Welcome to The UTRGV School of Podiatric Medicine!

[wakaflocka88]

Back to my point: why is no one stopping this school from happening? Why are we trying to saturate this field to pharmacist level?

Pre pod students do not know better. They don’t see the other side of evil as we do. Harkless, the school, ABPM, ABFAS, whatever other scam board - why would they not want a new school. Just more poor souls to feed them a cycle of money. I’ll bet the next 5 toes I chop off they’re going to have an 80 year old washed out pod teaching their surgery and trauma courses, out dated wound care lectures, etc etc. My school used to have a 70 year old pod teaching one of our trauma courses and claims trauma surgery is his favorite, yet has been out of practice for decades. it’s a shame our profession is approving and allowing this school without the foresight of “I wonder how we are going to attract top notch faculty to teach ethical, up to date, practice-driven information. “ They didn’t, they don’t care. Hell, what kind of rotations are the students going to even do in this remote part of Texas?

The next time anyone crosses path with Harkless, throw a toe at him. Greed knows no limits.

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[AedesA]

I've been lurking here since getting accepted, I'm starting my first year this august. Should I be worried? I've worked in pharmacy for years and have seen it get continuously worse, but it seems like all the pods I have talked to in my area are pretty happy with their outlook/compensation, and even new grads are getting good compensation (mostly hospital jobs) right out of residency.

 

[wakaflocka88]

I've been lurking here since getting accepted, I'm starting my first year this august. Should I be worried? I've worked in pharmacy for years and have seen it get continuously worse, but it seems like all the pods I have talked to in my area are pretty happy with their outlook/compensation, and even new grads are getting good compensation (mostly hospital jobs) right out of residency.

Why not stay in pharmacy since you already have an established career????? Please don’t do this to chase the money because you’ll be set back a minimum of 7 years with zero guarantees you will earn more. As a new school with zero history, tread very carefully. Risk wise - a lot. Will it be accredited? Will it close down? Quality of faculty, resources, support network?

If you’re willing to see through this you better be willing to work and sacrifice because you’re going against 640 other new grads in 7 years for a handful of hospital/high paying jobs. The odds are highly stacked against you my friend. Not impossible but this is the truth.

 

[deleted1138023]

he's probably not a pharmacist. but still... people don't understand how long 7 years is until they do it lol. if you're pushing 30 or 30+, you're messing up.

go become a nurse.

 

[icebreaker32]

I've been lurking here since getting accepted, I'm starting my first year this august. Should I be worried? I've worked in pharmacy for years and have seen it get continuously worse, but it seems like all the pods I have talked to in my area are pretty happy with their outlook/compensation, and even new grads are getting good compensation (mostly hospital jobs) right out of residency.

Just know your success will be up to you. Nothing will be handed to you because you finish your residency (unless you have some serious connections). Once your near the end of your residency this not being the case will not seem fair and might cause some resentment when you see the opportunities for so many other healthcare professions. Certainly some do get great jobs in the area they want to live and it works out great from day one.

Podiatry is slowly changing, but it is still mainly private practice. Private practice (ownership) involves a greater element of risk, struggle and more hours, less vacation, especially in the beginning. It seems the younger generation wants a good living, and also lots of vacation and work life balance…..can’t blame them but private practice podiatry does not always offer this. If you own you own practice and get a partner or associate it might. Being the associate it probably will not offer this.

Generally avoid working for another podiatrist (there are exceptions) other than to learn the business aspect to open your own practice…….do not tell them this of course or once you become board certified your odds to get a good job increase. This is unfortunately where most the jobs are for new residency graduates. Most successful podiatrists do not stay more than 3 or 4 years unless they are one of the few in a great situation with partnership and surgical center ownership,….more income potential and more debt. Going solo also involves more debt also.

Good hospital, ortho, MSG, VA, FQHC jobs exist but are more competitive. Are you willing to be geographically open? If so you increase your odds some.

Remember you can do wel in podiatry, but some struggle. Those struggling are invisible, Everyone knows and shadows the successful podiatrists in their area. Some professions have a narrow salary range where all in the profession make the same….this is not podiatry.

If you really want to do foot surgery and understand the initial struggle many face and are willing to switch jobs, remain geographically open and move if necessary, willing to take on even more debt for partnership/surgical center or going solo you might end up loving this profession, make a great living, and eventually you might have a great work/life balance.

Again there is less of a guarantee of doing well just because of your degree and training compared to many professions where most do about the same.

 

[AedesA]

Why not stay in pharmacy since you already have an established career????? Please don’t do this to chase the money because you’ll be set back a minimum of 7 years with zero guarantees you will earn more. As a new school with zero history, tread very carefully. Risk wise - a lot. Will it be accredited? Will it close down? Quality of faculty, resources, support network?

If you’re willing to see through this you better be willing to work and sacrifice because you’re going against 640 other new grads in 7 years for a handful of hospital/high paying jobs. The odds are highly stacked against you my friend. Not impossible but this is the truth.

Should clarify, I worked as a tech from high school through college. I would not consider a pharmacy tech a career. I am not going to this school in Texas, I will be starting at SCPM.

