Tell me why again its so good to be in this profession

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We bring a LOT to the table, but talk talk is cheap. We have to convince others, not our own that we have great training and qualities. All professions have bad apples but we need to weed them out of our profession since we are so small. Guys like the DPM in Pennsylvania who got nabbed in the largest single doctor case of Medicare fraud in history. One DPM and 5.2 million in fraud.

There are great academic seminars out there and you don't have to limit yourself to Podiatric seminars. Go to a vascular seminar, go to an Ortho seminar. Then there are these practice management seminars that don't give a crap about quality of care. It's all about how to make money. Sell the patient all kinds of crap. Bill for braces for "fall prevention" that don't have one valid study confirming that BS. Sell every patient a pair of $500 orthotics. Tell everyone they need your laser to cure fungal nails, thought realistically the results suck.

Be better than those guys and be ethical and do what's best for your patient not your wallet. And if you do that, ultimately your wallet will get heavier. Bring the profession to the next level and don't emulate the guy who had his picture in the paper telling people for that 100th time about the dangers of flip flops.

This profession has afforded me the opportunity to have a beautiful home, nice cars, a nice lifestyle, exotic vacations and paid the college tuition for my kids. And it was all done honestly and providing the best quality care.

So I'm not doom and gloom, but we can't just tell everyone about our skills. We have to prove it with our actions. When I first applied to the hospital I work, I had to fight for the most basic privileges. Now I've "earned" privileges to do any procedure within out scope and have performed surgery on the hospital CEO, ,CMO, chief of anesthesia and a family member of the chief of surgery.

It's because they never once saw me do anything dishonest or unethical in my career and word gets out quickly.

Do the right thing and realize there are a lot of folks overlapping so you have to do it better.

Any plans for a Ford GT now that the kids are out? Just curious.

EDIT: Or at least a 350R?

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How stressful is the lifestyle of a podiatrist? I have family in medicine, surgery specifically, and they are up in the wee hours of the night finishing paperwork after doing 12 hour surgery days.

As a pod who does surgery, how many hours a day do you say you do paperwork vs seeing patients/surgery stuff?

It all depends on your particular practice. I know pods who do little if any surgery and make a good living and are very happy with no long hours or hospital responsibilities.

I am very proficient on the computer so don't get behind on charts. I have had many long days and weeks in my career. Our practice has a large in house census and we get lots of consults and emergencies. I've spent many late nights at the hospital for emergency cases and lots of weekends. I believe I've paid my dues and want to enjoy kicking back a little. The younger docs in the practice now have taken over those responsibilities and that was made clear upon hiring. I did it for many, many years and I'm now only seeing select surgical patients and have taken more of an adminstrative roll and I do some consulting.

So the short answer is dependent on many factors, including how you want to practice, the volume of your practice, your skill level and your work ethic. I've never been lazy and it paid off, and I'm letting the younger docs take the ball and run with it. I'm there for help and guidance and as a resource for them. I assure them that over the years I've encountered most, if not all the situations they'll run into or have already.
 
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First of all, 2-5 was an obvious typo. It was supposed to be 25. And once again look through the ads to see how many involve nursing home care, assisted living facility care, military positions, etc. I assure you those jobs are the majority.

I'm not a troll, just look back at my past posts. I just think that the schools have embellished the current state of affairs, and many grads are going to be in for a rude awakening when they realize they will most likely not spend the majority of their time as "foot and ankle surgeons". Nor are there a plethora of ortho jobs for pods, hospital jobs or multi speciality group jobs. These jobs DO exist, but not in the quantity most believe.

I've got no dog in this fight. I've already been through the trenches and have had my highs and lows.

Medicine as a whole isn't in a good place, but we have a limited license, so when push comes to shove, we have no real back up plan. An MD/DO has a full scope of options. Look how many GPs left family practice due to low income, and have opened medical spas, offering weight loss, Botox, lasers, etc., all for cash. That's due to their unlimited license. We don't have that option.

If you don't already know about it, please read up on MACRA and MIPS, and research the implications on medicine and specifically podiatry.

You can't bury your head in the sand, simply because you don't like what you hear. Be a TRULY educated consumer and buyer beware.


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LOL... I don't know if I should take you seriously now, lol thanks for the laughs and the warning.
 
Experienced DPM makes plenty of good posts on the forum that show that he does have significant experience and I find many of his posts quite helpful. But there are ocassional arguments about matters of opinion and anecdotes. There were some disagreements on this thread, but nothing worth rehashing. Please, let this thread rest in peace.

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Experienced DPM makes plenty of good posts on the forum that show that he does have significant experience and I find many of his posts quite helpful. But there are ocassional arguments about matters of opinion and anecdotes. There were some disagreements on this thread, but nothing worth rehashing. Please, let this thread rest in peace.

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A fellow Texan too...
 
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