I'm graduating from vet school this year and going to be working at a small animal practice in an upscale area in Miami. I'm wondering what would be a reasonable starting salary in Florida as my soon-to-be employer is asking what I am expecting?
Don’t sell yourself short! FL generally offers pretty good salaries. But It really depends on the type of practice and how they typically do. Is it a 1 doctor practice that is just hiring its first associate, or a multi-doctor practice? How busy is the hospital? Are they jam packed all day with 20 min appts? Or is it a 30–40 min appt usually with 2 hr break in the middle of the day, and as a new grad you’ll be given an extra light schedule? What will your schedule be like? Will you be covering the busy times (weekends, mondays, evenings, fridays)? How much surgery are you expected to do? Only 1/2 day a week with spay/neuter/easy mass removals? Or will you have one to two full days of surgery where you do more complicated “big ticket” surgeries? And if so, are you ready for that, or do you think you’re someone who will take a good year before you can handle (and command) a heavy surgical caseload, or are you ready to dive right in with multiple more complicated surgeries and dental procedures? Does their surgery schedule have a two month waitlist currently, and you’ll have spillover cases right away? Or will you have an empty schedule until you are able to build your own clientele? How are their pricing? Is it a high end clinic that charges $75+ per exam and $300 for routine bloodwork (wellness with vaccines and fecal/heartworm test and some preventatives cost $300-500) vs. the cheaper clinic that charges $50-60 exams and $100 for bloodwork (same wellness costing $150-300)? Also, will your boss be puttering around or have two doctors in the building at all times just so you won’t be alone in the building even though the hospital doesn’t need two doctors in the building at all times?
I’ve worked and reliefed at multiple practices, and all of these things make a big difference. I currently see appts Sat/Mon including Mon evening, which are both the busiest times of the week. Just between those days, I generate a minimum of $6000, and upwards of $10,000 each week. If I were paid on production (we all are to an extent even on salary since that’s basis for how you can negotiate), I personally would be getting paid $1200 to $2000 a week on just those two days. Which without working any more throughout the week, commands an annual salary of somewhere between $60k and $100k assuming I work 50 weeks/yr. I also do a lot of surgeries and it’s fast or famine. In a day full of cat spays/neuters and minor mass removals without histopath, it’s hard to break $1500 revenue. But a single cystotomy or a major mass removal with histopath can cost $1500 individually and doesn’t take that long to do. Dentals can generate revenue, but you can’t do a bunch in a day because they are time suckers. A $1500 dental can take me half a day to do all said and done, while a $1500 cystotomy takes a third to half of that time depending on how complicated it is (including all the tech time needed for the patient).
If we’re talking daily averages, someone earning $70k should be producing $1400 per day if 5 day work week to $1750 per day per day if 4 day work week assuming 2 was vacation and 20% production. Someone earning $100k should be generating $2000 per day (5 days/wk) or $2500 per day (4 days/wk). So it really depends on your practice.
In essence how much money does your boss expect an efficient proficient doctor to generate in a year in terms of gross revenue? I would ask that, and that should get you an idea. Ask for maybe a little less than that, but as a new grad you are an investment, and the employer should take a little hit on your salary in the first year IMO. I will say, I was efficient enough to command a “competent doctor” salary by 6-8 months in, so it’s not even that big an investment unless the owner is low on cash. AND on top of that, negotiate based on what you are being offered for benefits. If they are offering you a little less than you like for your inexperience, ask for a bunch of CE (as in, on top of your licenses/dues/VIN, ask for enough to go on a decent wet lab based surgery/ultrasound/dental CE which costs about $2000 plus lodging and travel). Don’t let them tell you you don’t need CE because you just came out of school. I think I invested about $10k in the first 3-4 years just on dental CE registrations because I was really into it and wanted to be really good at it. I know so many people who can’t afford good CE because they get $1500-2000 per year including all their licensing/dues which leaves very little for actual CE.