 

[Pronation]

Should clarify, I worked as a tech from high school through college. I would not consider a pharmacy tech a career. I am not going to this school in Texas, I will be starting at SCPM.

If I were in your shoes, I would look at PA school or even nursing school with a path towards CRNA or NP.

Even though I make good money and live in a decent area (not rural), this is not the area that I would have chosen to live if the job market was as robust as PA/NP/CRNA where you can go anywhere you want - you absolutely will not have the luxury of choosing a good paying job and your ideal location with podiatry, you can generally get one or the other, but not both.

 

[AedesA]

Just know your success will be up to you. Nothing will be handed to you because you finish your residency (unless you have some serious connections). Once your near the end of your residency this not being the case will not seem fair and might cause some resentment when you see the opportunities for so many other healthcare professions. Certainly some do get great jobs in the area they want to live and it works out great from day one.

Podiatry is slowly changing, but it is still mainly private practice. Private practice (ownership) involves a greater element of risk, struggle and more hours, less vacation, especially in the beginning. It seems the younger generation wants a good living, and also lots of vacation and work life balance…..can’t blame them but private practice podiatry does not always offer this. If you own you own practice and get a partner or associate it might. Being the associate it probably will not offer this.

Generally avoid working for another podiatrist (there are exceptions) other than to learn the business aspect to open your own practice…….do not tell them this of course or once you become board certified your odds to get a good job increase. This is unfortunately where most the jobs are for new residency graduates. Most successful podiatrists do not stay more than 3 or 4 years unless they are one of the few in a great situation with partnership and surgical center ownership,….more income potential and more debt. Going solo also involves more debt also.

Good hospital, ortho, MSG, VA, FQHC jobs exist but are more competitive. Are you willing to be geographically open? If so you increase your odds some.

Remember you can do wel in podiatry, but some struggle. Those struggling are invisible, Everyone knows and shadows the successful podiatrists in their area. Some professions have a narrow salary range where all in the profession make the same….this is not podiatry.

If you really want to do foot surgery and understand the initial struggle many face and are willing to switch jobs, remain geographically open and move if necessary, willing to take on even more debt for partnership/surgical center or going solo you might end up loving this profession, make a great living, and eventually you might have a great work/life balance.

Again there is less of a guarantee of doing well just because of your degree and training compared to many professions where most do about the same.

Thank you, I really appreciate the thorough write up. You mentioned Podiatry is slowly changing, do you think it is changing for the better or worse? I have read plenty of horror stories of podiatrists working for other pods, even heard one first hand that was pretty bad, so I plan on landing a hospital/MSG job. I am fairly open on where I live/work, the region I live in does not have many pods, and most are pretty old, so I don't know how many will still be working in 7 years from now. I also do not plan on living in a major city, so from what I have seen that should help my odds? I have read working in more rural areas can pay well.

Honestly it just can be kind of concerning, maybe I just need to read less of the posts on here, but generally it seems like there is a lot of good information that gets discussed on here. Again, I appreciate the info!

 

[Redsting]

I am still pissed the powers that be in podiatry allowed this to happen. Dean at my school has told me twice in the last 5 years that they aren't getting good applicants and are struggling to fill the spots.
I want a Q&A with Harkless.
How does anyone with an IQ higher than 7 think that this is a good idea? These are the people who make the board pass rate at 30% cause its good for the profession when Ortho and others are 98%. Its all about money... dude is going to die in the next 10 years, just enjoy the money you screwed other people out of.
We didn't/don't have enough residency spots, not enough good jobs, terrible location.

 

[dtrack22]

I would look at PA school

PAs are effectively capped from an income standpoint. They cannot (and should not) practice independently and aren’t required for a hospital, OR, clinic to function like an RN is. Sure you can be an RN in a saturated market and be making $25-30 an hour, but the opportunity to make $50-100 an hour (or higher depending on how long this travel need lasts) is there all over. RNs have admin routes and can go NP or CRNA where you can be more like $250-400k.

I know people will say that everyone on this board makes good money so don’t listen to us, but the fact remains: a majority of job openings across the country and for new grads are associate jobs in private practice. So a majority of younger DPMs are going to spend years making $100-160k. Some even less. That isn’t debateble. Just because 6 people on SDN have good jobs and a few of them know that “all of their classmates” or “friends” have similar jobs, doesn’t mean that most job openings are associate positions in podiatry groups. Or worse, hello nursing home nail care!

If you are content with not having many (if any) alternative employment options, like non clinical admin or consulting work, and if you are ok with only ever treating foot and ankle conditions and you are willing to go where the job is, then Podiatry can be great. But you will never open up a jobs listing site and see $300k podiatry jobs available all over the country and you can just pick where you want to go live. Most MD/DOs can. Most CRNAs and NPs can. All RNs can. PAs can but it’s at a much lower salary. Thats the reality. I didn’t make more than a $100k salary and I magically never bonused in the first 3 years of my career. Sure, I have a good gig now, but it was luck and for the foreseeable future the opportunity for a similar position in my corner of the state will be completely non existent. A graduating resident from the area has 0 opportunity to come back and get paid like I do because I beat them to it and I work for the only facility who is going to employ a podiatrist. Every facility is the region is looking for various medical specialties and nurses and CRNAs and NPs. Not one podiatry opening and there won’t be for the foreseeable future. That’s the reality of podiatry.

