shadowed a pod today

[jadabrizi]

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I shadowed a podiatrist today. He was really interesting and I loved his patients (I enjoy talking to old people, they crack me up). While I was shadowing, I thought that podiatry was a nice job and that I would enjoy being a podiatrist. However, I wasn't really excited or "wowed" about anything he did. I thought that if podiatry was really what I wanted to do, I would be amazed when I was shadowing. While I was thinking "I would enjoy this as a career" I never really thought "feet are the most amazing things ever". Has anyone had similar thoughts while shadowing? I didn't get to observe any surgery because the center where he works doesn't allow surgical observation. Maybe I would be more excited about it if I saw some more difficult procedures?
Thanks!!!

 

[NatCh]

I still don't think that feet are the most amazing things ever. Good career though.

You know what's the most amazing thing ever? It's amazing that when I send a picture from my cell phone to my laptop, the data goes into outer space first then comes back to my computer inches away and it only takes a couple of seconds.

 

[APMAHelp]

Go back another time since every day is going to be different. You should also look into shadowing somewhere where you CAN watch surgery; it's a shame to miss out on that. If you want the WOW factor, you may need to find someone who is treating a lot of athletes, or doing a lot of surgery. There are all types of DPMs with many varied practices. Seek out what you are looking for and you may find your wow. 🙂

 

[phillypd]

I still don't think that feet are the most amazing things ever. Good career though.

You know what's the most amazing thing ever? It's amazing that when I send a picture from my cell phone to my laptop, the data goes into outer space first then comes back to my computer inches away and it only takes a couple of seconds.

This is too funny.......you really made my day!!!!!!

 

[NatCh]

This is too funny.......you really made my day!!!!!!

It's not that feet aren't impressive in that they let us walk and run, but I get skeptical when a student gets a starry-eyed look and says something like, "Aren't feet amaaaaaaaaaaaazing?" It seems kind of sucky-uppy since I doubt any of you are all that amaaaaaaazed by feet.

You know what else I find amazing? It's amaaaaazing that a stereo speaker simply moves back and forth and can reproduce any sound with accuracy and clarity. It just goes back and forth, pushing air, but can sound like anything you want, even multiple sounds at the same time! You can listen to the sound of a street, with honking horns, car motors, people talking, birds chirping, planes flying...all from that one round paper disc that moves back and forth!

It's amaaaaaaaazing that the heart is a muscle that contracts non-stop (hopefully) for your entire lifespan, yet it doesn't fatigue like your legs do after running or biking for only a few hours. Why doesn't the heart get fatigued? What if you could run (like Forrest) non-stop for 80 or 90 years? That's what a heart does.

It's amaaaaaazing that some animals can grow new limbs. Whoa!

It's amaaaaaaazing that those massive schools of tiny fish all know when to turn in synchrony. How they do that?

It's amaaaaazing that the Hubble telescope even exists. Consider the calculations involved!

Yayyyy feet!

Edit:...and a shark can smell a single drop of blood from a mile away, sometimes within one minute of that drop of blood hitting the ocean. Amaaaaaaaazing!

 

[whiskers]

Usually professionals make things look easy.

Now, I am just asking, do you know the anatomy of the foot? Do you know the nerve innervation and vascularity of the foot?

Have YOU ever clipped the massively thick nails of a patient with circulatory problems without cutting them leading to an amputation?

and by the way, if you are looking for a job that will give you giggly feelings, you are really not selecting your career based on rational thought.

Instead you are still in the immature phase of your life and need much more time to grow up it sounds like.

 

[podboy]

i still don't think that feet are the most amazing things ever. Good career though.

You know what's the most amazing thing ever? It's amazing that when i send a picture from my cell phone to my laptop, the data goes into outer space first then comes back to my computer inches away and it only takes a couple of seconds.

🙂

 

[podboy]

Have YOU ever clipped the massively thick nails of a patient with circulatory problems without cutting them leading to an amputation?

What? Sometimes your cuts lead to an amputation? This is not as funny as NatCh's post, if that was your intent...

 

[krabmas]

What? Sometimes your cuts lead to an amputation? This is not as funny as NatCh's post, if that was your intent...

Although we all know that wiskers has a great and sometimes offbased sense of humor I do not think that was his intention this time.

