Depressed and wanting to change careers

[JustAPedicurist]

As I enter my PGY3 year I must say that podiatry was the worst choice I've ever made in my life. I am completing a grueling residency. The work is nonstop. I feel surgically competent in some areas and deficient in others. I have looked at jobs and have been in talks with some people and the offers are all below $150k. I have nearly $300,000 of student loans. I completed 4 years of undergrad, 4 years of podiatry school, and now I am finishing a 3 year residency. In total I have went 11 years beyond a standard high school education. All of the time and effort I have put into this career is not worth it. There are others who did not waste all of their "prime" years of their life and their 20's to a profession with no reward. I am called a doctor, but I cut toenails.

This post is not a troll. This post is a cry for help. At what point is this just the sunk cost fallacy? What can I actually do with my life now that I have a degree that will never payback my loans? Cost of living is outrageous right now even in rural areas.

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[Shiyuan]

Are you geographically open?

If so, you can certainly find a rural health gig that can pay of your loans in 5-10 yrs.

 

[MoostashPod]

As I enter my PGY3 year I must say that podiatry was the worst choice I've ever made in my life. I am completing a grueling residency. The work is nonstop. I feel surgically competent in some areas and deficient in others. I have looked at jobs and have been in talks with some people and the offers are all below $150k. I have nearly $300,000 of student loans. I completed 4 years of undergrad, 4 years of podiatry school, and now I am finishing a 3 year residency. In total I have went 11 years beyond a standard high school education. All of the time and effort I have put into this career is not worth it. There are others who did not waste all of their "prime" years of their life and their 20's to a profession with such a little reward. I am called a doctor, but I cut toenails.

This post is not a troll. This post is a cry for help. What can I actually do with my life now that I have a degree that will never payback my loans? Cost of living is outrageous right now even in rural areas.

You're not alone. I've been out a few years and have over $300k in student loans, in which half has been paid off already following the Dave Ramsey's debt snowball. Look it up if you haven't already. The ROI in this field is regrettably low for a lot of new grads out there. Do not say you'll never be able to pay off your student loans. It is possible. Own it. Live on nothing and no eating out in a restaurant unless you are working in one. No going on vacations. Scorched earth rice and beans, beans and rice with a little bit of more rice and beans. Once I'm done paying off my student loans, I will quit podiatry entirely and move on to something else. You either stick with it and continue on doing what you regret on doing or quit and do something more worthwhile in life. I've chosen the latter. Good luck with everything.

 

[JustAPedicurist]

Are you geographically open?

If so, you can certainly find a rural health gig that can pay of your loans in 5-10 yrs.

I am geographically open almost anywhere so long as it is not extremely rural. I'm a single male so I would still like to meet people.

 

[JustAPedicurist]

You're not alone. I've been out a few years and have over $300k in student loans, in which half has been paid off already following the Dave Ramsey's debt snowball. Look it up if you haven't already. The ROI in this field is regrettably low for a lot of new grads out there. Do not say you'll never be able to pay off your student loans. It is possible. Own it. Live on nothing and no eating out in a restaurant unless you are working in one. No going on vacations. Scorched earth rice and beans, beans and rice with a little bit of more rice and beans. Once I'm done paying off my student loans, I will quit podiatry entirely and move on to something else. You either stick with it and continue on doing what you regret on doing or quit and do something more worthwhile in life. I've chosen the latter. Good luck with everything.

This is even more depressing.

 

[Shiyuan]

I am geographically open almost anywhere so long as it is not extremely rural. I'm a single male so I would still like to meet people.

Like @air bud has mentioned many times, obtain a list of the critical access hospitals in the state or states you are looking. If they do not offer Podiatry, email the CEO or clinician recruiter. They typically pay MGMA with good benefits.

 

[newfeet]

I am geographically open almost anywhere so long as it is not extremely rural. I'm a single male so I would still like to meet people.

Apply to everything. Find the HR info for hospitals and contact them. If I could switch careers right now I would but I can’t.

