Interviewed @ LECOM

[newfeet]

I highly recommend for everyone to take a look at job search websites to see how many of these types of jobs are available in the entire country and then consider that we graduate 400-700 new podiatrists every year. The alternative is being a private practice associate - feel free to email the practice and ask them how much the pay is for an associate. I can tell you the range is generally somewhere from 80-120k, with mediocre benefits. If this is inaccurate, somebody here can call me out on it. Consider the likelihood of making 120k after accruing 300k debt.

100% I have a job and I still look at the listings sometime. It is depressing. I applied to every single hospital job when I was looking. Not a process I enjoyed.

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Members don't see this ad.

 

[deleted1093615]

I have never shadowed a podiatrist. This field is fairly new to me. I know I want to do something in medicine but my MCAT score is too low to get into a DO/MD program. I have been searching stuff up regarding podiatry but everything i’m reading doesn’t make sense. Some say its a great field and they would do it all over again and then some say they don’t like it. Also, the salary for a podiatrist ranges from 68K-300K how does that even make sense. Will I be able to pay back my loans? Also is residency 2 years or 3 years? I’m just really confused and got an acceptance into LECOM but they have given me only 5 days to decide to accept or decline. Any help/advice would be great!!!!!!

I would do more research. Or you’ll be like all other students and not realize how screwed you are with debt to income ratio after you’ve already taken out loans for first yr.
legit expect 120k job after residency so if you have to take out max loans its not worth it.

 

[elppaelgood123]

So from what I understand
1) not enough jobs for the # of podiatrist available
2) pay is less than the loans accumulated throughout the years

Then why would anyone want to do podiatry if there’re not going to get a decent job and have trouble finding work and a good paying salary to pay off their debt and have a living? Also why did LECOM open up a podiatry school if the job market for podiatrist is low.

 

[elppaelgood123]

Wow 120k is nothing compared to the 300k in debt. I honestly don’t know what to believe and what not to. I see podiatrist saying they make 200-250k right out of residency and some say they make 90-125k. That’s a big difference!

I would do more research. Or you’ll be like all other students and not realize how screwed you are with debt to income ratio after you’ve already taken out loans for first yr.
legit expect 120k job after residency so if you have to take out max loans its not worth it

 

[elppaelgood123]

You should probably read the resident/attending forum to get a better glimpse into the profession

Where could I find the link?

 

[Weirdy]

Where could I find the link?

I am going to give you some very specific ,fool- proof, instructions.
I expect you to consider them so you save yourself and everyone on here time. This will also prevent you from having to spam every podiatry forum before even trying to read what has been said on here from prepods, pod students, and attendings/residents.
Some effort on your part will help keep the forums clean of redundant content.

Post your acceptance questions as a REPLY to this thread as Dexter has already outlined for you:

AACPMAS 2022-2023 & Acceptance Stats (Class of 2027)

Good stats, Congrats on the A :) Thanks so much!! :)

forums.studentdoctor.net

Real work life experiences, salary/job market discussions, clinical cases can be found here.

Podiatric Residents & Physicians

For podiatric residents and physicians.

forums.studentdoctor.net

Read and browse thoroughly before you comment or make a new thread.
Most, if not all, of your questions have already been graciously answered multiple times and in greater intricacy and detail than what you are asking.

This thread will stay open but please keep topics specifically to LECOM admission/interview content only.
If you want to peruse job market outlooks, please read through the resident/attending forum first before adding any more off topic questions to this thread.

 

[SouthPod7]

I highly recommend for everyone to take a look at job search websites to see how many of these types of jobs are available in the entire country and then consider that we graduate 400-700 new podiatrists every year. The alternative is being a private practice associate - feel free to email the practice and ask them how much the pay is for an associate. I can tell you the range is generally somewhere from 80-120k, with mediocre benefits. If this is inaccurate, somebody here can call me out on it. Consider the likelihood of making 120k after accruing 300k debt.

