Should I reconsider Podiatry School at 30

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Is attending Podiatry School in early 30s worth it?

  • Yes

    Votes: 41 71.9%
  • No

    Votes: 16 28.1%

  • Total voters
    57

sunyplatt

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Just logged in after six years after previously considering pod...ended up graduating with BA in Political Science. I was headed to Law School but with the current employment statistics I decided that spending a quarter million dollars for a law degree was not a good idea in return for a 45K salary. That type of debt is inescapable on a lawyer's salary today. I'm thinking about giving pod school a go again. I just need some of the prereqs. What do you all think......? GPA will be somewhat low but I have enrolled previously for at least 13 full time semesters of undergraduate credits (not kidding) plus additional part time semesters and my last two semesters were almost all As. Im assuming my transcripts will not be viewed in a typical way for this reason. Should I take the prereqs and try for pod at age 30? Either that or maybe Caribbean but residencies are a concern there. I work as a residential counselor currently and have been accepted to grad school for a Master's Degree level program but med school has sparked my interest again.

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I would say that it’s definitely up for consideration to take a look and make pod school a choice. Tuition for Pod School is a bit less than Law school. Pay from what I’ve seen ranges from 112k to 200k+ (depends on type of practice and location for scope of practice). I’ve met applicants who did not take a science route in college and still get consideration for an interview to a Pod program.

My questions for you is have you taken the MCAT already? Is medical school just something you’re thinking about or actually willing to do? Will you be dedicated to spending the next 4+ years learning about the lower extremity?
 
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I'm going to be applying for fall 2019 admission when I'll be 31, so I say go for it!
 
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Just logged in after six years after previously considering pod...ended up graduating with BA in Political Science. I was headed to Law School but with the current employment statistics I decided that spending a quarter million dollars for a law degree was not a good idea in return for a 45K salary. That type of debt is inescapable on a lawyer's salary today. I'm thinking about giving pod school a go again. I just need some of the prereqs. What do you all think......? GPA will be somewhat low but I have enrolled previously for at least 13 full time semesters of undergraduate credits (not kidding) plus additional part time semesters and my last two semesters were almost all As. Im assuming my transcripts will not be viewed in a typical way for this reason. Should I take the prereqs and try for pod at age 30? Either that or maybe Caribbean but residencies are a concern there. I work as a residential counselor currently and have been accepted to grad school for a Master's Degree level program but med school has sparked my interest again.

Do not go to the Carribean.

Do something, anything here in the US, even if it takes a year or so for app building. I started around the same age, and I'm really happy about it. I'm doing great in classes and my past experiences help with classes and collaborating with friends and faculty. Age is just a number when it comes to Medicine. Good luck!
 
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I start pod school this summer and am 33. I was planning to apply allopathic/osteopathic about ten years ago and things just didn't work out at that time.... very happy about deciding to go this route and not worried about my age at all. Spoke with current students on interviews that were older and plenty of younger people that didn't seem to notice or care much about age. My mentor started pod school older than I am, after a career change and you'd never notice she was a newer grad. She doesn't regret the decision and enjoys practicing now.

I wouldn't really consider Caribbean personally and I think many people would echo that sentiment.
 
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Matriculating into POD school this year and I am in my upper 30's. The decision to enter any type of medical school is more a question of, do you want it? Can you commit? If so, age is just a number. As a Physician, a specialist and a surgeon - you can expect a salary over 200K and your med school debt will be in the mid 200's. All will be fine.
 
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The responses I have seen are all interesting and reading other posts. Seems to be not all that uncommon actually starting med school at 28-35.
 
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Lots of older Pod students, as people dont hear about DPM right away. I say if you have a general liking for the foot and ankle and want to be of service to others, the Pod route is a good one to walk.

You'll be out of Pod school before age 40. That is still a good 25+ years before retirement age. Taking into account Pods make around 150-200K/year (lets estimate at 150K/year as a conservative number), you make around 3.75 mil in those 25 years. Seems like a good return on investment if you can keep money in order. Plus, most primary care podiatry isnt backbreaking work (surgery days can certainly be long), you might end up working till your 70s and wanting to!
 
