What is hospital job like for podiatrist?

[de Ribas]

How is working in the hospital different than in a clinic for a podiatrist?

Is hospital setting same like in the clinic or is it different?

I have shadowed physicians in hospitals and in clinics. 2 podiatrists that I shadowed were in the clinic.

I liked hospital setting better since more interactions with other providers and seemed better for me.

The neurologist I have shadowed was all over different floors besides one day in ALS clinic. I liked that. Always visiting patient rooms, giving consults, meeting with family members and talking to other doctors seemed interesting.

Thanks

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[feet2017]

I have to say I have never seen a podiatrist that almost exclusively does inpatient work and consults. I've worked with hospital based podiatrist who may have one day out of the week where they see consults and work the floor all day with no clinic. They did this while the other podiatrists are in clinic and they rotate who does call/inpatients/add on cases that day with the other pods in their hospital group, but that was only at one hospital where they recieved a lot of trauma.

What type of other physicians did you work with that were hospital based besides the neurologist because that is more of a "medicine" specialty vs "surgical" specialty?

 

[feet2017]

I would say the duties of a podiatrist that work in the hospital setting will mostly be wound consults, rounding, dressing changes, and discharging those patients. If the hospital doesn't have ortho that is really interested in doing foot and ankle trauma, then the podiatrist would also see consults, add ons, round, etc. for foot and ankle trauma. Most hospitals have a trauma team that includes an orthopedists that fixes everything in the body along with other physicians. If you work at a hospital that isn't a level 1 trauma center and you get more low impact/less polytrauma then there would be a higher chance that the podiatrist will get the foot and ankle trauma, but this will all be based on hospital politics about whether ortho or pod does the trauma.

As far as interaction with other hospital staff I would say podiatrist interact with vascular surgery and infectious disease the mosts, also with hospitalists that will medically manage their patients.

For the most part the bread and butter of podiatry is all outpatient/elective. There really isn't a whole lot that revolves around the foot and ankle that requires hospital admission that a podiatrist will typically deal with besides like open fractures, compartment syndrome, gun shot wounds to the foot, gas gangrene/nec. fasc, infection in the foot that is making the patient going septic, cellulitis/infection not responding to oral antibiotics and requires IV antibiotics.

If you are asking what it's like to be a podiatrist that works in a hospital it'll be pretty similar to what you have seen from other doctors. You have clinic like 3-4 days a week and you are doing surgery 1-2 days a week. You see your inpatients in the morning and round on them. Depending on the call schedule you may be the on call attending that day and just wait around with the phone,answerings other peoples questions and seeing consults that come in.

 

[GypsyHummus]

I shadowed a podiatrist who was exclusively hospital based (no clinic or anything)

She did a lot of bread and butter procedures: ton of wound care, diabetic foot checkups, consulting for surgery, ingrown toenails, etc. she herself did not do a lot of surgery, like once a month she would do all surgical cases.

Very cool profession because unlike a lot of medical specialities, podiatry has a lot of specialties mixed into one.

Want to be a surgeon? Podiatry gives you that.

Want to do mainly primary care? You have an almost endless supply of diabetics in need of checkups and woundcare.

Want to be more procedurally oriented? There is not shortage of ingrown toenails or calluses that need removed.

Want to go into nutrition? Eating habits affect the foot and ankle, and are usually the first place where symptoms show up (that and teeth)

Will you ever directly "save a life" like other medical professions? Maybe, has gangrene is a thing, and ankle based trauma, although those cases are relatively few and far between.

Podiatry has an image problem. Students really don't have a good grasp on what a pod does. Some people think they clip toenails all day and that they barely break 100k, when in all actuality, it is a surgical subspecilty and you can make 200k+. It's not the sexiest medical specialty like cardiothorstic surgery, neurosurgeon, plastic surgeon, etc. but why would someone want that? To impress people at big weddings?

