How old is too old to change practice setting?

[TecmoBowl]

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Thanks for taking the time on this..

My group received an increased stipend from the hospital as part of the new contract.

The Administration is either out of touch, doesn't know, or doesn't care about what a good Anesthesia Department means to the O.R. Most likely all three..

For now, things are not the greatest, we've finished negotiating a new contract with the hospital. Essentially, the hospital has been vying for more Vascular and Cardiac cases and Orthopedic (Joint Replacements) cases.

These cases bring money for the hospital, but not us which is one reason the hospital is subsidizing us.

So, for now, the $$ is worth the work, and in fact, I like the work, especially doing 20+ nerve blocks a day and plenty of TEEs on track to certification.

Here's my question. Given the posturing by the Administration, I'm not sure what the future holds.

I guess no one knows that.

Should I get out of here now? Or should I stick it out for a while and see how things go?

Basically, what if I have to look for a new practice when I'm 40 years old or something?

How is that viewed?

I think I already know the answer, that most people KNOW life and hospitals throw curve balls at us as Physicians... but just wanted to get a general sense.

I like the area, maybe not the state, wife's family here and mine nearby, but relatively minor points.


Thanks.

 

[nlfru]

Maybe I'm missing something. How is the increased stipend a bad thing? You still said that the work is good and so is the money. What is the question? Will somewhere hire a 40 year old anesthesiologist? My answer would be yes.

 

[pd4emergence]

I hate to say it but there is no job that is set in stone. No contract that doesn't get changed. We are a service business. We take care of patients that other people brought to the hospital. If you like the work, and like the money hopefully the contract you guys worked out is for more than one year. When it comes up for renewal or renegotiation, hopefully you guys will get favorable terms again. I would keep in mind the possibility you may have to leave and possibly quickly. Keep a fair amount of cash in reserve and don't buy a house that will be hard to sell. As for finding another job, my guess is that very few anesthesiologists stay in the same place for their entire career.

 

[Gaseous Clay]

Thanks for taking the time on this..

My group received an increased stipend from the hospital as part of the new contract.

The Administration is either out of touch, doesn't know, or doesn't care about what a good Anesthesia Department means to the O.R. Most likely all three..

For now, things are not the greatest, we've finished negotiating a new contract with the hospital. Essentially, the hospital has been vying for more Vascular and Cardiac cases and Orthopedic (Joint Replacements) cases.

These cases bring money for the hospital, but not us which is one reason the hospital is subsidizing us.

So, for now, the $$ is worth the work, and in fact, I like the work, especially doing 20+ nerve blocks a day and plenty of TEEs on track to certification.

Here's my question. Given the posturing by the Administration, I'm not sure what the future holds.

I guess no one knows that.

Should I get out of here now? Or should I stick it out for a while and see how things go?

Basically, what if I have to look for a new practice when I'm 40 years old or something?

How is that viewed?

I think I already know the answer, that most people KNOW life and hospitals throw curve balls at us as Physicians... but just wanted to get a general sense.

I like the area, maybe not the state, wife's family here and mine nearby, but relatively minor points.


Thanks.

20+ nerve blocks a day!! How many rooms do you cover? I can't imagine you'd do your own cases and still have time for all those blocks. If I do more than 7 blocks in one day, that is a tough day since I usually run 3, sometimes 4 rooms. You add all the pre-oping, inductions, PACU calls, etc ... on top of that too.

Anyways, I am in a practice with 9 other docs. Every single one of them has worked at multiple places including some older guys (>50) who just recently joined the practice within the past few years. The only red flags arise if you have poor recommendations, being let go previously, and not being board certified.

With that said, I think we're all wondering what you're complaining about. Good $$, you enjoy your work, the location isn't bad ... it sounds to me that you'll never find that "perfect, nirvanish" practice. Stick to what satisfies you, if you move to what seems like a better practice, you will likely be disappointed.

 

[Narcotized]

Thanks for taking the time on this..

My group received an increased stipend from the hospital as part of the new contract.

The Administration is either out of touch, doesn't know, or doesn't care about what a good Anesthesia Department means to the O.R. Most likely all three..

For now, things are not the greatest, we've finished negotiating a new contract with the hospital. Essentially, the hospital has been vying for more Vascular and Cardiac cases and Orthopedic (Joint Replacements) cases.

These cases bring money for the hospital, but not us which is one reason the hospital is subsidizing us.

So, for now, the $$ is worth the work, and in fact, I like the work, especially doing 20+ nerve blocks a day and plenty of TEEs on track to certification.

Here's my question. Given the posturing by the Administration, I'm not sure what the future holds.

I guess no one knows that.

Should I get out of here now? Or should I stick it out for a while and see how things go?

Basically, what if I have to look for a new practice when I'm 40 years old or something?

How is that viewed?

I think I already know the answer, that most people KNOW life and hospitals throw curve balls at us as Physicians... but just wanted to get a general sense.

I like the area, maybe not the state, wife's family here and mine nearby, but relatively minor points.


Thanks.

I have not the slightest idea what you are getting at with this post.

 

[TecmoBowl]

Yeah, well basically I've never made a "commitment" in my life besides getting engaged.

So I just get a bit nervous about buying a house etc., and so I wondered what the future would hold if I HAD to change jobs.

I guess I'm nervous about really trying to set some roots..

But thanks again.

The increased stipend was given begrudgingly to us and through a very tormenting negotiation process, not to mention possible an even more "iron clad" watch on us as far as reaching certain metrics to get the part of the stipend that is "at risk".

I'm still young (in practice anyway) so just being cautious..

 

[pmichaelmd]

Yeah, well basically I've never made a "commitment" in my life besides getting engaged.

So I just get a bit nervous about buying a house etc., and so I wondered what the future would hold if I HAD to change jobs.

I guess I'm nervous about really trying to set some roots..

But thanks again.

The increased stipend was given begrudgingly to us and through a very tormenting negotiation process, not to mention possible an even more "iron clad" watch on us as far as reaching certain metrics to get the part of the stipend that is "at risk".

I'm still young (in practice anyway) so just being cautious..

Sounds like you are in a position similar to many of us who are hospital-employed. Administrators care about the bottom line and whatever it is you can do to reach it. It seems that very few people, our surgical colleagues included, understand and appreciate what anesthesiologists do and bring to the table. All of that changes in an instant once a code occurs on the OR table, but memories are...short-term at best sometimes.

I feel for you as we are going through the same thing. 😡 Seems to be a sign of the times.