Avoiding Life Malpractice: A Physician's Primer on Finding, Evaluating, and Negotiating an Employment Contract

By Jared Barton and Michael Van Bibber

Avoiding Life Malpractice will provide residents, young physicians and more experienced health care practitioners with the information they need to better navigate the complex process of finding, evaluating, and negotiating an employment contract. You've spent decades mastering the art and science of medicine, but what do you know about the business of medicine? How much are your services worth? Will you hang a shingle and start your own business? Join a group? Work for a hospital? How will your choices affect your pay, vacation, lifestyle? You owe it to yourself to have a guide along the way and to avoid mistakes that could be equated with Life Malpractice.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gatekeeper Press
• Release date: Mar 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9781662910821

Book preview

Chapter 1: Finding a Job and Understanding the Players

The pathway to get into medical school and residency is pretty well delineated. AMCAS and ACGME have these processes wrapped up tight with a nice little bow on top. You complete the requisite courses, spank the MCAT or USMLEs, spend the requisite time filling out your forms, paying your fees, selecting your target schools and residency programs, buying your suit, traveling from heck to breakfast interviewing, and then wait to see where you are accepted.

The job hunt is a completely different animal. There is no centralized platform for physician jobs. There are no centralized forms. There are no up-front fees. Many places will offer to pay for your travel (a nice change!). However, you’ll also find that you’ll be interviewing and trying to land this job during the busy period of residency, unlike the relatively laid-back time in college or as a fourth-year medical student.

In this chapter, you’ll find information to help narrow your job search, find positions of interest, and make first contact with your potential employers. We’ll also introduce the cast of characters with whom you’ll be communicating and negotiating your contract.

Limit the Search

This is the part of the job process that is actually easiest for many of our clients. Well before the job hunt starts, many physicians have already discussed with their families where they want to live and what type of practice they would like. If you haven’t done so already, sit down and discuss it with anyone that you want involved in the process.

Outline and rank the following factors:

1. Geographical location: Where do you want to live? Where does your spouse or significant other want to live? Where do your children want to live? What activities are most important to you and your family? Will you restrict yourself to only one state or region? Are there any states or regions that are clearly off-limits? Are you considering big cities, medium cities, or small towns? What about rural settings? Do you need access to metropolitan areas? What is the cost of living in the areas you’re considering?

2. Family: In many ways, this is a consideration of geographical location, but we feel it deserves extra emphasis. Is proximity to extended family important? How close is close enough? How does your family feel about this?

3. Practice goals: Are you looking for a career in academic medicine? Would you like to avoid research but still be involved in teaching students or residents? Are you looking to practice your specialty and leave the ivory tower behind? Do you want to do massive operations and take care of the sickest patients, or will you be okay with transferring the more complicated