Is this odd? Advertising for a peds anesthesiologist to start a Cranial Vault program?

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Nigh.T.Knight

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Anybody have any insight about this job posting?

I can't post the link, but the gaswork ad is 221661.
"Looking for a Pediatric trained anesthesiologist who would also perform adult anesthetics. No cardiac; pediatric or adult"


My hubby wants to move closer to a ski town. I have completed a peds anesthesia fellowship, so Salt Lake seems a natural choice. They have a highly-regarded dedicated pediatric hospital in town, so that, of course, seems the place to start. But the pay is so low that I'd much prefer private practice. But, there's very little real peds anesthesia done in private practice, because of the dedicated peds hospital.

But then I found the Gaswork ad. It seems odd that a newish, smallish hospital wants to build a pediatrics program around cranial vault surgeries, but I don't dare speculate what politics are behind the decision, what administration has promised the surgeon, or why the surgeon wants to do his surgeries in an adult facility.

Funny thing is, I made an inquiry almost a week ago (the ad has been up since July, and they talk about wanting to start the program in the "Fall of 2017") and I haven't heard a peep. Two days later, coincidentally, I get a call that my phone IDs as coming from Utah, so I answer it, but it's a recruiter, saying that they just wanted to "update their files and tell me about new opportunities." I have NEVER given a single recruiter my cell phone number or my CV.

Do you think the job posting is legit, or just a way to farm for CVs? If the ad is legit, what do you think of the job? Any locals care to weigh in, by PM if necessary?

Thanks.

Members don't see this ad.
 
Anybody have any insight about this job posting?

I can't post the link, but the gaswork ad is 221661.
"Looking for a Pediatric trained anesthesiologist who would also perform adult anesthetics. No cardiac; pediatric or adult"


My hubby wants to move closer to a ski town. I have completed a peds anesthesia fellowship, so Salt Lake seems a natural choice. They have a highly-regarded dedicated pediatric hospital in town, so that, of course, seems the place to start. But the pay is so low that I'd much prefer private practice. But, there's very little real peds anesthesia done in private practice, because of the dedicated peds hospital.

But then I found the Gaswork ad. It seems odd that a newish, smallish hospital wants to build a pediatrics program around cranial vault surgeries, but I don't dare speculate what politics are behind the decision, what administration has promised the surgeon, or why the surgeon wants to do his surgeries in an adult facility.

Funny thing is, I made an inquiry almost a week ago (the ad has been up since July, and they talk about wanting to start the program in the "Fall of 2017") and I haven't heard a peep. Two days later, coincidentally, I get a call that my phone IDs as coming from Utah, so I answer it, but it's a recruiter, saying that they just wanted to "update their files and tell me about new opportunities." I have NEVER given a single recruiter my cell phone number or my CV.

Do you think the job posting is legit, or just a way to farm for CVs? If the ad is legit, what do you think of the job? Any locals care to weigh in, by PM if necessary?

Thanks.

I think your first instinct is correct: it strikes me as odd, also. The hospital website promises "comprehensive treatment for ALL craniofacial birth defects," which I find highly doubtful. As you are aware, kids needing cranial vault surgery (or surgery for other craniofacial defects) are medically complex, frequently syndromic, and need complex coordination of care at multiple levels: PICU, VIR, peds ENT, peds neurosurg, peds plastics. I didn't see anywhere on the website that they had any of those things (except for ENT and this "craniofacial" surgeon). They do have a 4th floor med/surg unit, though!

I think there are 3 options:
1 (most likely): They do bread and butter peds ENT/facial plastics cases, and they just hired a surgeon that wants to do some endoscopic craniosynostosis repairs.
2: They made some pie-in-the-sky promises to lure a surgeon there, have no idea what they're getting themselves into, and the whole thing will fall apart once they see the amount of time/energy/resources they'd have to commit to what they say they're committing to.
3: It's an elaborate trap to farm for CVs (never heard of this, but I guess I wouldn't put it past recruiters).

I'd tread carefully, and rather than "don't dare speculate what politics are behind the decision, what administration has promised the surgeon, or why the surgeon wants to do his surgeries in an adult facility," I would intentionally and openly speculate about those things. Those are the questions that you need the answers to (assuming they will give them to you).
 
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Anybody have any insight about this job posting?

I can't post the link, but the gaswork ad is 221661.
"Looking for a Pediatric trained anesthesiologist who would also perform adult anesthetics. No cardiac; pediatric or adult"


My hubby wants to move closer to a ski town. I have completed a peds anesthesia fellowship, so Salt Lake seems a natural choice. They have a highly-regarded dedicated pediatric hospital in town, so that, of course, seems the place to start. But the pay is so low that I'd much prefer private practice. But, there's very little real peds anesthesia done in private practice, because of the dedicated peds hospital.