When you get older in life, you learn that it's not all about prestige and instead being able to make relationships with good solid people and then have the time to maintain those relationships. Podiatry can give you that. It can also give you a workaholic lifestyle. It's the paradox of the medical field. It offers so much in a limited liscence.

 

[GypsyHummus]

did you go to DO or Podiatry?

DO. I didn't want to do surgery and I wanted to learn OMT. Although, I think there is a school that teaches OMT for feet at the pod school.

 

[GypsyHummus]

Primary care mostly, internal or Family Med, which is why podiatry was an attractive option to me at the time, because most pods do a lot of non surgical stuff. But after learning more about how much surgery is involved in residency for podiatry, I didn't want to do it anymore.

Oddly enough, people said surgery was the main reason they chose to do pod on my interview trail.

If I was forced to choose a medical specialty, it would prolly be podiatry. I just wouldn't do surgery.

What specialties are you interested in?

 

[GypsyHummus]

Documention is going to permeate throughout medicine, in every specialty. It's just the unfortunate effect of insurance and claims.

The only healthcare field I could see not requiring a lot of patient documentation is dentistry. They have their own documentation with running a business tho.

Oh, anouther good think about podiatry is that it's uncommon for patients to cough virus particles on you.

Seriously, it's like people are trying to get others sick in the clinic.

I have shadowed two podiatrists. First one I shadowed owned his clinic for 16 years and now is under a podiatry group network just working 4 days in a clinic. He told me that since the time he stopped doing surgeries, his salary is still about the same. Second podiatrist performs 2-3 surgeries per week on Tuesdays only which is from 8am-12pm or so. I liked both. But since I have worked with children in different capacities, my primary interest is in pediatrics. But, I am also really procedure-oriented. I have shadowed Family Medicine DO, I liked it.

Only thing I didn't like much is ton of documentation, literally a ton. Lots of patients, only 15 minutes per each, always in a hurry, a lot of dictating and documenting. I really appreciate the interaction with community and patients. It is rewarding, but there is no time to interact and listen well to the patient.

One neurologist that I have shadowed in the clinic had from 4-6 patients on average day and maximum of 8 patients. Appointments were 30 minutes for follow-up and 1 for new or other visits.

 

[Prehealth1011]

I have shadowed two podiatrists. First one I shadowed owned his clinic for 16 years and now is under a podiatry group network just working 4 days in a clinic. He told me that since the time he stopped doing surgeries, his salary is still about the same. Second podiatrist performs 2-3 surgeries per week on Tuesdays only which is from 8am-12pm or so. I liked both. But since I have worked with children in different capacities, my primary interest is in pediatrics. But, I am also really procedure-oriented. I have shadowed Family Medicine DO, I liked it.

Only thing I didn't like much is ton of documentation, literally a ton. Lots of patients, only 15 minutes per each, always in a hurry, a lot of dictating and documenting. I really appreciate the interaction with community and patients. It is rewarding, but there is no time to interact and listen well to the patient.

One neurologist that I have shadowed in the clinic had from 4-6 patients on average day and maximum of 8 patients. Appointments were 30 minutes for follow-up and 1 for new or other visits.

Based on the bolded, I'd go MD/DO. Podiatry is a poor choice for someone with multiple interests. Once you're in, you're locked in it for 7 years and there's no turning back.

 

[GypsyHummus]

Agreed. Podiatry is great, but you really have to like it. This isn't family or internal Med where you can work in the field, decide that working with insurance isn't your thing, and open up a weight loss clinic. You are married to the podiatry profession, for all the bad and all the good it comes with.

Based on the bolded, I'd go MD/DO. Podiatry is a poor choice for someone with multiple interests. Once you're in, you're locked in it for 7 years and there's no turning back.

 

[feet2017]

I would concur and say if your primary interest is Peds i would not recommend podiatry. Pediatric podiatry is a small niche in the profession and to build a practice on it is possible, but would be extremely difficult

 

[DexterMorganSK]

Good points. Thank you. For me to go to MD/DO, I will have to get my self better prepared for the next cycle I guess. I don't think I can apply this cycle. As far as podiatry goes, I have everything ready in my app; transcripts received, 4 LOR's ready, diversity statement, and all experiences are done. I will go to interview if I am invited and would like to see Podiatry schools from the inside.