 

[air bud]

Apply to everything. Find the HR info for hospitals and contact them. If I could switch careers right now I would but I can’t.

I have a family farm, I think I will go that way sooner than later. He always wanted one of his sons to take over the farm and turns out most of us became doctors. My dad was a MD/farmer. I am just trying To figure out if I want to do pod work part time or just farm and then look into other stuff like buying a franchise and then building. Probably part time podiatry part time farm, learn the farm then quit podiatry all together.

 

[wakaflocka88]

As I enter my PGY3 year I must say that podiatry was the worst choice I've ever made in my life. I am completing a grueling residency. The work is nonstop. I feel surgically competent in some areas and deficient in others. I have looked at jobs and have been in talks with some people and the offers are all below $150k. I have nearly $300,000 of student loans. I completed 4 years of undergrad, 4 years of podiatry school, and now I am finishing a 3 year residency. In total I have went 11 years beyond a standard high school education. All of the time and effort I have put into this career is not worth it. There are others who did not waste all of their "prime" years of their life and their 20's to a profession with no reward. I am called a doctor, but I cut toenails.

This post is not a troll. This post is a cry for help. At what point is this just the sunk cost fallacy? What can I actually do with my life now that I have a degree that will never payback my loans? Cost of living is outrageous right now even in rural areas.

Sorry to hear. Try to take the best-worst offer you feel comfortable with and use it as a year to learn billing/coding while still job hunting and networking every single day. Don’t waste another year doing a fellowship, as evidenced by these fellows taking the same trash job offers. You think the above out hustle everyone else mentality is common sense but it’s not, I’ve seen it all with my close friends and classmates whom are all doing very well right now.

 

[air bud]

Any rural job is fine as a single male. Go IHS so can get loan payback. Put your head down

 

[MoostashPod]

I have a family farm, I think I will go that way sooner than later. He always wanted one of his sons to take over the farm and turns out most of us became doctors. My dad was a MD/farmer. I am just trying To figure out if I want to do pod work part time or just farm and then look into other stuff like buying a franchise and then building. Probably part time podiatry part time farm, learn the farm then quit podiatry all together.

We need more farmers and the world can appreciate more food. I'd like to do farming too. It would go back to my roots and ancestry. 👍

 

[JustAPedicurist]

Any rural job is fine as a single male. Go IHS so can get loan payback. Put your head down

The only IHS job posted right now is in Shiprock, New Mexico. have you googled that area? I would rather not. but I am open to some more rural areas.

 

[newfeet]

I have a family farm, I think I will go that way sooner than later. He always wanted one of his sons to take over the farm and turns out most of us became doctors. My dad was a MD/farmer. I am just trying To figure out if I want to do pod work part time or just farm and then look into other stuff like buying a franchise and then building. Probably part time podiatry part time farm, learn the farm then quit podiatry all together.

That sounds good but I couldn’t do. My wife talked about having a farm a hobby farm but I was never into it. We leave close enough to rural areas we could. I’m **** writer but I would do screen writing or novel writing full time if I could.

 

[DYK343]

As I enter my PGY3 year I must say that podiatry was the worst choice I've ever made in my life. I am completing a grueling residency. The work is nonstop. I feel surgically competent in some areas and deficient in others. I have looked at jobs and have been in talks with some people and the offers are all below $150k. I have nearly $300,000 of student loans. I completed 4 years of undergrad, 4 years of podiatry school, and now I am finishing a 3 year residency. In total I have went 11 years beyond a standard high school education. All of the time and effort I have put into this career is not worth it. There are others who did not waste all of their "prime" years of their life and their 20's to a profession with no reward. I am called a doctor, but I cut toenails.

This post is not a troll. This post is a cry for help. At what point is this just the sunk cost fallacy? What can I actually do with my life now that I have a degree that will never payback my loans? Cost of living is outrageous right now even in rural areas.

Poor me isnt going to get you anywhere. I understand its tough but you really gotta be a go getter to be successful here.