Be careful, or leadership is going to call you out for only caring about "financial remuneration"

 

[heybrother]

The fact that LECOM is willing to admit you without you shadowing first should be terrifying to you.

 

[deleted1093615]

LECOM is an existing medical program so my guess is they opened a podiatry program as a cash grab with no real thought as to how it would affect the job market.

 

[elppaelgood123]

I am going to give you some very specific ,fool- proof, instructions.
I expect you to consider them so you save yourself and everyone on here time. This will also prevent you from having to spam every podiatry forum before even trying to read what has been said on here from prepods, pod students, and attendings/residents.
Some effort on your part will help keep the forums clean of redundant content.

Post your acceptance questions as a REPLY to this thread as Dexter has already outlined for you:

AACPMAS 2022-2023 & Acceptance Stats (Class of 2027)

Good stats, Congrats on the A :) Thanks so much!! :)

forums.studentdoctor.net

Real work life experiences, salary/job market discussions, clinical cases can be found here.

Podiatric Residents & Physicians

For podiatric residents and physicians.

forums.studentdoctor.net

Read and browse thoroughly before you comment or make a new thread.
Most, if not all, of your questions have already been graciously answered multiple times and in greater intricacy and detail than what you are asking.

This thread will stay open but please keep topics specifically to LECOM admission/interview content only.
If you want to peruse job market outlooks, please read through the resident/attending forum first before adding any more off topic questions to this thread.

I’m very sorry! Sorry for causing any type of inconvenience. I was just curious and nervous and wanted to know others opinions in this field of medicine. I didn’t know SDN has strict guidelines to asking questions and making threads. I’m sorry!

 

[Weirdy]

I’m very sorry! Sorry for causing any type of inconvenience. I was just curious and nervous and wanted to know others opinions in this field of medicine. I didn’t know SDN has strict guidelines to asking questions and making threads. I’m sorry!

We don't have strict guidelines, but the questions you have asked and they way you are posting can be done more efficiently and less tempermentally.

You have not shadowed. That in itself is already a huge red flag. You need to shadow multiple podiatrists if you can.
You are jumping ship to the next best profession you can after what I presume is an unsuccessful MD application cycle.
Perfectly reasonable and many have done the same exact thing, but you have not done any of the research to know both the good and bad of this profession before asking if LECOM is a good school to attend. You are putting the horse before the cart.

Shadow thoroughly. Your specialty is locked in the moment you take an acceptance letter.
Consider your options carefully. People in this field can make good money, but it is much more arduous and the options are not as readily available than if you had an MD/DO degree.

 

[elppaelgood123]

We don't have strict guidelines, but the questions you have asked and they way you are posting can be done more efficiently and less tempermentally.

You have not shadowed. That in itself is already a huge red flag. You need to shadow multiple podiatrists if you can.
You are jumping ship to the next best profession you can after what I presume is an unsuccessful MD application cycle.
Perfectly reasonable and many have done the same exact thing, but you have not done any of the research to know both the good and bad of this profession before asking if LECOM is a good school to attend. You are putting the horse before the cart.

Shadow thoroughly. Your specialty is locked in the moment you take an acceptance letter.
Consider your options carefully. People in this field can make good money, but it is much more arduous and the options are not as readily available than if you had an MD/DO degree.

Thank you!

 

[newfeet]

Thank you!

I wish I shadowed more. IF you shadow and like what you see then accept the offer. Or better yet apply to more established schools, don't be a guinea pig for a new program if you can get into another school.

 

[heybrother]

The problem with shadowing is that in general most people are very private and therefore they aren't going to share the financials dynamics of the profession. Additionally, over the last 10 years podiatry has increased more than 33% in price not including cost of living increases. Everyone's feedback is constantly retrospective. Last of all, anyone you shadow who is practicing is likely already established and with each day that passes they get further and further away from understanding the uncertainty of the job hunt.

 

[Weirdy]

Reminder to stay on topic regarding LECOM and less on the job market.
Would rather not have to delete off topic replies please.

 

[JustAPedicurist]

LECOM is an existing medical program so my guess is they opened a podiatry program as a cash grab with no real thought as to how it would affect the job market.