But then I found the Gaswork ad. It seems odd that a newish, smallish hospital wants to build a pediatrics program around cranial vault surgeries, but I don't dare speculate what politics are behind the decision, what administration has promised the surgeon, or why the surgeon wants to do his surgeries in an adult facility.

Funny thing is, I made an inquiry almost a week ago (the ad has been up since July, and they talk about wanting to start the program in the "Fall of 2017") and I haven't heard a peep. Two days later, coincidentally, I get a call that my phone IDs as coming from Utah, so I answer it, but it's a recruiter, saying that they just wanted to "update their files and tell me about new opportunities." I have NEVER given a single recruiter my cell phone number or my CV.

Do you think the job posting is legit, or just a way to farm for CVs? If the ad is legit, what do you think of the job? Any locals care to weigh in, by PM if necessary?

Thanks.

Interesting! Some of my co-fellows have actually found they for some reason have to go through recruiters for some of the jobs they’ve interviewed at. These were AMC jobs (that on the surface seem pretty good for a major metro area), but I was surprised to hear it myself.

And agree with WholeLottaGame above, having a major pediatric craniofacial division is a big undertaking and unlikely for a smaller community-based system. Maybe it’s possible, but going to a hospital with all the subspecialties (cardiology/Peds CT surg, Peds neuro, solid intensivists, etc...) makes a little more sense if you have a child with a serious craniofacial syndrome.
 
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Members don't see this ad :)
I know a little bit about the local market, and at least some second-hand information about Lone Peak Hospital. (One dude in our cycling group is a partner in the group running the ad, and over the years we have compared notes many times.)

In short, "winning" the contract at Lone Peak has threatened to blow up what was previously a very stable group. They took the contract for the new hospital without stipend or guarantee and--surprise, surprise--the surgical volume didn't just materialize after ribbon cutting. My buddy was one of the dissenters, and you should have seen the smile on his face the morning he reported he'd no longer need to rotate through Lone Peak.

At the group's anchor hospital, they don't do any peds. None. (Nor do we, of course, anywhere but at our dedicated pediatric hospital. Why would we??) It's odd that they are trying trying to start a craniofacial peds program at a hospital that was literally nothing more than a standalone ER only three years ago. It's also odd that my buddy new nothing of the ad, and nothing of the signing bonus being offered. (Neither of us has ever heard of a single anesthesiologist getting a signing bonus in all of the greater Salt Lake metropolitan area. My group has never advertised on Gaswork. Previous to this, I would have sworn his group didn't, either.)

So, I'd be skeptical. But you should always be skeptical of jobs advertised on Gaswork. I still maintain that good positions fill themselves, without the need for recruiters or Gaswork. But, no, I don't think it's an elaborate hoax to get your CV into a recruiter's hands.

Let us know what you hear!
 
Have you looked at Denver? True, the best you will do is to join an AMC, but it looks like they are still paying their entry-level employees better than the optimistic projections of partners in Salt Lake.

From what I can gather, working under IHC gives you roughly the same (read: nonexistent) autonomy as working for USAP. The only difference is that USAP considers the insurance companies the enemy, and is trying to raise rates against them. Working for an IHC subsidiary means that you have zero negotiating muscle.
 
Oops. My mistake. I figured that job was for an IHC hospital, which I thought was the only game in town. Shows what I know.

Still, Denver offers more: better pay, bigger city, more culture, less theocracy.

Dunno if working for a smaller group that lacks the (nonexistent) muscle of the big group in town makes things even worse, but I cannot think of anyway it could make things better.
 
Let us know what you hear!


I've heard enough (from private messages. I dunno why people are afraid to post publicly on an anonymous forum.) that I'm going to pass. Before we close the thread, I figure I'd discuss in broad strokes (so as not to betray anyone's trust) what I've learned:

Everybody seems to agree that the CEO is malignant and in way over his head. The group is now made up of 80% of members who realize the new hospital is headed straight for disaster (they're the ones who have bought out of clinical obligations at the new hospital) and the 20% of new hires who have no say.

One person promised to detail a story about how the CEO had one of their older guys forced out because he gave into the family's wishes to take their child to the dedicated pediatric hospital for surgery. I don't need the details of the story; I don't need to believe the story. If there are even rumors that the CEO is capable of such bull****, I'll wait for a better opportunity.

Thank you, SDN, for your input.
 
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