Student Podiatrist

I just read a bunch of posts and I'm not sure which ones were directed towards me. I think it would be helpful if posters made a reference to who they're responding to.

Anyway, thanks for a thoughtful post Student Podiatrist. This is a pretty good description of one of the main reasons I decided to go to DO school.

"podiatry is not a guaranteed profession such as the MD/DO...meaning....a DPM won't necessarily sell yourself buy you have to sell the DPM...so there's a need for strong business skills...this was something i observed from all the successful podiatrists i worked with...in addition, connections and personal relations always help..."

It's still puzzling to me, though, why someone would choose pod school if they did, indeed, get accepted to DO school or a U.S. allopathic school. I'm not trying to be combative, but it really doesn't make any sense to me. I'll admit that being exposed to derm, vascular, ortho, etc. is one appealing aspect of podiatry. To me, though, you're still limited to one area of the body. And not only that, but you don't have the legal ability to admit your patient into the hospital (that, in itself, was something that bothered me throughout pod school. To me, if you don't have full control over your patient's healthcare from start to finish then you aren't a true physician). And, if you were really interested in helping people with the lower extremity problems, it would make much more sense (of course, to me) to go to DO or MD school, become an orthopod and specialize in the foot. Your training in general medicine and full body orthopedics (remember how everything's connected) would be far superior. As an orthopod, you will command a much larger salary (both initially and in the long run) It's much more difficult to get on decent insurance plans as a DPM. It isn't if you're an orthopedic surgeon. And as an ortho surgeon vs. a DPM you will not be forced to do elective surgeries.

Podiatry does train you in bunion surgery/care, neuroma and hammertoe surgeries. Ortho doesn't. Unfortunately, these kinds of surgeries are not always covered by insurance. In fact Medicare doesn't pay anything for most pod supplies and you can't make a living by fashioning pads and crafting orthotics without getting reimbursed somehow. Of course, podiatry does give you a better education in biomechanics. But my experiences with biomechanic theory (in podiatry) left me somewhat exasperated and suspicious. I never really got any good answers to some basic questions. Especially the theory of orthotic control. To me, a lot of it is bogus voodoo "medicine". There are several studies out there that essentially say that there is no difference between prescription orthotics and OTC orthotics in patient satisfaction. And I have run across MANY pods who will crank out as many orthotics as they can even if the patient's complaint doesn't really warrant one. I've just seen it abused a lot and it bothered me. I know that MD's and DO's will abuse insurance companies, too, but what sucks is that orthotics/padding/etc are a really big part of podiatry. It seemed to me that the pods who weren't doing a lot of surgery or none at all were really fudging on diagnoses and dispensing supplies that were totally unecessary.

For the record, DPM's are totally necessary. MD's and DO's no nothing about the foot. DPM's have knowledge and skills that nobody else has. It's just that the world of health insurance hasn't caught on yet.

Let me say this. If you do get 2-3 year training in a good residency you will probably have a fine career. Like you said, just having your DPM and your training isn't going to guarantee you a job, but at least you can be competitive. I wasn't competitive with my pitiful PPMR. That was another big reason why I quit and went to DO school.

So many people on this forum think that it's all about money. For me it's not. I did pretty well in the 3 years I practiced. I just wasn't fulfilled. I didn't feel as though I was trained as a physician. Apparently, my educational experience was worse than some others that I've read on this forum.

I had a sneaking suspicion that I wasn't going to be fully trained, but, frankly, once I got into pod school I didn't have much of a choice. I tried to get into MD/DO school, but didn't make it. And for the poster who was asking if I could have gotten into DO school without my DPM? NO! That's why I had to go to pod school! I didn't get into DO school! Even though I had my DPM I still had to start from scratch. MCAT, too.

Anyway, I'm done writing tonight. Thanks again for a cogent post.