New grad Neuro offer. Room for improvement?

[uhhhhhhhhhh]

Was just offered a position with a hospital system in the Northeast. I am new to the game here, so sorry if any of my questions are confusing or obvious. The position covers both Neurology and Neurosurgery within a larger hospital system.

 

- Schedule is two 14 hours shifts and one 12 hour shift every week, both day and night. You choose which shifts you wish to work.

 

- Initial salary is $83.2K, with a guaranteed $5k raise every year for the first five years so you will be making $108K as a provider with 5 years of experience. This is in addition to annual 1.5-2% cost of living raise

 

- Give 5 CME days per year with $1500 allotment.

 

- 10 PTO days and 8 paid holidays

 

- Four call weeks per year (not on call for patients, but to fill in for anyone calling in sick those days. Paid OT or can do time trades for whoever was sick).

 

- Full benefits at hire. After review they are decent.

 

- Offered to train at normal salary for 4 weeks while waiting for my credentialing.

 

- Sign on bonus of $3000, to be paid in $1000 increments every 6 months.

 

Things I am currently unsure about:

 

- sick days

- malpractice insurance. I think it is fair to assume I am covered under the hospital system, but do I ask for tail to be covered as well? Or is it assumed to be included?

- DEA, AAPA, and other fees. What should I ask to be included, and is it normal for them to cover these fees in the future as well?

 

Also, they have extended a verbal offer at this point. Do I bring up these concerns/ counteroffers before I accept, or do I accept their offer then negotiate the details before I sign a contract?

 

Thanks for any advice/suggestions!

[sas5814]

I don't know the region so my answer may not be accurate but that sounds like a pretty crappy offer. 83k in a specialty for 40 hour work weeks seems mighty low. 10 PTO days stinks. A sign on bonus is just that. If they parcel out piddling amounts over an 18 month period it isn't a sign on bonus it is a retention bonus. 

 

You are a new grad and I'm an old fart so your mileage may vary. 

[marktheshark89]

If the 10 PTO days are 14 hour days - 140 hours off, thats 3.5 weeks PTO which combined with the 8 holidays isnt terrible to start of. If its 80 hours thats definitely low. Salary is on the lower end, I'd counter with 90k and atleast see if they will meet you halfway. Definitely ask for all those fees and dues to be pid. They should cover tail. You should get the specifics ofntheir policy. PTO is fair. Check to see if there is night and overtime differential. Overall i think if you can get the salary and PTO up a bit, its not bad at all.

[AbeTheBabe]

Depends on the malpractice policy. If it is an occurrence policy, you don't need tail. If it is claims-made, ask if they will cover tail.

[SedRate]

Was just offered a position with a hospital system in the Northeast. I am new to the game here, so sorry if any of my questions are confusing or obvious. The position covers both Neurology and Neurosurgery within a larger hospital system.

 

- Schedule is two 14 hours shifts and one 12 hour shift every week, both day and night. You choose which shifts you wish to work.

 

- Initial salary is $83.2K, with a guaranteed $5k raise every year for the first five years so you will be making $108K as a provider with 5 years of experience. This is in addition to annual 1.5-2% cost of living raise

 

- Give 5 CME days per year with $1500 allotment.

 

- 10 PTO days and 8 paid holidays

 

- Four call weeks per year (not on call for patients, but to fill in for anyone calling in sick those days. Paid OT or can do time trades for whoever was sick).

 

- Full benefits at hire. After review they are decent.

 

- Offered to train at normal salary for 4 weeks while waiting for my credentialing.

 

- Sign on bonus of $3000, to be paid in $1000 increments every 6 months.

 

Things I am currently unsure about:

 

- sick days

- malpractice insurance. I think it is fair to assume I am covered under the hospital system, but do I ask for tail to be covered as well? Or is it assumed to be included?

- DEA, AAPA, and other fees. What should I ask to be included, and is it normal for them to cover these fees in the future as well?

 

Also, they have extended a verbal offer at this point. Do I bring up these concerns/ counteroffers before I accept, or do I accept their offer then negotiate the details before I sign a contract?

 

Thanks for any advice/suggestions!

Discuss your counteroffer before accepting. You can tell thank them for extending an offer and that you're excited about potentially joining their team. Then list some details that you'd like to discuss before signing a contract. Speaking of which, was there a contract length listed out anywhere? Also, what happens after the 5 years of annual $5k + 1-2% raises?

 

It is reasonable and almost expected for them to cover your professional dues, namely DEA and malpractice. Make sure you are a listed provider with your own malpractice policy. If it is claims-made, you will need tail coverage and ask for this to be covered. If it is occurrence, you do not need tail coverage.

 

This might be a silly question, but do you mean "day and night" as in 7a-9p and potentially 9p-9a, for example? Salary seems low for this differential.

[Guest ERCat]

83K? No way!

[roger777]

I have 2 offers in 2 states in 2 different practice areas for more than your 5 year salary after 3 interviews as a new grad. Nothing I am seeing with my own or my peer's experiences says that anybody should be taking under 90K under any circumstances. I have been trying to impress on my classmates how important it is for the profession to maintain a unified front. The presentation our dept. gave on this stuff was lame and had some downright inaccurate info. Ideally, I would have our class meet every two weeks at a bar or restaurant and go over contracts and strategies. Three or 4 of us have offers from the same service. It would be silly for us not to make the same requests for PTO increases and elimination of the $5 training discount as I am but that is probably what we will do.

[uhhhhhhhhhh]

Sorry for the delay, but I've been talking back and forth for a couple weeks now to get everything sorted out.

 

- Absolutely not able to change salary

- Will have 22 PTO days per year (which we use for sick days as needed)

- Claims made with tail coverage is covered.

- No nighttime or weekend differential.

- After 5 years, will receive annual cost of living raise (1-3%).

- Fees I mentioned above are covered.

 

I am unsure what states you applied in (roger777), but in looking at the AAPA salary report, $83.2K is right at the 50th percentile for my field and state with 0-1 years of experience. For people who think $83K is absolutely too low/ridiculous, is there a way I can plead a case for a higher starting salary when the employer also uses the AAPA salary report to standardize its starting pay?

[beattie228]

Sounds like they're not budging on your request for increased salary. That leaves you with two options: take the job for the proposed salary or look elsewhere for another gig. My thoughts:

• I would push back on the lack of nighttime or weekend differential. Typically you should receive a 10% increase in your pay when working those types of shifts
• Why doesn't your Cost of Living Raise kick in until 5 years? We're not talking a big pay increase, but this should be something you get yearly without the limitation of 'after 5 years'
• Does your DEA and licensing fees come out of your $1500 or is that separate? If it's not separate, I'd push back on that. Once DEA and licensing fees are paid, you wouldn't have much left of your CME to actually go obtain CME.

[uhhhhhhhhhh]

Sorry if I was unclear. We get cost of living raise annually in addition to the $5,000 raise for the first 5 years, then only the cost of living raise. And the $1500 is separate. I will inquire about differential pay. Thank you all for your input and suggestions.