How do you know which practices are good and which aren't?

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KeratinPearls

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So how do you find out which groups are "good" in terms of long term stability and have strong contracts with hospitals? Is a larger group better?

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If you are in training and looking for a job, then there really isn't a way to know. After you have worked somewhere for a while and learned to ask the right questions, then you will be able to tell.
 
Things one can do to test the waters: Ask former employees about the job. There was a job in Florida I knew was being advertised and I asked two pathologists who worked there and they both painted horrid pictures of the markedly unfriendly work environment. I would certainly ask around, shouldn't be too hard to find out about pathology groups. Ask minions too, PA's / histotechs / and lab workers know others who may be able to put you in touch with the right people concerning pathology groups. High turnover is a pretty bad indicator that the group may just in LaDoc's words "looking for someone to sign out meat." I would keep an eye on that. Same thing for academic jobs, I see lots of residents thinking they gonna be solid staying in academics and it can be just as virulent and petty as bad private practice jobs.

On a personal note I do not believe anything compares to interviewing at the group/lab. I would open your eyes while you interview and tour the facilities, one place I went, not only was the pathologist markedly weird and distant (and vague about benefits), the whole lab looked depressed, these may be small signs that should turn a warning bell (is that gonna be YOU in that chair in 6 months).

As far as contracts, usually they will keep the main hospital contract unless someone goofs up royally. I used to worry about individual clinicans/surgeons, but they can be so wishy washy who they send their stuff too at times there is really not much of a point in worrying about, I just do a good job and if they are happy they will stay. Its a good idea to try to weasle out as much info as you can about a group because just out you will be spending an incredible amount of your time at work, I certainly can only hope you find a good place.

I would definitely have an attorney look over your contract, out of training it may be expensive (to review mine was about 1600 dollars) but they really look at it hard and take out redundant b.s. and advise you on things to watch out for. I thought I was smart enough to look at it and to me it looked good, but they point out the small things that I never even thought may be a problem.

At absolute worst case scenario, if you end up somewhere and it isn't what you are looking for, at least you will build that experience to be wiser on the next job hunt. I would never feel bad/guilty for bouncing from a non-desirable work situation, you didn't suffer this long to end up miserable I hope.

Hope this is useful information. Good luck in the job search, I wouldn't want to be in those shoes again.
 
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Agree with the above. Especially if you're from out of town and are unfamiliar with that group's reputation and long-term interaction with clients. That being said, if you're on the interview trail it's perfectly within reason to ask them how long have the current partners been here and has anyone left the group in the last few years, if so why. You may get some sugar-coated answers, but if you really wanted to pursue this question, you could track down former partners and get their take on the group from an insider's perspective. However, because of the job market I think this luxury is exclusive to in-demand, currently employed pathologists with experience who are just testing the waters if there's a better opportunity out there. A lot of people straight out of training are just going to be happy to get any contract they can at this point.
 
1) What happens to new hires? Do they stay on? Or do they all mysteriously leave for "various reasons" after 2-3 years?

2) What is the relationship between group members? Does a subset of the group make all of the decisions or does everyone have a say? Same with distribution of workload.

3) What is the group's relationship with client hospitals, physicians, etc?
 
1) What happens to new hires? Do they stay on? Or do they all mysteriously leave for "various reasons" after 2-3 years?

2) What is the relationship between group members? Does a subset of the group make all of the decisions or does everyone have a say? Same with distribution of workload.

3) What is the group's relationship with client hospitals, physicians, etc?


Good questions. Also:

1. How long has the group had the contract for the hospital?

2. How long is the current contract(s), when will they be renewed?

3. What are the foreseeable roles you will have?

It's impossible to know everything you might have to do and its important to be flexible too, but you want to get an idea. Will you be doing the tumor boards? Will you have administrative and or laboratory responsibilities? Everything might not be spelled out in a contract. You don't want to be, "I don't do that, it's not in the contract".
 
Depends on how bad you want to know. If you want to know about their business relationship with the hospitals/surgeons, ask the hospitals/surgeons -- not just the practice. Ask their competitors. Ask their former employees (not just pathologists). The thing is, if you ask around enough you will always find someone displeased about something, and you need to be able to put that in perspective. It will also eventually come back around that you are asking about them, which can be taken a lot of different ways, not all of them good. But I agree about most of the red flags, like high turnover, some administrative & decision-making processes, a simple bad vibe, unkempt offices or frankly poor quality equipment, reports that just say "probly cancer", and so forth.
 
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