Return to work in hometown/Financial Help?

[Coltuna]

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Incoming OMS here with a (probably naive) question-- I live in a small town that I would love to return to after graduation/residency. I have been in contact with the physician recruiter there for many years (went to high school with her, arranged shadowing through her, arranged healthcare volunteering through her, was on a local committe with her, etc), and I was just wondering if it would be unprofessional to express interest in returning to that area and possibly mention financial assistance during medical school with the understanding that I would return there after residency. Should I wait until after medical school to express said interest? I feel like it should be pretty obvious by now that I wish to return to that area after residency, but I don't know that I've come out and explicitly stated this to her. I know that this hospital has difficulty recruiting/retaining physicians. Part of me feels like they may "wait" to hire someone until after I'm out of residency as well but idk how this works.

Edit: It may be worth noting that she actually reached out to me when she found out that I was interested in medical school 3-4 years ago.

 

[trs88]

The advice I read online was to reach out to the hospitals and clinics in the area and see if there are hiring. That way, you can ask for more money since that fee or payment isn't going to the recruiter.

 

[Coltuna]

The advice I read online was to reach out to the hospitals and clinics in the area and see if there are hiring. That way, you can ask for more money since that fee or payment isn't going to the recruiter.

I should've explained better. This is the physician recruiter for that hospital specifically.

 

[libertyyne]

I am unsure if recruiters and hospitals are able to provide financial assistance during medical school, it seems like a long pipeline to invest in without immediate or short term return and uncertain return in the long run. I have never personally heard of recruiters recruiting medical students and incentivizing them with aid during training. You will probably have to wait until last few years of residency before getting into a meaningful conversation with the hospital/recruiter regarding positions. The only person who does something close to what you are asking is uncle sam in the form of military med, and primary care in underserved areas. Your energy might be better spent looking at those options.

 

[theonlytycrane]

lol wut

 

[Coltuna]

lol wut

Is it really that absurd to think that a rural hospital that has difficulty rectuiting/retaining new physicians may want to handcuff a future one from the area early on? Especially when that medical students has already contributed to the community, and most of their physicians will be retiring in the near future. I know for a fact that area hospitals do this sort of thing for employees wishing to become RN's or Med Techs (with a commitment to work for that hospital for 4-5 years) which is only 3 years less than what my training will be for med school.

 

[Coltuna]

I am unsure if recruiters and hospitals are able to provide financial assistance during medical school, it seems like a long pipeline to invest in without immediate or short term return and uncertain return in the long run. I have never personally heard of recruiters recruiting medical students and incentivizing them with aid during training. You will probably have to wait until last few years of residency before getting into a meaningful conversation with the hospital/recruiter regarding positions. The only person who does something close to what you are asking is uncle sam in the form of military med, and primary care in underserved areas. Your energy might be better spent looking at those options.

Thank you!

 

[DokterMom]

You won't be able to practice there for another seven years, and once that time comes, you may no longer want to... For that reason, I'd suggest that a deal now is premature on both sides. It's not a crazy idea, just too soon.

You're also in a bit of a sticky spot because your friend is the recruiter (now - maybe not in seven years) so cutting her out of the equation is a bit of a problem. Of course, you also want to work in that particular hospital, so it's not like she's out pounding the pavement finding someone 'earning' her fee.

For those reasons, I'd probably do nothing now, but plan on contacting the hospital when you're ~2 years out and see what's up. If they're still having trouble finding folks, some type of loan repayment agreement would not be highly unusual.

 

[theonlytycrane]

Is it really that absurd to think that a rural hospital that has difficulty rectuiting/retaining new physicians may want to handcuff a future one from the area early on? Especially when that medical students has already contributed to the community, and most of their physicians will be retiring in the near future. I know for a fact that area hospitals do this sort of thing for employees wishing to become RN's or Med Techs (with a commitment to work for that hospital for 4-5 years) which is only 3 years less than what my training will be for med school.

Your recruiter friend gets $ for each person she gets hired. Here is something more tangible to apply to for tuition coverage:

Scholarships

 

[deleted480308]

Too soon

 

[wholeheartedly]

Does the hospital or clinics own in house recruiter actually get money per hire or do they just get a regular wage like most hospital employees? I'd think they're just like regular employees otherwise the hospital wouldn't benefit much having their own.

Anyway, I have seen the rare post on here where someone has had the option to have financial help during med school and residency to commit to a certain place. Rare though. I agree with the idea that its too soon though to make a commitement to something like that. You have no idea whats going to happen over the next 7+ years. Stuff like this always comes with hooks and the earlier/longer they commit to helping you, the longer they're going to want you to commit to them.

There's some other possible issues as well. I'm an allied health professional who did my clinical internship in my hometown. At that time, about 10 years ago, the hospital was a good place to work and get care. But after I left, there was a management change and a merger and things went to hell. My nice little hometown hospital became the "don't go to the ER if you can make it to x town in the bordering state 45 minutes away or y town 100 miles away." They can't keep good staff. It's pretty sad, when I moved back here I lasted 6 months before deciding to defect to the local clinic at a pay cut.

