Don’t do podiatry

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ChiPod17 said:
Luckily this is not the case for everyone. But yes, if you go into this field without a clear and solid plan on what you'll do AFTER you're out, you should have probably looked into something else. Hopefully youre not too far into it to realize this now
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Hmm I think a clear and solid plan is pretty irrelevant in this current job market.

Plenty (majority?) of well trained fellowship grads with a good plan end up in the same associate gigs as everyone else. I think everyone graduating has a plan to get a good job but your own effort can only go so far when good paying jobs represent about 2% of the job market.
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Hybrocure said:
Hmm I think a clear and solid plan is pretty irrelevant in this current job market.

Plenty (majority?) of well trained fellowship grads with a good plan end up in the same associate gigs as everyone else. I think everyone graduating has a plan to get a good job but your own effort can only go so far when good paying jobs represent about 2% of the job market.
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As Mike Tyson famously said "everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face". The punch for us is fungal dust. Makes you forget all those plans.
 
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Hybrocure said:
Hmm I think a clear and solid plan is pretty irrelevant in this current job market.

Plenty (majority?) of well trained fellowship grads with a good plan end up in the same associate gigs as everyone else. I think everyone graduating has a plan to get a good job but your own effort can only go so far when good paying jobs represent about 2% of the job market.
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Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the dremel
 
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Fungal nail to the forehead
 
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Podiatry boards are a mess. Over saturation of pods has killed the job market. I don't think we need to conflate the issues.

The take away from this forum in general and this post specifically is, DON'T DO PODIATRY. Seriously, don't do it. Some poor bastard in the other thread is gonna take a job with 5 days of PTO! 5 days! I wonder if they are gonna make him work X-mas if it falls during the week? I know pre-pods/students are all reading this thinking, they are gonna be the special one that is a reconstructive foot and ankle surgeon. "TARS all day baby!" Look nobody in the past 15 years went down this road thinking they were gonna be a glorified pedicurist, but for every person doing surgery all day I can name 10 doing nails and calluses. The market isn't really demanding more surgeons, its demanding more chiropodists.

I will end with this very true story that happened today while trimming an old lady's nails. She randomly states, "I don't know how that got on there." I feigning ignorance to the brown stains on her heel, politely begin to mumble, "huh? uh what do you mean?" To which she boldly proclaims, "the poo all over the back of my ankle." I almost at a loss for words, managed to mutter, "Uh well neither do I..."
 
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shadesofgrey said:
Podiatry boards are a mess. Over saturation of pods has killed the job market. I don't think we need to conflate the issues.

The take away from this forum in general and this post specifically is, DON'T DO PODIATRY. Seriously, don't do it. Some poor bastard in the other thread is gonna take a job with 5 days of PTO! 5 days! I wonder if they are gonna make him work X-mas if it falls during the week? I know pre-pods/students are all reading this thinking, they are gonna be the special one that is a reconstructive foot and ankle surgeon. "TARS all day baby!" Look nobody in the past 15 years went down this road thinking they were gonna be a glorified pedicurist, but for every person doing surgery all day I can name 10 doing nails and calluses. The market isn't really demanding more surgeons, its demanding more chiropodists.

I will end with this very true story that happened today while trimming an old lady's feet. She randomly states, "I don't know how that got on there." I feigning ignorance to the brown stains on her heel, politely begin to mumble, "huh? uh what do you mean?" To which she boldly proclaims, "the poo all over the back of my ankle." I almost at a loss for words, managed to mutter, "Uh well neither do I..."
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Eric Cartman Christmas GIF by South Park
 
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Guys, guys, guys. You same 10 or 12 guys always catastrophize things....

There are tons of hospital podiatry jobs. All grads I know get one.

Diabetes is growing. It would be anti-competitive for podiatry not to grow.

If you get a bad residency, just turn in your attendings for medicare fraud, use that $ to get a fellowship spot.

