Unfortunately, we get almost no information on contract negogiations in our residency. Where can I find a primer?

A few questions:
1. From what you've heard, what is the average starting salary for general ophthalmologists? I know this will vary geographically.

2. What is the average time to partnership?

3. Production bonus - I assume this is some percentage of your total billings above a certain amount. What is the normal range? ie, 20% of total billable or 40%???

4. What's the difference between partnership and purchase option (looking at the AAO)?

5. Practice info - what should I look for financially/surgically?
-percentage overhead - what is efficient
-ASC
-good "starting" numbers for phacos/year
-call - usually split equally or bottom dependent?
-normal paid vacation/cme
-etc.

any other advice for the clueless...

thanks.

Starting salary:
Large desireable city=100-150k
Large less desireable city or you are just awesome= 150-200k
In the middle of no where= anything is possible, i.e. 250k

Production bonus:
starts at 2x base, i.e. base 120k, bonus at 240k
good bonus= 35% but can be anywhere 20-40%

Partnership: 2 years

Partnership= you are an equal partner, you have equal say

Purchase= if you purchase 35%, the original partner has 65%, you have no say in changing the practice unless ok'd by the original partner (she/he has majority vote), but you get 35% of the income and 35% of whatever appreciation the practice achieves

Overhead= efficient is <50%

Vacation= 2 weeks first year standard

Hope that helps

contracts vary depending on location. check out healthcare group out of penn. they have a survey that shows what each person responding to survey signed for. having someone help you review your contract is valuable b/c we don't know all of these things going into it. It will cost you though, expect to spend a 750 to 1500. also to have contract review and advice check out wes milliken's site, can't remember the name of it. Someone else will know his site and give the name. those guys can help you with averages etc. Academy is also a great resource and a lot of this information is on there. You will have to be the one negotiating in my experience. Most of these guys won't do it for you and it will cost way too much if they did. Contrary to popular belief you can hit productivity bonus your first year you just have to find the right situation.

Do you have a link to the healthcare goup from Penn?

any thoughts on what a "fair" buy-in would be to join a group of 8 ophthalmologists--no buildings, no ASC, but yes on optical shop revenue ($10,000/yr per partner).