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i originally posted in the contracts forum, but thought now that i may be taking the next step to negotiate with the practice, I wanted to ask those that are in the specific field what I should expect and ask for. For this practice, I'd be traveling to about 4 locations, they do procedures as well as clinic. 5 days a week, daytime hours, no weekends, no holidays, very rare call, family-friendly atmoshere. This is what was proposed to me:

 

65k starting with a 10K or so increase after 90 days.

3.25% annual raise

productive bonus starts after 1 yr for anything 2x my salary at 10%

xmas bonus

$300 'gas money'

ALL CME paid with travel expenses, etc, association,etc fee paid as well

401K and health bennies

2 weeks vacation, 1 week sick time, 5 days CME

 

 

I think thats it. I am a new grad. I feel their benefits are really good, but still feel the starting pay is low. Am I wrong? I did mention my loans,etc and the manager had said that after 90 days, they might be able to 'throw some other things on the table to help me out' but wouldnt specify. Would I be pushing it if I asked for a higher starting pay? If not, what would be appropriate? I don't graduate until August---would it also be feasible to ask for reimbursement for my PANCE fees (provided I pass) that I just paid for if they want me to start in Sept?

 

THANKS!!!

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i originally posted in the contracts forum, but thought now that i may be taking the next step to negotiate with the practice, I wanted to ask those that are in the specific field what I should expect and ask for. For this practice, I'd be traveling to about 4 locations, they do procedures as well as clinic. 5 days a week, daytime hours, no weekends, no holidays, very rare call, family-friendly atmoshere. This is what was proposed to me:

 

65k starting with a 10K or so increase after 90 days.

3.25% annual raise

productive bonus starts after 1 yr for anything 2x my salary at 10%

xmas bonus

$300 'gas money'

ALL CME paid with travel expenses, etc, association,etc fee paid as well

401K and health bennies

2 weeks vacation, 1 week sick time, 5 days CME

 

 

I think thats it. I am a new grad. I feel their benefits are really good, but still feel the starting pay is low. Am I wrong? I did mention my loans,etc and the manager had said that after 90 days, they might be able to 'throw some other things on the table to help me out' but wouldnt specify. Would I be pushing it if I asked for a higher starting pay? If not, what would be appropriate? I don't graduate until August---would it also be feasible to ask for reimbursement for my PANCE fees (provided I pass) that I just paid for if they want me to start in Sept?

 

THANKS!!!

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i originally posted in the contracts forum, but thought now that i may be taking the next step to negotiate with the practice, I wanted to ask those that are in the specific field what I should expect and ask for. For this practice, I'd be traveling to about 4 locations, they do procedures as well as clinic. 5 days a week, daytime hours, no weekends, no holidays, very rare call, family-friendly atmoshere. This is what was proposed to me:

 

65k starting with a 10K or so increase after 90 days.

3.25% annual raise

productive bonus starts after 1 yr for anything 2x my salary at 10%

xmas bonus

$300 'gas money'

ALL CME paid with travel expenses, etc, association,etc fee paid as well

401K and health bennies

2 weeks vacation, 1 week sick time, 5 days CME

 

 

I think thats it. I am a new grad. I feel their benefits are really good, but still feel the starting pay is low. Am I wrong? I did mention my loans,etc and the manager had said that after 90 days, they might be able to 'throw some other things on the table to help me out' but wouldnt specify. Would I be pushing it if I asked for a higher starting pay? If not, what would be appropriate? I don't graduate until August---would it also be feasible to ask for reimbursement for my PANCE fees (provided I pass) that I just paid for if they want me to start in Sept?

 

THANKS!!!

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What area of medicine and where do you live? $65k is waaaaay low and you may be doing yourself a disservice if you take it. Regarding the loans... Once you sign the contract, there is no reason for them to give you anything beyond your base pay and agreed upon bonuses, so expect them to give you NOTHING else. The practice is in the business of making money, and unless you're doing nothing but procedures daily then you're not worth your weight in dollar bills, so to speak. I can understand your desire to take this job, but compared to national averages, their opening offer is a low-ball and I would recommend trying to negotiate for more. If your dead set on the job, it does sound like their bennies are pretty decent.