Income guarantees are the answer. Sure, rare... but if you find one, you can later file litigation against hospitals that gave you one.

Don't make me solicit a few DPMs who graduated 30 years ago with 50k debt and got a practice loan to come here to say podiatry's wonderful. :)
 
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People need to slow down or they will burn themselves out. The new class literally just started. This is all good material. Save it for later in the year when the people who go to podiatry school finally start thinking about their futures.

The only thing I want to talk about right now is how many people are in class day 1 at Samuel Merrit, Kent, Lecom, etc.
 
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Ortho only has around 899 residents matched this year, previous years were 700-800 ( not sure ). Podiatry has 560-565 residents matched this year. This is the problem! I think we only need ~300 per year or less and all problems will be solved!
 
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Pronation said:
I don’t. It’s just background noise. The underlying massive problem is the over saturation and job market. The hospital ads asking for ABFAS cert know what comes with it - experience. So if you try to back door your way in with an alternative board without experience then they will just flat out make several years of experience a requirement to chop off the hoards of applicants.
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Great! I'll just quit trying and cry myself asleep every night bc that seems way more productive lol.

In other news....someone in the thread mentioned being a whistleblower for unethical employers committing Medicare fraud to the government which actually might be the absolute BEST USE of this degree as I believe you can earn up to 25% of damages, which could be a lot depending on how much damages end up being. I know one pod in fed prison who had $8 mil of damages so.....
 
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halluxander.the.great said:
Great! I'll just quit trying and cry myself asleep every night bc that seems way more productive lol.

In other news....someone in the thread mentioned being a whistleblower for unethical employers committing Medicare fraud to the government which actually might be the absolute BEST USE of this degree as I believe you can earn up to 25% of damages, which could be a lot depending on how much damages end up being. I know one pod in fed prison who had $8 mil of damages so.....
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In pod prison you mean.
 
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PA/NP much better ROI, i agree too OP, i left when i could, i didn't realize till my 3rd year how bad the profession was
 
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docodr said:
PA/NP much better ROI, i agree too OP, i left when i could, i didn't realize till my 3rd year how bad the profession was
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Did you take out loans? What field did you end up turning to?
 
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Feli said:
Guys, guys, guys. You same 10 or 12 guys always catastrophize things....

There are tons of hospital podiatry jobs. All grads I know get one.

Diabetes is growing. It would be anti-competitive for podiatry not to grow.

If you get a bad residency, just turn in your attendings for medicare fraud, use that $ to get a fellowship spot.

Income guarantees are the answer. Sure, rare... but if you find one, you can later file litigation against hospitals that gave you one.

Don't make me solicit a few DPMs who graduated 30 years ago with 50k debt and got a practice loan to come here to say podiatry's wonderful. :)
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Feli setting the podiatry world on fire. This should be posted on PM news
 
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Also I was reading that UPS drivers who work full time start out at over $100,000 now.

Good job podiatry!
 
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Not that I'm crazy enough to do this because I am burnt out, but I definitely have thought about it because again...podiatry. But if I went back toward the MD / DO path can I get more federal loans? Or even if I leave to become an NP/PA after pod?
 
PTPuser said:
Not that I'm crazy enough to do this because I am burnt out, but I definitely have thought about it because again...podiatry. But if I went back toward the MD / DO path can I get more federal loans? Or even if I leave to become an NP/PA after pod?
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I wouldn’t take out more loans even if it’s for MD/DO school. It’s too risky. What if you fail out?
 
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PTPuser said:
Not that I'm crazy enough to do this because I am burnt out, but I definitely have thought about it because again...podiatry. But if I went back toward the MD / DO path can I get more federal loans? Or even if I leave to become an NP/PA after pod?
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Hmm yeah don't do that. I have no other good solutions for you clearly, though...

Hit the gym and start an OF?
 