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Just logged in after six years after previously considering pod...ended up graduating with BA in Political Science. I was headed to Law School but with the current employment statistics I decided that spending a quarter million dollars for a law degree was not a good idea in return for a 45K salary. That type of debt is inescapable on a lawyer's salary today. I'm thinking about giving pod school a go again. I just need some of the prereqs. What do you all think......? GPA will be somewhat low but I have enrolled previously for at least 13 full time semesters of undergraduate credits (not kidding) plus additional part time semesters and my last two semesters were almost all As. Im assuming my transcripts will not be viewed in a typical way for this reason. Should I take the prereqs and try for pod at age 30? Either that or maybe Caribbean but residencies are a concern there. I work as a residential counselor currently and have been accepted to grad school for a Master's Degree level program but med school has sparked my interest again.

Why not? Everywhere I shadowed, MD, DO, DPM their were doctors working well into their 70s. Keep yourself fit and go for it.
 
I matriculated into medical school at the tail end of my twenties. It’s all good, man.
 
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Alright, I am starting school this fall at the age of 31!

A lot of people told me I will be a 100 y o when I graduate and I should go Nurse/PA/ something else - route instead.

Nope! I can't I can't I can't ! I don't care how old I will be ... I will be a Podiatric Physician:p
 
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A LOT of my classmates are in the 26-30 range. Not a big deal at all.
 
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Started MED school at 34, graduating in less than a year, do not regret it all, one of the best decisions I ever made.
 
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You have to decide what you want.
From your post seems like your interests are
1) Good career/employment opportunities - podiatry you need flexibility with your living location, its not as easy as family medicine or internal medicine where you can pick a city and get a job
2) Salary (kind of meh for a 4 +3 year training process) (150-200k unless you get lucky)
3) career you enjoy, this one is totally up to you. I didnt like the way podiatrists get the short end of the stick even though they are just as good if not better than some of their MD/DO colleagues

The problem I see is you are "interested" in medicine. Keep in mind if you want to get through podiatry school youre going to have to be ready to bootcamp yourself for the next 3 years (premed + basic sciences ) and then work really hard through clinicals and residency. Essentially you will be close to 40 when you are an actual practicing podiatrist.
And the salary will typically not be big bucks right away.
You will probably start around 150k and work your way up (I hope)

This is just my perspective but for me money + being relatively on time with other things (house paid off, car, etc) was pretty important so I left podiatry school, went through a software development boootcamp and signed over for about 100k/year (prorated contract) out of school. I just received an intern + job offer from a big 4 for 130 base + 150k sign on bonus/4 years + 15% annual bonus, and they are paying for my masters degree too.
At this point, while I think sitting at a desk typing code is a bit boring, I still cringe at the idea I would have went through 7 years of training to beg for a 200 k position by the time I TURNED 30.
 
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1) From what it looks like, Seems that most pods are finding work.

2) 150k-200K sounds good when you realize that if you couldnt achieve that outside of big tech and medicine. The people I graduated with in my college major will probably not break the six figure mark in their lifetime.

3) I think most pods like what they do, just the strings attached and state laws. I have only shadowed one pod that was unhappy with working as a Pod, but it wasnt because of podiatry, it was because of the responsibilities of being a doctor and the long hours. They would have much rather have gone into PA or NP.

Tech is great, but much more market dependent than any form of medicine. You can be fired at any time and salaries can be lowered at any time. In 5 years time, your company could fire the whole lot of you and hire new fresh college grads willing to work for 100K. Now this can happen to MDs, and Ive seen MDs contracts terminated and had to find work elsewhere, but you can find work anywhere as a doc. With Podiatry, you can always open up your own practice or find a rural hospital location that desperately needs docs.

Plus, hands on work is usually fun.

Podiatry is a relatively small field, and while there are doctors and midlevels that do what pods do, first is 1) midlevels cant do surgery.....yet. 2) How many GPs and Ortho want to deal with feet (there is a reason pod schools exist, to fill a need that wasnt filled).


