New Grad Salary and Contract

[mother-of-cats]

Hi! I was just offered a job at a GP clinic in Tampa, Florida and was hoping to get some advice on what I should be expecting for salary as a new grad, I know that the salary has increased over the last few years but unsure of exact numbers. Also if there is anything that I should be negotiating into my contract.

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[MixedAnimals77]

Considering Tampa is a large city base should probably be 150kish+(whatever percentage if you're base+production). Don't sign or sign minimal noncompetes. Licenses, avma, state vma are pretty standard. +/-health and retirement benefits. Pto and ce. If you look at similar offers in the area it'd be helpful to establish expectations. Your total package should equal ~25% of what you expect to produce

 

[battie]

Id guess base around 120k and production around 22%. Couple of thoughts:

1) be aware that having a higher salary now is no guarantee of one later. You need to produce enough to pay for yourself. I've started seeing Facebook and VIN posts about recent grads starting at higher salaries of the 150k range and then not being able to produce enough to cover that, so salaries get reduced the following year.

2) likewise, I had no issue producing starting my second fiscal quarter, but got screwed with a contract that paid out production yearly. Ask how much the hospital is making, what the schedule looks like (are they booked out for weeks?), and what their expectations are for you. If they're booked out for weeks and plan on starting your surgical mentorship soon into your time there, request production pay outs start sooner rather than later. This especially applies if you don't have negative accrual. You very well could start producing sooner.

3) production pay out no less frequently than quarterly.

 

[CalliopeDVM]

if there is anything that I should be negotiating into my contract.

It will depend on what you want, but my recommendations are

• No production-based pay in your first year
• If you must accept production based pay, ensure there's no negative accrual.
• No non-compete clause
• Do not allow the clinic to pay your liability insurance for you -- pay it yourself, and get reimbursed
• No after-hours (on-call) work
• At least 2 weeks vacation time in your first year, or 3 weeks PTO (to include vacation, sick days, etc)
• Continuing ed costs of at least $4000, which will cover at least a major conference plus travel and accommodation there.

 

[doctor-who]

It will depend on what you want, but my recommendations are

• No production-based pay in your first year
• If you must accept production based pay, ensure there's no negative accrual.
• No non-compete clause
• Do not allow the clinic to pay your liability insurance for you -- pay it yourself, and get reimbursed
• No after-hours (on-call) work
• At least 2 weeks vacation time in your first year, or 3 weeks PTO (to include vacation, sick days, etc)
• Continuing ed costs of at least $4000, which will cover at least a major conference plus travel and accommodation there.

Would you mind please explaining why you wouldn't want the clinic to pay liability insurance? Is it because they might get a policy that doesn't protect you as a clinician well? Thank you very much!

 

[CalliopeDVM]

why you wouldn't want the clinic to pay liability insurance?

Because you don't know for sure that it's being paid or, as you said, what the policy limits are. More importantly, though, is the possibility (and I know that it's happened) where a vet's liability insurance hasn't been paid, leaving her not knowing she was practicing without it. Since it's your license on the line, you need to know it's getting paid on time. (Whether it's not being paid on purpose or by accident, the result would be the same.)

 

[Minnerbelle]

Because you don't know for sure that it's being paid or, as you said, what the policy limits are. More importantly, though, is the possibility (and I know that it's happened) where a vet's liability insurance hasn't been paid, leaving her not knowing she was practicing without it. Since it's your license on the line, you need to know it's getting paid on time. (Whether it's not being paid on purpose or by accident, the result would be the same.)

Yup. This happened to me. It was like 10 years ago so hopefully if no one has sued me/sent me to the board yet for cases I saw back then… it means we’re good. That being said, it used to give me a panic attack every time I thought about some of the cases from when I worked there. I know another colleague who was sent to the board at this same practice… not because she did anything wrong but because the ****ty management pissed the client off.

Since then I’ve always had my own malpractice insurance that I paid out of pocket, regardless of whether my employer covered it or not. It’s only a few hundred dollars a year. Super worth it. I continued to keep this coverage even when I worked for a big corporate practice that had their own malpractice insurance. For one, I wanted to be covered when I relief’d or volunteered outside of corporate. And also, I wanted to make sure that I had access to lawyers with my best interest as their priority, not the company (which may or may not align, especially if you are sued or sent to the board AFTER you stop working for said corporation).