At this point 300k in youre stuck unless you have daddy's money.

Be super aggressive with job hunt. Spend every minute of free time looking for a decent job.

They do exist. But you just gotta send the right email.

If you cant get any employment right out of residency worth a damn then do everything possible to get ABFAS certified. I got multiple job interviews for hospital/ortho/msg once I had a little experience and the foot/RRA cert. Jobs do want this - at least in my experience.

(not to bring back up the long drawn out ABPM vs ABFAS argument in the other thread. This is my experience. I dont want to start another arguement in this thread.)

 

[JustAPedicurist]

Poor me isnt going to get you anywhere.

Appreciate all the advice after this and this included. I'm not one to "poor me". Just frustrated a bit, and do have a lot of regret. But will work hard to make the most out of it.

 

[icebreaker32]

Just remember loan payments can only be a certain percentage of your income. You can not get your time back at this point. Sadly there are not a lot of jobs with good benefits.

You can usually at least find a typical not so great associate job if you are geographically open (sounds like you have).There is still a chance things will turn out better than you expected eventually.

I think the reason many of us are on here is to give advice to people in your situations and let pre pods know what they are getting into as far as job market and ROI.

 

[air bud]

The only IHS job posted right now is in Shiprock, New Mexico. have you googled that area? I would rather not. but I am open to some more rural areas.

Talk to @Feli

 

[shadesofgrey]

This conversation should be moved to the prepod section and stickied. This is life for to many pods

 

[air bud]

Poor me isnt going to get you anywhere. I understand its tough but you really gotta be a go getter to be successful here.

At this point 300k in youre stuck unless you have daddy's money.

Be super aggressive with job hunt. Spend every minute of free time looking for a decent job.

They do exist. But you just gotta send the right email.

If you cant get any employment right out of residency worth a damn then do everything possible to get ABFAS certified. I got multiple job interviews for hospital/ortho/msg once I had a little experience and the foot/RRA cert. Jobs do want this - at least in my experience.

(not to bring back up the long drawn out ABPM vs ABFAS argument in the other thread. This is my experience. I dont want to start another arguement in this thread.)

But it 💯 true

 

[heybrother]

As I enter my PGY3 year I must say that podiatry was the worst choice I've ever made in my life. I am completing a grueling residency. The work is nonstop. I feel surgically competent in some areas and deficient in others. I have looked at jobs and have been in talks with some people and the offers are all below $150k. I have nearly $300,000 of student loans. I completed 4 years of undergrad, 4 years of podiatry school, and now I am finishing a 3 year residency. In total I have went 11 years beyond a standard high school education. All of the time and effort I have put into this career is not worth it. There are others who did not waste all of their "prime" years of their life and their 20's to a profession with no reward. I am called a doctor, but I cut toenails.

This post is not a troll. This post is a cry for help. At what point is this just the sunk cost fallacy? What can I actually do with my life now that I have a degree that will never payback my loans? Cost of living is outrageous right now even in rural areas.

-(a) First thing. A lot of residencies have too much work / not enough training. This is one of the toughest pills to swallow about a lot of podiatry residencies - they exist for the benefit of the attending, not for the training of the resident. The only small pearl I can offer you is that you may feel different about working hard in the future when you are getting paid for it. Consider -a diabetic with a bone infection and an ulceration. The note is long, calling other people is annoying, lots of documentation etc. When you are an attending though that 99204+11042+73630 etc is money in your pocket... if your PP owner lets you keep any of it.

(b) What are you good at? What are you bad at. The simple truth for most DPMs is they are proficient at forefoot surgery and deficient at rearfoot surgery. I don't know which you are but the simple truth is you can still survive doing predominantly forefoot surgery because that's all most DPMs have done through time. I think one of the real problems with this profession is - how do you up your game. How do you improve, keep getting better etc. Where do you find a mentor or a path to expanding your expertise. In short, consider - what do I want to do and if its not my current skill set how can I get there.