You have to decide what you want.
From your post seems like your interests are
1) Good career/employment opportunities - podiatry you need flexibility with your living location, its not as easy as family medicine or internal medicine where you can pick a city and get a job
2) Salary (kind of meh for a 4 +3 year training process) (150-200k unless you get lucky)
3) career you enjoy, this one is totally up to you. I didnt like the way podiatrists get the short end of the stick even though they are just as good if not better than some of their MD/DO colleagues

The problem I see is you are "interested" in medicine. Keep in mind if you want to get through podiatry school youre going to have to be ready to bootcamp yourself for the next 3 years (premed + basic sciences ) and then work really hard through clinicals and residency. Essentially you will be close to 40 when you are an actual practicing podiatrist.
And the salary will typically not be big bucks right away.
You will probably start around 150k and work your way up (I hope)

This is just my perspective but for me money + being relatively on time with other things (house paid off, car, etc) was pretty important so I left podiatry school, went through a software development boootcamp and signed over for about 100k/year (prorated contract) out of school. I just received an intern + job offer from a big 4 for 130 base + 150k sign on bonus/4 years + 15% annual bonus, and they are paying for my masters degree too.
At this point, while I think sitting at a desk typing code is a bit boring, I still cringe at the idea I would have went through 7 years of training to beg for a 200 k position by the time I TURNED 30.
 
1) From what it looks like, Seems that most pods are finding work.

2) 150k-200K sounds good when you realize that if you couldnt achieve that outside of big tech and medicine. The people I graduated with in my college major will probably not break the six figure mark in their lifetime.

3) I think most pods like what they do, just the strings attached and state laws. I have only shadowed one pod that was unhappy with working as a Pod, but it wasnt because of podiatry, it was because of the responsibilities of being a doctor and the long hours. They would have much rather have gone into PA or NP.

Tech is great, but much more market dependent than any form of medicine. You can be fired at any time and salaries can be lowered at any time. In 5 years time, your company could fire the whole lot of you and hire new fresh college grads willing to work for 100K. Now this can happen to MDs, and Ive seen MDs contracts terminated and had to find work elsewhere, but you can find work anywhere as a doc. With Podiatry, you can always open up your own practice or find a rural hospital location that desperately needs docs.

Plus, hands on work is usually fun.

Podiatry is a relatively small field, and while there are doctors and midlevels that do what pods do, first is 1) midlevels cant do surgery.....yet. 2) How many GPs and Ortho want to deal with feet (there is a reason pod schools exist, to fill a need that wasnt filled).

1) from talking to the school I went to and the residency program in my home town (santa clara) relocation is often required for podiatry. Distant relocation to random places is common.

2) what was your major? there are lots of useless majors out there, and many which are relatively useless without a higher degree (plain bio without a phd)

3) depends on the podiatrist. If we totalled everyone on this forum who has shadowed a podiatrist we still would have a small population /total podiatrists. I can see how it can become very boring when pods bread and butter turns out to be woundcare, nail trimmings, and orthotics . Of every podiatry school that graduates, there will be a top 10% and a bottom 10% with the title doctor/dpm. How financially successful they are can really turn out to be luck and business accumen since the highest paid podiatrists have their own practices .

You have to really work in tech before you make claims on it. You dont just get fired in 5 minutes. Definitely not in the big 4 and at ton of other major companies. Every time a large group of individuals are fired its because of a faulty product /idea which puts the company at a loss. Getting replaced is not that common either. The people who complain about these things are usually deserving of their replacements because unlike doctors, it takes 50% of the effort to get into software. And plenty of people are lazy who sit on their butts and dont do anything or update their skills as time goes on. There is a lack of skill in engineering(largely because the barrier to entry is so low) and all it takes is a bit of effort and skill to keep your job

And tech isnt the only field to break 6 figures. Ib banking, airlines, private equity are simple methods. They all require effort , and the amount of effort it takes to get into investment banking or a good software role is no where near the effort it takes to pass medical school classes.
 
1) from talking to the school I went to and the residency program in my home town (santa clara) relocation is often required for podiatry. Distant relocation to random places is common.

2) what was your major? there are lots of useless majors out there, and many which are relatively useless without a higher degree (plain bio without a phd)

3) depends on the podiatrist. If we totalled everyone on this forum who has shadowed a podiatrist we still would have a small population /total podiatrists. I can see how it can become very boring when pods bread and butter turns out to be woundcare, nail trimmings, and orthotics . Of every podiatry school that graduates, there will be a top 10% and a bottom 10% with the title doctor/dpm. How financially successful they are can really turn out to be luck and business accumen since the highest paid podiatrists have their own practices .

