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Ortho job talk


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If any PA takes this offer, I think they should be banned from the Profession.

 

Embarrassing.

 

Now, now Iain, there are PAs out there that have worked for less...but not in Ortho. Bills have to be paid, families still need to eat and sometimes the ego has to be put aside.

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I know this is probably chump advice but I found to be a factor. A surgeon I use to work for was about 7" shorter than me. After a couple hours of leaning over an OR table I was thinking about a way to duck out and page myself. It takes a very understanding short surgeon to stand on a stool.

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Yes true Marilyn, but man that is so low, and Ortho works you like a Nogales Tourist Donkey.

 

Agree with Andrew, the whole offer is absurdly unreasonable. Andrew, find someone that has used PAs before and know what they should be paid, even for a new grad.

 

This Surgeon wants cheap labor.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Last Thursday I submitted a counter-offer that was more reasonable. The following day, they advertised the job through another source. Guess I got my answer - the problem is they have not called me yet to let me know they're going to look elsewhere. This makes me question the quality of the folks that I would have been working with anyway... Back to pounding the pavement, looking for work! Truth be told, I'm content with how it worked out. Not happy, but content.

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I took a peds Ortho job for 65 k base, no call, 2500 cme and one cme week pto, 10 days off and 7 paid company holidays, paid malpractice,license,credentialing, profit sharing, 401k matching, etc etc, my bonus is %50 of whatever I collect over my base. I have zero experience and I am geographically limited by my wife (she has a good job). I too felt underwhelmed when first given the offer. I have no contract or noncompete clauses though. I am working for someone I consider a family friend who took me on a mission trip and allowed me to stay at his home while training me on my elective. I hope to grow the position and gain experience. If my wife was not an NP then this job would not be able to sustain any lifestyle. Like many have said, nursing makes more. Given my Medicaid population I'm not sure he generates the big dollars. My .02 cents. I think it depends on your individual situation when it comes to stuff like this. Obviously this job will not be hard to walk away from in a couple of years if I get a better offer.

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dsstanford,

 

One thing that you had going for you was a guaranteed 50% bonus of your production. The offer I got was zero guarantee of any bonus or any salary increase over their proposed three year contract. Your personal situation is such that you could make ends meet with your salary and your wife's. Not so much where I am concerned.

 

The conclusion that I've come to is that they wanted a surgical tech and MA rolled into one that they could bill for, but wouldn't have to pay for. My conclusion is that it was just an odd situation and I'm fairly glad I got to steer clear.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I need help pls! I have three plus year general med experience as my first job right off school. I am now making a switch to ortho. This is in a major city in Florida. I am in the process of the counter offer. This is what they r offering: 87K base, BUT no bonus, no cme, no ot, no extra pay for calls seven days out of the month. This is a high volume practice. The position will have rounding, OR two days of the week, pa clinic, dictation... Benefits : med, dental, vision, 401k c 3% match. I know I don't have ortho experience but 87 I think is way too low c what they don't offer. I am going to counter c 105k. Am I being reasonable? I appreciate any input.

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It looks like mean salary in your experience bracket is probably about $95k - I would probably ask $100k even - no bonuses. Or I would go with asking $95k and add on a production bonus (if this were me). I'm not even technically a new grad yet, but I have looked at the 2009 salary survey and I think with your experience average salary is warranted.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Andrew

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  • 3 months later...

hello, all. i've been working in ortho for almost 2 yrs now, and this is my first job out of school. i have really no contact with other PA's in my area, so i'm finding it hard to get advice about my employment situation. i.e. is it reasonable, horrible, etc. so i thought i'd bounce it off you:

 

private practice

no contract

90k per year, with possible production bonus, though i barely made my overhead last year, we'll see this year. (honestly, with our current arrangement, i don't think i'll ever make a bonus. we just don't do enough surgery and three days a week i'm in clinic with the docs, so all the billings for the clinic patients go to them, so i really feel like i'm just in the background.)

100% medical, dental for me, nothing for my family

retirement with 6% match

no ER call, though i'm on call for the OR when my docs take call

3.5 days in clinic, 1.5 in OR ( one .5 day is my post-op and injection clinic, with an occasional new patient or follow up)

paid cme (sent me to aaos last year, paid in full for everything)

no real cap on time off, though i try to keep it at about 3wks

 

we're just outside and major city, surrounded by several practices that are under the umbrella of a huge practice conglomerate. needless to say, we're not all that busy. there is another pa in our group, but he works for the group's main total joint doc who is very well established and super busy. that PA does very very well.

 

so i know i have it good in some ways, but i think my compensation could be better. i also wish my docs were busier. am i crazy for not having a contract? how do i make myself more "productive" from a collections standpoint when i'm basically only performing billable work 1.5 (at most) days per week?

 

also, i'd be open to taking more call responsibilities, but i have never run into another pa who does more than i do, so i have no idea what the expectations would be. when you are on call, what are your typical duties? what is your call like

 

many thanks

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I am a new grad, so all of this comes with a grain of salt. First, your salary and benefits package looks pretty decent - what area of the country are you in? You could certainly be pulling in more, esp with your experience, elsewhere, but the demands on your time sound pretty good.

 

ER call can be a tricky subject - each doc has his/her own way of handling this. My ideal situation would be that the PA is on ER call such that you attend to any ER case needed additional ortho evaluation for possible emergent surgery. You, of course, have to call your doc in to do the surgery. But you would have to make the admitting determination, orders, etc. This would be billable and would potentially save your doc having to go to the ER for every case.

 

As far as increasing your in-office revenue, this is something that you'll need to talk to your docs and front office folks about what types of cases you can handle and who the schedulers put on your docket.

 

Good luck with this! Ortho can be very difficult if your SP is not incredibly supportive and trusting.

 

Andrew

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  • 1 year later...

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