04/28/2016    Marc Katz, DPM

Current Compensation Rates for New Practitioners Out of Residency (Name Withheld)

I think there are a few important points to
make. I think the profession has issues with
schools putting students over 300K in debt and
presenting misleading information about the
earning potential of podiatrists. That needs to
be addressed by the profession.

Here is my advice. Everyone needs to stop
complaining and take responsibility for their
career choice. We all chose this profession.
If you did your research, here should be no
surprises You need to make the best of it.
Everyone is complaining like they have such
terrible lives, its not true.

Many podiatrists will not make more than a
nurse or NP or PA ever. A few will make
millions. This is not necessarily a high
compensation profession for many. Where do you
want to be? It's all about working hard,
getting some business experience and making
connections. If you want to be successful
realize that this is not a 9-5 job and it is
going to get harder and harder each year as
there will be massive changes.

Podiatry is like any other business. If you
don't like the offers out there or you feel you
are being abused then go open your own
practice. Hospitals and Orthopedic groups may
be good for some people but are often not what
you thought they would be. You are fortunate
that you have the option to run a practice the
way you would like it to happen. You have that
ability, so work hard and make it a reality.
Nobody deserves or is entitled to someone
else's patient's or practice unless they meet
the terms of that doctor or group. That is true
for all businesses and jobs. And that doctor or
group has the right to any terms that they feel
are appropriate. You don't have to agree. Go to
Apple and tell them you've been in school 7
years and are 300K in debt and watch their
blank faces as they offer you an entry level
position and tell you to work your way up to be
a success. That's life!

Reach out to experienced podiatrists for help
if you want to start a practice. Ignore the
podiatrists that are threatened by your
presence. Stop listening to the person who has
a friend who makes 500k there first year and
had the doctor hand them the practice for free.
All of this second-hand information is a
distraction.

Thankfully, I have had a great career in
podiatry and I am happy with my choice. I am
willing to help others, so feel free to contact
me.

Marc Katz, DPM, Tampa, FL

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05/02/2016    Jeff Kittay, DPM

Current Compensation Rates for New Practitioners Out of Residency (Name Withheld)

I was very disappointed to read today's PM News
and see that the discussion of compensation
rates for new practitioners had deteriorated
into a pissing match among our colleagues, one
of whom regularly contributes valuable insights
in this forum, a Dr. Withheld who claims to be
making $500K+ after four years on the job, and
another DPM who perpetuates the myth that DPMs
who have just completed their residencies
should expect at least $100K to $200K to start.
Nurses do NOT routinely make six figures as was
stated. There may indeed be some positions out
there for group or hospital employed
podiatrists that will pay that kind of money
but I suspect that they are the exceptions.
Solo/group practices that can afford to take a
$150K gamble on a doc who may have impeccable
surgical skills but zero experience in practice
management will be few and far between. The
experience of the Dr. who worked for two years
for a group practice and did nothing but raise
their income and was then fired for requesting
a modest and deserved increase in his
percentage is more like the experience I heard
about during my years in practice.

Raising the expectations of residents
throughout the country, only so that they can
find out that much of what they were told was
exaggeration or falsehood, is much like the
problem of enticing new podiatric students into
schools that demand their tuition money and
then abandon them after graduation with "we
never promised you could make a living."
Patently unfair and clearly degrading. The Dr.
from Mississippi may indeed be right about the
future of solo practices. I do not see how an
individual, with all of the ongoing and
proposed rules and regulations which are and
will continue to be extremely expensive to
implement, can survive in this marketplace, and
I for one am glad to be out of it. I wish you
all well and hope that the level of discourse
here in PM News can be brought back to a more
civil level.

Jeff Kittay, DPM (retired), San Isidro, Costa
Rica