You have to really work in tech before you make claims on it. You dont just get fired in 5 minutes. Definitely not in the big 4 and at ton of other major companies. Every time a large group of individuals are fired its because of a faulty product /idea which puts the company at a loss. Getting replaced is not that common either. The people who complain about these things are usually deserving of their replacements because unlike doctors, it takes 50% of the effort to get into software. And plenty of people are lazy who sit on their butts and dont do anything or update their skills as time goes on. There is a lack of skill in engineering(largely because the barrier to entry is so low) and all it takes is a bit of effort and skill to keep your job

And tech isnt the only field to break 6 figures. Ib banking, airlines, private equity are simple methods. They all require effort , and the amount of effort it takes to get into investment banking or a good software role is no where near the effort it takes to pass medical school classes.
I worked in the big 4 and a boutique firm. At the end day you're going to be working hard with whatever you do. The big difference in the medical field for me is that you're directly helping people. You just don't get that feeling in the corporate realm or at-least I didn't, the very extended time that I was in. The 2nd big difference is that often times you will work 60+ hours a week sometimes even more, but your salary is fixed. In medicine you really get out what you put in. Most Pods I know have a great work life balance, but I also know others that moonlight as a hospitalist or have multiple offices to really earn some extra cheddar. In the corporate it gets very tiring not getting your fair share. I feel too many premeds and even doctors tell others that it's not worth it to get into this profession. I have big problems with people that don't know anything else to give that assessment.
 
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I worked in the big 4 and a boutique firm. At the end day you're going to be working hard with whatever you do. The big difference in the medical field for me is that you're directly helping people. You just don't get that feeling in the corporate realm or at-least I didn't, the very extended time that I was in. The 2nd big difference is that often times you will work 60+ hours a week sometimes even more, but your salary is fixed. In medicine you really get out what you put in. Most Pods I know have a great work life balance, but I also know others that moonlight as a hospitalist or have multiple offices to really earn some extra cheddar. In the corporate it gets very tiring not getting your fair share. I feel too many premeds and even doctors tell others that it's not worth it to get into this profession. I have big problems with people that don't know anything else to give that assessment.

I should have been more clear, outside of tech no one is really familiar with big 4. Big 4 is FANG (facebook, apple, netflix, google)- the tech unicorn companies.
Your salary in tech is most definitely not fixed. Banking, I am surprised to hear since its a ladder starting from 100k crossing a million by the time youre 30 years old if you can stick it out
In tech it starts at 150 k at a unicorn, climbs to 250 k within 2-3 years and continues to grow based on how much you want to climb the ladder beyond that point. Most people stop at 350 k and are happy.
The description of having multiple offices is a business model, really has nothing to do with medicine. Its a problem most people in the medical field dont understand, with investing. Its an active income asset, once the physician stops seeing patients the income source is stopped (unless he hires someone else). It takes time to build a patient base, years. Time to climb the ladder, and then there is always the risk of hospitals out-competing you. You have to put in the hours, you have to work your butt off. And ultimately you can only be in one location at a time. If youre talking about hiring other podiatrists well even a grocery bagger, walmart worker, mcdonalds hamburger flipper can take out a loan, and hire other podiatrists to run his practice. Tech works differently and the assets you acquire eventually build into a passive income (unless you suck and work for some small IT company in the midwest)

In technology you can climb the ladder, and the reason people dont climb (within reasonable time) is laziness. People want to put in 40 hours a week and expect to get promotions. They think their IV league degree which has less than 10% work-based application somehow qualifies them to be the next CEO. I have 8 family members in tech, they all have exceptional roles in tech unicorns and none of them put more than 50 hours/week.

