- Working environment: The city and population characteristics, how the practice is run, ancillary staff, who is responsible for prior authorizations. Know the place where you will be working for the following years.
- Your duties: How many patients are you expected to see every day? How many clinics do you have in a week? Will you supervise fellows or residents? Do you have inpatient duties, and if so, what’s the workflow?
- Benefits: In addition to the usual dental, vision, health and malpractice insurance, you should ask about tail coverage, 401(k) matching or any other type of retirement plan. You may think, “I’m young and won’t stay in the position for the long term,” but you may find you like it and stay 10 years. Don’t get caught out by not reading the retirement plan details.
4. Salary: This is a tough one. Some people don’t like to ask about compensation during the first meeting. There is no right and wrong here. If you feel more comfortable asking about compensation in subsequent meetings, that is fine. At one point, you will ask about the salary if it hasn’t been disclosed already. I recommend reviewing the regional and national numbers in MGMA.
The Contract
You like the place and are interested in the position. You have discussed it with them multiple times and negotiated an excellent salary and benefits. Now comes the real deal—they offer you a contract. You are asking yourself what these strange sentences are in the contract. My recommendation is to ask for help. Start with senior fellows, then attendings, and consider hiring a lawyer. A lawyer can help immensely in understanding the details of a contract. Consider that the legal fees may cost much less than a surprise in the future. Also, everything discussed verbally with your potential employer should be written in your contract to avoid misunderstandings in the future.
A wealth of information on starting your career can be found in The Rheumatologist’s Career Corner and the ACR’s Career Roadmap.
2022 issue of The Rheumatologist.
Conclusion
Once you sign, you know when and where you are going for the following years. Celebrate all your hard work! You deserve it. Remember: There is a and many of them are retiring. Every place is looking to hire new rheumatologists. The demand is high, but the supply is low because there are few rheumatology graduates.
