Recent grad job offer

[acomaf55]

Hi, all! I graduated at the end of last year and have been working the past few months in orthopedics. Unfortunately, I’ve found it’s not a very good fit for me, so I am seeking out other options. I received a job offer yesterday, but I would like a little feedback regarding some of their policies.

So the clinic is grant-funded. It was founded as an HIV treatment clinic but has since expanded to include primary care and family planning. Family planning is a particular passion of mine, so that’s why I am interested in this position. Anyways, the SP is only on site one day a week, and she’s an ID doc. So she only sees HIV patients. The family planning and primary care would be up to me, and I would be the only provider there for the rest of the week. I will get a couple weeks training for all three, but after that, I will be on my own. 

While the independence is a little concerning, I’m more concerned about some of the contract policies. For one, they would like for me to pay for my own malpractice and then will reimburse me. I’ve never heard of a clinic doing that before, so I’m not sure what to think of it.

Furthermore, when I asked about a CME allowance, they told me that they “pay for employees to attend trainings relevant to their jobs.” First of all, that seems like such a vague statement, so I don’t know if that means they will cover attendance of the annual AAPA conference or any other conference for that matter. Second of all, it is a little odd for them not to put a cap on what they could potentially cover. Overall, seems fishy to me.

Lastly, they don’t have any FMLA, short term disability, or parental leave policies in place. I am at the place in my life where I anticipate starting a family in the near future, so I don’t exactly like that they have nothing planned besides using up my PTO and then not paying me for the rest. 

Anybody have any thoughts or advice? 

[AbeTheBabe]

Since you only have experience in orthopedics, you are a new grad for all intents and purposes. I would not recommend any new PA be the sole primary care and family planning provider at a clinic after 2 weeks of training. Leave this job for an experienced PA, it's not a good idea. I wouldn't worry so much about malpractice reimbursement and CME.