 

Andrew

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What area of medicine and where do you live? $65k is waaaaay low and you may be doing yourself a disservice if you take it. Regarding the loans... Once you sign the contract, there is no reason for them to give you anything beyond your base pay and agreed upon bonuses, so expect them to give you NOTHING else. The practice is in the business of making money, and unless you're doing nothing but procedures daily then you're not worth your weight in dollar bills, so to speak. I can understand your desire to take this job, but compared to national averages, their opening offer is a low-ball and I would recommend trying to negotiate for more. If your dead set on the job, it does sound like their bennies are pretty decent.

 

Andrew

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What area of medicine and where do you live? $65k is waaaaay low and you may be doing yourself a disservice if you take it. Regarding the loans... Once you sign the contract, there is no reason for them to give you anything beyond your base pay and agreed upon bonuses, so expect them to give you NOTHING else. The practice is in the business of making money, and unless you're doing nothing but procedures daily then you're not worth your weight in dollar bills, so to speak. I can understand your desire to take this job, but compared to national averages, their opening offer is a low-ball and I would recommend trying to negotiate for more. If your dead set on the job, it does sound like their bennies are pretty decent.

 

Andrew

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its in a suburb of IL. not rural, so i definately thought it was a low-ball, but with no experience, i didnt really know much more than that (if the bennies compensated, how much i should ask for a starting, etc). Andrew, I'm on board with you in putting the whole 'throwing other things on the table' out of my mind and focus on the things that are actually going to be in the contract. his arguement was that i would be doing a lot of shadowing, etc for the first 60-90 days, so once i 'fly solo', there would be a 10k increase.

 

how would you guys handle this? what would be your counter offer?

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its in a suburb of IL. not rural, so i definately thought it was a low-ball, but with no experience, i didnt really know much more than that (if the bennies compensated, how much i should ask for a starting, etc). Andrew, I'm on board with you in putting the whole 'throwing other things on the table' out of my mind and focus on the things that are actually going to be in the contract. his arguement was that i would be doing a lot of shadowing, etc for the first 60-90 days, so once i 'fly solo', there would be a 10k increase.

 

how would you guys handle this? what would be your counter offer?

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its in a suburb of IL. not rural, so i definately thought it was a low-ball, but with no experience, i didnt really know much more than that (if the bennies compensated, how much i should ask for a starting, etc). Andrew, I'm on board with you in putting the whole 'throwing other things on the table' out of my mind and focus on the things that are actually going to be in the contract. his arguement was that i would be doing a lot of shadowing, etc for the first 60-90 days, so once i 'fly solo', there would be a 10k increase.

 

how would you guys handle this? what would be your counter offer?

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its in a suburb of IL. not rural, so i definately thought it was a low-ball, but with no experience, i didnt really know much more than that (if the bennies compensated, how much i should ask for a starting, etc). Andrew, I'm on board with you in putting the whole 'throwing other things on the table' out of my mind and focus on the things that are actually going to be in the contract. his arguement was that i would be doing a lot of shadowing, etc for the first 60-90 days, so once i 'fly solo', there would be a 10k increase.

 

how would you guys handle this? what would be your counter offer?

Illinois is a little low overall. The 2010 new grad salary was $79k. Depending on how you look at it you are not too far off. I see more and more paying less for the first 90 days. I would get an AAPA salary report since I would guess that Pain pay less and try to get your salary around 50% (somewhere slightly north of $80k). You don't have a ton of leverage as a new grad and the benefits are pretty good for PP.

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its in a suburb of IL. not rural, so i definately thought it was a low-ball, but with no experience, i didnt really know much more than that (if the bennies compensated, how much i should ask for a starting, etc). Andrew, I'm on board with you in putting the whole 'throwing other things on the table' out of my mind and focus on the things that are actually going to be in the contract. his arguement was that i would be doing a lot of shadowing, etc for the first 60-90 days, so once i 'fly solo', there would be a 10k increase.