 

[PTPuser]

I'm doing what @dtrack22 suggested. God willing if I make it, I'll drive a damn van, inhale that dermal dust and beg for more of those fritos nail part time while building my own shop from the ground up until it runs smoothly. I've sacrificed way too much effort, time and money into this process not to go all out.

 

[air bud]

PAs are effectively capped from an income standpoint. They cannot (and should not) practice independently and aren’t required for a hospital, OR, clinic to function like an RN is. Sure you can be an RN in a saturated market and be making $25-30 an hour, but the opportunity to make $50-100 an hour (or higher depending on how long this travel need lasts) is there all over. RNs have admin routes and can go NP or CRNA where you can be more like $250-400k.

I know people will say that everyone on this board makes good money so don’t listen to us, but the fact remains: a majority of job openings across the country and for new grads are associate jobs in private practice. So a majority of younger DPMs are going to spend years making $100-160k. Some even less. That isn’t debateble. Just because 6 people on SDN have good jobs and a few of them know that “all of their classmates” or “friends” have similar jobs, doesn’t mean that most job openings are associate positions in podiatry groups. Or worse, hello nursing home nail care!

If you are content with not having many (if any) alternative employment options, like non clinical admin or consulting work, and if you are ok with only ever treating foot and ankle conditions and you are willing to go where the job is, then Podiatry can be great. But you will never open up a jobs listing site and see $300k podiatry jobs available all over the country and you can just pick where you want to go live. Most MD/DOs can. Most CRNAs and NPs can. All RNs can. PAs can but it’s at a much lower salary. Thats the reality. I didn’t make more than a $100k salary and I magically never bonused in the first 3 years of my career. Sure, I have a good gig now, but it was luck and for the foreseeable future the opportunity for a similar position in my corner of the state will be completely non existent. A graduating resident from the area has 0 opportunity to come back and get paid like I do because I beat them to it and I work for the only facility who is going to employ a podiatrist. Every facility is the region is looking for various medical specialties and nurses and CRNAs and NPs. Not one podiatry opening and there won’t be for the foreseeable future. That’s the reality of podiatry.

I have an area maybe half the size of new England locked down? The county I live in is larger than Vermont. There are ZERO opportunities for anyone else if I am here.

 

[icebreaker32]

Thank you, I really appreciate the thorough write up. You mentioned Podiatry is slowly changing, do you think it is changing for the better or worse? I have read plenty of horror stories of podiatrists working for other pods, even heard one first hand that was pretty bad, so I plan on landing a hospital/MSG job. I am fairly open on where I live/work, the region I live in does not have many pods, and most are pretty old, so I don't know how many will still be working in 7 years from now. I also do not plan on living in a major city, so from what I have seen that should help my odds? I have read working in more rural areas can pay well.

Honestly it just can be kind of concerning, maybe I just need to read less of the posts on here, but generally it seems like there is a lot of good information that gets discussed on here. Again, I appreciate the info!

How I meant podiatry is slowly changing is that there are more employed jobs at MSG, Ortho etc and also that solo private practice is slowly declining. Unfortunately there are no where near enough good jobs for all graduating residents.

As far as not living in a large city, that helps to an extent if far from a school.

Once you have put the time and money into this profession it will be so frustrating to worry about a job when you get near the end of your residency when so many other professions have multiple offers with signing bonuses, relocation, loan repayment etc pretty much wherever they want to live (or close to it at least). You will not know these feelings and frustrations until you have lived it.

No matter how optimistic you are are now, statistically your first job will be as an associate and it probably will not be great.

 

[Hungry_Anxiety8703]

Harkless needs to get a life outside of podiatry Jesus man get a hobby and go away already

 

[deleted1138023]

I have an area maybe half the size of new England locked down? The county I live in is larger than Vermont. There are ZERO opportunities for anyone else if I am here.

I just emailed your boss that I will work for $50,000 less

 

[zircushio]

You will not know these feelings and frustrations until you have lived it.

Preach. I can talk about the positives of podiatry but we should talk about the truth of it too. It is incredibly exhausting becoming and being a pod - and had I known about this in retrospect before beginning, I would have saved myself the heartache. It isn't to say this job is not fulfilling, but I would be lying if I said you don't get sad with all these barriers - even ones you don't anticipate like base-level respect from other specialities.

One example - our hospital always kicked pod cases to the LAST of the queue for add-ons or scheduled cases. Every. Single. Time. Necrotizing fasciitis? LAST. Trauma? LAST. That meant if you were on call, you'd be stuck doing cases >9 PM minimum, likely 1-2 AM even if you put your case request in first. That knee scope is going before you. I only had one pod attending who argued with the OR scheduler saying patient could die from nec fasc to get us bumped up on a Saturday. We are a massive hospital system in the Northeast. It's little things like this that wear you down over time. Anecdotal, but if you join a hospital system that doesn't like pods like mine or the ones in Seattle, etc - good luck keeping a positive attitude being the bottom of the totem pole 24/7.