Yep they don’t give a ****. That’s why the dean is the residency director of the LECOM residency program (also a terrible residency program) 1+1 = 2

Can’t run a good program yet he’s dean of a school. Makes sense. Go podiatry!

 

[elppaelgood123]

Is LECOM’s cost as a podiatry school (38k) fairly less than other podiatry schools? That’s what they said during the information meeting. Just wondering if that’s actually true. I looked around but didn’t get an definite answer.

 

[elppaelgood123]

Yep they don’t give a ****. That’s why the dean is the residency director of the LECOM residency program (also a terrible residency program) 1+1 = 2

Can’t run a good program yet he’s dean of a school. Makes sense. Go podiatry!

LECOM podiatry school guarantees a residency placement.

Well the executive officer is a DO physician and the academic officer is a DPM of the LECOM podiatry school. Unlike any other podiatry school they have an executive officer of the school to be a DO physician which is great in my opinion. So the school will function very similarly to a DO curriculum.

I’ve shadowed a DO physician that attended LECOM and they said that LECOM has a great program and has great professors.

LECOM DO class 2023 had a 100% residency match. “100 percent of 540 graduates, from our three campuses...LECOM does not graduate until next year...all found a spot,” he said. “It's really quite amazing, actually.”

 

[JustAPedicurist]

LECOM podiatry school guarantees a residency placement.

Well the executive officer is a DO physician and the academic officer is a DPM of the LECOM podiatry school. So the school will function very similarly to a DO curriculum.

I’ve shadowed a DO physician that attended LECOM and they said that LECOM has a great program and great professors.

LECOM DO class 2023 had a 100% residency match. “100 percent of 540 graduates, from our three campuses...LECOM does not graduate until next year...all found a spot,” he said. “It's really quite amazing, actually.”

ok cool have fun. I’m not reading all that though

 

[elppaelgood123]

ok cool have fun. I’m not reading all that though

I apologize for the long message! You definitely don’t need to read through all that lol. I’m just sharing my own opinion and info that I have gathered.

 

[Weirdy]

Is LECOM’s cost as a podiatry school (38k) fairly less than other podiatry schools? That’s what they said during the information meeting. Just wondering if that’s actually true. I looked around but didn’t get an definite answer.

Cost of Attendance Budget Information | Des Moines University

Cost of Attendance Budget Information by Program When budgeting for graduate school it is important to factor in both tuition and the cost of living. To de ...

www.dmu.edu

Using DMU as an example, I Googled this within 10 seconds.
The other programs will also have cost of attendance available for your perusal.
My Google search was "dmu podiatry cost of attendance"
I imagine you could do the same for all the other programs

LECOM podiatry school guarantees a residency placement.

Well the executive officer is a DO physician and the academic officer is a DPM of the LECOM podiatry school. Unlike any other podiatry school they have an executive officer of the school to be a DO physician which is great in my opinion. So the school will function very similarly to a DO curriculum.

I’ve shadowed a DO physician that attended LECOM and they said that LECOM has a great program and has great professors.

LECOM DO class 2023 had a 100% residency match. “100 percent of 540 graduates, from our three campuses...LECOM does not graduate until next year...all found a spot,” he said. “It's really quite amazing, actually.”

Podiatry residency placement guarantee means nothing. There were currently more podiatry residency slots than graduation slots. You have not factored in which podiatry residency programs will provide decent training and which fudge their surgical numbers or have poor training and still graduate residents.
Again, I urge you to read through the resident forums to gain a better understanding. There is a discrepancy between residency training programs. A 100% match rate in the podiatry realm is not equivalent to what it means in the MD/DO world.

There are a few other podiatry schools who also have a mixed DO curriculum such as Western in Pomona, CA for example.
I have seen great students from both stand alone podiatry curriculum and MD/DO mixed curriculum.
Again, there are also a few threads regarding curriculum within each programs, pros and cons of each. Look in the podiatry student forums. They are there. Use the search function.

