New Grad, first interview & offer! Advice please :)

[MiamiPA87]

Hi all!

 

Last week I interviewed at an Allergy & Immunology solo physician practice, with one other PA, and the physician told me that she is willing to train a new grad, training will be for 3 months but only part time (2-3 days a week) and that i would be compensated. After 3 months, i will transition to full time, which is 5 days a week, and every other Saturday (which i guess puts me at 6 days per week every other week).

 

Today I received an email from the PA saying that they would like to present me an offer this Wednesday, so I know that this will be my only opportunity to negotiate. What should I expect to be paid hourly during this 3 month training? Is it reasonable to ask for the avg hourly rate for new grads, even though i will be training? AAPA says that the avg hourly rate for part-time is $42-50, and i would likely be working 16-24 hours per week, which is not a whole lot, and this will be for 3 months. What should i ask for?

 

Also, when i transition to full-time, do i ask for the national new grad avg of 81-88k? And do I negotiate for more since I will be covering 2 Saturdays out of the month? And do I get this "part time to full time transition after 3 months" in writing? 

 

Lastly, what about bennies? I would like Full health & dental and of course malpractice (which she said in the interview she will cover), but how many PTO/sick days? CME allowance and days? License reimbursement, etc?

 

I've never negotiated a professional position before, so I look to you all for help! Thanks so much for reading this far :)

 

***I'm in Miami for reference. And the PA says that they schedule patients in 30 minute blocks, so after training i would be seeing at most 12-14 patients in a day

[MiamiPA87]

Alright,

 

I received my offer today, and I must say I'm a bit insulted...

 

I see my original post didn't get a response, so I'll provide you all with numbers and hopefully you can give me advice:

 

First 3 months will be part time, 18-22 hrs per week at $38/hr, this is considered training

 

After 3 months, my full-time salary will be.....wait for it......$70,148.00

 

Benefits: at full-time employment, 1 week vacation, 3 days personal/sick time, paid CME (no specifics on amount or any days), employer covers 80% health insurance, and all national holidays are paid for, including the day after thanksgiving & christmas eve

 

Should I be insulted? Because I sure am disappointed...

 

They would like an answer by Monday, any advice is welcome

 

edit: hours at full-time are 33.5/37.5.... this is because I will be working 4 days per week (33.5 hrs) and 2 Saturdays per month (37.5hrs)

[cinntsp]

Run awayyyy!

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

 

[SoCalPA]

3 days sick time? Really? Come on.

[MiamiPA87]

I just computed how they came up with that salary....

 

at 33.5/37.5 hours worked per week, thats an avg of 35.5 hours per week... so at $38/hr x 35.5 hrs/wk x 52 wks = $70,148

 

I understand that i'm not working "full-time" at 40 hrs/wk, but with that said, the physician told me during the interview that their practice isnt "clock-in clock-out," in other words, we work until all tasks are complete, so its very likely that I will go over that 35.5 hr/wk...

 

and 1 week vacation sounds absurd... but what about the 80% health insurance coverage? (which she says has a $1000 deductible) Is that standard?

 

Thanks for the responses

[PABliss13]

Doesn't sound that great to be honest. Base salary is too low even for new grad. I would ask for 2 weeks vacation minimum in addition to holidays, 1 week sick, and 1 week CME allowance with $2000 to spend on CME. I am not sure what is standard for health insurance coverage, but I get 100%. Also, you would basically be working full times with those hours. Sounds like they are trying to have it in writing that you are not exactly full time (40 hrs/week) so can pay you less, but I suspect you will easily put in 40 hrs/week with that schedule.

 

Is this the field you really want to go into? Do you feel like this would be a good learning experience as your first job? Are you looking to stay there for long time or just to get experience? I think all of those things factor into decision as well.

[FfIghter23]

Don't even wait until Monday. Stand up for yourself and counter the offer with $80-85k minimum with 3 weeks vacation. Get a copy of the AAPA salary data or some sort of salary data and politely have them reference it for future negotiating.

[MiamiPA87]

Thank you PABliss & Fflghter, they have a PA in the office who is an AAPA member... so I'm almost certain that they have it for reference, but I have already drafted an email that references this report, and I'm asking for 85k base, 3 weeks PTO to cover vacation/sick/personal days, plus 5 days CME... I havent asked for 100% health coverage because I'm assuming that if they offered me 80%, it's because that is what the other PA is receiving? Or maybe I'm wrong in assuming this, considering the other PA has been there for 12 years, so I'm sure they are well taken care of.

 

Any other suggestions before I send this email? I def am not waiting until Monday, I'd like to send it first thing tomorrow morning

 

Also, this is a field that interests me because i will be in charge of the Dermatology aspect of the practice, where I'll be performing all shave/punch biopsies, and this is a field that i eventually want to transition into. the training will also be excellent, and the physician and PA are extremely welcoming and enthusiastic to teach. Also, I do not want to relocate at this moment, and job postings have been sparse around here

[cinntsp]

I would also ask for license/DEA to be covered.  I don't know if DEA matters in Florida yet though.

[MiamiPA87]

Thanks wutthechris, license fee will be covered, no DEA in FL yet... sent the email this morning, lets see what response I get!

[greenmood]

I wouldn't take it.

 

I don't think 100% healthcare coverage is a reasonable request, although this may just be my own limited experience talking. Everyone pays something for healthcare coverage, and everyone pays a deductible before the insurance kicks in. 100% coverage occurs after your maximum out of pocket expenses are reached but you still have to pay premiums. Until you reach out of pocket maximum, the most common structure I've seen is 80/20, although my job offered 90/10 until this year when it changed to "match the marketplace." Frowny.

[cinntsp]

I wouldn't take it.

 

I don't think 100% healthcare coverage is a reasonable request, although this may just be my own limited experience talking. Everyone pays something for healthcare coverage, and everyone pays a deductible before the insurance kicks in. 100% coverage occurs after your maximum out of pocket expenses are reached but you still have to pay premiums. Until you reach out of pocket maximum, the most common structure I've seen is 80/20, although my job offered 90/10 until this year when it changed to "match the marketplace." Frowny.

 

100% coverage is referring to the premium, not the deductible and coinsurance/copays.

[greenmood]

100% coverage is referring to the premium, not the deductible and coinsurance/copays.

 

Makes more sense that way. ;-)

 

So, there are people out there not paying premiums? Balls. My husband doesn't have to pay premiums but he's a teacher. I didn't think it existed for us lowly healthcare drones.

[MiamiPA87]

udpate:

 

Offer withdrawn because the proposed salary was all that the practice could afford ($38/hr)

 

Mind you, the job posting itself stated that compensation would be $45/hr.... not even worth mentioning to them anymore, I've moved on from this horrible offer.