I'm sorry that you are discouraged by the negative feedback, but opening years of practice are tough for most people - even well trained people. The simple truth is that for many people the enjoyment of the field is diminished by the reimbursement, the cost, the long years, the disparity between what they are doing and how the field was marketed, their local practice enviroment, and the fixation of the public on having their nails trimmed. For most new MD/DO attendings there is an explosion of income in general commensurate with their new skills and years of training. That is not the case for the majority of podiatrists and yet we routinely suffer from the same liabilities.
Consider the following - imagine that podiatry school is 3 years and tuition is $10,000 a year. Imagine a residency where training opportunities are abundant but you may leave whenever your attendings feel you are ready. Imagine a world where an ingrown toenail is always $350, a bunion always $2000. The insurance always pays the full value. Where I'm going with this is - imagine that we could move the variables around at each side to reduce debt and training time or maximize reimbursement. Any field with the powers of God could jokingly be made to be better or worse, lucrative or frustrating. Podiatry would seem pretty lucrative in this world above. If all the above was true I'd say - be a podiatrist.
The unfortunate reality of podiatry is - schooling is too long, too expensive and getting more so. Its routinely $10,000 more a year then when I went just a few years ago. Many residencies are hit or miss and some can barely hit the minimum training requirements set by CPME that aren't actually enough to ensure strong training or proficiency. Without even taking into account the shady and dishonest nature of the podiatrists who will be under-paying you - reimbursement for most of what we do isn't sufficient and has been driven down through the years by billionaire companies.
In general, I enjoy what I do. I get along with patients. I receive great feedback from people. Its very satisfying to give someone the answer or the solution to a problem that no one else has been able to help with. However, I am also constantly stressed by reimbursement, by trying to keep my business running, by the need to justify and explain why we did what we did, and the fact that we constantly have to offer more.
A limited number of podiatrists will have the opportunity to work for a hospital or organization after residency. Some of them will do very well. Many of them will tell you the job comes with its own stress - the possibility of having to work private practice in the future. Their financial situation will start off much more steady. The difference between starting at $100K and $200K is enormous.
It should be problematic to anyone going into this profession that you routinely have to believe - I am special and different than everyone else and I am somehow going to be better than everyone else just for the purposes of starting off with a coveted job that... pays a little more money.