I will not comment on the LECOM DO class match rate. I have not heard great things about LECOM in general.

Is there a reason you are fixated with LECOM specifically? You seem to have already made up your mind, if not are at least biased towards LECOM.

 

[Weirdy]

Well the executive officer is a DO physician and the academic officer is a DPM of the LECOM podiatry school. Unlike any other podiatry school they have an executive officer of the school to be a DO physician which is great in my opinion.

This argument and emphasis on Title = Better leadership, in my personal opinion, holds no water.

A DO physician may be very well be versed in what it takes to get a DO student to pass Step exams and match into their desired specialty.
They may have zero understanding of what it takes to have a podiatry student pass their board exams, do well on their clerkships, and match into a competitive residency program.

We need well prepared podiatry students.
I understand some members who read the above line will scoff at the idea, but we need smarter, stronger, personable podiatry students who are geared towards elevating the profession. They need to be level headed enough to recognize the good and bad of this profession without letting their ego get in the way. They need to be surgically and clinically well trained even if demand in the market place is not representative of what they see during residency training.

 

[Shiyuan]

My 2 cents: Don’t be a guinea pig for a new school.

Best of luck to you. Podiatry as a job is fantastic, but very iffy for the return on investment. You gotta get lucky in the job search.

 

[heybrother]

(1) LECOM podiatry school guarantees a residency placement.

Well the executive officer is a DO physician and the academic officer is a DPM of the LECOM podiatry school. (2)Unlike any other podiatry school they have an executive officer of the school to be a DO physician which is great in my opinion. So the school will function very similarly to a DO curriculum.

I’ve shadowed a DO physician that attended LECOM and they said that LECOM has a great program and has great professors.

(3) LECOM DO class 2023 had a 100% residency match. “100 percent of 540 graduates, from our three campuses...LECOM does not graduate until next year...all found a spot,” he said. “It's really quite amazing, actually.”

(1) I doubt this very much. Guarantee is one of the most dangerous words that exist. The only way a school can guarantee you a residency spot is if they are promising to create a spot for you at their own program if you don't match. To guarantee is to say "I will absolutely make this right". And FYI - their residency where they would have to create it has a poor reputation. Weirdy touches on this above, but the podiatry residency situation is a mess. Class size fluctuates yearly. The last few years have been a wild ride of ample spots and close calls - ie. the match this last year looked very meh. This past matrculation year there were like 200 fewer podiatry matriculants - they will have an interesting (good) match in 4 years. However, the schools are desperate to fill and appear to be admitting anyone with a pulse (people with 5th percentile MCAT scores, people who didn't shadow etc). If the schools find a way to fill all their spots and new schools start filling we're going to have life destroying years in the days ahead. And that doesn't even touch on that many of the programs are bad.

(2) "The officer bit" - This is totally meaningless and will have no significance. Schools and residencies are notorious for telling students things that you think mean something, but they don't. Meaningful things are things like quality of education that contributes to high board pass rates, culture of the school, freedom of 4th year etc. List is by no means all inclusive.

(3) You aren't a DO so this is totally meaningless. Secondly, its meaningless because it probably doesn't mean what you think. I'm not an MD/DO so I don't know all their variations, but they have preliminary, categorical, transitional residencies etc. They have pathways where you match and stay the same place for 3 years and they have pathways where you match for a year and have to secure your spot somewhere else for the next year. In short, someone tells you something - you don't really know what it means. I'm not saying LECOM is dishonest. But if you told a graduate from another MD or DO school they might not be impressed with that.

We're arguing over the wrong things. You want to be part of the initial LECOM class - go ahead. Many of the podiatry schools are plain terrible, but all of them have graduated more podiatrists than LECOM. Podiatry is notoriously dangerous. We strive to make people aware of this and people still decide they want to test the waters. They think they are special, better, different even though most have no history of academic success or accomplishment. Remember these posts. You were warned. I said this somewhere else - pre-pods latch on with desperation and love to podiatry because they've had so many doors slammed in their face that they are desperate for anything. First year attrition is often enormous. Part 1 fails are also huge. If you don't make it - please do us the courtesy of coming back and telling us how it went. Podiatry flunks out so many students a year its unbelievable but almost none of them share their stories.

