Scope of Podiatry Practice and how come they make such a huge salary?

[cool_vkb]

Hey,

Iam a pre-pod. I was going through Illinois Dept and Wisconsin Dept of Professional regualton concerning podiatry license and scope of practice. i was very suprised to see that podiatrist are strictly limited to feet (which ofcourse is our profession) and not even allowed to do full amputations. My question was, with just specialization in feet so naturally we are not gonna have a lot of patients like an internist or a family practioner or othopod (who treat like all aspects of body). how come podiatrists make $150000 to $200000 (as some said in this forum) which is like equal to these practioners who have more scope of practice and can see lots of patients. i dont mean to under estitamte our profession. but iam really confused. i mean how do they make this much amount of money. is it bcoz of surgeries or is there a large demand of pods or is it just a luck for some individuals or do all pods make this much money right after graduation. i was thinking that they make like $76000-90000 as the Bureau of Labor says. But plzz help me in understanding this concept. And what kind of surgeries do they do.

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[MD2b20004]

Hey,

Iam a pre-pod. I was going through Illinois Dept and Wisconsin Dept of Professional regualton concerning podiatry license and scope of practice. i was very suprised to see that podiatrist are strictly limited to feet (which ofcourse is our profession) and not even allowed to do full amputations. My question was, with just specialization in feet so naturally we are not gonna have a lot of patients like an internist or a family practioner or othopod (who treat like all aspects of body). how come podiatrists make $150000 to $200000 (as some said in this forum) which is like equal to these practioners who have more scope of practice and can see lots of patients. i dont mean to under estitamte our profession. but iam really confused. i mean how do they make this much amount of money. is it bcoz of surgeries or is there a large demand of pods or is it just a luck for some individuals or do all pods make this much money right after graduation. i was thinking that they make like $76000-90000 as the Bureau of Labor says. But plzz help me in understanding this concept. And what kind of surgeries do they do.

For one, they don't make a huge salary. Secondly, I believe they should get paid more for the years invested, educational commitment, years and responsibility. About the scope of the practice I will leave that to the professionals who know more about DPMs than me.

 

[cool_vkb]

Dude! a chiropractor , clinical psycholohist also invests the same amount of years as an MD invest. and so does a PhD (infact more than an MD). And many Phds makes hardly 50-60,000. And a RN Nurse sometimes make $60000 just after Associate degree (2-3) yrs of school. and a CRNA (nurse anesthitist) makes nearly $130000 (my aunt is one, so i know personally). So salary is not proportional to the years invested. So i guess you shudnt say we shud get more money bcoz we invested more years. Salary is based on shortage and demand. And iam really confused by the fact that is there really that much demand for podiatry in usa. i mentioned earlier that iam new to USA and i really dont know much abt Podiatry practices. I wanna be a podiatrist bcoz i love it and i come from athletic background and i know its importance. its a good concept. u get to be a surgeon as well as primary physician. as an orthopedic surgeon u cant do both ( unless u again go 3 yrs of residency as a Internist.). Podiatry is a very good deal. but i never knew they make like such a huge salary. so i was suprised.

For one, they don't make a huge salary. Secondly, I believe they should get paid more for the years invested, educational commitment, years invested, and responsibility. About the scope of the practice I will leave that to the professionals who know more about DPMs than me.

 

[jonwill]

Hey,

Iam a pre-pod. I was going through Illinois Dept and Wisconsin Dept of Professional regualton concerning podiatry license and scope of practice. i was very suprised to see that podiatrist are strictly limited to feet (which ofcourse is our profession) and not even allowed to do full amputations. My question was, with just specialization in feet so naturally we are not gonna have a lot of patients like an internist or a family practioner or othopod (who treat like all aspects of body). how come podiatrists make $150000 to $200000 (as some said in this forum) which is like equal to these practioners who have more scope of practice and can see lots of patients. i dont mean to under estitamte our profession. but iam really confused. i mean how do they make this much amount of money. is it bcoz of surgeries or is there a large demand of pods or is it just a luck for some individuals or do all pods make this much money right after graduation. i was thinking that they make like $76000-90000 as the Bureau of Labor says. But plzz help me in understanding this concept. And what kind of surgeries do they do.

