Anyone have any good resources or Advice to explain how to navigate the retina job search as a second year VR fellow? Just started looking and it's a little overwhelming to try and figure out the type of setup is optimal (retina only versus multi specialty versus Kaiser)
Retina job search
- Thread starter Bagster
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1. If you are limited by geography or want to be in a certain area make cold calls to practices in the area. Look up retina practices on ASRS website or AAO website or google. These can often be desirable jobs. Sometimes they are waiting for just the right candidate. That might be you!
2. Use the www.asrs.org/employment or www.aao.org/ophthalmologyjobcenter. These are the nationally posted jobs. Warning: some of them have been posting for the last seven years and churn associates.
3. Retina only: may take longer to build, but more fulfilling at the end. General rule of thumb is that it takes about ten comprehensive ophthalmologists to support a retina doc. Find out how many comprehensive ophthos in area and how many retina specialists to see if area saturated.
4. The problem is that if you join a multi specialty group or Kaiser general docs outside of the group may not want to refer to you for fear their patients will be sucked in. The good thing is you'll have a immediate referral base. Kaiser et al may be good to sharpen your clinical skills for a few years with decent pay before you go elsewhere.
5. ALWAYS be aware of restrictive covenants. Even if you don't think you'll stay somewhere you might. Their enforceability varies state to state and of course depends on how much the practice wants to spend litigating.
6. In my biased opinion: go solo. My friend did that straight from residency. I was too scared to so worked two jobs before I went out on my own. Best decision I ever made. I worked first for the government and then a big group. Here's my story: Why I Went Solo – My Story We're writing a blog on how to start from scratch on how to go solo. Read the rest of it- more to come!
7. Going back to #2 about churning associates- Here's my blog's co-author opinion on the practices he looked at: One Born Every Minute This was a big factor in why he went solo!
2. Use the www.asrs.org/employment or www.aao.org/ophthalmologyjobcenter. These are the nationally posted jobs. Warning: some of them have been posting for the last seven years and churn associates.
3. Retina only: may take longer to build, but more fulfilling at the end. General rule of thumb is that it takes about ten comprehensive ophthalmologists to support a retina doc. Find out how many comprehensive ophthos in area and how many retina specialists to see if area saturated.
4. The problem is that if you join a multi specialty group or Kaiser general docs outside of the group may not want to refer to you for fear their patients will be sucked in. The good thing is you'll have a immediate referral base. Kaiser et al may be good to sharpen your clinical skills for a few years with decent pay before you go elsewhere.
5. ALWAYS be aware of restrictive covenants. Even if you don't think you'll stay somewhere you might. Their enforceability varies state to state and of course depends on how much the practice wants to spend litigating.
6. In my biased opinion: go solo. My friend did that straight from residency. I was too scared to so worked two jobs before I went out on my own. Best decision I ever made. I worked first for the government and then a big group. Here's my story: Why I Went Solo – My Story We're writing a blog on how to start from scratch on how to go solo. Read the rest of it- more to come!
7. Going back to #2 about churning associates- Here's my blog's co-author opinion on the practices he looked at: One Born Every Minute This was a big factor in why he went solo!
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Fantastic post.
Go retina only if you can. Even if the location isn't ideal at first.
There was a recent retina podcast episode on this very topic although they missed Kaiser-type and solo opportunities
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Another option I forgot to mention that works well for subspecialists especially retina and plastics is to create your own job not just by opening your own office but combining this with going to comprehensive ophthalmologists offices to see their consults. Click on this link for a recent post from our blog about ways to go solo other than working full time in your own office.
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That’s a pretty popular trend as it helps to share overhead and most practices already have the necessary equipment and staff. The downside is the contract has to be negotiated well on the front end otherwise it’s very hard to change it on the back end, especially as the practice builds and revenues increase. Also have To be careful who you partner up with because you may alienate other docs in the area of you ally yourself with another doc or group. Tough to know how to do this well without a little experience and knowledge of referring doctors and their referral patterns.
I suggest a retina only practice for many reasons, one of which is you can incorporate working at other doctors offices as part of a larger retina group giving you more negotiating power and know how.