 

[GreenHousePub]

I thought shadowing hours were like a mandatory thing you have to do to apply?

Or at this point is it skipped and are just requiring a signature on the first-year student-loans check.

 

[JustAPedicurist]

I thought shadowing hours were like a mandatory thing you have to do to apply?

Or at this point is it skipped and are just requiring a signature on the first-year student-loans check.

They’re making it as easy as possible to get in. And then they give like $10,000 one time scholarships and students think that’s amazing but the tuition is still $40k a year. It’s a scam

 

[Pronation]

They’re making it as easy as possible to get in. And then they give like $10,000 one time scholarships and students think that’s amazing but the tuition is still $40k a year. It’s a scam

BUT WAIT, act NOW and get a free stethoscope as well!

 

[podiatryresident]

I highly recommend for everyone to take a look at job search websites to see how many of these types of jobs are available in the entire country and then consider that we graduate 400-700 new podiatrists every year. The alternative is being a private practice associate - feel free to email the practice and ask them how much the pay is for an associate. I can tell you the range is generally somewhere from 80-120k, with mediocre benefits. If this is inaccurate, somebody here can call me out on it. Consider the likelihood of making 120k after accruing 300k debt.

at least 500 now Sir!, few more years will be 600 and continue to increase...

 

[elppaelgood123]

(1) I doubt this very much. Guarantee is one of the most dangerous words that exist. The only way a school can guarantee you a residency spot is if they are promising to create a spot for you at their own program if you don't match. To guarantee is to say "I will absolutely make this right". And FYI - their residency where they would have to create it has a poor reputation. Weirdy touches on this above, but the podiatry residency situation is a mess. Class size fluctuates yearly. The last few years have been a wild ride of ample spots and close calls - ie. the match this last year looked very meh. This past matrculation year there were like 200 fewer podiatry matriculants - they will have an interesting (good) match in 4 years. However, the schools are desperate to fill and appear to be admitting anyone with a pulse (people with 5th percentile MCAT scores, people who didn't shadow etc). If the schools find a way to fill all their spots and new schools start filling we're going to have life destroying years in the days ahead. And that doesn't even touch on that many of the programs are bad.

(2) "The officer bit" - This is totally meaningless and will have no significance. Schools and residencies are notorious for telling students things that you think mean something, but they don't. Meaningful things are things like quality of education that contributes to high board pass rates, culture of the school, freedom of 4th year etc. List is by no means all inclusive.

(3) You aren't a DO so this is totally meaningless. Secondly, its meaningless because it probably doesn't mean what you think. I'm not an MD/DO so I don't know all their variations, but they have preliminary, categorical, transitional residencies etc. They have pathways where you match and stay the same place for 3 years and they have pathways where you match for a year and have to secure your spot somewhere else for the next year. In short, someone tells you something - you don't really know what it means. I'm not saying LECOM is dishonest. But if you told a graduate from another MD or DO school they might not be impressed with that.

We're arguing over the wrong things. You want to be part of the initial LECOM class - go ahead. Many of the podiatry schools are plain terrible, but all of them have graduated more podiatrists than LECOM. Podiatry is notoriously dangerous. We strive to make people aware of this and people still decide they want to test the waters. They think they are special, better, different even though most have no history of academic success or accomplishment. Remember these posts. You were warned. I said this somewhere else - pre-pods latch on with desperation and love to podiatry because they've had so many doors slammed in their face that they are desperate for anything. First year attrition is often enormous. Part 1 fails are also huge. If you don't make it - please do us the courtesy of coming back and telling us how it went. Podiatry flunks out so many students a year its unbelievable but almost none of them share their stories.

Great feedback! Thank you!!

