Performing hospital surgery as a podiatrist?

[HenryH]

Do podiatrists commonly perform surgery in hospitals and/or surgery centers? I seem to recall a thread posted a while back in which a practicing podiatrist stated that it just didn't make any financial sense to do surgery center/hospital surgery, citing a combination of inadequate reimbursement and the lengthy periods of time consumed by surgery performance.

After dissecting sheep's brains, eyes, and body parts of other animals during A&P lab last semester, I feel like I would enjoy doing surgery one or two days a week at a local hospital or surgery center, but is it financially sensible (i.e., would I be better off doing "routine" office care during that time)?

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[Dr_Feelgood]

Both.

As for profitability, surgery is profitable, but one must remember that with surgery comes globals. That means you can charge for any follow up care for generally 90 days. A good rule of thumb when it comes to financial matters and medicine is the number of patients is a better predictor of income than the procedures you do.

 

[Stafocker]

Do podiatrists commonly perform surgery in hospitals and/or surgery centers? I seem to recall a thread posted a while back in which a practicing podiatrist stated that it just didn't make any financial sense to do surgery center/hospital surgery, citing a combination of inadequate reimbursement and the lengthy periods of time consumed by surgery performance.

After dissecting sheep's brains, eyes, and body parts of other animals during A&P lab last semester, I feel like I would enjoy doing surgery one or two days a week at a local hospital or surgery center, but is it financially sensible (i.e., would I be better off doing "routine" office care during that time)?

yes and no, not all podiatrists do surgery, especially the majority of those from earlier years who didn't have a surgical residency.

EVeryone who comes out of residency today will do surgery, whether they want to or not is a choice, but they will have adequate training to at least do forefoot surgeries (bunions, toe amps, HDD, etc), but again, not everyone needs the "glamour" of a surgical profession.

What post are you talking about? from which forum? I truly believe there is a difference between the former generation of DPM's who did a year or two of residency, that may or may have not included surgery, and today's where EVERYONE is required to be minimally competent to perform procedures. There are ppl who make a great living doing podiatric primary care for patients, but there are others who do well with both PPC and forefoot surgery. And there are still others who do great with complex reconstruction, research studies, sports medicine, etc. If you haven't shadowed a pod before, i recommend you do. If you do or do not like it, find another one with another focus and maybe that will suit you. Not all practices will be the same.

Going into theater is different than an anatomy lab, it is much different. the respect level goes up and your sense of responsibility is much greater, especially with the surgeon usually setting the tone of the operating room. not everyone has the same level of awareness, and different surgeons have different idiosyncrasies, but the legality is still there.

 

[jonwill]

The majority of surgery is performed in hospitals/surgery centers.

 

[iceman69]

As a future pod student, I am particularly interested in finding out what the likelyhood of performing reconstructive surgery is for a pod? I know the likelyhood of this is increasing due to drastically improved training, however, how hard would it be to compete for this market and still make a good living? As residents/attendings what are you thoughts on this? I am noticing the trend of less and less FA ortho docs going into practice, with pods taking over more of that market. Especially in states like MN, MI, WI, IA, MT, CO...

 

[jonwill]

As a future pod student, I am particularly interested in finding out what the likelyhood of performing reconstructive surgery is for a pod? I know the likelyhood of this is increasing due to drastically improved training, however, how hard would it be to compete for this market and still make a good living? As residents/attendings what are you thoughts on this? I am noticing the trend of less and less FA ortho docs going into practice, with pods taking over more of that market. Especially in states like MN, MI, WI, IA, MT, CO...

You can do as little or as much recon surgery as you want and are trained to do. One can really do whatever he/she builds into his/her practice. As for the market, you will most likely be competing with other pods as they do the majority of the foot surgery in the country (not orthos). And along those lines, if you're going to have your own practice, you'd better be as good as business as you are with medicine. The market varys in every city and state. You shouldn't expect to move into a place that is saturated and have success unless you have something unique to offer.

