Hey everyone, so I know there have been some threads in the past talking about the pros and cons of Kaiser for emergency physicians, but there are a couple of specifics that weren't addressed that I want to learn about. For anyone who has worked at Southern California Kaiser, does one need to work 40 hrs/week to earn full salary? If you don't work the full 40 hrs/wk, do you still get benefits such as pension, health coverage, etc? How long does one typically have to stay on to become a "partner" and what benefits does one get from being a "partner"? Lastly, how easy is it to work less than full time? (i'm assuming that you probably have to work 10/10 time to become a "partner", but afterwards can you switch to part time and remain a partner?). Thanks
Kaiser Employment
- Thread starter mike626
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I was under the impression that it was 32/week for full time but I might be wrong
SoCal Kaiser EM Doc Here- full time is technically 40 hours, but 4 of that is educational time which includes departmental meetings, personal study, etc. Thus, 36 hrs/week in the ED is full-time (10/10 time). Since we are paid in two week blocks, you have to have 72 clinical hrs every 2 weeks (or 144/month).
Every site is different in terms of how they schedule you- some are every doc 4 on/4 off, some let you schedule however you want (etc some people work 7 on/7 off while others in the group may work 2 on/2 off).
144 hours sounds hellacious, but keep in mind that Kaiser staffs their ED's with much more coverage than some other CMGs. At no site are you ever on single coverage, and many sites have a minimum of 3 docs on at all times (the busiest ones, such as San Diego, Sunset, Downey, and Baldwin Park frequently have 6+ docs working at any given time).
My understanding is you must stay above 8/10 time for full benefits. Partnership is after 3 years and the benefits include profit sharing and Keogh plan access (opportunity to withhold an extra 33K pre-tax for retirement, which combined with your 401K lets you put away up to 50,500 pre-tax). Also get some increased life insurance benefits, etc. Pension starts at 10 years of full-time employment, at a rate of 2% of your average salary per year (after 10 years you qualify for 20% of your salary, after 20 years 40%, etc). This is an unbelievable benefit and pretty much unheard of anywhere else in medicine.
Overall, I think it's a pretty awesome place to work. Generally easy to get pts follow ups, generally nice middle class pts, etc. Pay is fair/decent, benefits great. See about 2 pph, which is probably about average for this area. Acuity level is fairly low/moderate; eg I've had 2 intubations and 2 central lines this week, but before that my last tube was almost 2 mos ago.
In house OB and In house peds at most sites also make life a lot better. I worked in a few other ERs in the greater SoCal area after residency and Kaiser is definitely the only longevity job I've had.
Every site is different in terms of how they schedule you- some are every doc 4 on/4 off, some let you schedule however you want (etc some people work 7 on/7 off while others in the group may work 2 on/2 off).
144 hours sounds hellacious, but keep in mind that Kaiser staffs their ED's with much more coverage than some other CMGs. At no site are you ever on single coverage, and many sites have a minimum of 3 docs on at all times (the busiest ones, such as San Diego, Sunset, Downey, and Baldwin Park frequently have 6+ docs working at any given time).
My understanding is you must stay above 8/10 time for full benefits. Partnership is after 3 years and the benefits include profit sharing and Keogh plan access (opportunity to withhold an extra 33K pre-tax for retirement, which combined with your 401K lets you put away up to 50,500 pre-tax). Also get some increased life insurance benefits, etc. Pension starts at 10 years of full-time employment, at a rate of 2% of your average salary per year (after 10 years you qualify for 20% of your salary, after 20 years 40%, etc). This is an unbelievable benefit and pretty much unheard of anywhere else in medicine.
Overall, I think it's a pretty awesome place to work. Generally easy to get pts follow ups, generally nice middle class pts, etc. Pay is fair/decent, benefits great. See about 2 pph, which is probably about average for this area. Acuity level is fairly low/moderate; eg I've had 2 intubations and 2 central lines this week, but before that my last tube was almost 2 mos ago.
In house OB and In house peds at most sites also make life a lot better. I worked in a few other ERs in the greater SoCal area after residency and Kaiser is definitely the only longevity job I've had.