When premeds and doctors say the field isnt "worth it", they are correct, if they are speaking in finance terms only. Because 4 years of undergrad, 4 years of medical school and 3+ years of residency to have a chance of making 200 k is most definitely not worth it.
As for helping people, sure doctors get to make a difference (hopefully) in the lives of patients every day, although in my opinion dealing with feet wasnt as rewarding as someone who did life saving procedures . That aspect is lacking in engineering and technology, and the only way to help people is extracurricular/outside career activity, it is still doable with the ample extra time you have not working in the medical field.
 
outside of Podiatry, Pediatrics, and Family med docs that work 40 hour workweeks, most doctors are making over the 200K mark. Ortho makes on average 500K/year, Emergency med 300K, etc.

While I think tech is an excellent field and the skills acquired no doubt have real world application, when the economy turns down, what is to stop the tech companies from cutting staff and hiring overseas help? Cant really outsource a podiatrist. Medicine is pretty recession proof. Optometry not so much, pharmacy has saturation, and dental can get hit with recessions. Not sure about pod, certainly elective procedures would go down during a recession, but if someone needs a toe amputated before it reaches their leg, they wont wait.

I think Podiatry is worth the investment, even if you conservatively estimate you will only make 150K-200K during your lifetime (roughly 100-140K take home), even with 300K student loan debt. Where I think medicine should be reconsidered is when Debts exceed the 400K+ mark like a lot of dental schools have. Podiatry school hasnt gotten there.....yet. Some DO schools have exceeded this threshold for the total cost of attendance.

Keep in mind, there are pods out there making 250-300K.

And dealing with feet can be very rewarding, you get to help people walk again! In some cases, you might even save a life dealing with a festering foot.

When premeds and doctors say the field isnt "worth it", they are correct, if they are speaking in finance terms only. Because 4 years of undergrad, 4 years of medical school and 3+ years of residency to have a chance of making 200 k is most definitely not worth it.
As for helping people, sure doctors get to make a difference (hopefully) in the lives of patients every day, although in my opinion dealing with feet wasnt as rewarding as someone who did life saving procedures . That aspect is lacking in engineering and technology, and the only way to help people is extracurricular/outside career activity, it is still doable with the ample extra time you have not working in the medical field.
 
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outside of Podiatry, Pediatrics, and Family med docs that work 40 hour workweeks, most doctors are making over the 200K mark. Ortho makes on average 500K/year, Emergency med 300K, etc.

While I think tech is an excellent field and the skills acquired no doubt have real world application, when the economy turns down, what is to stop the tech companies from cutting staff and hiring overseas help? Cant really outsource a podiatrist. Medicine is pretty recession proof. Optometry not so much, pharmacy has saturation, and dental can get hit with recessions. Not sure about pod, certainly elective procedures would go down during a recession, but if someone needs a toe amputated before it reaches their leg, they wont wait.

I think Podiatry is worth the investment, even if you conservatively estimate you will only make 150K-200K during your lifetime (roughly 100-140K take home), even with 300K student loan debt. Where I think medicine should be reconsidered is when Debts exceed the 400K+ mark like a lot of dental schools have. Podiatry school hasnt gotten there.....yet. Some DO schools have exceeded this threshold for the total cost of attendance.

Keep in mind, there are pods out there making 250-300K.

And dealing with feet can be very rewarding, you get to help people walk again! In some cases, you might even save a life dealing with a festering foot.
Also need to include internal medicine which hovers around 200 k and includes a huge majority of primary care docs. Those are all the 3 year residency routes. The others you are not only competing to get a spot but youre also spending 2-3 years more in residency.

Even if youre a genius who gets into harvard medical school youre still going to have no guarantee of an ortho residency. So realistically youre going to have to outshine the smartest to get those kinds of high paying specialties. (Neurosurgery, ortho, derm, em even though salaries arent thatt high)

If you go into medical school, based on statistics and numbers of specialities out there, youre probably going to end up in the 200 k range.

