General surgery vs podiatric surgery

[SoleScholar]

I'm finishing up my undergraduate studies and I'm trying to decide between going to medical school or podiatry school.
If I went to medical school I'd want to do general surgery. I've shadowed a lot in general surgery and really like the operations that are done. They look like a lot of fun, especially the robotic stuff.
I haven't shadowed in the OR for podiatry yet, from the videos I've seen it looks fun but I don't know if it's as fun as general surgery is, using with saws and drills must be fun though.
Some of the general surgeons I've shadowed were pretty high strung and advised me to do something else like PA since it's not as stressful and still good money. The podiatrists I shadowed were very happy, but on SDN people talk bad about the profession.
Can anyone please give me some insight to help me make this decision?
What matters to me most is probably independence and job enjoyment/satisfaction.

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[LucidSplash]

Full disclosure trained in Gen Surg and vascular and only practice vascular but board certified in both.

I think you can have independence and happiness in both.

But you seemed to have jived on a personality basis more with the podiatrists you shadowed. The podiatrists tell you they are happy, which should mean more to you than what some non-podiatrists say on SDN.

As vascular, I love having a good podiatrist with a vested interest in limb salvage as part of a multidisciplinary team. I can do my own foot work but I’m not ashamed to admit that most of them are better at it and it frees me up to do the things I’d rather do. Not all podiatrists do inpatient work though, so you can choose your own adventure.

I think a person can be happy as a general surgeon, but just based on the tone of your post I worry you are a self fulfilling prophecy about not being happy in Gen Surg or a Gen Surg subspecialty. There’s probably not as much “glamour/prestige” from the general public associated with DPM than with MD, but I’m in my 40s now and all that is bull**** anyway. Both are productive careers with good livings. Choose happy if you think one would lead to more happiness.

 

[Smurfette]

I'm finishing up my undergraduate studies and I'm trying to decide between going to medical school or podiatry school.
If I went to medical school I'd want to do general surgery. I've shadowed a lot in general surgery and really like the operations that are done. They look like a lot of fun, especially the robotic stuff.
I haven't shadowed in the OR for podiatry yet, from the videos I've seen it looks fun but I don't know if it's as fun as general surgery is, using with saws and drills must be fun though.
Some of the general surgeons I've shadowed were pretty high strung and advised me to do something else like PA since it's not as stressful and still good money. The podiatrists I shadowed were very happy, but on SDN people talk bad about the profession.
Can anyone please give me some insight to help me make this decision?
What matters to me most is probably independence and job enjoyment/satisfaction.

How much do you like feet? With podiatry, you pretty much only deal with feet, including the gnarliest ones. And no robots (at least as of 2023). There are not many things that will prompt a podiatrist to be in the hospital in the middle of the night. Most of those middle-of-the-night foot things are probably going to get a general surgeon or ortho into the hospital instead (like nec fasc or some sort of trauma to the leg/foot). The podiatrists here (community hospital) do not do that many urgent cases and most of their cases are done in surgery centers rather than in the hospital.

I will also point out the obvious in that med school gives you more options than just general surgery, and you may find some other specialty is actually your thing. With general surgery, you have more variety than podiatry offers but can subspecialize to narrow it down. Orthopedic surgery uses a lot of saws and drills as well. There are also ortho foot and ankle ortho fellowships for further specialization. Matching into ortho is tough though.

I've met some very happy general surgeons and some very unhappy podiatrists. And the opposite as well, of course. Really, you want to pick a field you can work in for 30 years.

 

[RM38]

My dad is a retired podiatrist. He had a great career and did well financially. He actually made 1.2 in his best year believe it or not, but he worked really hard. He convinced at least 4 or 5 of my friends to go into podiatry and most of them are happy with that choice. While you can make just as much in podiatry as you can in almost any field, the reason I went to medical school is that medicine is a rather diverse career path with many different options. Most people (including myself) end up doing something they didn’t necessarily think they wanted to do when they started medical school. The issue with podiatry school is that you are locked into podiatry with no other real options. You can find jobs that are largely non operative if you find you don’t like surgery, but you can’t switch into derm, ER, cards or other fields if you find you don’t like podiatry as a career. You literally have to drop out and start over. That is very important to consider. Hell I started out in categorical surgery and then switched to PM&R with a pain fellowship and have been very happy 6 years post training.