Low salaries?

[Isaiah_shipp]

I'm sure this subject has been beaten to death, but I've read a lot of threads talking about new podiatrist being offered $75-85k, this makes no sense to me. Let me just say, I'm not interested in podiatry so I can become rich but I do consider the money aspect of it. Is it just me or is anything below 150K low for someone that spends 10 plus years doing school and training? A podiatrist I shadowed agreed with me saying he doesn't know where those numbers are coming from, he was never offered anything that low. Not trying to be negative but just want some more information,thanks in advance.

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[DexterMorganSK]

 

[heybrother]

(1) Anyone can offer anyone a low-ball salary. Whether they choose to take it is up to them. In 2008 when the economy fell apart my wife couldn't get a job - she eventually took one for $26K which still makes me cringe. When someone offers you a bad offer you either counter-offer or you move on. Hopefully you have some degree of leverage, but the best leverage is probably just preparation and time so you can keep looking.
(2) Being offered a salary of $85K and being offered a base of $85K with an incentive structure are two entirely different things.

 

[bobtheweazel]

Also, I'm not trying to dispute the fact that it happens, I'm very sure it does, but if we tallied up every person on SDN who said they'd been offered that, it would still probably be less than 10 people. That's a pretty small sample size. There are also a few people saying they've been offered over 200K pretty much out of residency, but again, small sample size. I don't think we can glean anything meaningful from it. And along the lines of what Heybrother said, we're not really in a position to judge any of these offers since we don't have every single detail of a deal. 85K might be low or might be reasonable depending on the rest of the details of the offer. This isn't working for McDonald's. The way doctors are paid with base salaries, bonuses, various benefits or opportunities all complicate the situation and I doubt that you could really boil any contract down to just a simple number like that.

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[Podiatry_23]

Also, I'm not trying to dispute the fact that it happens, I'm very sure it does, but if we tallied up every person on SDN who said they'd been offered that, it would still probably be less than 10 people. That's a pretty small sample size. There are also a few people saying they've been offered over 200K pretty much out of residency, but again, small sample size. I don't think we can glean anything meaningful from it. And along the lines of what Heybrother said, we're not really in a position to judge any of these offers since we don't have every single detail of a deal. 85K might be low or might be reasonable depending on the rest of the details of the offer. This isn't working for McDonald's. The way doctors are paid with base salaries, bonuses, various benefits or opportunities all complicate the situation and I doubt that you could really boil any contract down to just a simple number like that.

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What would you say the average salary is? I know BLS low balls it.


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[bobtheweazel]

What would you say the average salary is? I know BLS low balls it.


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Couldn't say. I think what you're really asking is how much you'll get paid when you get out, but who knows. Will you work with a podiatry group, an orthopedic group, a multispecialty group? Will you open your own practice? Will you work out of your car like Creflo? Will you work for a hospital? Even if you know where you want to work will you actually get the skills and connections to land you that job? Maybe you'll be subpar throughout school and end up making under 100K when you get out. Maybe you'll be wildly talented and end up making over 300K when you get out—or maybe it'll just come down to good/bad luck.

Pretty much every other salary survey shows from the 180K range up to the 280K range for averages. The actual average if you took all 14 or 15K podiatrists would probably be somewhere between those two numbers, much closer to the lower one. But still, there are some who make well below 180K and others who make well above 280K and the "average" salary probably won't be your salary.

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[dr.phoot]

Couldn't say. I think what you're really asking is how much you'll get paid when you get out, but who knows. Will you work with a podiatry group, an orthopedic group, a multispecialty group? Will you open your own practice? Will you work out of your car like Creflo?

Lost it.....

 

[jasechabigj]

honestly I have looked at all the different websites that have averaged out podiatry pay and from what I see with all of them <85k is around the bottom 25%. and anywhere around 125k+ is normal (180k being a median on most websites). Honestly Ive known podiatrists who are terrible at business in their private practice and they dont make much. But Ive also known pods who easily make 200k+. Its all about how you run a business and who you work with (assuming you're in private practice).

 

[Podiatry_23]

honestly I have looked at all the different websites that have averaged out podiatry pay and from what I see with all of them <85k is around the bottom 25%. and anywhere around 125k+ is normal (180k being a median on most websites). Honestly Ive known podiatrists who are terrible at business in their private practice and they dont make much. But Ive also known pods who easily make 200k+. Its all about how you run a business and who you work with (assuming you're in private practice).

Do you need to be a good entrepreneur to be a successful podiatrist? I'm not to interested in running my own business and wouldn't mind being employed at a hospital but would I loose a lot of income by doing this?


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[Weirdy]

Do you need to be a good entrepreneur to be a successful podiatrist? I'm not to interested in running my own business and wouldn't mind being employed at a hospital but would I loose a lot of income by doing this?


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Entrepreneural like qualities might make you more money in a private practice, but you need to remember the cost of buying in or overhead associated with setting up your own practice. Unless that's being taken care of.

How many workers will you have? Equipment costs? Servers for your digital filing system? Will it be a multi-specialty offering PT/in house labs/ whatever the hell? Orthotics and X-ray? Surgical suite in house or done through hospital you have privileges at?

Just make sure you aren't doing it at the cost of forcing unnecessary gimmicks down your patient's throat.

I've seen hospital employed make more than private practice and vice versa. Depends more on what type of setting you want to practice in. If you do a good job at it, money shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Podiatry_23]

Entrepreneural like qualities might make you more money in a private practice, but you need to remember the cost of buying in or overhead associated with setting up your own practice. Unless that's being taken care of.

How many workers will you have? Equipment costs? Servers for your digital filing system? Will it be a multi-specialty offering PT/in house labs/ whatever the hell? Orthotics and X-ray? Surgical suite in house or done through hospital you have privileges at?