But my hometown hospital is absolutely the kind of place desperate enough for physicians to make a deal like this with someone local they know, but you can't practice well in a vacuum, you need a solid team.

Finally, if they know you're desperate to come back and work there or if they have you locked into a commitment you might run the risk of losing some negotiating power when it comes time to finally set up your employment contract.

I vote finish training and negotiate tuition assistance at that point

 

[BlackDiamond277]

Have you researched whether your school has a program like this? The College of Medicine at my school has a rural practice scholarship that helps pay tuition in exchange for a commitment to practice primary care in a rural area for X years.

The catch is that if you decide you want to practice somewhere else or in another field, then you will have to pay all of the money back and your medical license will be suspended by the state board for the amount of years you committed AND until you fully pay off the scholarship amount with interest.

 

[lala1010]

n=1 but I have heard of hospitals paying off a physician's debt if they agree to sign on for a 10 year contract for instance so this might be something to look into in the future

 

[Coltuna]

Does the hospital or clinics own in house recruiter actually get money per hire or do they just get a regular wage like most hospital employees? I'd think they're just like regular employees otherwise the hospital wouldn't benefit much having their own.

Anyway, I have seen the rare post on here where someone has had the option to have financial help during med school and residency to commit to a certain place. Rare though. I agree with the idea that its too soon though to make a commitement to something like that. You have no idea whats going to happen over the next 7+ years. Stuff like this always comes with hooks and the earlier/longer they commit to helping you, the longer they're going to want you to commit to them.

There's some other possible issues as well. I'm an allied health professional who did my clinical internship in my hometown. At that time, about 10 years ago, the hospital was a good place to work and get care. But after I left, there was a management change and a merger and things went to hell. My nice little hometown hospital became the "don't go to the ER if you can make it to x town in the bordering state 45 minutes away or y town 100 miles away." They can't keep good staff. It's pretty sad, when I moved back here I lasted 6 months before deciding to defect to the local clinic at a pay cut.

But my hometown hospital is absolutely the kind of place desperate enough for physicians to make a deal like this with someone local they know, but you can't practice well in a vacuum, you need a solid team.

Finally, if they know you're desperate to come back and work there or if they have you locked into a commitment you might run the risk of losing some negotiating power when it comes time to finally set up your employment contract.

I vote finish training and negotiate tuition assistance at that point

I'm not sure how the recruiter is paid to be honest. They're also patient advocate, so it's not like they're hired by a third party or something. They are employed by the hospital and have an office there and everything haha. Thanks for the advice!

Have you researched whether your school has a program like this? The College of Medicine at my school has a rural practice scholarship that helps pay tuition in exchange for a commitment to practice primary care in a rural area for X years.

The catch is that if you decide you want to practice somewhere else or in another field, then you will have to pay all of the money back and your medical license will be suspended by the state board for the amount of years you committed AND until you fully pay off the scholarship amount with interest.

Unfortunately my school doesn't have anything like this. I've actually looked in the NHSC scholarship and bolded is the reason I'm hesitant. I believe they may actually may make you pay off up to 3x the amount you borrowed though...

n=1 but I have heard of hospitals paying off a physician's debt if they agree to sign on for a 10 year contract for instance so this might be something to look into in the future

A contract like this is actually what made me curious. One of the residents at the hospital I work at now started receiving loan help and stipend while in residency for signing early, so I was just curious as to whether or not a medical student could do this.

 

[DarkHorizon]

This is a bad idea on many levels. But let's entertain it for hypothetical sake.

First of all, doubtful that a hospital would be interested in signing and giving money to someone that hasn't even started medical school. Regardless of how desperate they are to recruit physicians. It's too risky for them.

Now from your standpoint, you haven't even started yet, you know jack**** about actual practice of medicine. You have no idea what specialty you're going to be practicing, you don't even know if you're even going to make it through medical school. What if you fail out? And now you owe 150k to some random hospital with interest on top (believe me, it's a loan with interest, regardless of what they say).

Other implications of such arrangement is that you lose all the bargaining power once you sign something like this that far in advance. They may offer you 200k salary to practice primary care for a 5 year contract, along with a monthly stipend to offset your tuition and expenses. This may seem like a lot of money to you right now, but it actually isn't. Once you lock in, you won't be able to negotiate, which brings me to my biggest point, you lose your freedom and all the options if you sign something like this.

 

[ndafife]

As a student on a school that has a historical rural focus, I have classmates who have signed pre-employment contracts and I have been approached by recruiters via email/conferences/etc...

1. Nobody is going to offer you a contract until you are in medical school.
2. If there is any shred of doubt in your mind where you want to be/what you want to do specialty wise - do not sign the contract.
3. At least in my area, it seems these contracts generally lock you into a salary below market value in this area, in exchange for a stipend and/or tuition/loan relief. Which generally means you come out on the losing end financially in the long run.
4. The reality of the situation is, if a place is willing to pre-sign you to a contract knowing you may be 6-7 years out of actually being able to practice, that place is going to have job openings and be available for you to come back to it when youre done with residency