Mid Residency Career Negotiation

[Relentlessrook18]

Hello,

I know I'm a little bit away from this being a third year student, but if I get into the family med residency of my choice, and I know where I want to end up working (about 3 hours away from the residency), can I start to negotiate with my future employer for a stipend or loan repayment as long as I promise to work in that area for an x number of years?

Do residents ever do this? If so, what do they get in return? An extra stipend? Loan repayment?

Thanks!

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[mvenus929]

I haven't seen anyone negotiate directly with a specified employer first, but I've gotten several notices for jobs I won't be able to talk or 1.5 years, and several of them in more rural areas say that they give a stipend to residents, which I assume means that if we both want to enter into a contract, they'll give me extra money while I am finishing up residency.

I'm sure if you were truly interested in a specific area and they had openings, you could arrange to work their prior to the normal time of job searching after residency, but the exact contract you get will likely depend on how much that employer wants to secure a physician and how much they have available for recruitment.

 

[Law2Doc]

Your bargaining position only gets stronger the closer to your employment date you wait, so it's strategically smarter to not begin talking stipends so early. Just make contacts and put out feelers early on, to essentially lay the ground work. Then make them have to wait and keep selling you.

 

[deleted480308]

Your bargaining position only gets stronger the closer to your employment date you wait, so it's strategically smarter to not begin talking stipends so early. Just make contacts and put out feelers early on, to essentially lay the ground work. Then make them have to wait and keep selling you.

This was a tactic we used in construction. The drywall guy charges more for work that starts 8months from now than they do for work next week if they need work

 

[mostwanted]

Yes, if you are within 12 months of graduating then definitely

 

[NotAProgDirector]

Your bargaining position only gets stronger the closer to your employment date you wait, so it's strategically smarter to not begin talking stipends so early. Just make contacts and put out feelers early on, to essentially lay the ground work. Then make them have to wait and keep selling you.

Of course the opposite can be true. If they are going to pay you a monthly stipend before you arrive, the more months in advance you cut a deal, the more payments you get. If you wait longer, perhaps the monthly stipend would be higher. But then you'll have less months. And the "value" of the stipend might be more earlier in your residency -- i.e. you might want the money to help pay for things.

 

[Law2Doc]

Of course the opposite can be true. If they are going to pay you a monthly stipend before you arrive, the more months in advance you cut a deal, the more payments you get. If you wait longer, perhaps the monthly stipend would be higher. But then you'll have less months. And the "value" of the stipend might be more earlier in your residency -- i.e. you might want the money to help pay for things.

The fact that you might "value" the stipend more earlier on means you probably are willing to leave too much on the table just to get something in your hands now. Which is exactly why you have a weaker bargaining position so early.