Ed, I respectfully disagree...

I really like the sincerity of your post. You addressed each poster with good arguments from your point of view. You didn't cut up each poster, you just simply stated your facts. So here's why I disagree with your comments directed to me.

I only compared chiropodists with opthamologists and cardiologists because of numbers. I can't compare chiropodists with physicians since there are over 30,000 registered with the College of Phyicians and Surgeons. I couldn't compare with optometrists because there are about 1300 and add to them the opthamologists and MDs, with computerized eye examination equipment, that brings the figure up to almost 2,000 -that's my guesstimate. As for chiropractors, there are over 3,000 in Ontario. I didn't assume you said chiropody was a demand profession -that's what the instructors are saying and I know this because from time to time individuals, interested in chiropody as a career call me to ask for a visit at my clinic, and that's what they tell me. After talking to them for 15 minutes, they quickly change their minds. I also direct them to this Forum for further info. Stories I heard were, some had $60K of student loan debt and others were approaching $100K and there's no way that after borrowing another $60K (approx) to complete the chiropody program and then spending another $20K-$50K to set up a private chiropody practise, that they'll be able to pay off their accumulated student debt in full time private practise chiropody!!!! (This again is my view.) I write this because I haven't heard of any ethical chiropodist able to make about $10K gross per month just after graduating. And that's what the new graduate chiropodist with about $200 K debt will have to make each and every month for about 20 years to pay off the debt. My guess is that you don't even gross $10K per month and how long has it been since you graduated?

What happened to the Whitesides? The poster couple for the Ontario Chiropody Program. Do you know where they are today? They promoted themselves as the next wave in chiropody... woundologists -except of course they didn't know that people with wounds can get Home Care to look after them and not pay for it. So persons on a tight budget would actually pay $50 twice a week for a chiropodist or have Home Care come to their home for free? The answer is FREEEEEEE Home Care.

BTW, I know of a fellow graduate who wasted over 10 years struggling in private practise. The average annual loss was $10,000 -that's ten thousand dollars, each and every year- over a ten year period. So the total loss was $100,000. I visited this chiropodist's practice. The clinic was located in a prestigious medical building and the homes in the affluent area were selling for at least $500K. In the medical building there were MDs, (GPs and specialists) and there were lots of dentists and one chiropodist. There were virtually no in-building referrals from the MDs and despite smart professional announcements in the building and from the neighborhood advertising there was little or no business. Where were all the people going? To the NO CHARGE chiropody clinics and to the MDs which were (and are) providing 5 min foot treatments covered by OHIP. I visited the chiropodist's clinic, the suite was one small waiting area and one treatment room. So there was no wasted money spent on a large suite with 3 treatment rooms. Needless to say that after a decade of losses, the chiropodist quit the profession and regretted ever entering the profession. Other former chiropodists' didn't fare that badly. They were making $40K to $50K per annum, only problem was that their overhead was $30K to $40K, they did other part time or full time work while they hoped that their practise increased in business. 5+ years later their annual gross income had gone up by $10K and their overhead went up by $5K. So they did a future income projection factored in increased competition in their own neighborhoods from nurse foot specialists, CHCs and other private practise chiropodists and realized that they were on treadmill really not moving forward financially and then shut down and did not re-new their registration as chiropodists.

Compare to nursing, if someone is from northern Ontario and promises to work there, then their tuition will be paid for. One fellow cautiously went into nursing instead of chiropody. He's so happy. He met his wife as a fellow student nurse. They worked at the same hospital, different departments, same shifts got out of student debt quickly. They worked extra shifts and went to Australia for a conference and 6 week holiday. An Aussie hospital rolled out the red carpet for them and both of them now live and work there. Another RN went to California. Another one went to South Carolina. Another one became a Nurse Practioner (NP) she can't believe how extremely limited our scope of practise is. Another nurse wanted to see the world, she did a 2 year stint in England and before 9/11, even did 2 years in Saudi Arabia. Nurses get jobs in schools, colleges, universities, Canada Post, IBM, HP, TTC etc, providing basic nursing care. How many schools et al hire chiropodists? As for pharmacy, corporations are contacting pharmacy students and offering them jobs in exchange for a 5 year contract and will pay their tuition as a bonus. How's that for a demand profession?

We can do all the marketing we want, but as long as there are foot care providers providing either "free" or lower cost than our chiropody fees, then that's where the public will go. The CHCs and HSOs and hospitals don't advertise their free chiropody service and they have 6 month-1 year waiting lists. Do the people mind? Yes, but they accept it and are used to waiting for almost every other procedure and so they wait.

Just look at Ontario's health care situation: there are 2 million more OHIP numbers in use than actual residents. That means many Americans and other non-residents have got OHIP numbers (or Ontario Health Cards) and our tax dollars are paying for their FREE health care. In fact, publicly funded health care has now become a national policy and boy, are we ever lucky PM Paul Martin just fixed it for us for a whole generation. The solution is simple just throw money at the problem. If only Dalton could copy his cousins in Ottawa...