(c) The deck was stacked against you - you only had so much time to look for work regardless. Take the best job you can get - hopefully one that doesn't limit future employment - and keep looking.

(d) Sorry, but you presumably shadowed a podiatrist and presumably they did nailcare. Did you believe you wouldn't cut nails ? Everyone going into podiatry school needs to understand that we cut nails and calluses. And they really need to understand that a large portion of the medical community and the general public believes that this is what we exist and the only reason to refer to us. Our podiatry leadership masters believe demand is growing for our profession because there are more fat, old, diabetics who want their nails cut. For most of us - this is literally the worst part of our jobs. The only small hope I can give you is - a lot of attendings qualify EVERYONE. In your future practice, maybe, you can tell non-qualifying patients to hit the road.

(e) I appreciate your sharing your experience and I hope you don't feel I'm being too hard on you above. I own now, but I too graduated and felt the load of bricks. There's a great meme recently about how I "keep getting older, but associate salaries keep staying the same". Its really unbelievable and so true. Pay is NOT going up. The cost of living is. I'm beyond fortunate to own a house because of who I married. Had I tried to buy my current house today - I wouldn't be able to afford it. The quality of the economy when you leave residency really can set a lot of the tone for your financial future.

 

[MoostashPod]

-(a) First thing. A lot of residencies have too much work / not enough training. This is one of the toughest pills to swallow about a lot of podiatry residencies - they exist for the benefit of the attending, not for the training of the resident. The only small pearl I can offer you is that you may feel different about working hard in the future when you are getting paid for it. Consider -a diabetic with a bone infection and an ulceration. The note is long, calling other people is annoying, lots of documentation etc. When you are an attending though that 99204+11042+73630 etc is money in your pocket... if your PP owner lets you keep any of it.

(b) What are you good at? What are you bad at. The simple truth for most DPMs is they are proficient at forefoot surgery and deficient at rearfoot surgery. I don't know which you are but the simple truth is you can still survive doing predominantly forefoot surgery because that's all most DPMs have done through time. I think one of the real problems with this profession is - how do you up your game. How do you improve, keep getting better etc. Where do you find a mentor or a path to expanding your expertise. In short, consider - what do I want to do and if its not my current skill set how can I get there.

(c) The deck was stacked against you - you only had so much time to look for work regardless. Take the best job you can get - hopefully one that doesn't limit future employment - and keep looking.

(d) Sorry, but you presumably shadowed a podiatrist and presumably they did nailcare. Did you believe you wouldn't cut nails ? Everyone going into podiatry school needs to understand that we cut nails and calluses. And they really need to understand that a large portion of the medical community and the general public believes that this is what we exist and the only reason to refer to us. Our podiatry leadership masters believe demand is growing for our profession because there are more fat, old, diabetics who want their nails cut. For most of us - this is literally the worst part of our jobs. The only small hope I can give you is - a lot of attendings qualify EVERYONE. In your future practice, maybe, you can tell non-qualifying patients to hit the road.

(e) I appreciate your sharing your experience and I hope you don't feel I'm being too hard on you above. I own now, but I too graduated and felt the load of bricks. There's a great meme recently about how I "keep getting older, but associate salaries keep staying the same". Its really unbelievable and so true. Pay is NOT going up. The cost of living is. I'm beyond fortunate to own a house because of who I married. Had I tried to buy my current house today - I wouldn't be able to afford it. The quality of the economy when you leave residency really can set a lot of the tone for your financial future.

Excellent post! Part E hits the home run.

 

[JustAPedicurist]

(c) The deck was stacked against you - you only had so much time to look for work regardless. Take the best job you can get - hopefully one that doesn't limit future employment - and keep looking.

I still have a year until I graduate residency. But I appreciate the post heybrother. No problem with cutting nails, just was the chefs kiss with all my other rants in the OP

also.. really agree with part a)

as far as my comfortability. comfortable with most forefoot. rearfoot I still have a year left, hoping I'll be somewhat comfortable in more common procedures

 

[air bud]

 

[MoostashPod]

View attachment 370949

A much greener future!

