VA Income

[BakerMD]

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So almost all the VA jobs I've looked at have salary ranges from 97-295. Pretty wide range!
What do you really make starting out as a board certified anesthesiologist with some experience?

 

[vistaril]

So almost all the VA jobs I've looked at have salary ranges from 97-295. Pretty wide range!
What do you really make starting out as a board certified anesthesiologist with some experience?

Im not in anesthesia(a much much much lower paid field in psych) and I can say as someone who was interested in working for the VA that the lower end of the salary range is completely not true. All our jobs also have the 97-xxxxxx range listed, but then when you actually call about them and discuss the job you'll find out that the lower end of the range is more like 160....and thats for candidates without experience or subspecialties really. I'm not sure why they list those lower end numbers when it is clear they dont represent what they really pow for the lowest level of BE/BC applicant......I'd guess in anesthesia that the lower end is a heck of a lot more than it would be for the lowest paying fields like fm and psych.

 

[cchoukal]

They publish the (off-puttingly low) base pay, which shows how out of touch VA HR is, but your total pay can be much higher, as it I corporates retention, regional, market, and performance pay. Like many academic jobs, however, your benefits are calculated on just your base pay, do don't be fooled by a seemingly generous retirement benefit.

 

[ProwlerturnGas]

I can never get the VA to play. Have applied for several jobs and never hear back? Calling HR is like chasing my tail. I'm even a Veteran.

 

[IlDestriero]

I can never get the VA to play. Have applied for several jobs and never hear back? Calling HR is like chasing my tail. I'm even a Veteran.

Sad. When I was looking for jobs, poor and disorganized follow-up was a red flag.

 

[Random Anesthesiologist]

So almost all the VA jobs I've looked at have salary ranges from 97-295. Pretty wide range!
What do you really make starting out as a board certified anesthesiologist with some experience?

You could see how much this VA will pay.

I'm sad about this article because this is my training program next year 🙁

Well, sad about the possibility of not renewing UNMC contracts anyway.

 

[aneftp]

My buddy just got hired at east coast VA. Major city.

Salary is in high 200s. That's not bad.

But the process of getting hire to starting is close to 8-9 months.

He interviewed back in August 2012. Didn't hear back from them for 4 months. Finally got hired in February 2013. But credentialing takes forever even. Though he's already worked in military system. He expects to start by May 2013.

Its a very long process.

But look at the salary. It's not bad. Remember a fee for service income of $400k is probably equivalent to VA salary of $280-290k. Why?

Healthcare cost for family of 4 with new obamacare for self employed will cost close to $20k alone. Look at 2014 Vermont rates released. We don't get any subsidy either. Add malpractice (I carry occurrence). VA pays for your malpractice. That's another $20k benefit.

Add disability pay, pension etc. VA benefits are close to $80k each year and its hard to lose your job once hired.

Plus we all know the hours at great at most VAs.

 

[nap$ter]

straight out of residency i started at 240 in a desirable city. dollar/hour was very competitive - nice way to study for boards,

 

[Gashog]

I can never get the VA to play. Have applied for several jobs and never hear back? Calling HR is like chasing my tail. I'm even a Veteran.

Never met a veteran doctor at the VA. From what I can tell, its dysfunctional personalities and a lot of FMGs.

 

[ProwlerturnGas]

Never met a veteran doctor at the VA. From what I can tell, its dysfunctional personalities and a lot of FMGs.

That's some of the problems with the VA. I want to help my fellow veterans but the bureaucracy gets in the way oftentimes.

From what aneftp is saying, I need to be patient? The VA treats hiring as if anesthesiologists grow on trees!

 

[DRJ37]

So I just started at a VA in July after finishing residency. The 97k is "base pay", and then you get a locality pay, which is actually where most of the salary comes from. As mentioned before, it's not a bad deal once you add in all of the benefits, but it's probably not worth it if you're not planning on being there for a long time (since those benefits include pension/retirement and insurance benefits after retiring). There may be some personalities for sure, but many of the group members at our VA are consistently voted as the top teachers in our affiliated residency program and are great people to work with.

 

[GasOrBust]

Are most VA gigs 100% CRNA or resident supervision? Ever a chance to do your own cases?

 

[cchoukal]

Are most VA gigs 100% CRNA or resident supervision? Ever a chance to do your own cases?

Almost all supervision (residents and crnas, no srnas) at SFVA. I do my own cases maybe once a month. Palo Alto, I'm told, does much more solo work, as they have no crnas (again, so I'm told).

 

[aneftp]

Almost all supervision (residents and crnas, no srnas) at SFVA. I do my own cases maybe once a month. Palo Alto, I'm told, does much more solo work, as they have no crnas (again, so I'm told).[/QUOTE]

Not all VA's are created the same!

That's why you will see the same VA job openings over and over ahead. The ones that work more (more solo work), you will see more turnover.

It's like Kaiser. I won't name specific Kaiser places. But there are some nice Kaiser places and some....not so nice Kaiser places. Why kill yourself if you are taking less money if the same guy is at another facility is making the same and working less (awwww. the worker bee W2 mentality).

It's true.

But I digress. I tend to disagree (in terms of VA long term goals). It's better to work at the VA if you a 20 year plan. I know they change many benefits in the past 10 years or so but the benefits are still great.

There is a lot of burn out in private practice, especially big city private practice. You may make a lot more, but you will always end up spending a lot more. After 10 years working 55-60 hours a week, things get old. You miss many of your kids activities. You know the bigger things in life. Or don't remember it cause you are a zombie after a tough night of call trying to watch your son's soccer game a 9am after being up all night.