I won't even open the can of worms about my residency experience - great surgical training, just rough in-hospital politics that cost me a lot of mental health lol

I was in on Bitcoin in 2012, had my own crypto business with 40+ BTC in the bank. I liquidated it all at the time ($26k) to help pay my way through pod school - I am a first gen immigrant with limited help. Do I regret that? I'd have $2,720,000 in BTC if I just stuck to my guns and hodled. But alas, the American/Immigrant dream is alive and well with my golden dremel.

 

[deleted1138023]

I was in on Bitcoin in 2012, had my own crypto business with 40+ BTC in the bank. I liquidated it all at the time ($26k) to help pay my way through pod school - I am a first gen immigrant with limited help. Do I regret that? I'd have $2,720,000 in BTC if I just stuck to my guns and hodled. But alas, the American/Immigrant dream is alive and well with my golden dremel.

There’s still a chance with ADA man…

 

[Pronation]

Preach. I can talk about the positives of podiatry but we should talk about the truth of it too. It is incredibly exhausting becoming and being a pod - and had I known about this in retrospect before beginning, I would have saved myself the heartache. It isn't to say this job is not fulfilling, but I would be lying if I said you don't get sad with all these barriers - even ones you don't anticipate like base-level respect from other specialities.

One example - our hospital always kicked pod cases to the LAST of the queue for add-ons or scheduled cases. Every. Single. Time. Necrotizing fasciitis? LAST. Trauma? LAST. That meant if you were on call, you'd be stuck doing cases >9 PM minimum, likely 1-2 AM even if you put your case request in first. That knee scope is going before you. I only had one pod attending who argued with the OR scheduler saying patient could die from nec fasc to get us bumped up on a Saturday. We are a massive hospital system in the Northeast. It's little things like this that wear you down over time. Anecdotal, but if you join a hospital system that doesn't like pods like mine or the ones in Seattle, etc - good luck keeping a positive attitude being the bottom of the totem pole 24/7.

I won't even open the can of worms about my residency experience - great surgical training, just rough in-hospital politics that cost me a lot of mental health lol

I was in on Bitcoin in 2012, had my own crypto business with 40+ BTC in the bank. I liquidated it all at the time ($26k) to help pay my way through pod school - I am a first gen immigrant with limited help. Do I regret that? I'd have $2,720,000 in BTC if I just stuck to my guns and hodled. But alas, the American/Immigrant dream is alive and well with my golden dremel.

At least you didn’t diamond hand a nurse’s salary for 6 years working for another podiatrist.

 

[CutsWithFury]

There’s still a chance with ADA man…

Did we just become best friends?

 

[wakaflocka88]

Preach. I can talk about the positives of podiatry but we should talk about the truth of it too. It is incredibly exhausting becoming and being a pod - and had I known about this in retrospect before beginning, I would have saved myself the heartache. It isn't to say this job is not fulfilling, but I would be lying if I said you don't get sad with all these barriers - even ones you don't anticipate like base-level respect from other specialities.

One example - our hospital always kicked pod cases to the LAST of the queue for add-ons or scheduled cases. Every. Single. Time. Necrotizing fasciitis? LAST. Trauma? LAST. That meant if you were on call, you'd be stuck doing cases >9 PM minimum, likely 1-2 AM even if you put your case request in first. That knee scope is going before you. I only had one pod attending who argued with the OR scheduler saying patient could die from nec fasc to get us bumped up on a Saturday. We are a massive hospital system in the Northeast. It's little things like this that wear you down over time. Anecdotal, but if you join a hospital system that doesn't like pods like mine or the ones in Seattle, etc - good luck keeping a positive attitude being the bottom of the totem pole 24/7.

I won't even open the can of worms about my residency experience - great surgical training, just rough in-hospital politics that cost me a lot of mental health lol

I was in on Bitcoin in 2012, had my own crypto business with 40+ BTC in the bank. I liquidated it all at the time ($26k) to help pay my way through pod school - I am a first gen immigrant with limited help. Do I regret that? I'd have $2,720,000 in BTC if I just stuck to my guns and hodled. But alas, the American/Immigrant dream is alive and well with my golden dremel.

That my friend, is why fellowships exist. The fellow can call me when the patient is being wheeled in while I enjoy my evening.

 

[deleted1138023]

Don’t speak so soon legislation has been introduced to increase PA‘s and NP‘s pay to $226K at the VA and RN (yes, registered nurse) pay to up to >$200K @ the VA. NP’s already have full practice authority no different than MD/DOs in the VA (the same can be said for them in like half of all states nationwide). Their lobbying is out of this world. See Lauren Underwood-D’s RAISE Act

I support that legislation. higher there's are maybe we'll get increased.. maybe.....

