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New grad, first job contract - please help


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Hello,

This is my first offer, and it is at a practice and in a specialty that I really, really like.

It is a small endocrinology practice in eastern Pennsylvania.

Details:

  • $95,000 / year
  • $7,200 / year to use towards health insurance (yes, you read that right - health insurance is up to me to purchase on my own)
  • 10 days vacation, 5 personal/sick days (paid)
  • 401k begins one year after start date
  • Malpractice insurance covered
  • $500 towards CME (no time off for CME specified)
  • Hours: 8/8:30am to 4:30pm M-F, no call, no weekends

 

For perspective: 2019 AAPA salary report says that Endocrinology makes at  the 50th, 75th, and 90th percentiles with 0 to 1 years experience, respectively:

Salary: $85,000, $101,500, and $105,000


Base Salary in Pennsylvania with 0 to 1 years experience at 50th, 75th, 90th percentiles, respectively:

Salary: 91,250 95,000 99,000

Bonus: $5,000; $8,000; $10,000
 
Pennsylvania internal med subspecialties 50th, 75th, 90th percentiles, respectively:

Salary: $97,000; $106,000; $121,900
Bonus:$4,000; $7,500; $12,000

 

Really looking for advice because I have no idea how to negotiate contracts, especially for PA jobs.
 

Thank you!

Edited by Asclepius66
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$7200 per year is $600 per month for health insurance.  If your healthy may work.  Expect that to cost to go up alot over time.  Waiting one year for 401k is a long time but you can always start a Roth on your own.  Endocrine is a great speciality.  Hours are great.  Except the insurance part seems like a solid offer.

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The salary is just fine.  It's the rest that needs work if you think you can negotiate any of it.

I'd recommend researching what insurance for you will cost on the market or through private companies to have an idea if 7200 is reasonable.

PTO is light.  May be less of an issue if you get paid holidays off separate from that.

CME is low, definitely try and negotiate that, ideally with time off (5 days).

You need to find out about who is paying licensing/DEA/ect fees.  Those add up.

Make sure malpractice has tail if it's claims based.

401k after a year is the least of the problems here.  Not ideal but not worth walking away for.

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2 hours ago, MT2PA said:

PTO is light.  May be less of an issue if you get paid holidays off separate from that.

CME is low, definitely try and negotiate that, ideally with time off (5 days).

My apologies, I forgot to include that there are 6 paid major holidays per year included.

 

What would you suggest for CME? How about PTO?

What exactly should I ask regarding " paying licensing/DEA/ect fees"?

 

Any suggestions specifically how to look for health insurance costs? I haven't had to look it up on my own before.

 

Is the consensus that the salary is okay, or should I ask for a bit more?

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1 hour ago, Mayamom said:

I focus on the other issues first.  Good luck getting an employer to pay DEA licensing fees.  In my 30 year career only one job would pay for all that and it was for the state.  

That's unfortunate.  I'm pretty sure my entire graduating class had their employer reimburse them for their DEA fee.  I expect mine to pay/reimburse my renewal as well.

OP re: the fees.  Just ask if they will pay/reimburse for licensing fees.  You pay DEA, state, and PANCE licensing every few years.  

Can't tell you anything about health insurance, personally that's a deal breaker for me.

CME at LEAST $1500 annually with 3-5 days for conference.  

If you can use your sick days as PTO you're essentially looking at 3 weeks.  meh.  It's okay.  4 weeks would be better.

You're likely going to have to pick your battles.  A small practice likely won't budge on all of these.

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Something else I just noticed from the offer letter, which I don't remember being discussed during the interview (may have been discussed and I just don't remember) is "We anticipate that you will have a training period of approximately one month prior to seeing patients on your own."

Is this a problem? A 3 month training period has been the norm when discussing this during other interviews I've had.

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  • 2 weeks later...

As long as your SP or others in the practice are happy to help with questions as you get trained up then 1month is no big deal. 

 

 

CME 5 days, $2500, all fees associated with performing your job (DEA, license renewal, subscription to an Endocrine journal to stay up to date, and maybe an UpToDate subscription) should be paid by the folks that you are making a small fortune for. You might not get your first DEA license paid for because you will not be working with them yet, but that should be paid as an ongoing cost if you are there in 3 years. 

Edited by anewconvert
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