Podiatry •
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Where was I? Oh, yeah... |
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| Big Lie Number 5 | |||
| Any one podiatry school is better than any other podiatry school. |
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| Back when I was in school, they kept stressing the importance of the academics, and the instructors, and how much better this school prepared you than the other schools. Let me be honest. You are only ever going to use a minimal amount of the stuff you learn in podiatry school. Podiatry education is like a college education. You get out of it what you put into it. There are some lousy podiatry schools that put out great students because the students want to be good at what they do and they are deeply interested in their studies. If you want to practice, you need a DPM, but not necessarily a DPM from any particular school. The stuff that will make you your living is taught equally well at most schools.
If I really had to advise someone who really wanted to go to podiatry school I would say:
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| Big Lie Number 6 | |||
| Financial Aid is available... |
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| Let me first say that if you really want to go to podiatry school and you will not have to take a loan to do it, you are very, very lucky and you should remember that. If all young doctors graduated with no loan obligations the world would be a much better and more ethical place. I know that each school will tell you there are "scholarships" available for your podiatry education, but let's be serious. Most schools can offer only token non-loan financial aid. That means the rest comes from students, your parents, your relatives, or loans. Do you realize how much money these schools make off of government loans?? Now you know why they propagandize so much. If the only people who went to school were the ones who could pay out of pocket, most of the schools would close. Look at any school website. Most of the schools project a budget of around $34-35,000 per year. I believe that this figure is a conservative estimate because it does not take into account the money you will spend traveling to rotations, to externships, for multiple application fees, for interviews at CRIPs. That is additional THOUSANDS of dollars. Please visit the SCPM website, if you're interested, which shows a gradual increase of the costs up to $41.5K in your fourth year. My gosh, I believe I have stumbled upon something that resembles honesty! There are good podiatrists, who did things the "right way." Out of that $50,000 salary how much of that do you take home? How much do you apply to other bills? How much do you have to apply to loans each month? Your school doesn't care, but you should. For more on this topic, please see The Loan Danger Hides Again! |
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| Big Lie Number 7 | |||
| The residency match system is a fair, cost-effective way of obtaining a residency. |
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| I am not going to spend a lot of time on this because it is self explanatory. If you are in podiatry school or thinking about it, understand that the residency process is, and always will be, a political, connection dependent process and you will do better if you know this going in. I reserve criticism on whether I feel this is good or bad. I will say, however, that I would not feel good picking a resident who didn't show considerable interest, or didn't spend ample time at my program. There is a difference between showing interest and disgustingly kissing butt. For the program you want, you will have to decide which strategy is best. All in all, you will most likely waste a lot of money and time in an attempt to get the program you want. Even after considerable effort and academic brilliance, several top people in my graduating class did not get programs. You can fall right through those gaping cracks! Understand this going in to your third and fourth years. |
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| Big Lie Number 8 | |||
| You'll learn the business end by working as an associate after your residency. |
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| Schools, in general teach you nothing about running a practice. Most of them have some sort of practice management course, but it is most likely useless. Why? Because running a practice is not something you teach, it is something you do. Plus, anybody who is standing in front of the class teaching "practice management" is probably out of touch with what is actually going on in the offices of most doctors. Remember? Those who can, do. Those who can't do, teach. The problem is that until you are involved intimately in a practice you won't learn what IS important. Don't count on the first guy you sign a contract with to teach you anything. They don't care about your understanding of office management or billing. Many times they might even have office people fill out the superbills for you. Plus, who can be sure they know what they are doing? Read on. Friend #1 of mine went into practice in the Southwest. After only a week or two, he was quick to realize that the doc he was working for was not even charging the amount of money allowed by Medicare!!! At the time, most doctors charged way above this, and took the allowable if they participated. He wasn't even charging the allowable, and to further question his intelligence, he did not even really understand what was wrong. You may think me critical and say, "He can run his practice anyway he wants." Yeah, right. But that is less money that you, as his associate, earn also. Is this the guy you want to learn from? Friend #2 went into practice in the Midwest. He joined as an associate with a doctor who thought that managed care was fleeting and was not going to join any health plans out of protest. He honestly thought the people would keep coming to him. My friend joined all of the programs and salvaged the idiot's patient base in spite of him. Friend #3 joined with a doctor on the West Coast. The senior doctor, experiencing some personal problems, decided to sell his practice days after working together. Great situation for a buy out, a baptism by fire, the point is that he learned nothing from the guy. |
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| Big Lie Number 9 | |||
| There are many under-served areas which are great for new practitioners. |
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| Okay, this isn't so much of a lie as it is a stupid selling point that you should take as an insult. Should you have to exile yourself to some Indian reservation in the Southwest to practice a profession you have already sacrificed so much for? When you interviewed at the school of your choice, if they had said, "This is great profession that you should only practice in Iowa, Alabama, or Montana" would you still be as enthusiastic about it? It is true that there are few podiatrists in remote areas, but there are also more anti-podiatric prejudices in those areas too. Do you want to be a trailblazer? After you have had to move hundreds of miles away from your family, do you want to get up every day and explain to all the medical people in your area that podiatry is really a four year school. Don't tell me it isn't like this, I lived it. Certainly, this situation is tailor-made for some people, but is this what you wanted? Is this what they told you it would be like?? |
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| Big Lie Number 10 | |||
| Podiatry is great profession for you. |
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| Maybe, but probably not. If you have options, investigate them thoroughly!! Dentistry - People will always pay for nice teeth, for their kids to have straight teeth, etc. People are not as happy to pay to correct foot problems. They think insurance should cover it. M.D./D.O - These are very, very marketable degrees. You can do many different things with this education. If you don't understand what I am talking about, you will probably end up in podiatry school. Optometry - Who else does this kind of work?? No one. Blurry eyed people are a captive audience, but people will walk for years past your office on painful heels!! There used to be real good reasons to go into podiatry, it used to be a good field. However, when the health care system began its devolution in the late 80s, continuing to this day, podiatry quickly lost most of its advantages. Don't let them tell you differently. It is a struggle on many, many levels. If you are going into podiatry to join a practice with a close relative or family friend and you are not going to go into debt to do it, podiatry is probably good for you. If, however, you are going into podiatry and you are going to have to take loans to do it, you should really, really consider, and then reconsider, what you have read about and what you are getting into. I am being honest with you here. More honest than your school has ever been. It doesn't bother me what you choose, but if I can save someone the ill feelings of being strapped with this debt, with such shrinking earning potential, I will feel so much better. Best of luck. podiatry_bytes@hotbot.com
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