 

[HenryH]

You can do as little or as much recon surgery as you want and are trained to do. One can really do whatever he/she builds into his/her practice. As for the market, you will most likely be competing with other pods as they do the majority of the foot surgery in the country (not orthos). And along those lines, if you're going to have your own practice, you'd better be as good as business as you are with medicine. The market varys in every city and state. You shouldn't expect to move into a place that is saturated and have success unless you have something unique to offer.

Where would you say are the most saturated areas (besides the cities in the vicinity of pod. schools)?

With the 36 month surgical residency now required of pod. graduates, do you see the opportunities to do podiatric surgery becoming limited due to saturation in general of qualified pod. graduates?

While it's great that standards are being improved, also remember that, as a new pod., all other pod. graduates will be just as qualified as you are; there won't be anymore "inferior" one and two year residencies to give pods with 36-month residency training the upper hand anymore. Everyone will be on the same page (or, if you prefer, "walking with the same gait").

 

[Stafocker]

With the 36 month surgical residency now required of pod. graduates, do you see the opportunities to do podiatric surgery becoming limited due to saturation in general of qualified pod. graduates?

While it's great that standards are being improved, also remember that, as a new pod., all other pod. graduates will be just as qualified as you are; there won't be anymore "inferior" one and two year residencies to give pods with 36-month residency training the upper hand anymore. Everyone will be on the same page (or, if you prefer, "walking with the same gait").

?????? huh????

We have surgical certification boards that do not agree. The ABPS needs applicants to reach certain requirements to even be allowed to test for certification of foot and/or rearfoot and ankle. And NOT everyone passes, it's not meant that EVERYONE becomes certified for just showing up. Don't believe that all 3-year residencies are the same, they are not. Plus, it's unlikely that within the next 5 years that all residencies will be 3-years, due to the "grandfathers" of this profession, so there will still be the 2 year one available. remember not everyone wants to be focused on just surgery, some enjoy sports medicine, PPC, research, etc and make a great living off that.

Remember, sost hospitals will require that you be certified or at least qualified, but some ppl are grandfathered in, but someone who has never done surgery can't suddenly "become" surgically qualified, just because the rest of us are better trained. So if you want to focus on surgery for your practice, make sure you strive for it because it will never be a walk in the park.

 

[jonwill]

Where would you say are the most saturated areas (besides the cities in the vicinity of pod. schools)?

With the 36 month surgical residency now required of pod. graduates, do you see the opportunities to do podiatric surgery becoming limited due to saturation in general of qualified pod. graduates?

While it's great that standards are being improved, also remember that, as a new pod., all other pod. graduates will be just as qualified as you are; there won't be anymore "inferior" one and two year residencies to give pods with 36-month residency training the upper hand anymore. Everyone will be on the same page (or, if you prefer, "walking with the same gait").

I think you're missing the point. As podiatric medicine and surgery has become maintream medicine over the past decade or so, we are really no different than any other type of surgeon. Plenty of surgeons graduate from residency every year in many fields. Most of them are successful. Is their ever a saturation of qualified general surgeons, ortho sureons, vascular, etc? No, because there is plenty of demand. This is no different for a well-trained podiatric surgeon. There is plenty of work out there.

 

[SportPOD]

Where would you say are the most saturated areas (besides the cities in the vicinity of pod. schools)?

With the 36 month surgical residency now required of pod. graduates, do you see the opportunities to do podiatric surgery becoming limited due to saturation in general of qualified pod. graduates?

While it's great that standards are being improved, also remember that, as a new pod., all other pod. graduates will be just as qualified as you are; there won't be anymore "inferior" one and two year residencies to give pods with 36-month residency training the upper hand anymore. Everyone will be on the same page (or, if you prefer, "walking with the same gait").

There are two feet to everyone out there! Think of all the money you're seeing walking around!