Retrograde_Nail said:
Feli setting the podiatry world on fire. This should be posted on PM news
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Um PLEASE do this Feli. PM News needs more satire trolling that then is responded to by a bunch of mouth-breathing mustache pods who don't understand satire so respond completely seriously
 
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PTPuser said:
I've been thinking about going to PA route...
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I would do this over MD/DO. I’m a PGY3 and I’m totally checked out. I can’t imagine starting from scratch coming from another professional school

I had a 22 year old PA student today and literally looked like he just came out of the womb. They’ll have an insane head start on me financially. It’s a great deal
 
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Prehealth1011 said:
I would do this over MD/DO. I’m a PGY3 and I’m totally checked out. I can’t imagine starting from scratch coming from another professional school

I had a 22 year old PA student today and literally looked like he just came out of the womb. They’ll have an insane head start on me financially. It’s a great deal
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Tots agree
 
heybrother said:
People need to slow down or they will burn themselves out. The new class literally just started. This is all good material. Save it for later in the year when the people who go to podiatry school finally start thinking about their futures.

The only thing I want to talk about right now is how many people are in class day 1 at Samuel Merrit, Kent, Lecom, etc.
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....so how many are there? Lol
 
Hey I know 2 friends who got hospital jobs, will their kids have access to good schools, good food, or friends? No, but they get 200k salary!
 
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halluxander.the.great said:
....so how many are there? Lol
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Historically podiatry schools accept students until the week before school starts so we probably won't know for awhile. Last year the student leadership reps were the first to discuss the matriculation volume. Someone suggested to me that one of the older large schools filled about 1/2 its seats but that's just rumor mill fodder. We'll see.
 
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bloxxeeey said:
Hey I know 2 friends who got hospital jobs, will their kids have access to good schools, good food, or friends? No, but they get 200k salary!
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Well, when it comes to this field, you’re gonna have to sacrifice something. That’s for sure.

Family first for me. Not everything is about the money. Like the saying goes... Everyone measures success differently.
 
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Shiyuan said:
Well, when it comes to this field, you’re gonna have to sacrifice something. That’s for sure.

Family first for me. Not everything is about the money. Like the saying goes... Everyone measures success differently.
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I always measure from tip to taint
 
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bloxxeeey said:
Hey I know 2 friends who got hospital jobs, will their kids have access to good schools, good food, or friends? No, but they get 200k salary!
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Hopefully they can parlay those rural hospital jobs into something with a better location in a few years.
 
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This profession is so sad that we’ve convinced ourselves it’s normal to seek out jobs in the middle of no where for the sake of it paying decent enough for you to pay your bills and loans and maybe be able to save up a little on the side take a trip back home?

But we have to “sacrifice” right? As if we haven’t sacrificed enough, all the years in school and all the time spent in residency slaving away wasn’t enough sacrifice. we must sacrifice some more because podiatry!
 
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I hate this job. Period. Feels like a rat in a wheel with all the toenails and calluses. The sooner I pay off my student loans the faster I will be done with this job and start something new, and I can't wait.
 
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MoostashPod said:
I hate this job. Period. Feels like a rat in a wheel with all the toenails and calluses. The sooner I pay off my student loans the faster I will be done with this job and start something new, and I can't wait.
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Something medicine or something totally different?
 
billBOB213 said:
Something medicine or something totally different?
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Probably one of those spas where you stick your feet into a tub and the fish nibble on them
 
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A few random thoughts:

1) I think it would be useful for all of us as well as any pre-health students lurking if some of the negativity was fleshed out. Don't get me wrong, I definitely believe everything everyone is saying here, but it comes accross as curmudgeonly unless you really paint a picture. What % of your paycheck goes to expenses and student loan burden? How close/far to your desired location did you need to relocate in order to find a job? Are you making good use of your skills and training or is your practice largely C&C and other lobster work?