 

[619]

One example - our hospital always kicked pod cases to the LAST of the queue for add-ons or scheduled cases. Every. Single. Time. Necrotizing fasciitis? LAST. Trauma? LAST. That meant if you were on call, you'd be stuck doing cases >9 PM minimum, likely 1-2 AM even if you put your case request in first. That knee scope is going before you. I only had one pod attending who argued with the OR scheduler saying patient could die from nec fasc to get us bumped up on a Saturday. We are a massive hospital system in the Northeast. It's little things like this that wear you down over time. Anecdotal, but if you join a hospital system that doesn't like pods like mine or the ones in Seattle, etc - good luck keeping a positive attitude being the bottom of the totem pole 24/7

To me, this is huge and massive. After leaving PP and going solo, I never do any more add-on cases because I don't answer to anyone neither do I need to impress anyone. I aways schedule my in-patient case no matter what. Patient with gas in soft tissue? admit on IV antibiotics and it can wait to be scheduled. Routine toe amp? I keep them till my dedicated surgery day before taking patient to the OR. I don't even bother squeezing in lunch time cases anymore. I like to actually take my hour lunch and relax before afternoon clinic.

As others have said above, podiatry is what it is. Most new grads will start out in PP making $100k no matter how optimistic you are. Every folk on this board is making $300k - $400k or more which is very true but it is not representative of the entire podiatry world. In every job you either earn or learn and ideally you want both. In PP as an associate, you don't earn much but you can learn a lot and use that knowledge to climb to better job opportunities or go solo if your heart desires.

 

[DYK343]

One example - our hospital always kicked pod cases to the LAST of the queue for add-ons or scheduled cases. Every. Single. Time. Necrotizing fasciitis? LAST. Trauma? LAST. That meant if you were on call, you'd be stuck doing cases >9 PM minimum, likely 1-2 AM even if you put your case request in first. That knee scope is going before you. I only had one pod attending who argued with the OR scheduler saying patient could die from nec fasc to get us bumped up on a Saturday. We are a massive hospital system in the Northeast. It's little things like this that wear you down over time. Anecdotal, but if you join a hospital system that doesn't like pods like mine or the ones in Seattle, etc - good luck keeping a positive attitude being the bottom of the totem pole 24/7.

If this is actually true (which - I honestly doubt) I would be in the hospital admin office fighting for my patients life.

No one is not going to allow a nec fasc patient go at the end of the day. You call the other surgeons in front of you and tell them you have to bump them. That’s how that works.

A standard I&D won’t bump cases unless it’s nec fasc or patient is rapidly declining due to infection.

If this is true you need to be in the administration office asap.

Also, said it plenty of times on here. If you want to be a DPM in the northeast it’s gonna be an uphill battle. The relationship with ortho and gen surg is sour up there. It’s not like that in other parts of the country. Parts of the south and Seattle also have tough markets.

 

[SouthPod7]

To me, this is huge and massive. After leaving PP and going solo, I never do any more add-on cases because I don't answer to anyone neither do I need to impress anyone. I aways schedule my in-patient case no matter what. Patient with gas in soft tissue? admit on IV antibiotics and it can wait to be scheduled. Routine toe amp? I keep them till my dedicated surgery day before taking patient to the OR. I don't even bother squeezing in lunch time cases anymore. I like to actually take my hour lunch and relax before afternoon clinic.

As others have said above, podiatry is what it is. Most new grads will start out in PP making $100k no matter how optimistic you are. Every folk on this board is making $300k - $400k or more which is very true but it is not representative of the entire podiatry world. In every job you either earn or learn and ideally you want both. In PP as an associate, you don't earn much but you can learn a lot and use that knowledge to climb to better job opportunities or go solo if your heart desires.

If I sat on a gas case like that I’m almost positive I’d lose my job and/or my license.

 

[ExperiencedDPM]

here are the faces who are trying to ruin our profession. why did no one stop this? why did we let the greed win? watch the video above. they are willing to accept pretty much anybody.

Pathetic and 100% not necessary. I had a conversation with the Dean of TUSPM a few months ago and he said that the applicant pool is horrible and he seemed pretty distraught.

The last thing this profession needs is another school with a lower bar.

Another band of thieves looking to cash in.

 

[ExperiencedDPM]

Mustache pods licking their lips on who they can exploit their way to retirement

Don’t mustaches go well with 10 gallon hats?

 

[HardRoadPaved]

Don’t mustaches go well with 10 gallon hats?

If its in Texas then we need Sam Elliott style mustaches and hats. Everything is bigger in Texas

 

[diabeticfootdr]

Pathetic and 100% not necessary. I had a conversation with the Dean of TUSPM a few months ago and he said that the applicant pool is horrible and he seemed pretty distraught.

The last thing this profession needs is another school with a lower bar.

Another band of thieves looking to cash in.

The Texas school already has more than 80 applicants for the 2022 class with an average GPA of 3.8, 100% are from Texas. None of these candidates are also applying to TUSPM.

 

[CutsWithFury]

The Texas school already has more than 80 applicants for the 2022 class with an average GPA of 3.8, 100% are from Texas. None of these candidates are also applying to TUSPM.

This is because they are offering ridiculously lower tuition. Has nothing to do with the quality of the school.

