Questions to ask when looking for a job.

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natureboy503

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This question is mainly for all of the attendings out there and recent grads. I have just started my second year of residecy and have hospitals contacting me from "back home" about possibly becoming employed there when I graduate. I even visited one of the hospitals on a recent trip home. My question is "What questions need to be asked of the hospital when one is looking at a perspective institution?" My second question is "As a future EM attending, what do I need to look for in a contract?" I am sort of clueless about the whole "finding a job I will like" topic.:confused:

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MOST IMPORTANT Med Mal: you need an occurrence policy or a claims made with a paid tail. This is a big deal, as a tail may cost as much 60-100K if you leave the job.

Benefits: find out weeks of vacation, retirement and health as well as disability

Salary: find out overtime rate paid and your base as well as any signing bonus...

Practice: is it democratic, democratic after partnership, democratic but with a buy-in, large EM group, or academic faculty practice

Shifts: number of night and weekends...you may be surprised how many or how few. Single or double coverage, etc.

Those are good for a start...
 
How is back up? Do you have neurosurgery/ENT/ortho/OBGYN (especailly in house 24 hours). Who responds to codes on the floor? How many transfers out do you do a day?

(The reason I ask this, is I work in a tertiary care center, and get stuff transferred in all day long. But when I speak to the sending EP they seem to be really scared of holding onto these patients).

What do you do with low risk chest pains?

How hard is it to admit a patient ot the hospital?

Peds? Do you see them? Can you admit them? Do you have a PICU?

Radiology back up? 24 hour CT? MRI? U/S?

Typical patient? (Where I work, ESRD, DM, HTN, HIV). (Where I interviewd for a sweet communtiy job in teh midwest, it was "We see single system complaints, straightforward abdominal pain, chest pains....").

Q
 
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Ask if any people have left the group recently. If they have ask why. See if they'll let you talk to them. Big turnover is a red flag. If it's a group with a partnership track and it seems like all the junior guys leave right before they get to partner be worried.

Ask how long they have had the contracts. Brand new contracts are more worrisome than long term stable contracts. Ask how long the directors and site directors have been there. Again turnover is concerning.
 
Thanks for the advice guys. That is a start, and anyone else with advice please let me know.:D
 
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