Just make sure you aren't doing it at the cost of forcing unnecessary gimmicks down your patient's throat.

I've seen hospital employed make more than private practice and vice versa. Depends more on what type of setting you want to practice in. If you do a good job at it, money shouldn't be a problem.

Are hospital jobs rare? Or are they like any other specialty where you can likely find one right out of residency?


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[Scrubingfloors4Scrubs]

Question: How easy is it for a young podiatrist to transition from a hospital setting to a private setting? There are many threads contrasting both situations but are there significant barriers that prevent a doctor from switch from one to another?

 

[Weirdy]

Are hospital jobs rare? Or are they like any other specialty where you can likely find one right out of residency?


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Couple threads covered this. From what I remember: Most job offers come through podiatry groups because there's more of them. Private practice offers out there as well with option to buy in after a set number of years. These seem to have extremely low wage offers. Hospital jobs trickier to find because some may not know what a podiatrist can do. Some don't even have a podiatry department. Apply and show up. Show them what you're capable of and you may even find that they open up a podiatry department if they see they could use you. Networking seemed super important. Even if a hospital hires you at a very good base salary + incentives + RVU bonus, remember that you are making much more for them through referrals and axillary procedures (Xrays, labs, whatever) then what they're paying you.

Would highly recommend you browse through podiatry students and residents threads, but hold commenting until after you're out of school.

 

[Weirdy]

Question: How easy is it for a young podiatrist to transition from a hospital setting to a private setting? There are many threads contrasting both situations but are there significant barriers that prevent a doctor from switch from one to another?

Wild guess here: All the logistics that come with building up your own practice. Billing seems to be a big one. Hospitals have their own billing department. While you'll still be familiar with all the CD10 codes or whatever they are right now, the actual billing process itself might require a learning curve. A bunch of other stuff as well- protocols if you decide to run a lab or build a surgical suite up to code, whatever else you can think of that you wouldn't have to be personally responsible for in a hospital.

Take all of this with a grain of salt. I don't know nearly enough to speak on this. Purely anecdotal.

 

[bobtheweazel]

If you wanna run a successful practice on your own first you have to sell your soul to cover startup costs and at least a year worth of expenses—most businesses don't make profit the first year. Then you'll have to regularly toss virgins into a volcano or else you'll get audited. Also make sure you have a bugout plan in case you get sued for malpractice, since there won't be a large hospital or medical group to help cover your butt in the interest of covering their butt.

Easy peasy.

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[deleted585480]

If you wanna run a successful practice on your own first you have to sell your soul to cover startup costs and at least a year worth of expenses—most businesses don't make profit the first year. Then you'll have to regularly toss virgins into a volcano or else you'll get audited. Also make sure you have a bugout plan in case you get sued for malpractice, since there won't be a large hospital or medical group to help cover your butt in the interest of covering their butt.

Easy peasy.

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at least you won't have to publicly release your tax returns on SDN if you're being audited.

 

[jasechabigj]

Billing is a big expense. they usually take a percentage as that gives them incentive to bill correctly. Its usually 5-7%. paying someone per hour to do your billing is very unsmart because they may only care that you pay them not about you getting payed. I know a POD who got totally screwed over by a biller doing that. Weirdy I am curious about groups though because Ive heard that they're the way to go but if they pay very little than Im not so sure..... Ive heard they can potentially get you more than a hospital

 

[bobtheweazel]

Billing is a big expense. they usually take a percentage as that gives them incentive to bill correctly. Its usually 5-7%. paying someone per hour to do your billing is very unsmart because they may only care that you pay them not about you getting payed. I know a POD who got totally screwed over by a biller doing that. Weirdy I am curious about groups though because Ive heard that they're the way to go but if they pay very little than Im not so sure..... Ive heard they can potentially get you more than a hospital

Pod groups may not always be the way to go—seems like they usually try to start you very low but there can be high earning potential eventually. I believe ortho or multispecialty groups are generally better if they're willing to take on a pod.

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[Podiatry_23]

I guess the real question I have is, when you get out of a podiatry residency is it easy to find a job or does it take 2-4 months to find one. I know everyone is different but on average what happens? What is your personal experience with job hunting after residency?


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[SLCpod]

I guess the real question I have is, when you get out of a podiatry residency is it easy to find a job or does it take 2-4 months to find one. I know everyone is different but on average what happens? What is your personal experience with job hunting after residency?


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Go over to the pod physician forum and look through some of the job threads. You'll get a good idea. Students and pre-pods haven't gone through the job hunt process. They don't have a very good idea of what it is really like. Being a 4th year, I don't have a good idea either. What I do know is that all of the 3rd year residents I have gotten to know the past year on externships have landed jobs. When the time comes, you will also need to think about doing a fellowship and the potential jobs that will be available with an extra year of training.

 

[Weirdy]

Billing is a big expense. they usually take a percentage as that gives them incentive to bill correctly. Its usually 5-7%. paying someone per hour to do your billing is very unsmart because they may only care that you pay them not about you getting payed. I know a POD who got totally screwed over by a biller doing that. Weirdy I am curious about groups though because Ive heard that they're the way to go but if they pay very little than Im not so sure..... Ive heard they can potentially get you more than a hospital

Pod groups may not always be the way to go—seems like they usually try to start you very low but there can be high earning potential eventually. I believe ortho or multispecialty groups are generally better if they're willing to take on a pod.

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What Bob said, I meant multispecialty groups.

Just the referrals and convenience of knocking out multiple doctor visits alone would be somewhat beneficial to raking in patients. Increasing diabetic complications. Patient population with increasing life spans.