He was letting you know that even though things look simple because a professional was doing them doesn't mean that they are easy or harmless to the patient especially if done incorrectly.

 

[whiskers]

Take a look at the following webpages with pics of nails.

http://www.weirdthings.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/toenails.jpg

Imagine that big toe nail is at least 3/4 inches thick and hard as a rock...while the skin itself is very very delacate and the patient is on blood thinners and barely any blood getting to their feet and has a list of 20 medications they are taking for a bunch of diseases....and your job is to cut them dam toe nails without skin injury and potential litigation.

Could you superstar prepods/premeds do it? Would you trust your family doctor to give it a whirl? How bout an orthopaedic doc? Or would you want a podiatrist to do it who does it daily?

And yes, many patients are not candidates for reperfusion of the limb for various reasons and yes this is somewhat common in primary care podiatry as are toe nails that look like that.

 

[smartman716]

Feet are complex. But why do students say they love feet or that they have a foot fetish? It does seem sucky-uppy. It's like watching a dentist and saying I love...??? Or shadowing a urologist and saying, I love...??? Or shadowing a GI doc and saying, I love...??? Can you imagine. Shadwowing or being a pod, in my opinion involves a lot more than the love of feet. Most people don't love feet (see article below). Treating, healing feet, and fixing feet encompass so much. As you shadow, hopefully you'll get to know much more about feet. Good luck.
http://mobile.nytimes.com/article?a=412583&f=26&p=1

 

[jadabrizi]

Usually professionals make things look easy.

I never said I thought his job looked easy.

Now, I am just asking, do you know the anatomy of the foot? Do you know the nerve innervation and vascularity of the foot?

Is this rhetorical? It sounds like you are implying that I think podiatry is easy, which again is something that I never said.

Have YOU ever clipped the massively thick nails of a patient with circulatory problems without cutting them leading to an amputation?

Again with the rhetorical...heavy sarcasm...laugh laugh. You got me. As an undergraduate student I have never performed any medical procedures. This does not mean that I do not think that it is difficult, like I said it is a medical procedure, i.e. 4 years of school plus residency. As any medical profession, it takes a lot of skill.

and by the way, if you are looking for a job that will give you giggly feelings, you are really not selecting your career based on rational thought.

Do "giggly feelings" correlate to passion, interest, or a desire to spend the rest of your life in a field that is best suited to your abilities?

Instead you are still in the immature phase of your life and need much more time to grow up it sounds like.

Is it immature to not want to spend $200k and over 5 years of my life learning how to be a podiatrist if I am not 100% sure it is the best job out there for me? When I said I was not really "wowed" I did not mean that his job was not impressive, the profession just did not jump out at me as much as I was hoping it would. I have talked to medical students who say things like "kidneys are the most interesting things I have ever seen", why shouldn't I want a career like that?

Personally, I think it takes a really insecure individual to judge a person's maturity based on six lines of text. That is why I judge message board signatures.

Toenail dust killed the Martians.

Really?

 

[whiskers]

Being wowed is for hobbies, making a decent living is what work is about.

At this rate, you will be yet another professional student wandering around looking for something to wow her and in the end you will settle for your BS degree and some menial job.

It actually happens all the time and is the number one reason people don't get advanced degrees and such.

But you will be different i am sure.

Wandering through life searching for something to wow you is a sure fire way to end up doing nothing with your life ... and that's the truth.

I know how you young kids don't take well to criticism, but seriously, it seems to take 36 years anymore for kids to grow up.

 

[XCdude]

36 years or more for us kids to grow up now?

Do you teach podiatry students because you seem tired of dealing with the younger generation?

 

[denner]

Being wowed is for hobbies, making a decent living is what work is about.

At this rate, you will be yet another professional student wandering around looking for something to wow her and in the end you will settle for your BS degree and some menial job.

It actually happens all the time and is the number one reason people don't get advanced degrees and such.

But you will be different i am sure.

Wandering through life searching for something to wow you is a sure fire way to end up doing nothing with your life ... and that's the truth.

I know how you young kids don't take well to criticism, but seriously, it seems to take 36 years anymore for kids to grow up.

"And get off my lawn you damned kids!!!"

Take it easy man, you are reading way too much into one comment this guy made, give him a chance before you cast him out as a lifelong failure, jeez.