As the new academic year starts, I thought I would take a moment to reflect on why I chose podiatry as my career. Here are my top five reasons:

1.          You get to focus on your specialty right from the beginning.  Podiatry was my second career (I was initially a technical writer) and I liked knowing exactly where I was headed.
2.          As a DPM, you not only get to be a foot doctor, but you also get to be a foot dermatologist, a foot neurologist, a foot radiologist, a foot rheumatologist, a foot biomechanist and, of course, a foot surgeon.
3.          You get to alleviate pain and help your patients maintain their mobility.
4.          You will have work-life flexibility.  You can work three days per week or you can work seven days per week.  You can focus on surgery or you can do no surgery at all. It’s all up to you.  And, unlike my general/vascular surgeon father, you don’t have to take call. 
5.          You will not become obsolete.  Your skills will increase with experience and, in contrast to the high tech world, you will not be pushed out at age 40.

Here’s one more that needs to be added:

1.          Podiatry, by its nature, is hand’s on.  Podiatrists, even if they do not do surgery, are proceduralists and ChatGPT or other AI applications cannot readily replace those skills.