What are your thoughts on DPM?

[newgal9813]

I never knew about podiatry and was curious as to why it is relatively unknown. I was looking at admission statistics for certain schools and they seem to have really low applicant pool and low average gpas to those who are admitted to the program. Essentially you go through 4 years of medical school and 3 years of surgical podiatry residency. I find it interesting how it is a separate program and is not combined with MD or DO. What are your thoughts on becoming a podiatrist? Is it a good investment on the future?

[DMFA]

If all you want to be is a foot and ankle surgeon, then sure, you should consider it.

But if you're going to take out loans to go to school for four years and do three years of low-paying residency, and you care about anything above the malleolus, then you shouldn't be a DPM.

[Matas]

If you haven't already, speak to some podiatrists in your area and get their thoughts. The ones I interact with all seem pretty busy and happy. Most have busy outpatient practices. Some also participate in our wound care center and limb health center, but have a manageable "9-5" type of lifestyle, and of course, no call.

With the epidemic of diabetes and consequent diabetic foot problems, you could probably be as busy as you want to be.

[ajm184]

As Rex pointed out, a podiatrist does not have the same MD designation rather a DO.  The medical training as a podiatrist is similar; my wife is a DO.  Being a podiatrist is not going to get you the same income as other specialty's, so if monetary compensation is your direction, I would consider another specialty.  If you have a desire to be primarily a surgeon in podiatry, I would again suggest a different specialty which is more surgically focused.  Alternatively, you can do fellowships in rear foot surgery that may provide additional surgical opportunities.  As a podiatrist, you'll be spending a lot of time in a clinical setting.  Perhaps the biggest selling point of podiatry is work-life balance, its basically 9 - 5 with call (my wife does no call).

Depending upon the area of the country, podiatry can be very competitive from a business perspective; Chicago area and Florida come to mind, though I'm sure there are other areas (where we live currently, there are sub 100 podiatrists in the state).  Patient diversity and different income streams are key in podiatry such as DME/Orthotics and X-Rays.  I would say the challenge is patients with pre-conceived notions of a. I only want surgery, or b. I won't wear 'boot', not wear heels, or go to PT to get better.  Podiatrists are a referral source to vascular folks (diabetes for BKA's), and as a podiatrist you'll need to earn the trust of the front line physicians (internal, family, etc.) which is where your referral network will be.

As an 'investment', be selective in school cost, practice area, and income streams and you should be fine.

 

[vmd]

I think you're better off going to Student Doctor forums, this is purely a financial site. Some Podiatrists are happy, some are not. Like everything in life. Good luck though!

[Peds]

i am happy podiatrists exist....to each their own.

[Hatton]

The podiatrist in the office next to mine fired her staff and left town without notifying her patients.  She told the landlord she was not making any money.

[Pennypnchr]

I'm a long-time lurker but felt compelled to respond to this one. Other posters made pertinent points regarding limitation of scope of practice and variability of income based on various factors.  Personally, I have found that it was not a good investment. You can have as much student loan debt as an MD, but not as much potential for financial growth. Of course, there are always exceptions. Debt to income ratio for the typical podiatrist is much higher than WCI and most financial professionals recommend. Another thing to factor into your decision is that there are many other professionals that can do what a podiatrist does. Although I feel I received good training and am confident in my skills, the bottom line is that a PA or NP, primary care doctor, Orthopedist or doc at a wound care center can do what I do.  Oh, and the comment from another poster about podiatrists not taking call is untrue.

[The White Coat Investor]

Pennypnchr wrote:

I’m a long-time lurker but felt compelled to respond to this one. Other posters made pertinent points regarding limitation of scope of practice and variability of income based on various factors.  Personally, I have found that it was not a good investment. You can have as much student loan debt as an MD, but not as much potential for financial growth. Of course, there are always exceptions. Debt to income ratio for the typical podiatrist is much higher than WCI and most financial professionals recommend. Another thing to factor into your decision is that there are many other professionals that can do what a podiatrist does. Although I feel I received good training and am confident in my skills, the bottom line is that a PA or NP, primary care doctor, Orthopedist or doc at a wound care center can do what I do.  Oh, and the comment from another poster about podiatrists not taking call is untrue.

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Welcome to the forum and thanks or sharing your experience.

There are actually a lot of "high-income professionals" who have much worse debt to income ratios than physicians. In fact, it's just about all of them. Veterinarians, dentists, attorneys, podiatrists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, optometrists etc. You want to know why medical schools continue to get tons of applicants despite continually rising tuition? Take a look around at the other professions and medicine still looks like a deal.

[ajm184]

Pennypnchr wrote:

I’m a long-time lurker but felt compelled to respond to this one. Other posters made pertinent points regarding limitation of scope of practice and variability of income based on various factors.  Personally, I have found that it was not a good investment. You can have as much student loan debt as an MD, but not as much potential for financial growth. Of course, there are always exceptions. Debt to income ratio for the typical podiatrist is much higher than WCI and most financial professionals recommend. Another thing to factor into your decision is that there are many other professionals that can do what a podiatrist does. Although I feel I received good training and am confident in my skills, the bottom line is that a PA or NP, primary care doctor, Orthopedist or doc at a wound care center can do what I do.  Oh, and the comment from another poster about podiatrists not taking call is untrue.

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Welcome.  I made the comment about my wife not doing call specifically for her and in the context of podiatry having good work-life balance within the specialty medical field.  Yes, podiatrist like other specialties can be on call for the hospital staff's that they are on.  As to cost, my wife's experience differs from your's and the OP's in that her parent's paid for her medical school.  My MIL was a Nurse and did double shifts for 20 odd years paying for their children's education and making a better life for themselves as US immigrants.  Their work ethic is off the charts.

[Pennypnchr]

Envious of your wife's situation! I agree that in relation to other specialties, podiatry has it pretty good re: work-life balance. My opinion regarding the field might be different if I wasn't feeling the weight of student loans quite so much; my perspective could change once I get rid of the debt.

[ajm184]

Good Luck. If your doing DME, X-Ray's, OTC (Biofreeze was my wife's first OTC foray), and Orthotics are all additional income streams to consider.  One thing I have observed with Podiatrist's (at least in the Chicago area) that I think hurts generally is the individual podiatry practices.  With EHR, X-Ray machines, Chairs, etc. in my opinion, getting together in practice groups is the way to spread the costs out more and allow podiatrist to focus in sub-specialties (rear foot, peds, etc.).

It can be difficult to earn the trust of front line physicians as a younger podiatrist, don't know how many time my wife would come home with patients stating something along the line ('you are younger than my grandson/daughter').  My wife was fortunate also in having a orthopedic surgeon take her under his wing (i.e. the head of the Korean clan) by getting her on hospital staff and all kinds of equipment/office stuff she used to start her practice when he retired. She got a 1950's or 60's autoclave that must have weighed 50 lbs.