 

[Feli]

Talk to @Feli

I Pm'd him back... I don't want to trash a job, but to avoid more PMs, there are many reasons that Shiprock one has been up for about two years now.

The best thing to do for IHS jobs is to look at usajobs or just call the HR at the hospitals. That's oklahoma, navajo nation, dakotas, etc. Most of them try to run as separate units, so just call the HR at each. Like the VA, they can range from pretty good (pay ok, not amazing) to malignant (bad admins, loafer co-workers, dilapidated hospital and/or housing, etc). For the Navajo nation (NM, AZ, UT, CO four corners... all hospitals are in AZ or NM), where most of the IHS DPM jobs are, you can google a map of the 'navajo nation service areas'... tuba city, shiprock, fort defiance, chinlee, ganado, gallup, winslow, etc and call the HR depts. Don't be surprised if you get transferred around and told the person you need is on vacation or your emails are ignored... that's how IHS (and VA) often works.

Fort Defiance (adjacent to gallup and shiprock) is where I worked 2019-21. It had a fair hospital, decent housing, not terribly far from I-40 and civilizations, but one of the DPMs and some admins (including the chief of surgery, who is DPM supervisor for pay/supplies/etc) were highly problematic when I was there. I hope it has changed, but to my knowledge, it has not. It got so bad that me and the other two DPMs did not even talk to the 4th guy unless absolutely necessary... and the boss protected him (no call, remote clinic with barely any pts, raises, etc) and shamed the rest of us. Suffice to say, I did not renew my contract - and they've lost other DPMs and had some admin turnovers since for same reasoning. It was a learning exp... hated it by the end, but was able to load up 401 and Roth pretty good (not much to spend your $ on out in those areas) which helped me finance my own PP a couple years later.

...DarkPath makes good points about making a budget and sticking to it. Whether you're building up to start your own office or to knock off loans or what, you won't get ahead trying to live lavishly and "reward myself" because you don't like your work. That's counter-productive. I have seen a good number of DPMs have to downsize (house, car/truck, etc) in mid-career... and most were making ok money by podiatry standards. It's better to just never go down that path - unless maybe you're a debt-free high-earner employee DPM or a PP owner with loans paid off or something.

 

[deleted682934]

I would get creative if I was single. Consider military options. Locums if available. Locums would make boards challenging. Consider non-op university jobs in larger cities if you don't care about surgery. There is not a perfect answer here but you do need to reframe your approach. That's hard to do with the market as it is - but from where I sit, I am jealous you have no geographic limitations or nothing to tie you down if you don't like where you end up.

 

[Pronation]

Welcome to podiatry. You are competing with 100s of other applications for real jobs. Take your garbage 120k private practice job, make your boss a ton of money, get board cert, and then hope that in the next few years of applying for good jobs daily/weekly you can claw your way out of your crappy job.

 

[JustAPedicurist]

I would get creative if I was single. Consider military options. Locums if available. Locums would make boards challenging. Consider non-op university jobs in larger cities if you don't care about surgery. There is not a perfect answer here but you do need to reframe your approach. That's hard to do with the market as it is - but from where I sit, I am jealous you have no geographic limitations or nothing to tie you down if you don't like where you end up.

with all the options mentioned what would you go for first?

 

[Utvolsdpm]

So on this theme I’m getting to the point where my loans are going to be gone (September). Is there really a way out after that? I still have a mortgage and comfortable lifestyle to upkeep. I feel stuck albeit with a large weight gone. No family farm to fall back on.

 

[Adam Smasher]

At what point is this just the sunk cost fallacy? What can I actually do with my life now that I have a degree that will never payback my loans? Cost of living is outrageous right now even in rural areas.

It's only sunk cost if you keep throwing good money after bad. The good news is you put in the time and you've reached the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The bad news is it's more like a chamber pot.

