| Original Message |
Podiatrist (no login)
Posted Nov 22, 2005 10:48 AM
Dear Disgruntled Podiatrist,
Let us begin the debate in earnest then and address the issues you raised one by one.
First of all, my postings are more than just assertions and case reports, as they are based on 10 years of real life experience and observation in the field. That includes talking to colleagues, national meetings, county association meetings, everyday office experience, hospital experience and just plain common sense. I think that would qualify me as a primary source on the state of Podiatry and make my commentary pertinent to the discussion. Furthermore, as my previous post was in response to wildly negative assertions on your part, I believe that my response which detailed very real and solid truths, was more than adequate to discredit your argument. Had you actually submitted a randomized study of the idea that podiatrists are "low calibre" as you stated, perhaps I would be inclined to give you the actual educational breakdown of the average podiatrist in practice. And you would realize, once again how silly these baseless rants are.
Secondly, you state that the government labor statistics are inaccurate because they are put out by the APMA. This is simply untrue, the APMA has it's own stats of course which are based on respondents who are mostly members of the APMA. These stats skew higher as the average APMA member is in practice longer and has more training. The department of labor statistics however, come from employers themselves and IRS filings for those who put down Podiatrist as their profession on the income tax forms. That being said, I again make the statement that your average podiatrist does better than your average internist or pediatrician.
Next, you mention overwhelming debt. Well let me say again that everyone who goes to graduate professional training ends up with debt. Often very high. The $150,000 you claim is not unusual. Let's break that number down; at a high 8% interest rate, amortized over 15 years, that debt would equal about $1,450 a month. Add to that about $400 per month in malpractice(first three years at a 50-75%discount) and another $1,200 a month in living expenses(rent,gas,food) and you come up with about $3,000 a month in bills. If you even have a job making a lowly $60,000 a year that should more than cover your expenses of $36,000 per year (and don't tell me you can't find a job, just turn to the back page of your state association newsletter). What's more, with itemization, you should be paying practically zero taxes. Now move foward five years, you are in your early thirties. If you have actually done a PSR36 as you say, you should be well qualified to perform any and all foot procedures required, get on any hospital staff and tailor your practice to suit your needs. At this point there is no excuse for you not to be making over $100,000 per year (net). No excuse. Now your debt seems small in comparison to the $7,000 or more per month you should be making as a trained foot specialist working full time. And guess what, you have only 10 years left on your pesky loan. You move up to a modest house, you invest, you work hard. Ten years go by and you are in your early 40's. Your income has increased considerably because of your hard work and sound investment. You no longer have student debt and guess what, suddenly that $150,000 investment doesn't seem like such a bad choice given the fact that you have job security, your own profession and the rest of your life to reap the benefits of a sound profession career. The rest is up to you. Of course, this excludes the possibility that you are one of the following: Lazy, spoiled, have no forsight, have no commitment to hard work, have some sort of addiction or other self-destructive behavior or just plain lacking in business sense.
Your other points about student/resident exploitation are not really worth expounding on since the residency experience is largely what you make of it. Pick the residency training wisely and you will avoid the few that have made a bad name for themselves.
Your other point about a "standardized comprehensive mandatory in-training residency exam" misses the entire trend in residency training today which is to standardize the training to a three year model. Even so, all residencies have a standard to uphold (rotations, surgical cases, licensing exams, etc.)this is why they are accredited. Again, shop around and talk to other residents who have gone through the experience. A standardized training exam would never substitute for actual hands on experience with qualified foot specialists in the hospital, office and clinic setting.
Again, if you are a PSR-36 graduate as you state. You really have no reason to whine.
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