04/22/2026    

RESPONSES/COMMENTS (THE FUTURE OF PODIATRY) -PART 2

RE: It’s Time (Rod Tomczak, DPM, MD, EdD)

From: Gary S Smith, DPM

 

I can save you the expense of a survey. People don't go into podiatry because it is silly to do 4 years of medical school and 3 years of mandatory residency only to have your scope of practice limited to the feet. You could do one year of residency and go into family medicine or be a hospitalist and have a much better chance of employment and most likely get paid a lot more money. Many of us warned that this would happen with the mandatory 3 year residency.

 

Many students were lured by the fact they could practice with a 1 year training period, and those who excelled could go on to 3 or 4 year programs and become the premier surgeons of our profession. I like my job. I like doing what I do but I would never suggest that my children do the same. It's just not sensible to do the same training as an MD or DO and then be limited by scope and income.

 

Gary S Smith, DPM, Bradford, PA

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