What are your stats, if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Weirdy]

low

I posted them recently at some other post.

sGPA 3.21
cGPA 3.47

490 MCAT

I am taking some more science classes.
A' s so far. I can have at least 3.5 and 3.3 for the next cycle. I will retake MCAT once more in the spring. I know it is extremely low.

123's and 121 on Psychology and Sociology section



EDIT: My first 5 semesters avg cGPA was 3.2 and my last 5 semesters were 3.86 avg cGPA. I got one really stupid "C" for project class. I did exceptionally well, but one little thing and I either had to redo 4 months of full time project or accept the deal from professor which was to settle with a "C". I could not afford another 4 months of working for free.

My current post bacc is around 3.5 - all science courses.

You'll get invites even without the retake.
Get the MCAT to 500 and you'll probably see scholarships.

 

[Weirdy]

Thank you
lets say, if I get accepted with these stats, and then I retake MCAT and get at least 500 in the Spring, can I still get scholarships?

or they give scholarships only based on MCAT during application?

I believe they would reconsider. Contacting your program of interest about it would be the best bet.

Do remember however that majority of scholarships are first come first serve. If funding runs out, whether you have the score or not won't matter.

 

[Podstar]

Thank you
lets say, if I get accepted with these stats, and then I retake MCAT and get at least 500 in the Spring, can I still get scholarships?

or they give scholarships only based on MCAT during application?

I can only speak for Kent, but scholarships for the following years are based off of class rank now.

 

[DexterMorganSK]

Thank you
lets say, if I get accepted with these stats, and then I retake MCAT and get at least 500 in the Spring, can I still get scholarships?

or they give scholarships only based on MCAT during application?

The scholarship amount is usually determined at the time of your application with your current stats. So you might get a spot somewhere without any scholarship amount, but knowing how early it is in the cycle, you may still get some $$. Or like Weirdy said, send an email to your program of interest once you receive the new score.

Coming back to your stats, as you may know, currently, is low for a DO school. So applying to them would be a waste of money as of now. However, with your current stats, you might get a spot in a special masters program (SMP) that are affiliated with a DO school (like those at LECOM/VCOM/LMU-DCOM, etc). Doing well in these programs might guarantee you a seat for the following year.

So, this all goes back what you want to do, as in, Podiatry or DO.

 

[GypsyHummus]

Those stats are not going to get you into a DO school, but they may get you into a pod. With that mcat, it might be tough to swing an acceptance at DMU or AZPOD, as their numbers are close to DO schools, but the bigger schools might be more receptive. If you are still interested in DMU or AZPOD, I would certainly apply, as they have accepted people with those scores before.

The upward trend will really help you, I was asked about it in 2 interviews I went on.

If you retake the mcat and get 500+, you are still a wee bit too low for DO, but like weirdy said, scholarships for pod might come ur way. Really nice considering it's free money you don't have to pay back with interest.

If you smash the mcat and get like a 507-510, you could see some DO invites come your way.

Depends all on what you wanna be when you grow up.

low

I posted them recently at some other post.

sGPA 3.21
cGPA 3.47

490 MCAT

I am taking some more science classes.
A' s so far. I can have at least 3.5 and 3.3 for the next cycle. I will retake MCAT once more in the spring. I know it is extremely low.

123's and 121 on Psychology and Sociology section



EDIT: My first 5 semesters avg cGPA was 3.2 and my last 5 semesters were 3.86 avg cGPA. I got one really stupid "C" for project class. I did exceptionally well, but one little thing and I either had to redo 4 months of full time project or accept the deal from professor which was to settle with a "C". I could not afford another 4 months of working for free.

My current post bacc is around 3.5 - all science courses.