or group. After that, then the job hunting begins.

2nd- I have heard of some hospital offers being pretty good with all of the benefits they include. Private practice is pretty tough now-a-days...very small income at the beginning but more potential in the end since you own a business and make money from the business. Many people are doing the group practice...hired on as an associate and and buy into the practice. Any opportunity where you own part of the business will give you more potential earnings. So higher income potential goes to the private practice/group.

3rd- The Hospital Docs I knew do mainly surgery.

 

[Xforward22]

1st- Podiatry students are not recruited by hospitals and practices. We do a 3 year residency after graduating form Pod School. So technically you are hired by the hospital or group. After that, then the job hunting begins.

2nd- I have heard of some hospital offers being pretty good with all of the benefits they include. Private practice is pretty tough now-a-days...very small income at the beginning but more potential in the end since you own a business and make money from the business. Many people are doing the group practice...hired on as an associate and and buy into the practice. Any opportunity where you own part of the business will give you more potential earnings. So higher income potential goes to the private practice/group.

3rd- The Hospital Docs I knew do mainly surgery.

About how long does it take to be able to buy into a practice? I've been following another thread about how expensive it is for a group to hire on another doctor. It's almost scary that the expenses and fees and making it so hard to get established these days. So you're saying you can get hired on for say 90K (give or take) and then buy into that same practice after you have proven yourself? Give me a rough estimate of how long it would take to get to that point. It seems like a better option that starting from the ground up solo.

 

[347932]

About how long does it take to be able to buy into a practice? I've been following another thread about how expensive it is for a group to hire on another doctor. It's almost scary that the expenses and fees and making it so hard to get established these days. So you're saying you can get hired on for say 90K (give or take) and then buy into that same practice after you have proven yourself? Give me a rough estimate of how long it would take to get to that point. It seems like a better option that starting from the ground up solo.

This is a virtually impossible question to answer realistically. There are so many factors involved in going from being an employee to a partner its hard to give you an algorithm for success. Its equally as difficult to give you a pathway to solo practice success. There are just too many variables to consider. This is why many do a good deal of research about the community for which they would like to practice in before making either a commitment with a group or hanging out their shingle, so to speak.

My personal opinion is that by the time you would be in a position to really have to make such a decision, there will be very few in private solo practice. Most will realize the potential of cost and resource sharing and every community will have a few "super groups" to chose from. That's just me though.

 

[Paulywog]

This is a virtually impossible question to answer realistically. There are so many factors involved in going from being an employee to a partner its hard to give you an algorithm for success. Its equally as difficult to give you a pathway to solo practice success. There are just too many variables to consider. This is why many do a good deal of research about the community for which they would like to practice in before making either a commitment with a group or hanging out their shingle, so to speak.

My personal opinion is that by the time you would be in a position to really have to make such a decision, there will be very few in private solo practice. Most will realize the potential of cost and resource sharing and every community will have a few "super groups" to chose from. That's just me though.

I see the trend of more groups forming too. Time will tell. We will see what happens in 5 years.