The really insidious thing about podiatry is that salaries are just high enough that you can't quit outright. @Pronation is right, work your associate gig, learn the business, think of your low salary as tuition paid in the school of life, and branch into better arrangements after. It took me about 4 years before I hit my stride career-wise, sorry to say your struggle isn't over yet.

 

[Adam Smasher]

Is there really a way out after that? I still have a mortgage and comfortable lifestyle to upkeep.

At a certain point I'm going to "quiet quit." Certain pathology I'm just going to say "sorry, I'm not that kind of doctor." I'll focus on doing what I want and maybe hopefully...enjoy podiatry

 

[Pronation]

At a certain point I'm going to "quiet quit." Certain pathology I'm just going to say "sorry, I'm not that kind of doctor." I'll focus on doing what I want and maybe hopefully...enjoy podiatry

My man, laser focused on onychomycosis.

 

[Feli]

So on this theme I’m getting to the point where my loans are going to be gone (September). Is there really a way out after that? I still have a mortgage and comfortable lifestyle to upkeep. I feel stuck albeit with a large weight gone. No family farm to fall back on.

I think a ton depends if a DPM is solo breadwinner with kids' tuition and cars, family vacas, spouse retirement to finance, etc still to pay...
vs being DINK or single where they can definitely levitate and superfund retirement or other investments after loans are gone.

Either way, you are about to unleash another big paycheck with the monthly loan pay gone, though. It's all first world problems from here on out. Congrats.

 

[Utvolsdpm]

At a certain point I'm going to "quiet quit." Certain pathology I'm just going to say "sorry, I'm not that kind of doctor." I'll focus on doing what I want and maybe hopefully...enjoy podiatry

I’m easing in to that. Already passed RRA case review and I have no outward incentives to do any complex rearfoot cases. Too much of a headache for me. It’s gotten to a point where day to day things are tolerable: some days are almost enjoyable. But my favorite part of the day is always clocking out and forgetting podiatry exists. It can get depressing thinking I’m likely going to do this for 20 more years and then when I look back on my life wish I did something more fulfilling. The bright side is my current job allows a good amount of personal time. I would absolutely lose it killing myself in pp clinic all day then going home and charting/working on business all night - day in and day out.

 

[Utvolsdpm]

I think a ton depends if a DPM is solo breadwinner with kids' tuition and cars, family vacas, spouse retirement to finance, etc still to pay...
vs being DINK or single where they can definitely levitate and superfund retirement or other investments after loans are gone.

Either way, you are about to unleash another big paycheck with the monthly loan pay gone, though. It's all first world problems from here on out. Congrats.

Thanks. Yea have kids and wife (not working now but maybe in the future). With edrp and Covid I really have barely put any of my own money into repayment. Maybe when the wife starts working it will seem a bit more feasible.

 

[bloxxeeey]

Well a pretty decent salary for us is 120,000, which is about 86k after taxes, if you have 300k in loans and want to pay it off you have to put ~3500 a month or 42k a year into your loans, so you have 44k to live off. Tbh for most of us the most spending power we'll have until our 40's is actually residency because the student loans are frozen, right now with my residency I take home about 44k and that includes benefits etc, once your an attending thats on you so that 44k you take home as an intending after taxes/student loans becomes a lot less. Basically this market sucks and it's getting worse with more grads coming in but maybe we should look at the bright side we're only behind the average take home American salary of 67k by 23k! It could certainly be worse

 

[Redsting]

...you won't get ahead trying to live lavishly and "reward myself" because you don't like your work. That's counter-productive. I have seen a good number of DPMs have to downsize (house, car/truck, etc) in mid-career... and most were making ok money by podiatry standards. It's better to just never go down that path - unless maybe you're a debt-free high-earner employee DPM or a PP owner with loans paid off or something.

My "reward myself" was paying down my loans, 4 years out of residency they were paid off. The weight off me once those were paid off was amazing. I don't care about cars. Bought a decent house. I enjoy watching the net worth go up.

