work in private practice

[europeanIMG]

Another question from a guy not used to the US system (yet):

Is it true that you can start working in pp directly after fellowship/residency?

If so, how does that work? I mean a guy/girl who just finished their training can hardly do the same job as a doctor with 20 years of experience.

Do you start working as a "trainee" for the other doctors in the gruop and do the easier operatations etc.? Do you earn much less in the beginning and gradually increase your salary? How much more do you earn after 5 years with a group e.g.?

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[colbgw02]

Another question from a guy not used to the US system (yet):

Is it true that you can start working in pp directly after fellowship/residency?

If so, how does that work? I mean a guy/girl who just finished their training can hardly do the same job as a doctor with 20 years of experience.

Do you start working as a "trainee" for the other doctors in the gruop and do the easier operatations etc.? Do you earn much less in the beginning and gradually increase your salary? How much more do you earn after 5 years with a group e.g.?

1. Yes.

2. From a job search standpoint, there are plenty of openings for pretty much all specialties, depending on geography, etc. It's not like you'll be competing against tons of people who have 20+ years of experience. The job market is typically filled with many of physicians just out of training with only a handful of "experienced" docs looking for a change of scenery.

3. A. Not really. Depending on your specialty, you'll either be board certified or board eligible upon finishing your training. Either way, you'll be able to practice independently, subject to the particular regulations of the practice and/or hospital that you join. Insurance companies can also alter their reimbursements based on your credentials, I believe.

3. B. Freshly-minted BC/BE physicians don't get paid less because their work is considered less valuable or even because they work slower. In fact, working as a junior partner or salaried employee for several years, you will probably be expected to produce at a greater rate than your seniors. You'll get paid less because you're in a sort of purgatory whereby the senior partners make a percentage off of your work. The idea is that eventually you'll get to be a senior partner as well, but the specifics of this largely depend on the individual practice's dynamics. There are also the practical issues of establishing a patient base and mastering the complexities of the coding system that can affect a new physician's bottom line.