Well thats for mds an dos , podiatry prospects are more abysmal. The top 25% is making more than 200 k. The top 5% makes more than 300.
Youve got a 75% chance to make 100-200 k for life by the time youre 30 (if you started young)

Sorry but the deal just isnt worth it.
In a solid tech company if you work hard and are willing to take on more responsibility you will be able to climb fast and make significantly more money. Anyone who crosses level 5/6 at google will make more than 800k. Its a 15 year process. Software is flexibile. If you plan your entire life around just recessions it shows youre unable to grow into anything big and will remain small. People who get laid off during recessions are not good enough, and they will probably not survive any medical school including podiatry

The largest tech companies were all started in recessions . If you have any skill at all you will get a new job (however at the same time the company will keep you on board). As i said people are lazy. The kid next to me comes in at 10 am , eats breakfast for half an hour, works until 12 , then takes a 2 hour lunch break, comes back at 2 , goes on reddit for a half hour, works until 6 then goes home. He makes 170K a year and has been at this routine for about 2 years in august. Your competition is low with these kinds of leeches crawling around. In podiatry hospitals can acquire your group , and the orthos can say bye bye to all your funstuff while youre trimming nails and doing wounds. Or you could literally just graduate Average in your class and be stuck with a 100 k salary in some crappy podiatry clinic where even crnas, nps, and pas mAke higher than you.

Again, im 23 making close to 150 k, and as long as i dont slack, the numbers will keep climbing to atleast 350 k by the time im 30, if i keep at it numbers can reach 4-5 million/ year in your late 40’s. (Thats a google director salary and they have hundreds of those all over the place). Never in a lifetime does podiatry in its current state make sense financially. Not when you invest 7 years of your life to literally be paid dirt, be the butt of medicine, and have no flexibility in your speciality like your md/do colleagues
 
Is tech competitive? What are the requirements to land a job? You also have to factor in that some people dont have a lot of options/ and or dont have connections. The recent college grad with a GPA of 3.3 in 50K of student loan debt with a worthless biology degree doesnt really have any other options besides Pharmacy, optometry, or Podiatry, assuming MD/DO school said no. Its doubtful that they could make it into tech, would they have to start all over and get a 2nd bachelors degree? Thats 4 more years.

Pharmacy is saturated, and while its almost certain that you will make 100-110K/year if you can find full time work, its long hours and up to the retail chains whims and wishes. Look into the Pharm forum and it is bleak, staff cuts to 32 hrs/week, large student loans (200K+) etc.

Optometry is a bit better, but still got saturation. Easy job however, most likely will make 100-110K/year, but can easily be replaced.

Dentistry is the best option, but unless you get into a state school, that debt is monstrous. Plus, its super competitive to get into dental school. Most associates make what DPMs make 120-170K. The sky is the limit if you are a savvy business owner though. Only 4 years.

Podiatry is the profession of all the non MD/DO that seem to have it pretty good. Not as saturated as OD/Pharm/DDS, highest realistic potential of all the non MDs, surgical privileges (which are hard to come by and will keep midlevels out), and school debt hasnt exceeded 400K. It has issues, especially with reimbursement and state laws depending on where you live, but it is a very "safe" option for people.

I dont think NPs and PAs are making all that much money that people claim they do, ussually around 80-100K. The top paid PAs are making what the bottom pods are making.

I think the best deal is the nurse anesthesia. They are making 150-200K/year with just a master's.


Also need to include internal medicine which hovers around 200 k and includes a huge majority of primary care docs. Those are all the 3 year residency routes. The others you are not only competing to get a spot but youre also spending 2-3 years more in residency.

Even if youre a genius who gets into harvard medical school youre still going to have no guarantee of an ortho residency. So realistically youre going to have to outshine the smartest to get those kinds of high paying specialties. (Neurosurgery, ortho, derm, em even though salaries arent thatt high)

If you go into medical school, based on statistics and numbers of specialities out there, youre probably going to end up in the 200 k range.

Well thats for mds an dos , podiatry prospects are more abysmal. The top 25% is making more than 200 k. The top 5% makes more than 300.
Youve got a 75% chance to make 100-200 k for life by the time youre 30 (if you started young)

Sorry but the deal just isnt worth it.
In a solid tech company if you work hard and are willing to take on more responsibility you will be able to climb fast and make significantly more money. Anyone who crosses level 5/6 at google will make more than 800k. Its a 15 year process. Software is flexibile. If you plan your entire life around just recessions it shows youre unable to grow into anything big and will remain small. People who get laid off during recessions are not good enough, and they will probably not survive any medical school including podiatry

The largest tech companies were all started in recessions . If you have any skill at all you will get a new job (however at the same time the company will keep you on board). As i said people are lazy. The kid next to me comes in at 10 am , eats breakfast for half an hour, works until 12 , then takes a 2 hour lunch break, comes back at 2 , goes on reddit for a half hour, works until 6 then goes home. He makes 170K a year and has been at this routine for about 2 years in august. Your competition is low with these kinds of leeches crawling around. In podiatry hospitals can acquire your group , and the orthos can say bye bye to all your funstuff while youre trimming nails and doing wounds. Or you could literally just graduate Average in your class and be stuck with a 100 k salary in some crappy podiatry clinic where even crnas, nps, and pas mAke higher than you.

