Job thoughts

[90dayMD]

So I am in the midst of my pain fellowship. I have wanted to do pain for a long time and think it's a good skill set to have.
With that said I have the option of doing a physician advisor job - at the previous hospital where I worked at as a generalist.

My ultimate goal would be to be an administrator, CEO type position. Whether that will be possible or not long term I am not sure.
But I have always like the administrative part.

I feel that an advisor job would definitely be a right move in the right direction, although at the same time I feel like if I went tha troute the interventional aspect would be gone.

I am uncertain what to do. I believe the physician advisor gig pays in the 300k range plus bonus whereas a starting pain gig would pay about the same, I am assuming that a reasonable mid career salary for pain would be in the 500k range?

Thoughts?

Would it be wise to take the physician advisor job if I want a more admin type gig long term? I believe it is also partially home/remote based, which might be a nice thing.

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[PMR2008]

You did the right thing to do a fellowship. It is best to do it right after residency. The extra skill set and knowledge will be helpful the rest of your life. I am in the C-Suite myself and I can tell you it took years. Requires a lot of work, networking, and strong leadership skills. I love admin work but at the same time nothing beats the satisfaction of clinical work. Try to keep doing it part time if possible.
Tell me more about what entails this advisory role? If I was in your position I would volunteer my time and get involved in as many committees(Safety, quality, policy) you can. Go to all the physician gatherings and hang out in the physician lounge. Volunteer for marketing and advocacy events. Start off as a committee member and find a mentor. Gradually go up the chain. In the meanwhile consider an executive MBA program focused on Physicians. Healthcare-EMBA-Curriculum

 

[DMBandFan86]

Most fellowships are finishing up, did you take an off cycle position? Is it an ACGME spot?

There are some people talking on the pain forum about making > 1 mil a year doing interventional pain shops. But I think avg salary is 375-600K depending on what you do. If you become CEO of some big company of course you could make more. Just have to decide what you want to do. Some places the chief officers still do a lot of clinical work where others they don't.

Why did you do a pain fellowship in the first place? Why go through all that extra training then not use it, you could have been better set spending the year getting your MBA or something like that if you want to do business work.

Does a physician advisor job sound fun? Why do they need an MD to be a physician advisor (I'm not familiar with the role)? Have other people in your company started in similar positions and worked their way up the ladder from physician advisor? Couldn't you also get a pain physician role in a big company and start working your way up the ladder into the business as well; im sure you'd make more money that way.

 

[PMR2008]

Why did you do a pain fellowship in the first place? Why go through all that extra training then not use it, you could have been better set spending the year getting your MBA or something like that if you want to do business work.

Disagree. A pain fellowship will open doors for the rest of your career. MBA can be done part time.

 

[90dayMD]

Most fellowships are finishing up, did you take an off cycle position? Is it an ACGME spot?

There are some people talking on the pain forum about making > 1 mil a year doing interventional pain shops. But I think avg salary is 375-600K depending on what you do. If you become CEO of some big company of course you could make more. Just have to decide what you want to do. Some places the chief officers still do a lot of clinical work where others they don't.

Why did you do a pain fellowship in the first place? Why go through all that extra training then not use it, you could have been better set spending the year getting your MBA or something like that if you want to do business work.

Does a physician advisor job sound fun? Why do they need an MD to be a physician advisor (I'm not familiar with the role)? Have other people in your company started in similar positions and worked their way up the ladder from physician advisor? Couldn't you also get a pain physician role in a big company and start working your way up the ladder into the business as well; im sure you'd make more money that way.

I actually looked at this recently, and 2/2 of my prior hospitals' CEOs both started as physician advisors. I have wanted to do pain/interventional work for a long time. But for a bit of time I have also become interested in doing some admin type stuff. I had a bit of a taste in my prior job and really enjoyed it. I have a bit of business acumen also. Physician advisors are always physicians. That's the nature of the job. Yes I assume that getting a pain doctor job at a company is an option, but it's unlikely to lead to a more CEO/C- suite option long term.

Some people in admin positions do clinical but more and more C-suite/exec type people in larger corporations do just that - admin exclusively.

 

[DMBandFan86]

I actually looked at this recently, and 2/2 of my prior hospitals' CEOs both started as physician advisors.

well great, sounds like you answered your own question. Do what you want to do to be happy.