Sadly, Podiatry is not what the schools tell you it is. I Graduated from the Iowa College in the mid 80's and did a residency at the University of Southern California LA County Medical Center and practiced for 14 years before leaving podiatry for a career in aviation.

I was told that I was going to be a "surgeon" and would make a six-figure income. In fact I was a "surgeon" and did make a six-figure income, but that is only half of the story. The fact is that if you are a podiatrist you are always suspect by the medical community. If there is ever a problem, the medical profession (MD and DO types) and especially other podiatrists are always willing to crucify you with allegations, testimony, complaints, etc. (See Brian Gale.com) And, because of the lack of podiatric uniformity of training you are at best an unknown quantity and worse a "doctor" with defective and unstandardized education. All surgeons have cases they would like to forget. But, real physicians have a measure of credibility that podiatrists in general do not have. I have seen orthopedic foot surgery disasters. I know some orthopedists that I wouldn't have work on my cat. Yet, they are the ones who hold the high ground. The MD is the standard degree for physicians, and don't think for one minute that you will ever be in that club. I have many physician friends who individually are great people. But, the biggest problem is not with the physicians but with podiatry. Most podiatrists won't tell you this but in general they are an angry bunch, and rightly so. Naive students with stars in their eyes are led to slaughter by the podiatry school admissions committees. They tell you all sorts of things and get you to sign on the dotted line. But intuitively, as time passes students become disillusioned as they see the training they are getting in the schools is substandard, taught by podiatrists who in general were poorly trained themselves. This intuition lead to anger and resentment of the process and of podiatry and podiatrists and ultimately of yourself! It is impossible to feel good about yourself when you have been duped into believing a lie and made a HUGE commitment in terms of time and money. Only to become disillusioned by the realities of being a podiatrist.

Then, the residency fiasco begins. The "good residencies" are few and far between and the residency chase is difficult at best and humiliating. Once that is over with the realities of making a living come into play.

Managed care has created a lot of resentment in medicine generally. Many docs feel trapped in a system that erodes their autonomy and denies them the freedom to choose. In this regard podiatry is at best hypoxic as the poor podiatrist already limited in scope of practice and in credibility is literally left with the crumbs. The insurance companies and the government have taken control of the money stream in medicine and doctors, who in general are quite by nature autonomous and individualistic, become constrained by the system and are told what they are worth. Docs are being forced into contracts and fee schedules that they do not really want to accept: they have no choice if they are to survive.

The constant threat of litigation, the high cost of practicing doesn't get cheaper, it gets more expensive. The medical supplier wants his money for the stuff you buy, and the landlord wants his rent.
Think of going to the grocery store checkout with your buggy full, and tell the checker that the charges are "above the ALLOWED amount." As absurd as this sounds this is what is happening every day in medicine as doctors are told what they are worth by third party insurance companies and the government. Another source of anger? Yes. But all doctors are struggling with these issues; constrained by time and energy they fight to be paid for what they do. Healthcare in general is in a crisis and only the most agile and creative groups will survive. Podiatrists are handicapped from the beginning with their low standing and lack of credibility as well as infighting amongst their peers.

But, medicine is not about making money, or at least it shouldn’t be. It is about helping people. But let's be realistic. The vast majority of that six figure income is in cutting toenails and doing mainly minor types of treatment of warts, heel pain, fungal nail debridements, trimming corns and callouses, obscure foot pains and orthotic dispensation with some minor types of surgery thrown in. There are the occasional stress fractures, and even an occasional foreign body or neoplasm. However, these "interesting" cases are few and far between. The VAST majority of your income will be from cutting toenails, and reducing corns and callouses. Perception is everything. The fact is the public as well as the medical establishment does not perceive podiatrists in general as the premier foot surgeon does. But how many podiatrists are out here doing foot surgery that they really weren’t adequately trained to do? Even hammertoes and simple bunions are in short supply in most of the training programs, and then, the ones that do come along are mostly treated by the "teacher." Ask any podiatrist to be truthful about his clinical training. Sadly, this is the worse travesty of all. The rape kit awaits!

Podiatry is a profession at war with itself and with the medical establishment generally. Podiatrists are the "red headed stepchild" of medicine. Our forefathers have fought tooth and nail to get where they are, yet the profession as a whole struggles to gain credibility and that is where the whole thing falls apart. The political climate in medicine is dog eat dog and most physicians fight amongst themselves over all kinds of issues and many big ego's are involved. But, the playing field is not a level one for podiatrists because of the lack of credibility and politically, podiatrists are left to accept many injustices that other docs don't have to accept. Where will all of this lead in the competitive managed care arena.

Podiatry is an acrimonious profession with more dissatisfied "doctors" than any other medical field. I tell you from my heart I wish it were different, but podiatry represents mainly a pool of want-to-be doctors that for whatever reason did not get into medical school. The few students who have somehow gone into podiatry with their eyes wide open; either their dad or granddad was a podiatrist. These that "know" what they are getting into, Godspeed to them, there are a lot of toenails to cut.

Podiatry Schools are starving for tuition dollars and will tell you anything to get you to enroll and pay tuition. My feeling is that a person can be admitted to Podiatry School if they have a heartbeat and checkbook, with enough blood pressure to help them sign over the loan checks. There are worse predators than lions, please DO NOT BE MISLED.