Is Harkless going to create more residency positions this time around? Or single handedly create another shortage?

 

[diabeticfootdr]

This is because they are offering ridiculously lower tuition. Has nothing to do with the quality of the school.

Is Harkless going to create more residency positions this time around? Or single handedly create another shortage?

It seems like there are a lot of doomsday predictions on SDN but no one really understands the landscape. The Texas Board of Regents requires an equal number of residency spots INSIDE THE STATE OF TEXAS for the class size. By 2026, we will need to create about 18-20 more first year spots in Texas. Governor Abbott recently signed legislation funding the first year of residency for new podiatry programs in Texas, so that new/existing programs don't have to wait 1 year to be funded by CMS GME. They'll be funded by the state immediately.

We should be proud of how far our profession has come which now led to the opening of the first state-sponsored school. The government and taxpayers of Texas think podiatry is that important. Yes, the tuition will be much lower, but that's not driving the applications. Being added to the TMDSAS that now lists podiatry as an option in the central application service for all Texas public medical, dental, veterinary schools is driving applications. Now applicants can learn about podiatry and with a single click, apply. It will lead to a net increase in applicants to other schools, not a decrease.

 

[dtrack22]

It seems like there are a lot of doomsday predictions on SDN but no one really understands the landscape.

I don’t really care about residency slots. Let’s ignore the fact that training across the board in Texas is very average. There are a couple of great programs and some garbage programs and everything else in between. The big hospital systems are relatively podiatry unfriendly (ie Baylor Scott & White). There is only one residency program in an academic facility that is considered “equal” to the other residents and their orthopedic counterparts. The spots being opened up are going to be average at best. Again, not what I care about.

The issue I have is that we don’t need to graduate 600+ new podiatrists every year. Until I can open up a job site and see fair paying jobs open throughout the country, we have too many podiatrists. Until I get semi-routine emails from recruiters looking for a podiatrist to fill an opening that pays more than $120k, we have too many podiatrists. A majority of job openings are still working for another podiatrist, who isn’t actually busy enough to hire, making PA wages until you decide to leave. We are driving down wages so that academic and admin types (ie Harkless) can make a buck. You’ll always find someone with a pulse who can fill seats at a podiatry school, so my hopes that this whole thing fails, or at least drives another podiatry school into closure, will never come true. But there is zero reason to open a new school and graduate even more podiatry students/residents.

 

[wakaflocka88]

The Texas school already has more than 80 applicants for the 2022 class with an average GPA of 3.8, 100% are from Texas. None of these candidates are also applying to TUSPM.

Respectfully, I understand the optimism but again - the end goal does not make sense at all. Why do we need 40-50 more grads per year? How does this benefit the profession and need? It has been discussed extensively on here - if the demand is what you believe it is in Texas, why do the earning potentials not match up?

From a political standpoint, sure opening a state funded school in a large state like Texas is an accomplishment but geographically it makes zero sense. How are students supposed to be exposed to full spectrum podiatry in a small rural location without the academic resources of its larger main campuses/satellite locations? Again if this already doesnt add up, the rest will not either. There is more evidence to support a financial ego gain for Harkless & Co. along with the governing boards that approve of this than there is to the profession as a whole. Just because something has been signed to create more residency does NOT equate to QUALITY programs. Are you telling me every 600 grad we train each year all received similar caliber training when we know 4 residents and a student scrub into a single toe amp?

There’s a difference between increasing public awareness and knowledge of our profession to future students but this avenue is just wrong. There is more against it than there is for it. It’s as if the concept of supply and demand doesn’t apply to podiatry 😂 at least not to the bottom half that’s not part of the politics/admin/money grabbers.

 

[Pronation]

I don’t really care about residency slots. Let’s ignore the fact that training across the board in Texas is very average. There are a couple of great programs and some garbage programs and everything else in between. The big hospital systems are relatively podiatry unfriendly (ie Baylor Scott & White). There is only one residency program in an academic facility that is considered “equal” to the other residents and their orthopedic counterparts. The spots being opened up are going to be average at best. Again, not what I care about.

The issue I have is that we don’t need to graduate 600+ new podiatrists every year. Until I can open up a job site and see fair paying jobs open throughout the country, we have too many podiatrists. Until I get semi-routine emails from recruiters looking for a podiatrist to fill an opening that pays more than $120k, we have too many podiatrists. A majority of job openings are still working for another podiatrist, who isn’t actually busy enough to hire, making PA wages until you decide to leave. We are driving down wages so that academic and admin types (ie Harkless) can make a buck. You’ll always find someone with a pulse who can fill seats at a podiatry school, so my hopes that this whole thing fails, or at least drives another podiatry school into closure, will never come true. But there is zero reason to open a new school and graduate even more podiatry students/residents.

It seems that you aren't really understanding the landscape. Without continuing to flood the market with more supply than demand, how will the crusty old private practice pod buddies fill their crappy associate positions for insultingly low wages?