So on this theme I’m getting to the point where my loans are going to be gone (September). Is there really a way out after that? I still have a mortgage and comfortable lifestyle to upkeep. I feel stuck albeit with a large weight gone. No family farm to fall back on.

I've wondered this too. I thought with my loans paid off I can now do whatever I want. I've thought about learning to code, going back to school, real estate, franchising. But I just haven't pulled the trigger. My wife is risk adverse and so I can't just jump into something like that like I could if I was single. But I have a great set up. Make good money. Currently putting 36% of gross into retirement/investments. Goal though is to get other income going so that when podiatry implodes or something happens to my job I don't have to do one of those 120k/year jobs.

A friends son is in dental school. When he was accepted a couple years ago my first thought was that I wish I did that. But after reading through their forums a little, they have some issues too. Ours are worse. But the grass isn't as green as I thought.

 

[DPMGuy]

As I enter my PGY3 year I must say that podiatry was the worst choice I've ever made in my life. I am completing a grueling residency. The work is nonstop. I feel surgically competent in some areas and deficient in others. I have looked at jobs and have been in talks with some people and the offers are all below $150k. I have nearly $300,000 of student loans. I completed 4 years of undergrad, 4 years of podiatry school, and now I am finishing a 3 year residency. In total I have went 11 years beyond a standard high school education. All of the time and effort I have put into this career is not worth it. There are others who did not waste all of their "prime" years of their life and their 20's to a profession with no reward. I am called a doctor, but I cut toenails.

This post is not a troll. This post is a cry for help. At what point is this just the sunk cost fallacy? What can I actually do with my life now that I have a degree that will never payback my loans? Cost of living is outrageous right now even in rural areas.

I feel the exact same way and I’m looking for a way out of this career. I hope pre-pods see this and realize that podiatry is just NOT worth it.

 

[dtrack22]

Is there really a way out after that? I still have a mortgage and comfortable lifestyle to upkeep. I feel stuck albeit with a large weight gone. No family farm to fall back on.

Not quickly. Even if you are passionate about something and a natural entrepreneur, there will be a time period where it doesn’t replace your income to keep up with lifestyle (assuming lifestyle is commiserate with a several hundred thousand $ salary). Real estate would be an option but again, you’d need to have either started your portfolio or have enough cash to hit it hard upon quitting podiatry. Non clinical healthcare roles are very limited with a DPM. Nothing like our Physician and RN counterparts. It’s an easy way out (of patient care) for them and generally pays well. Probably better for some RNs and at least enough for MD/DOs to maintain much of their lifestyle.

 

[icebreaker32]

Non clinical healthcare roles are very limited with a DPM. Nothing like our Physician and RN counterparts. It’s an easy way out (of patient care) for them and generally pays well. Probably better for some RNs and at least enough for MD/DOs to maintain much of their lifestyle.

This is true and something one should also consider about podiatry. We have so many other concerns we are rightfully more worried about getting a good job or opening an office. Degree flexibility is seldom brought up.

Podiatry is not only a very specialized profession, there are very few ways to make a living with it outside of traditional private practice.…clinical or non clinical. It is not like you can just sell your practice 5-10 years before you retire and move across the country to live by your grandkids and easily find a good job with less stress and a bit less compensation, but still a good living or travel with your spouse doing locums seeing the country etc. Even if one is doing well enough in private practice with podiatry they are sort of trapped.

First world problems certainly, but something that may get to you in mid to late career. Certainly not all careers offer this kind of flexibility, but many healthcare professions do....telemedicine , locums, non clinical jobs, part time jobs that still offer some benefits and a reasonable salary etc. Even if you never take another job in other healthcare professions, just knowing you at least have options to change things up or leave clinical medicine can sometimes help avoid burnout.

 

[JustAPedicurist]

there’s just so many opportunities in this world and I feel so pigeon holed with this career. The effort put in is just not ever going to be worth it I feel. And it’s a terrible time to realize that.

 

[shadesofgrey]

Welcome to podiatry, I hope you enjoy it, because you are going to stay here forever...

