Continue your research before you make your decision

Dear Science-girl,

take my comments with a grain of salt. This is just my perspective of podiatry to be added in with the rest.

I am a successful podiatrist. I enjoy helping people. I have been fortunate to have started a practice in an area of high need, and few podiatrists currently. Although I consider myself bright, and was in the top 10% of my graduating podiatry class, I have learned over and over by the school of hard knocks. I make a good income, but what needs to be known is the opportuntiy price for all this. It is a cut throat profession, anyone who says it isnt is full of it. Ask any first year student after the first set of final exams, and they can tell you. It really just gets worse although I wish I could tell you different. Residency is very political, and you will see top students in your class, get marginal residencies, as not so suprisingly new grads with barely acceptable grades will obtain powerful 3 year surgical residencies where their fathers are resdidency directors. Then based on residencies you will discover you are not all equal., Sure enough you will sooner or later have to sit next to these 3 year prima donas at a CME as they tell you how superior they are in that did 3 years of residency yet do a triple arthrodesis rarely.there will be the haves and have nots. If you are not elgible for ABPS eligibility/certification you will be one of the have nots, hoping to work for someone who is. Insurances will not determine if you are qualified to see their insured based on a diploma from an accredited podiatry school, nor will they base it on state licensure, they will base it on your ability to hold staff privileges for hospitals and this bsed on abps eligibility. Doesnt matter if you are certified by another naitionally accepted board, b/c the people that will decide which board is the right board will be a generation prior of those (surprise surprise )abps certified. So what I am getting at is this, take it for what it is worth..

4years undergrad+4 years pod school, 2 years residency, state licensure, clean malpractice, in practice **years, if you are not board eligible abps you will be totally boned out of insurance contracts and you will but up a certain creek with no paddle when it comes to that $200,000.00 investment plus time spent getting to that point as you will not be contracted with anything except medicare and medicaid for now.


My recommendation.: Enjoy life Way too many *******s
in this profession.

This profesion finds unique ways to alienate itself all the time. Just wait 5 years from now they will want all residencies to be 4 years, and yet the same small scope of practice. Its a shame.

A smart person learns from their mistakes, a WISE person learns from other peoples mistakes.