What I have been told from MD's that I work with is much more frightening than what I have read about DPM's. This is exactly what I see come from a few MD's working at Mayo.
For example, my cousin who graduated top of his class in undergrad/Medschool got a great anesthesiology residency and at the end of his thrid year here he is miserable. WHY?? Well, 80Hrs a week doing the same damn thing while having two young children at home with his unhappy wife. Not to mention that Anes residents work 30hrs straight every thrid day in a surgical ICU and every fourth day all other times. And days off are spent coming in for meetings/ect. Although, hours in Anes get better after residency with well compensated wage, your still doing very few things over and over again. Putting in Arterial Lines, Intubating Morbidly Obese patients, watching over CNRA's which do most of the work, and monitoring meds and strange vital signs. Overall, Anesthesia is a good choice for many because of $$ and good hours for an MD.
Another example, an MD friend of mine, who is internal med, works 80hrs a week/30hrs straight every 4th day in the same stinky hallways dealing with patients with serious GI problems. I told him how stressful this whole process is about how med schools accept people. His reply, "yeah the process sucks, but wait until you start residency, there are a lot more things that will come your way that sucks."
My brother in law, is a top anesthesiologist consultant and now at age 50 he finally got married, bought a house, and got dropped from his on-call weekends for the first time in 20 years.
Also, there are two other older MD's who have discouraged me of going their route. In addition, I did not mention the process/stress some physicians have to go through when a patient dies unexpectedly. Or when some very very little thing happens that doesn't follow the huge guidelines that are placed on MD/DO's within a hospital.
Overall, instead of looking at Podiatry wondering if you will regret this choice, look into the negatives of being an MD/DO and weigh your options. For me, Podiatry is an obvious decision after working with many MD's for two years. WHY? Great Hours, Great $$$, being able to have your own business, and doing everything for your patients. (trust me, now-a-days doctors don't get to have much of a relationship with their patients, unless you become a family physician) Having the power to be creative in your practice also made me turn towards Podiatry. Less competition is GOOD.
Also, I have seen a couple people wondering if they would be able to pay off loans after becoming a DPM. Well considering the statistical data of what the average NET income has been is good news. WHY??
Say that you are a primary care MD/DO: you make about 120-140K after many long years. After taxes: 60-70K is yours.
Say that you become a top MD/DO surgeon after many years (keep in mind that residency is much longer
): you make up to 300K. After taxes: 150K is yours.
However, a DPM who gets a PM&S-36 can make well up to 150-250K depending on how ambitious you are. There are huge tax breaks in owning a business/ part of a business. So your income is probably closer to 125K-175K after taxes. Also, you still don't have to work long hours and can take a vacation somewhat spontaneously. Besides working for the patients, you are working for yourself, not being a slave to a hospital. Heck, if you want hospital resources, you can still be on staff as one of their specialists.