How hard is it to become a podiatrist?

Becoming a podiatrist is quite challenging as it requires a significant amount of education and training. The difficult aspects of becoming a podiatrist include the extensive educational requirements and the rigorous clinical training involved.

How To Become A Podiatrist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a podiatrist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted Expert

Jonathan Labovitz

As a Podiatrist, you will concentrate on the treatment of the feet. You may also treat ankle and lower limb conditions, including ulcers, nerve damage, and sports injuries. You will need to go through extensive training and education before you can treat patients. You need to have a doctorate degree from an accredited institution of podiatric medicine. You also need to have extensive knowledge of anatomy and physiology and undergo training that focuses on treating the lower extremities.

You need to have hands-on experience during your residency training in hospitals and health clinics. After completing at least eight years of education and training, you must pass board certification exams. Fully licensed podiatrists have the letter DPM (Doctors of Podiatric Medicine) after their name. You will treat foot injuries, foot pain, structural foot abnormalities, skin conditions, nail conditions, and plantar fasciitis. You may treat general foot conditions or specialize in specific types of podiatric science such as a sport or wound care.

Education required is a 4-year bachelor's degree, 4-years Doctor of Podiatric Medicine, 3-year residency training, national board certification, and a state license to practice. You can make a yearly salary of about $130,000 to $260,000.

What general advice would you give to a Podiatrist?

Jonathan Labovitz

Western University of Health Sciences

The basic examination and critical thinking skills that make up the foundation of diagnosis and treatment are going to always be the most important skills in your practice. These skills will always give you the basis for patient care. In the future, new technologies will allow you to be more precise and provide more individualized care for patients, so the most important skills will be your ability to critically evaluate the new technologies to ensure they are supported by high quality evidence and, when they do have the evidence, that you have the ability and willingness to apply them to benefit your patient.

ScorePodiatristUS Average

Salary

7.4

Avg. Salary $94,771

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

10.0

Growth Rate 2%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.10%

Asian 13.25%

Black or African American 1.93%

Hispanic or Latino 6.01%

Unknown 4.65%

White 73.05%

Gender

female 60.06%

male 39.94%

Age - 47

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 47

Stress Level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

10.0

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

6.6

Work Life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a podiatrist

Explore podiatrist education requirements

Most common podiatrist degrees

Bachelor's

37.4 %

Doctorate

27.2 %

Diploma

9.2 %

Start to develop specific podiatrist skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	32.49%
EMR	15.66%
Patient Care	10.66%
Medical Care	6.41%
Ankle	3.85%

Complete relevant podiatrist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 2-4 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New podiatrists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a podiatrist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real podiatrist resumes.

Research podiatrist duties and responsibilities

Manage all incoming medical records requests (ensuring office is within HIPPA guidelines).
Utilize ultrasound, x-ray, casting, and orthotics.
Adhere to OSHA, CILA and HIPPA regulations.
Schedule appointments, register patients and verify patients' eligibility and claims status with insurance agencies.

Prepare your podiatrist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your podiatrist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a podiatrist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Podiatrist Resume templates

Build a professional Podiatrist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Podiatrist resume.