 

[JustAPedicurist]

Welcome to podiatry, I hope you enjoy it, because you are going to stay here forever...

Are there any success stories about someone transitioning from podiatry to something else?

 

[air bud]

Are there any success stories about someone transitioning from podiatry to something else?

I will report back yes in a few years.

 

[shadesofgrey]

Are there any success stories about someone transitioning from podiatry to something else?

There's a fair number of pods that went back and got MD degrees. Probably not possible for most folks given the cost of tuition. Maybe nursing or PA?

As for nonclinical options, you could probably get in as a sales rep for an ortho or graft company.

Nonmedical, PM News had a story, not that long ago about a pod that had taken over the family plumbing business. I also saw an obituary on a pod in Michigan that quit practice and started working in a factory. Somewhere else, I read about a guy that went through a divorce and then joined the infantry in his mid thirties. He had been doing it for a few years and loved it, he was hoping to transition back to podiatry in the army once he reached the age limit for infantry service. I also know a classmate that joined a real estate company and is doing ok.

 

[bloxxeeey]

Are there any success stories about someone transitioning from podiatry to something else?

I had a senior who graduated from a well known well trained program who married a neurosurgeon at our hospital so she's a stay at home mom now, this career paid off for her.

 

[Adam Smasher]

I know of a DPM whose spouse is on faculty at a certain university and was able to parlay their DPM credentials into a position overseeing undergraduate admissions. So next time your kids are applying for college, this person just might be reading their application.

But yes, marry well and you'll do fine

 

[Adam Smasher]

One more anecdote: when I was in residency I met a guy who was a few years out from doing a wound care fellowship. This was back when fellowship training was more of an oddity and unlike now where there are a dozen wound care fellowships. But he was able to use that to a stepping stone to be a full time consultant for KCI (now owned by 3M). He told me so many of his classmates who were in practice wanted to do that because they wanted to GTFO their podiatry jobs--worth noting they were all practicing in a saturated metro area.

Edit: I just googled him, looks like he's back in private practice. Gravy train must have reached its end of the line. What a ride it must have been

 

[NatCh]

As I enter my PGY3 year I must say that podiatry was the worst choice I've ever made in my life. I am completing a grueling residency. The work is nonstop. I feel surgically competent in some areas and deficient in others. I have looked at jobs and have been in talks with some people and the offers are all below $150k. I have nearly $300,000 of student loans. I completed 4 years of undergrad, 4 years of podiatry school, and now I am finishing a 3 year residency. In total I have went 11 years beyond a standard high school education. All of the time and effort I have put into this career is not worth it. There are others who did not waste all of their "prime" years of their life and their 20's to a profession with no reward. I am called a doctor, but I cut toenails.

This post is not a troll. This post is a cry for help. At what point is this just the sunk cost fallacy? What can I actually do with my life now that I have a degree that will never payback my loans? Cost of living is outrageous right now even in rural areas.

My input might get shouted down on this forum but I think you have a decent outlook. You're at the end of a grueling residency so you're basically seeing the light at the end of that tunnel. Residency sucks. Period. Being in practice has it's problems but what job doesn't? It's way better than residency. You're single and geographically flexible so that's in your favor. You WILL be able to pay off your student loans as long as you don't blow all your money on fine watches and fast cars in the first decade out. Cost of living is outrageous but that doesn't change with your career choice; everyone in the country is facing it. How many careers can make you six figures right out of the gate? Only a few. You've made your choice so you may as well follow through at this point. You can change careers later if you still hate it after you've banked some money. Hang in there dude. Don't choke now.

Oh yeah, the 20s aren't the only prime years of life. Take care of your physical health and there will be plenty of prime years left.

 

[DMEpod]

Guy in my area a few years ago quit podiatry about 1 yr after graduating residency and went on to flip houses. I imagine the couple 21-22 made it all worth while for him.

As far as nail care goes, yes it is there, but sometimes it is nice to have a few pts through the day that you can just zone out and fantasize about that post podiatry career.