2) One question I keep bringing up is what does our wage curve look like? I think the last bastion of pro-podiatry talk argues that "yeah fine maybe first year salary is low but if you put in your time and and make good career moves you can rocket your income up. BTW that number isn't accurately reflected in BLS data because podiatry." Other than beating the pavement and working for a hospital in Bent Elbow, AR, what do those good career moves look like? I know quite a few docs who are making a great fortune, irrespective of surgical talent. I've also seen people who practice-hop over their careers and never get farther than square one.

3) The really insidious thing about podiatry is the "bait and switch" we pull on our students/residents. You train to do one thing then in practice most of your time is spent doing another. Yeah commenters above talk about paying off debt and doing something else, but then what? Podiatry pays just well enough that it doesn't make sense to quit.
 
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Adam Smasher said:
A few random thoughts:

1) I think it would be useful for all of us as well as any pre-health students lurking if some of the negativity was fleshed out. Don't get me wrong, I definitely believe everything everyone is saying here, but it comes accross as curmudgeonly unless you really paint a picture. What % of your paycheck goes to expenses and student loan burden? How close/far to your desired location did you need to relocate in order to find a job? Are you making good use of your skills and training or is your practice largely C&C and other lobster work?

2) One question I keep bringing up is what does our wage curve look like? I think the last bastion of pro-podiatry talk argues that "yeah fine maybe first year salary is low but if you put in your time and and make good career moves you can rocket your income up. BTW that number isn't accurately reflected in BLS data because podiatry." Other than beating the pavement and working for a hospital in Bent Elbow, AR, what do those good career moves look like? I know quite a few docs who are making a great fortune, irrespective of surgical talent. I've also seen people who practice-hop over their careers and never get farther than square one.

3) The really insidious thing about podiatry is the "bait and switch" we pull on our students/residents. You train to do one thing then in practice most of your time is spent doing another. Yeah commenters above talk about paying off debt and doing something else, but then what? Podiatry pays just well enough that it doesn't make sense to quit.
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1. Majority of my loans are gone because of PSLF. I still have my private loans and her loans to pay off. I want to say we have 100k total left down from 400 plus. I spent 8 years in a rural setting. I live about 4 hours from my hometown/state/county. At one point I was 6 hours away. I am now non surgical. However I never wanted to be surgical. I finally got a job in the suburbs and it was a university job that isn't surgical. I have surgical privileges at the hospital but I don't plan on expanding the role into a surgical role. Maybe someone else would. I didn't even take the job because it was non surgical. My wife was done with rural and she wanted better schools for the kids.

2. I started at 150 stayed at the level for 5 years, left and took a job at 240ish I was there for 3 years and now I am at my current job at 230ish. This job has promotion opportunities, and regular salary increases because of the union. Well salary increases for the professor part of my salary. I am not leaving this job.

3. I did not go in planning to be a high end surgeon so I was not disappoint by not being a high end surgeon. My goal was to be home and I am not. Overall the money is too good to quit now and we are finally settling down 9 years post residency. Hopefully we are settling, we just moved again but within the county we live in. Next step is to buy the "forever" house in a place we both don't really care for but has good schools for our kids.
 
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billBOB213 said:
Something medicine or something totally different?
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Some trade that I know I'm good at like a mechanic, HVAC, house restoration, etc. Business owner. Nothing in medicine.
 
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Podiatry should have remained a small, non-surgical, mid level profession on par with nursing and physician assistant.

edit: Chiropodists were physicians. Podiatry should have remained non-surgical and on par with dentistry. We are not MD or DO equivalents.
 
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p100 said:
Podiatry should have remained a small, non-surgical, mid level profession on par with nursing and physician assistant.
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nana changing GIF
 
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p100 said:
Podiatry should have remained a small, non-surgical, mid level profession on par with nursing and physician assistant.
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It was never mid level. Podiatrists are independent with a limited scope. I think it should have never sold the idea of parity. We are podiatrists we are not the same as a MD. And never will be. 🤷🏽‍♂️
 
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Wasn't it more in the Optometry/Dentistry category
 
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