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09/18/2023
RESPONSES/COMMENTS (NON-CLINICAL) - PART 2 B
From: Richard J. Manolian, DPM
I thought we established last year that you did a 2-year residency as there were only 2 three-year residencies when you graduated, none of which you matriculated in, but for some reason you keep mentioning it. I also find it odd that you were proud of upselling an elderly patient who came in for nail care and wound up with a $3,000 bill for varied services.
Would you appreciate it if an elderly relative went to an optometrist for a replacement of eyewear and wound up spending $3,000 due to up-selling?
Richard J. Manolian, DPM, Boston, MA
Other messages in this thread:
02/01/2025
RESPONSES/COMMENTS (NON-CLINICAL) - PART 2 B
From: William Clark, DPM
I believe that I have pretty good insights as a semi-recent entrant into the post-residency world. There are many reasons why applicants remain low, and why many of my cohort regret going into podiatry in the first place.
Number 1, far and away, is that pay is too low coming out of residency compared to our MD and DO counterparts, despite having to pay the same amount for school. Sure, you can make decent money at a hospital and in private practice, but these come with their own separate issues. Hospitals require being on call, rounding, 3 months notice for any vacation, and the usual bureaucratic nonsense that doesn’t involve patient care. Many of my cohort wanted to go into private practice, but major issues with this include price for barrier of entry and complete gatekeeping by our older counterparts who constantly scam us, pay us way too little for what we make for the practice, and lie about partnership/ownership potential.
Smaller issues include a complete neglect of the board process where there’s infighting and not knowing which board you’re supposed to be on for which hospital which honestly just makes podiatrists look like hacks. Patients as a whole have gotten completely out of hand with their expectations and lack of trust in the medical community, making it harder to do our jobs. At the end of the day, the biggest reason we’re at this point is due to older generations completely screwing the pooch at federal, state, and local levels, complete abandonment of opportunity for younger generations, and nonsensical gatekeeping of practices.
William Clark, DPM, San Diego, CA
01/31/2025
RESPONSES/COMMENTS (NON-CLINICAL) - PART 2 B
From: Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD
I agree with everyone who claims that podiatry is not well known to the public or to pre-med students. All the letter writers are correct in suggesting that podiatrists need to expose themselves! There are no state laws that forbid any podiatrist from exposing himself or herself to the public. Conway McLean, DPM posts the multiple talks he gives in PM News as do podiatrists almost every day. They should be praised. You may say these aren’t directed toward pre-med students, but I might suggest that exposure to potential patients may ultimately result in Aunt Hortense telling her nephew or niece Lindsey, “there was this nicest foot doctor who gave a talk about heel spurs to our senior citizens’ lunch group.” Trickle down exposure of the profession. Any podiatrist can make arrangements to show up for a meeting with a thumb drive and give a talk. APMA is not going to pay for one of their executives to fly out to present to 20 people, but we can all give that presentation.
APMA has canned lectures you can...
Editor's note: Dr. Tomczak's extended-length letter can be read here.
01/21/2025
RESPONSES/COMMENTS (NON-CLINICAL) - PART 2 B
From: Richard M. Maleski, DPM, RPh
I read with interest the many opinions on the relative lack of interest in podiatry school, as evidenced by the low number of applicants compared to other medical programs. I think that all the opinions expressed are valid. I'm sure there is no one reason for this lack of interest. It is true that some pre-med students don't know about podiatry, but I believe it is also true that many pre-med students DO know about podiatry, and don't want to spend a large portion of their day simply cutting toenails.
We all know that nail care is important, especially in certain patient populations. But we also know that cutting/trimming/debriding nails doesn't require an extensive, rigorous, and expensive 4-4-3 training regimen. Understanding and recognizing pathologies as manifested in nail deformities, and knowing how to treat those deformities is absolutely important and demands the well-trained...
Editor's note: Dr. Maleski's extended-length letter can be read here
01/31/2024
RESPONSES/COMMENTS (NON-CLINICAL) - PART 2 B
From: Cosimo Ricciardi, DPM
I read with curiosity Dr. Ivar Roth’s comments on “practicing ethically” and not “chasing a dollar”.
Perhaps he could expound on his previous post on his ethical conversion of a patient’s $125 cash nail care office visit to a $3,525 cash office visit.
Cosimo Ricciardi, DPM, Fort Walton Beach, FL
07/25/2023
RESPONSES/COMMENTS (NON-CLINICAL) - PART 2 B
From: Elliot Udell, DPM
Thank you George for shining a light on this important area. Covid was akin to a tornado that wrecked all live conventions, including medical conferences. Right now, the APMA, state societies, and other sponsors of conventions are cleaning up "the debris" by once again starting some live conventions even if they have to choose smaller hotel venues. You are correct, many doctors are still not attending. Let's be open and honest about the situation. To attend a live convention, the doctor is forced to pay travel expenses, hotel room expenses and meals, in addition to paying the tuition to the sponsor of the convention. It costs the doctor over a thousand dollars to go to an out-of-town convention.
One of the things I loved when lectured at and attended live conventions was mingling with companies in the booth hall. I learned a lot about new products for my patients, and in many cases got to give them samples provided by the vendors. I assure you that most if not all of my colleagues looked forward to seeing you and talking with you and your colleagues at live conventions. The big question, however, is this: Do the benefits of attending an in-person event make up for going to a "Zoom" convention where the doctor can literally roll out of bed, flick on the computer, attend all of the lectures, and get his or her CME credits at a fraction of the price? This problem will not be resolved overnight but with innovation, maybe we can turn things around.
Elliot Udell, DPM, Hicksville, NY
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