 

how would you guys handle this? what would be your counter offer?

Illinois is a little low overall. The 2010 new grad salary was $79k. Depending on how you look at it you are not too far off. I see more and more paying less for the first 90 days. I would get an AAPA salary report since I would guess that Pain pay less and try to get your salary around 50% (somewhere slightly north of $80k). You don't have a ton of leverage as a new grad and the benefits are pretty good for PP.

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its in a suburb of IL. not rural, so i definately thought it was a low-ball, but with no experience, i didnt really know much more than that (if the bennies compensated, how much i should ask for a starting, etc). Andrew, I'm on board with you in putting the whole 'throwing other things on the table' out of my mind and focus on the things that are actually going to be in the contract. his arguement was that i would be doing a lot of shadowing, etc for the first 60-90 days, so once i 'fly solo', there would be a 10k increase.

 

how would you guys handle this? what would be your counter offer?

Illinois is a little low overall. The 2010 new grad salary was $79k. Depending on how you look at it you are not too far off. I see more and more paying less for the first 90 days. I would get an AAPA salary report since I would guess that Pain pay less and try to get your salary around 50% (somewhere slightly north of $80k). You don't have a ton of leverage as a new grad and the benefits are pretty good for PP.

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The three rules of contract negotiation:

Get it in writing.

Get it in writing.

Get it in writing.

 

Any noncompetes? Malpractice?

 

The things that scream for clarification: "10K or so increase"

"very rare call" How rare is very rare? 1 weekend per month? Per year? What keeps "very rare" staying "very rare" if you're salaried?

"productive bonus starts after 1 yr for anything 2x my salary at 10%" -- Do you get to audit the books? Is that based off of billings or collections?

"after 90 days, they might be able to 'throw some other things on the table to help me out'" Um. Are you going to be renegotiating the contract after 90 days? Or are you just looking for them to give you more money for free out of respect for you?

 

That's just me being paranoid, but I'd highly recommend everything being spelled out. Vagueness will almost never work in the employee's favor.

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  • Administrator

The three rules of contract negotiation:

Get it in writing.

Get it in writing.

Get it in writing.

 

Any noncompetes? Malpractice?

 

The things that scream for clarification: "10K or so increase"

"very rare call" How rare is very rare? 1 weekend per month? Per year? What keeps "very rare" staying "very rare" if you're salaried?

"productive bonus starts after 1 yr for anything 2x my salary at 10%" -- Do you get to audit the books? Is that based off of billings or collections?

"after 90 days, they might be able to 'throw some other things on the table to help me out'" Um. Are you going to be renegotiating the contract after 90 days? Or are you just looking for them to give you more money for free out of respect for you?

 

That's just me being paranoid, but I'd highly recommend everything being spelled out. Vagueness will almost never work in the employee's favor.

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  • Administrator

The three rules of contract negotiation:

Get it in writing.

Get it in writing.

Get it in writing.

 

Any noncompetes? Malpractice?

 

The things that scream for clarification: "10K or so increase"

"very rare call" How rare is very rare? 1 weekend per month? Per year? What keeps "very rare" staying "very rare" if you're salaried?

"productive bonus starts after 1 yr for anything 2x my salary at 10%" -- Do you get to audit the books? Is that based off of billings or collections?

"after 90 days, they might be able to 'throw some other things on the table to help me out'" Um. Are you going to be renegotiating the contract after 90 days? Or are you just looking for them to give you more money for free out of respect for you?

 

That's just me being paranoid, but I'd highly recommend everything being spelled out. Vagueness will almost never work in the employee's favor.

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I am in Illinois and I feel that the presented starting salary is VERY low. I might have missed it but what specialty are you going into? I would not accept a starting salary that low in any specialty. Do they count your CME as vacation days because if they do than you are down to basically 1 week vacation. I think that you can negotiate a better overall contract.

Good luck.

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