I spent the last 4 hours reading about Podiatry as a career and I am now deciding between that and Optometry (I am a sophomore in college). I had a couple questions about the career though. I am a big sports guy and I loved how "sports medicine" sounded. The problem is I don't know what exactly sports medicine is in respect to podiatry so I was wondering if someone could inform me. Also, I am not the biggest surgery guy and I sometimes get a little squeamish with surgery. I don't mind blood but its something about looking inside some one's body that does it. Anyway, should that affect my interest in Podiatry or can I do something in Podiatry that does not require surgery. Will I be required to perform surgery in Podiatry school or residency? I look forward to your responses, thanks in advance.
Question about Podiatry
- Thread starter bbcnp
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podiatry is largely a surgical subspecialty; in your career/private office you can choose to refer out all surgical cases to another podiatrist, however i'm not quite sure how much business you will have left over, or even if that is a tangible option. we are training to become surgeons.
to note: you will most certainly perform surgery in residency... it would be a waste in my opinion, to throw all of that surgical training away in the end.
perhaps a resident/attending can comment
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There's also a sports vision specialty for optometry. If you like to keep your hands clean, I would say go for Opt.
Personally, I like Podiatry a lot more... but you have to see yourself if surgery is right for you. Shadow a podiatrist! try to see if you can shadow the podiatrist while he or she is performing surgery
Personally, I like Podiatry a lot more... but you have to see yourself if surgery is right for you. Shadow a podiatrist! try to see if you can shadow the podiatrist while he or she is performing surgery
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Picking a career is very difficult because you can shadow but you really don't get to live their actual life and do the things they do. You can predict that 10 years down the road you will like that profession. After taking an anatomy course you will be fine with dealing with the insides of bodies. Podiatry does have a lot of surgery, but you don't know if you like it or not because you have never done it or had the training.
What you can do is shadow a variety of podiatrists and optometrists. I would like to emphasize the word variety. Don't base your career off of a few experiences with 1 or 2 doctors. Do as much research as possible about different medical fields, but don't let this get in the way of your studies. FOcus mainly on getting good grades so you can get into whatever medical field you decide on.
What you can do is shadow a variety of podiatrists and optometrists. I would like to emphasize the word variety. Don't base your career off of a few experiences with 1 or 2 doctors. Do as much research as possible about different medical fields, but don't let this get in the way of your studies. FOcus mainly on getting good grades so you can get into whatever medical field you decide on.