A few points:
1) As opposed to IM or FP, podiatric medicine is a procedural field. Instead of just writing scripts or changing meds all day, we are doing procedures from ingrown nails to amps. Procedures bill very well. Any procedural specialty of medicine will pay much better than the primary care medicine stuff.

2) In reality, a pods scope of practice doesn't really differ that much from any other physicians. There is no such thing as a physician that "treats all aspects of the body." As medicine has progressed and legal issues have become so prominent within the field, docs pick one thing and do it really, really well. Even within specialties, you are now seeing sub-specialties spring up. On my last rotation in the ortho department, one guy did shoulder and hand, one did spine, one did hip, one did knee, there were a few trauma guys, and podiatry did foot and ankle. Regardless of the specialty (podiatry included), this is happening more and more.

3) As far as private practice podiatry, sure it's medicine but it's also a business. If a podiatrist is a decent physician and a good business man, the sky is the limit as far as finances are concerned.

 

[krabmas]

Dude! a chiropractor , clinical psycholohist also invests the same amount of years as an MD invest. and so does a PhD (infact more than an MD). And many Phds makes hardly 50-60,000. And a RN Nurse sometimes make $60000 just after Associate degree (2-3) yrs of school. and a CRNA (nurse anesthitist) makes nearly $130000 (my aunt is one, so i know personally). So salary is not proportional to the years invested. So i guess you shudnt say we shud get more money bcoz we invested more years. Salary is based on shortage and demand. And iam really confused by the fact that is there really that much demand for podiatry in usa. i mentioned earlier that iam new to USA and i really dont know much abt Podiatry practices. I wanna be a podiatrist bcoz i love it and i come from athletic background and i know its importance. its a good concept. u get to be a surgeon as well as primary physician. as an orthopedic surgeon u cant do both ( unless u again go 3 yrs of residency as a Internist.). Podiatry is a very good deal. but i never knew they make like such a huge salary. so i was suprised.

how do you figure that a PhD puts in more time than an MD? a PhD can be done in 3 years if you do it right even in Chemistry. Some programs may take longer but most people that take a long time is because they did not put in the time in the beginning or something went wrong and they had to start over or they took forever writing their thesis.

If you can get an MD/PhD in 7-8 years a PhD should not take more than 4 years.

 

[2TIM4:7]

Krabmas: Chemistry Ph.D. in 3 yrs?! What chemistry program outside of the US are you talking about? No respectable US chemistry program would grant a Ph.D. in 3 yrs.

cool_vkb: Please don't talk about MD, MD/PhD, years invested, etc. if you are not in an allopathic medical school. I guarantee you that MD students study and are responsible for more material than any of the medical professions (I have attended both graduate and medical schools.)

 

[cool_vkb]

3yrs in PhD. PLZZz say me what school are you talkin abt. man, thats impossible. i was not speakin abt MD-Phd program. i was talkin abt non-md PhD programs. Medical College of Wisconsin is one of the very few schools in country that has a 5yr PhD program (non-md). apart from that other non-md programs take atleast 5-6 yrs and then consider the post-doc fellowship, etc. man thats a lot of school u put in.

how do you figure that a PhD puts in more time than an MD? a PhD can be done in 3 years if you do it right even in Chemistry. Some programs may take longer but most people that take a long time is because they did not put in the time in the beginning or something went wrong and they had to start over or they took forever writing their thesis.

If you can get an MD/PhD in 7-8 years a PhD should not take more than 4 years.

 

[MD2b20004]

3yrs in PhD. PLZZz say me what school are you talkin abt. man, thats impossible. i was not speakin abt MD-Phd program. i was talkin abt non-md PhD programs. Medical College of Wisconsin is one of the very few schools in country that has a 5yr PhD program (non-md). apart from that other non-md programs take atleast 5-6 yrs and then consider the post-doc fellowship, etc. man thats a lot of school u put in.