 

[dtrack22]

UT southwestern, Baylor University Hopsital, Texas Tech and William Beaumont/TT, UT Austin, UTMB Galveston, UTHSC Houston, Baylor College of Medicine Houston…which one of these academic centers in the state of Texas will be opening up a Podiatry residency program?

Vs how many seats will they try and force established programs to add? Or how many will be new programs with community DPMs and small community hospitals without other academic services? How about one of the UTRGV founders or faculty members make a bet with me that zero seats will be opened at the above mentioned medical centers?

 

[deleted1138023]

This texas school is a bad idea and is being justified because there are no podiatrists in rural texas. there’s also no podiatrists on mars. Go to any city over 200k+ and you will find oversaturation. This is bad for podiatry and will drive down salaries overall.

 

[deleted1138023]

UT southwestern, Baylor University Hopsital, Texas Tech and William Beaumont/TT, UT Austin, UTMB Galveston, UTHSC Houston, Baylor College of Medicine Houston…which one of these academic centers in the state of Texas will be opening up a Podiatry residency program?

Vs how many seats will they try and force established programs to add? Or how many will be new programs with community DPMs and small community hospitals without other academic services? How about one of the UTRGV founders or faculty members make a bet with me that zero seats will be opened at the above mentioned medical centers?

Off service rotations at community hospitals/non academic institutions are terrible. The divide between education between residency programs in our profession is huge. Sure some of these community hospitals can have decent podiatrists doing surgery, but your “medical” knowledge will be limited. i guess you can argue it doesn’t really matter if you know how to workup a NSTEMI… but I think overall I’m a better podiatrist because I got really good offservice “medical” training

 

[FedPod]

As a student this forum was very helpful in learning about our profession. As a resident , it helped knowing others were suffering equally. But , now I just watch the optimists vs the doom and gloom trolls.

Just like all the other professions represented on sdn there is competition. Competition between professions/schools/students and competition between residents for jobs.

I went to podiatry school in Iowa. Proximity to home was a factor. I wasn’t going to go to podiatry school in the N.E or Miami. If there was a school in Texas at the time , I likely would have considered them as an option.

I doubt I am the only college student to have
been influenced by location. It seems reasonable to have a podiatry school in an area that students would have otherwise not considered our profession.

I have initiated the process to start a residency at my hospital system. I have several other colleagues that are doing the same in areas around the country. This has nothing to do w the Texas school. It’s the next step for the 10-15 yr out grad era. There will be more residencies. Great students will get great residences. Great residents will get the great jobs.

 

[heybrother]

Thank you for trying to start a residency. Perhaps it can take in some of the unmatched students from this unneeded Texas school.

 

[FedPod]

Thank you for trying to start a residency. Perhaps it can take in some of the unmatched students from this unneeded Texas school.

I don’t have an affiliation/ agreement with any school. We will consider the most qualified candidates , as I think all residencies should.


Unless DMU refunds my tuition plus interest - then I may specialize in unmatched DMU grads.
Jk- this is anonymous right?

 

[heybrother]

I don’t have an affiliation/ agreement with any school. We will consider the most qualified candidates , as I think all residencies should.


Unless DMU refunds my tuition plus interest - then I may specialize in unmatched DMU grads.
Jk- this is anonymous right?

DMU asked me for a donation about a month after I graduated so I suspect you couldn't pry your tuition out of their cold dead hands.

 

[CutsWithFury]

As a student this forum was very helpful in learning about our profession. As a resident , it helped knowing others were suffering equally. But , now I just watch the optimists vs the doom and gloom trolls.

Just like all the other professions represented on sdn there is competition. Competition between professions/schools/students and competition between residents for jobs.

The job market for podiatry has been historically terrible. Since COVID its been almost laughable. 95% of residents graduating are going to go into private practice with another podiatrist or group making 100-120K base salary and an unattainable bonus criteria built into their contract. These are the facts. Seven years of education and residency training to make a salary comparable to a nurse, PA, teacher, etc. This is not competition. This is the very definition of over saturation in the profession.

 

[ExperiencedDPM]

The Texas school already has more than 80 applicants for the 2022 class with an average GPA of 3.8, 100% are from Texas. None of these candidates are also applying to TUSPM.

100% from Texas? I can’t imagine that any school would be proud of that number vs diversity.

A GPA of 3.8 is meaningless to me. It is completely dependent on the quality of the undergraduate institution.

MCAT scores put the players on a more level playing field.

But once again, no one is going to convince me there is a need for another school.

 

[air bud]

I am a product of this ....

Off service rotations at community hospitals/non academic institutions are terrible. The divide between education between residency programs in our profession is huge. Sure some of these community hospitals can have decent podiatrists doing surgery, but your “medical” knowledge will be limited. i guess you can argue it doesn’t really matter if you know how to workup a NSTEMI… but I think overall I’m a better podiatrist because I got really good offservice “medical” training

 

[deleted1138023]

The job market for podiatry has been historically terrible. Since COVID its been almost laughable. 95% of residents graduating are going to go into private practice with another podiatrist or group making 100-120K base salary and an unattainable bonus criteria built into their contract. These are the facts. Seven years of education and residency training to make a salary comparable to a nurse, PA, teacher, etc. This is not competition. This is the very definition of over saturation in the profession.

what's the real difference between a resident salary and what these fresh attendings are making? it's honestly not much once you include the increased taxes, inflation rising, having to pay more on loans because "attending" salary.. this is sad.. very sad.