 

[heybrother]

They’re making it as easy as possible to get in. And then they give like $10,000 one time scholarships and students think that’s amazing but the tuition is still $40k a year. It’s a scam

Podiatry schools have been doing "scholarships" for everyone forever. The appropriate term for them is "tuition abatement". It seems the values have been increasing lately which is fascinating because it suggests the tuition prices are quite artificial though presumably someone is paying them. When I was at DMU I was randomly speaking to a classmate who told me they had a $5000 scholarship. I didn't realize it till a few years later but this person was #1 in our class at the time. The values I'm seeing quote on the forums as of late are substantially larger than this.

 

[JustAPedicurist]

Podiatry schools have been doing "scholarships" for everyone forever. The appropriate term for them is "tuition abatement". It seems the values have been increasing lately which is fascinating because it suggests the tuition prices are quite artificial though presumably someone is paying them. When I was at DMU I was randomly speaking to a classmate who told me they had a $5000 scholarship. I didn't realize it till a few years later but this person was #1 in our class at the time. The values I'm seeing quote on the forums as of late are substantially larger than this.

It’s the schools just trying to outcompete other schools
For acceptances. It’s hilarious.

 

[iridocyclitiss]

My school guaranteed residency placement too- but we still have 5 people without a spot. LECOM has no business making guarantees when they haven't even had a class yet.

You need to shadow. Like they've really lowered the standards if you don't even have to shadow a podiatrist. Seems like you're making a rash decision based on a poor mcat score. If they're also giving you 5 days to decide that should scream desperation. Going into podiatry right now would be a ill-advised, but going to LECOM for podiatry would be one of the biggest mistakes you could make.

 

[DMEpod]

Well they haven't had an students go unmatched yet so...

 

[newfeet]

Well they haven't had an students go unmatched yet so...

Oh that’s true.

 

[Prehealth1011]

I would check how many of their matches are prelim medicine, prelim surgery, and transitional years and if it mentions what advanced program these people matched into. If they didn't find an advanced program, they're matched for the purpose of advertising but not really for the purpose of life. I would also check
1) If they matched into their PREFERRED specialty. Applying to Radiology and IM as back-up, then matching to IM probably goes into the 100% match rate
2) How SOAP/Scramble is reflected in stats. Not matching into anything and then SOAP-ing into FM in North Dakota probably again goes into the 100%
Matching into "research" is another good one:

These are all common tactics used by DO schools to announce 100% match rates.

Even if the match rate isn't 100% for DO/Podiatry, don't worry, they'll make it look like it is

 

[unusualonion]

Made my decision to jump ship, get my old (65k/yr) research job back, and apply PA while organizing an accelerated BSN then NP route as a back up. Made a 50k oopsie on pod school and I geininuenly feel duped and lied-to by by post-bacc advisor and the administration. I know i bear the responsibility of matriculating and staying. The "doc" title aint worth the headache and I dont have the business skills or drive to go solo practice. Nor do i have the mental fortitude to be 1 of 100 applicants for 20 decent jobs nationally. Job boards (podiatrycareers dot com, and APMA website) literally prove this, also BLS stats are like a growth of 2%... snails move faster. I want to help patients and I found, for me, that I like the ED and ICU best. No amount of "professional foot and ankle trauma reconstructionist with added CAQ in foot surgery and pus bus operator" will get me on a cardiothoracic surgery team or working in the ED.

I did the math for my situation and even factoring in the debt from leaving pod school after one year, by the same time a student in my year is out of residency, I'll hopefully be an NP/PA making middle 100k (or more depending on specialty) with less debt. All of the NP/PA jobs are w-2, nice bennies, and either shift work or stable schedule, depending on specialty. Clock in, see patients, clock out. No wondering if I've made my bills for the month or other pods sniping my privileges to keep their surgical volume. Yes i know that ill not make as much as the most successful podiatrist but ill earn similar to the broad 50% of them will with, as i perceive it, much less financial stress

Ive attached a spreadsheet that helped me get it all out on paper. I carried over some debt from undergrad which sucked but leaving now will allow me to be debt free sooner in one of two actually growing provider levels. I made a lot of assumptions about timing and salaries but used reported averages to best model it. I am also able to contribute so much of my projected salaries because I have a kick-butt significant other who endlessly supports me and is willing to take on more of the cost of living to get us out of debt sooner.