Fine now we are comparing apples to oranges, we got to compare apples to apples. PhDs decide to go for the duration of time which can take 4-5 years plus post doc 2-4 to get tenure at a respectable university. But do not be fooled that Professors only make 50-60K. My best friend is finishing up his masters in Civil Engineering and his professor has a 2.5 million dollar mansion on the lake (a lot of money for the midwest). Nearly most of his money comes from consulting as other professors do as well. Plus keep in consideration grad school is free and you get paid a stipend all the way through, in professional schools such as Med, Dent, Law, Business, Pod. You take loans out of your A$$ with interest compiling every year. So no EVERY HEALTH CARE PROFESSION IS UNDERPAID. If you do want to think of the above logic think of this, health practictioners have liability, people's lives are in our hand, and malpractice insurace with those loads of loans, now a professor wont get sued by his rat if he mistakenly injects it the wrong way and does not have to pay Rat Malpractice Insurance.

 

[cool_vkb]

Ha ha ha, thats true. u got a point. indeed we have to worry abt malpractice insurance. thanks for that point. but man that was really cool " now a professor wont get sued by his rat if he mistakenly injects it the wrong way and does not have to pay Rat Malpractice Insurance." lol! just imagine if it really happens. the rat family of dead rat decides to sue the professor for negligence. lol.

Fine now we are comparing apples to oranges, we got to compare apples to apples. PhDs decide to go for the duration of time which can take 4-5 years plus post doc 2-4 to get tenure at a respectable university. But do not be fooled that Professors only make 50-60K. My best friend is finishing up his masters in Civil Engineering and his professor has a 2.5 million dollar mansion on the lake (a lot of money for the midwest). Nearly most of his money comes from consulting as other professors do as well. Plus keep in consideration grad school is free and you get paid a stipend all the way through, in professional schools such as Med, Dent, Law, Business, Pod. You take loans out of your A$$ with interest compiling every year. So no EVERY HEALTH CARE PROFESSION IS UNDERPAID. If you do want to think of the above logic think of this, health practictioners have liability, people's lives are in our hand, and malpractice insurace with those loads of loans, now a professor wont get sued by his rat if he mistakenly injects it the wrong way and does not have to pay Rat Malpractice Insurance.

 

[scpod]

Hey,

Iam a pre-pod. I was going through Illinois Dept and Wisconsin Dept of Professional regualton concerning podiatry license and scope of practice. i was very suprised to see that podiatrist are strictly limited to feet (which ofcourse is our profession) and not even allowed to do full amputations...

What nobody has mentioned (in this thread, at least, although it has been said a milliom times before) is that the scope of podiatry varies greatly from one state to another. In Florida, for instnace, you can work to the bone up to the knee and soft tissues up to the hip. In some states, however, you are restricted to forefoot surgery. The lesson, if there really is one in this is to choose your location of practice wisely. I know a DPM in Florida who limits his practice to the diagnostic imaging of the foot and leg. In Florida, that's well within his scope of practice. He couldn't do that in New York, though.

 

[krabmas]

Krabmas: Chemistry Ph.D. in 3 yrs?! What chemistry program outside of the US are you talking about? No respectable US chemistry program would grant a Ph.D. in 3 yrs.

cool_vkb: Please don't talk about MD, MD/PhD, years invested, etc. if you are not in an allopathic medical school. I guarantee you that MD students study and are responsible for more material than any of the medical professions (I have attended both graduate and medical schools.)

I almost went into PhD for chemistry and changed my mind. My advisor at Rutgers told me not to take more than 3 years and if it took more I was doing something wrong.

people take a long time because they can.

 

[MD2b20004]

I almost went into PhD for chemistry and changed my mind. My advisor at Rutgers told me not to take more than 3 years and if it took more I was doing something wrong.

people take a long time because they can.

Because they can, or because, which is most likely the case, their advisors like to abuse them and use them as cheap labor to do their crap and therefore make it tougher from them to get checked off to finally defend their dissertation!