 

[deleted1138023]

fun fact: JPS is the only good podiatry program in Texas.

 

[air bud]

fun fact: JPS is the only good podiatry program in Texas.

Well....

 

[dtrack22]

Well....

ToeFather is right

95% of residents graduating are going to go into private practice with another podiatrist or group making 100-120K base salary and an unattainable bonus criteria built into their contract.

95% is hyperbole. But whatever the real number is, it’s still too high. Easily a majority and I think 75-80% is probably more accurate.

We could increase overall graduate quality, get rid of the bad training programs, and increase pay and job opportunities for all of us simply by limiting enrollment into podiatry schools. It would be better for the profession, worse for people involved with the schools themselves.

I live in a town with 250-300k people. There are 11 podiatrists. 3 are hospital employed, one in an ortho group, one in a poor patient MSG/clinic, the rest private practice. 2 F&A orthos. This is by no means a desirable location, it’s not a major metro or up and coming city/destination. It’s saturated with podiatrists, already. Why do we feel the need to pump out more?

 

[deleted1138023]

ToeFather is right

stay tuned. I'm thinking of ranking all 200+ programs in order from 1-200.

 

[Weirdy]

Its easy to fill a Texas school with Texas applicants that have high GPAs and MCATs.....because there are also an abundance of Texas MD/DO schools with applicants who do NOT make it into those programs despite high grades. The point about statistics is null and void. It is a clout factor. We all know what high statistic applicants can yield in terms of work ethic, social skills, and ego. It is a double edged sword. I can't imagine what that school is promising to those students during those interviews. It must look so very rose colored.

It is encouraging that the state is funding residency slots directly. The answer remains- what will the quality of your residency programs be like? They couldn't even get an affiliation with UT-RGV. I can't imagine UTSW, Baylor, UTMB Galveston, A&M etc welcoming podiatry with arms wide open.

Again- this entire pride in making a school in Texas, for Texas, by Texas- under the false flag of Texas demand- still does not address that there is ZERO increased demand for foot and ankle specialists.

How many of those 80 applicants will stay in rural areas to practice? How many have already taken a stab at MD/DO and are not falsely lured into DPM with no idea of what the demand, pay, and politics involved are?

 

[heybrother]

Its easy to fill a Texas school with Texas applicants that have high GPAs and MCATs.....because there are also an abundance of Texas MD/DO schools with applicants who do NOT make it into those programs despite high grades. The point about statistics is null and void. It is a clout factor. We all know what high statistic applicants can yield in terms of work ethic, social skills, and ego. It is a double edged sword. I can't imagine what that school is promising to those students during those interviews. It must look so very rose colored.

It is encouraging that the state is funding residency slots directly. The answer remains- what will the quality of your residency programs be like? They couldn't even get an affiliation with UT-RGV. I can't imagine UTSW, Baylor, UTMB Galveston, A&M etc welcoming podiatry with arms wide open.

Again- this entire pride in making a school in Texas, for Texas, by Texas- under the false flag of Texas demand- still does not address that there is ZERO increased demand for foot and ankle specialists.

How many of those 80 applicants will stay in rural areas to practice? How many have already taken a stab at MD/DO and are not falsely lured into DPM with no idea of what the demand, pay, and respect level are?

We'll see where the chips fall. I personally thought the big talk about applications and GPA was meaningless. The whole point of systems like TMDSAS and AMCAS and what not is to make it easy to pound off a bunch of applications for minimal additional fee/effort. By that logic when I applied to 8 schools years ago someone was sitting there saying "lots of apps, lots of apps" - I ghosted like 5 of those schools before ghosting was a term. Anyone can apply. An application is not a matriculation. Strong candidates with 3.8s and shadowing who previously wanted to be general surgeons and dermatologists aren't going to bail on that because they got a call from RGV the day after they applied telling them they were auto-accepted. They are going to sit out a year and reapply. If anything, the podiatry auto-acceptance desperation application service is a turn off. When I got 7 phonecalls the day after I applied I knew something was up. I was in fact slightly revulsed. Last of all, the location is going to work against them. People just saying "the Texas school" need to realize the state is enormous. This area isn't what people think of when they think Texas. When they ask their parents where is Edinburg, what is Harlingen/McAllen etc they're going to get an earful. I've been reading this forum for like a decade now. I'm open to being wrong but here's the thing. Everyone always thinks this profession is going to get better. That something is going to be different. The MCAT average or the GPA is going to go up - blah blah blah. It isn't. The current MCAT average for podiatrists converts to like 18 on the old scale. Its still pathetic. Looking forward to hearing about all those new residencies. Plenty of cities that have enough business to support them. Doubtful that a year of funding is the issue. My town had a podiatry residency. They couldn't meet the rearfoot requirement. They asked ortho for help. Ortho told them to go f&* themselves. They had to shut down.