Edit: isnt 150K more like 50K in Silicon Valley/Cali?

Again, im 23 making close to 150 k, and as long as i dont slack, the numbers will keep climbing to atleast 350 k by the time im 30, if i keep at it numbers can reach 4-5 million/ year in your late 40’s. (Thats a google director salary and they have hundreds of those all over the place). Never in a lifetime does podiatry in its current state make sense financially. Not when you invest 7 years of your life to literally be paid dirt, be the butt of medicine, and have no flexibility in your speciality like your md/do colleagues
 
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Is tech competitive? What are the requirements to land a job? You also have to factor in that some people dont have a lot of options/ and or dont have connections. The recent college grad with a GPA of 3.3 in 50K of student loan debt with a worthless biology degree doesnt really have any other options besides Pharmacy, optometry, or Podiatry, assuming MD/DO school said no. Its doubtful that they could make it into tech, would they have to start all over and get a 2nd bachelors degree? Thats 4 more years.

Pharmacy is saturated, and while its almost certain that you will make 100-110K/year if you can find full time work, its long hours and up to the retail chains whims and wishes. Look into the Pharm forum and it is bleak, staff cuts to 32 hrs/week, large student loans (200K+) etc.

Optometry is a bit better, but still got saturation. Easy job however, most likely will make 100-110K/year, but can easily be replaced.

Dentistry is the best option, but unless you get into a state school, that debt is monstrous. Plus, its super competitive to get into dental school. Most associates make what DPMs make 120-170K. The sky is the limit if you are a savvy business owner though. Only 4 years.

Podiatry is the profession of all the non MD/DO that seem to have it pretty good. Not as saturated as OD/Pharm/DDS, highest realistic potential of all the non MDs, surgical privileges (which are hard to come by and will keep midlevels out), and school debt hasnt exceeded 400K. It has issues, especially with reimbursement and state laws depending on where you live, but it is a very "safe" option for people.

I dont think NPs and PAs are making all that much money that people claim they do, ussually around 80-100K. The top paid PAs are making what the bottom pods are making.

I think the best deal is the nurse anesthesia. They are making 150-200K/year with just a master's.

I am in agreement with you with everything about pharm, dentistry , podiatry, etc. So Ill answer your tech question, in this case I will directly say software development since there are other fields such as electrical and mechanical engineering and so on.

As a non computer science major you have three options to enter into tech
1) a solid "Bootcamp" (this is what I did), where over 12-16 weeks they will do 80 hour weeks and teach you every thing you need to know about computer science, the latest languages, and get you some solid projects. You can feel free to look up hack reactor, they boast starting salaries of around 100k for most of their students
2) A masters degree. Im doing a georgia tech online masters degree currently, (5-7 k for the ENTIRE degree) and the final degree is just as good as if youre on campus.
(its also ranked # 4 in computer science, above all the IV league schools)
3) Self training- plenty of websites which you can make a DIY bootcamp and learn.
4) Bonus: Reveture, This is a company which operates like a bootcamp, but they pay you to learn (8 bucks an hour), they pay for your housing, and you sign over for 40-50 k a year for 2 years as a software consultant. They guarantee you the work, the education, the salary. The reason no one goes to them is 40-50 k is a really really low salary for a software developer even in the poorest states of america.

In no situation should one go back and do an undergrad in computer science.

As for the requirements to land a job, there are infact pizza delivery guys who train themselves and sign over for 100k + at good tech companies (however this is rare). So generally an undergrad degree in something, a few software projects on your resume, and thats it
 
There’s a good amount of students over 30 at KSUCPM, and they all seem to be happy with their choice, I say go for it.
 
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