New grad EM offer

[Chloe21]

Hello all, I am a new graduate PA and wanted your feedback on this potential offer. I was provided this information during my interview, have yet to receive actual official contract.

It is a level 1 trauma center. Great learning/mentorship, friendly staff, has trained many new grads. On-boarding will spend a month with another APP for all shifts. Will never work a shift alone. Will always have at least 1 physician, resident, and another APP on shift

Salary: 103,376/yr for 40hrs a week or 93,038/yr for 36hrs/week. (more likely since 12 hour shifts)

8 paid holidays per year

Vacation days: 20 days if 40hrs/week or 18 days if 36hrs/week 

Sick days: 10 if 40hrs/week or 9 if 36hrs/week

CME days: 5 days if 40hrs/week or 4.5 if 36hrs/week

CME allowance: 3,500 if 40hrs/week or 3,150 if 36hrs/week

Retirement: Vested over 5 year period; 20% per year for each year of employment. Employer contribution 10-13% of total gross compensation

Life insurance policy of 300,000 fully paid by employer

Short and long term disability paid for by employer

Malpractice fully paid for by employer

Not sure what shift differentials there are yet but there is a rotating call schedule for which you will only be paid if called in which is compensated at a higher rate 

 

Thought? Pros? Cons? Things to bring up to them? Suggestions? I am not sure how much wiggle room there is since this is a major hospital.

[ohiovolffemtp]

Key: calculate your effective hourly rate.  My guestimate: ~$56/hour based on working 46 weeks/year assuming the $93K compensation, 3 12 shifts week and 6 weeks vacation based on the 18 days.  That's a fair but not great hourly rate.  How does that compare to the cost of living?

CME allowance both $ & days are very good.

No information on cost of health insurance: very important to get that.

Other benefits: sound good.  Make sure med mal covers tail.

L1 trauma center, with residents.  An important question is what will you get to see and do?  Will the residents get all/most of the interesting cases and procedures?  You should speak to several of the PA's who've worked there for > 3 years (it takes that long to really get up to speed in EM) to see what their experiences are.

Retirement: that's a very good contribution, but really favors folks who stay.  Nothing wrong with that, but make sure it's where you're going to want to be for that long.

[Randito]

I have a strong feeling that this offer is from my former employer. I worked in a different specialty, but the benefits sound nearly the same. If you want to PM me, I’m happy to share my experiences and may be able to get you in contact with a former classmate that worked in the ED for several years. 

[Guest ERCat]

So I think the salary is really, really low for the ER - probably the lowest I’ve heard of in a long time to be honest.

The benefits are amazing. Paid vacation? Sign me up. You get holiday pay? Believe it or not these things are not common for all ERs. So those things are great. But still, if you calculate them into an hourly rate, it’s somewhere around 50ish bucks an hour which is, again, low AF for the ER.

THAT SAID! ER is terribly hard to get into as a new grad, and when you do get into it, it’s easy to get into a situation with minimal support. Having residents and an attending MD with you at all times is a huge benefit!

I took a job in the ER for around the same amount an hour as a new grad three years ago. Things changed, and now I am in the same ER making over twice that per hour when my RVUs are factored in, plus full benefits (without vacay). I am so damn glad I took the job even though pay was lowest in town because it got my foot in the door and here I am today. I love my job and I get adequately compensated for it.

I would keep looking for other jobs because I guarantee you there are other ER jobs that will give you a hell of a lot better pay. But ultimately if you don’t find something better I think this one is worth taking to get your foot in the door. If you do take the job it is definitely worth negotiating and do NOT be afraid because they are low balling you big time and they know it. DO your research so you know what the going rate is in town. Stay calm and collected, and simply state: “I am very excited about the possibility of working with your group and I think I would be a great fit. I was hoping that we could discuss a higher starting salary of X dollars per year” (give an exact number, not a range as it makes you look more confident and knowledgeable about the industry) “as that is more in line with the salaries for other ER PAs in town.”

[Marinejiujitsu]

Salary is low but it's a teaching hospital. Suck it up for a few years and you will be better than 90% and highly sought out.

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