Yours in many layers,
unusualonion

 

[iridocyclitiss]

Made my decision to jump ship, get my old (65k/yr) research job back, and apply PA while organizing an accelerated BSN then NP route as a back up. Made a 50k oopsie on pod school and I geininuenly feel duped and lied-to by by post-bacc advisor and the administration. I know i bear the responsibility of matriculating and staying. The "doc" title aint worth the headache and I dont have the business skills or drive to go solo practice. Nor do i have the mental fortitude to be 1 of 100 applicants for 20 decent jobs nationally. Job boards (podiatrycareers dot com, and APMA website) literally prove this, also BLS stats are like a growth of 2%... snails move faster. I want to help patients and I found, for me, that I like the ED and ICU best. No amount of "professional foot and ankle trauma reconstructionist with added CAQ in foot surgery and pus bus operator" will get me on a cardiothoracic surgery team or working in the ED.

I did the math for my situation and even factoring in the debt from leaving pod school after one year, by the same time a student in my year is out of residency, I'll hopefully be an NP/PA making middle 100k (or more depending on specialty) with less debt. All of the NP/PA jobs are w-2, nice bennies, and either shift work or stable schedule, depending on specialty. Clock in, see patients, clock out. No wondering if I've made my bills for the month or other pods sniping my privileges to keep their surgical volume. Yes i know that ill not make as much as the most successful podiatrist but ill earn similar to the broad 50% of them will with, as i perceive it, much less financial stress

Ive attached a spreadsheet that helped me get it all out on paper. I carried over some debt from undergrad which sucked but leaving now will allow me to be debt free sooner in one of two actually growing provider levels. I made a lot of assumptions about timing and salaries but used reported averages to best model it. I am also able to contribute so much of my projected salaries because I have a kick-butt significant other who endlessly supports me and is willing to take on more of the cost of living to get us out of debt sooner.

Yours in many layers,
unusualonion

 

[Weirdy]

Made my decision to jump ship, get my old (65k/yr) research job back, and apply PA while organizing an accelerated BSN then NP route as a back up. Made a 50k oopsie on pod school and I geininuenly feel duped and lied-to by by post-bacc advisor and the administration. I know i bear the responsibility of matriculating and staying. The "doc" title aint worth the headache and I dont have the business skills or drive to go solo practice. Nor do i have the mental fortitude to be 1 of 100 applicants for 20 decent jobs nationally. Job boards (podiatrycareers dot com, and APMA website) literally prove this, also BLS stats are like a growth of 2%... snails move faster. I want to help patients and I found, for me, that I like the ED and ICU best. No amount of "professional foot and ankle trauma reconstructionist with added CAQ in foot surgery and pus bus operator" will get me on a cardiothoracic surgery team or working in the ED.

I did the math for my situation and even factoring in the debt from leaving pod school after one year, by the same time a student in my year is out of residency, I'll hopefully be an NP/PA making middle 100k (or more depending on specialty) with less debt. All of the NP/PA jobs are w-2, nice bennies, and either shift work or stable schedule, depending on specialty. Clock in, see patients, clock out. No wondering if I've made my bills for the month or other pods sniping my privileges to keep their surgical volume. Yes i know that ill not make as much as the most successful podiatrist but ill earn similar to the broad 50% of them will with, as i perceive it, much less financial stress

Ive attached a spreadsheet that helped me get it all out on paper. I carried over some debt from undergrad which sucked but leaving now will allow me to be debt free sooner in one of two actually growing provider levels. I made a lot of assumptions about timing and salaries but used reported averages to best model it. I am also able to contribute so much of my projected salaries because I have a kick-butt significant other who endlessly supports me and is willing to take on more of the cost of living to get us out of debt sooner.

Yours in many layers,
unusualonion

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