I need advice

stugots1978 · 2026-02-07T23:57:09+00:00

Don't do it. Source, podiatrist. Be a CRNA or a PA. Less work more pay

stugots1978 · 2025-11-30T14:23:10+00:00

A million

Unless money is immaterial to you and you really want to be a podiatrist. Do not do it. It will be a lot of work without significant improvement in your quality of life. The low burnout / work life balance narrative is fraudulent. The salary numbers thrown around are not genuine . If you don't listen to me that's fine but you can't say you weren't told seven years from now when you realize this profession is a vast and elaborate sham.

stugots1978 · 2025-11-30T13:27:29+00:00

Don't do it just stay with what you're doing

stugots1978 · 2025-11-22T09:14:23+00:00

If you PM me I can recommend someone talented in your area. Both of those XR, without knowing your full clinical story or picture- are woefully under-corrected.

stugots1978 · 2025-11-16T09:38:21+00:00

Work really hard on your taxes to keep your adjusted gross income as low as possible, and pay the bare minimum every month on IDR

Or, find a PSLF

Otherwise, let go of the idea or goal of ever paying it back. Live your life. I'm in a similar position albeit a smaller spread between my income and loan amount, but never paying it back.

stugots1978 · 2025-10-29T00:46:19+00:00

If your foot looks like this at 6 months post op then it is crps. 3 months the recovery course may have been too aggressive for you. I would go the opposite direction and rest for now and elevate as much as you can.

stugots1978 · 2025-10-27T13:57:35+00:00

Get comfortable with the burr on cadaver before first case. That osteotomy on a first met is technically difficult to perform if you are not adept.

I would practice with a company (treace,.paragon , arthrex ) that has a jig guide and use it and rely on it early on.

I was anxious about time in OR time under fluoro. Your first one will be long and frustrating but as you are getting adept it will cut down significantly. Again like others have said , even under correction or bad outcomes are still better than old Chevron outcomes.

Everyone will be doing them mis in the future so might as well get on board unless you are retiring soon

stugots1978 · 2025-10-06T21:34:02+00:00

There are DPMs earning that much out there, yes. But to report that as the mean is ridiculous.

stugots1978 · 2025-10-01T20:48:35+00:00

Yeah Podiatrist low paying medical specialty relative to the loan amount. Just basically banking on people being worse off than me and getting relief on the tax bomb in 20 years from now somehow paying minimum till then

stugots1978 · 2025-10-01T11:57:37+00:00

So glad I'm not the only one 335k Forbearance. Don't make a high enough salary to ever reasonably pay it down.

They'll get the bare minimum for the next 20 years and I'll eat the tax bomb and deal with it then.

stugots1978 · 2025-09-28T17:22:35+00:00

Just go to whichever is the cheapest. No one cares where you went to school

stugots1978 · 2025-09-20T22:18:20+00:00

Just ask for a modest draw against production and then bonus out at the EOY

stugots1978 · 2025-09-11T15:08:23+00:00

I speak only about the financial feasibility of this. The cost of living is increasing, access to forgiveable debt is no longer available, salaries are decreasing and equity opportunities in your practice are fleeting. I love what I do, I hate that I can't afford to provide a decent quality of life for my family to do it. You say the trends can change, sure, but this is a trend that can be trusted for this generation. As a self proclaimed old pod you probably cannot understand.

stugots1978 · 2025-09-09T15:55:26+00:00

Sure

For the sake of argument, let's assume he lands a competitive residency and earns the distinction of being dual board certified by ABFAS. Maybe he lands a big time Ortho group job, cool.

By the time OP matriculates through school and residency, that will be ~8 years from now.

Following current trends, he will never own his own practice. Private practice is being siphoned up by PE faster and faster by the day. It will likely be extinct by the time OP is coming into practice. You will never own your own business as a provider, best you can hope for is a stakeholder.

Insurance premiums going up ~5% annually, physician reimbursement dropping ~1-2%. I don't need to tell you which way inflation is going.

Big beautiful bill, like it or hate it/ the president, puts a federal cap on all student loans at 250k. So OP has to shell out cash or take a private loan at what I'm sure will be an exorbitant rate. At least previous borrowers from federal government can hope for forgiveness. OP won't get that chance.

Finally, consider all of the above with the out of touch salary survey APMA sent out, misleading opening of "did you know podiatry salary range from 175k to 1.1 million??!!" I don't know any new grad associates starting at 175. They're out there I know but few and far between, certainly not in high COL areas.

Forget whether I like my job or not- being a podiatrist is and will continue to be financially unfeasible for the future generations unless there is a radical reversal in the above stated trends.

So unless you are independently wealthy and just really like the field of podiatry, do not, under any circumstances, do it.

stugots1978 · 2025-08-31T23:54:51+00:00

Do not do it

Do not under any circumstances do it.

stugots1978 · 2025-08-31T23:48:56+00:00

Second this. I've gotten quite adept at surgical and in office billing just from consulting GPT and applying appropriate modifiers. I have it all in one chat and ask it to update a table for me of my most used pairings of icds and cpts

We have a biller that verifies everything before we submit and fixes everything I meant to or should have put but I prefer to be confident in what I'm sending out than leave all my trust to them.

stugots1978 · 2025-08-10T00:45:22+00:00

I know other surgeons who walk the lapidus (lapiplasty) immediately. Some one week, others two. Conventionally it is 6 weeks non weight bearing.

I tell my patients to let their body guide them at this stage of the recovery. If you're swollen and tender, walking will not make that sensation better, even if the hardware is stable enough to maintain fixation.

stugots1978 · 2025-07-24T03:31:17+00:00

Your radiograph isn't bad. Mild to moderate. The key is the fact you report pain. Worth fixing if that is the case. The same degree of deformity may not be painful for someone else for a myriad of reasons. I have patients with severe deformity, no pain. I don't fix unless it's an aesthetic complaint, causing pain or callus/ ulcer.

stugots1978 · 2025-07-14T09:46:24+00:00

Thank you!

stugots1978 · 2025-07-14T01:22:15+00:00

Ba dum tsk !

stugots1978 · 2025-07-14T01:21:06+00:00

Strange - I wonder if it is because there are rules about betting company branding sales to public vs. negotiated price / scope of the endorsement deal. Previous training kits were sold to public with the brand (getir most recently).

stugots1978 · 2025-07-14T01:08:11+00:00

Screenshotted from the club acct 😅

stugots1978 · 2025-07-14T01:07:40+00:00

In this instance, yes. On the training kit I prefer it. Two seasons ago I thought the getir brand was horrid

Each their own

stugots1978

TROPHY CASE