General questions about applying for an actual non-invasive job

[Cantal]

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I'm completing a 3 year cardiology fellowship and looking for a non-invasive job (my first job search ever). I have a lot of basic questions regarding the interview process and contract afterwards, and I was looking for advice, especially from practicing physicians:

1) What are the most important questions I should try to figure out about every practice?
- What is the pay / how are you paid? (am I allowed to ask this?)
- What is the call schedule like?
- How long until you become partner? What does partner mean (I've heard some practices have junior and senior partners but aren't up front about this)?
- How is the location/real estate/schools/could I see myself living there? (very subjective obviously)


2) What are some things that a practice might try to hide from me? How can I find them out?

3) What are the most common pay structure when you start and aren't partner yet? Salary only? Salary + production bonus?

4) How do I know if the compensation I'm being offered is fair for the location/hours I work?

5) Once I get a contract, should I have a lawyer review it? Or someone healthcare contract trained?

 

[dragonfly99]

You definitely need to try to find out how you will be paid, AFTER your salary guarantee expires (usually they will give you one for 2-3 years, then pay you based on some calculation of your "production"). This might be hard to go b/c often their projected salaries that they quote you (especially reps/headhunter type people) is not reality-based until you want to work 90 hours per week or see patients Q10 minutes, in my opinion and limited experience. If someone tells you you are going to bill enough to make 350 or 400k, I would be skeptical of that.

You need to try to find out the call schedule, and who will be taking call in rotation with you, and how many of them are part time, etc. This would come at a later point in looking at a practice or practice group, after you decide if you are moderately interested. Again, people might try to conceal this from you, if they think the call schedule is not good, or even just if it is confusion with multiple different types of call, etc. (which is the case with my current practice).


If you are really going to go with a private practice, or some type of situation where you might be able to negotiate things in your contract then it might be worthwhile to have an attorney review it after you get an offer.
If you are getting a contract offer by some place like Kaiser, a large university hospital system, etc., the compensation might not be negotiable so not sure in that case that having an attorney or someone review it would be helpful, even...unless it just gives you piece of mind.

 

[hotshotdoc]

Bump

 

[hotshotdoc]

Cantal did you find a "good" job?