Fellowship stipend from practice you signed on with?

[toofache32]

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I have heard of people starting a fellowship who have already signed a contract to join a practice, and that practice giving an additional stipend to help with fellowship. Anyone know what amount is customary? And what is a reasonable penalty if you break the contract in terms of repayment?

 

[Winged Scapula]

The Internship, Residency, and Fellowship Openings Forum is for people to list AVAILABLE POSITIONS. Therefore, I'll move your post to the General Residency Forum.

I think the answer to your question is highly variable and will depend on the field, the area of the country, etc. In surgery for example, bonuses or stipends are fairly uncommon, but not rare. These signing bonuses can be paid in several different ways:

- as a stipend throughout the fellowship year
- as a stipend throughout the first year of employment
- in one lump sum after the contract is signed
- in a lump sum after you start working

As I noted above, in gen surg it tends to be fairly uncommon, but when I've seen it, amounts of $20-25 K seem to be "common". If you renege on the contract and have taken the stipend, the usual ramifications of breaking an employment contract and owing the practice money would stand. I'm not sure what you mean by "penalty", as it would depend on what your contract states (surely this would all be dealt with before you saw a cent), but in general you pay back what they gave you, without any additional penalties.

 

[f_w]

There is no free lunch.

Most of the time, the practice/hospital will give you the money in exchange for a note with a security interest in all future collections from professional activities. The note usually also specifies at which rate the loan is being forgiven during your employment and what type of interest becomes due if you don't work (long enough) for the group/hospital. Often these type of 'signing bonusses' are actually bankrolled by the local hospital. They are the ones with the most to gain by getting another physician on staff. The amount of these bonusses depends on the specialty involved and the degree of desperation of the local hospital. If you are in a situation where you have to pay back the bonus, interest is governed by the usury laws of the respective state (so if you are in SD, good luck!).

 

[Winged Scapula]

f_w is exactly right, or at least in my experience.

All of those "benefits" like moving expenses, bonuses, etc are almost always loans which are forgiven over a certain period of time or are owed back if you leave before this loan is paid back. Read your contract carefully and don't be swayed by these lures.

I didn't understand this as a resident until I started to do a little contract nego training.