Employment Agreements 101

Friends,

I wanted to share something that I wrote regarding a very important part in your career journey. Employment Agreements 101. I am constantly being asked questions regarding Employment Agreements and with the end of the school year coming to a rapid close, this is perfect timing. Without further ado...

5 things to keep in mind when negotiating your first employment agreement:

1) Always Negotiate: An institution's or practice's goal is always to attract the best talent with the leanest economic and professional package possible.  Failure to negotiate for those personal, professional, and economic items important to you and your family will likely have negative long term implications on your time in the role.  It is better to "ask in a highly professional manner" and be told no than to not have asked at all out of fear of losing the chemistry.  If you ask sound business questions in a professional manner and you lose the opportunity, then you have overestimated the chemistry that existed in the first place.

2) No Experts Needed: You do not have to be a sophisticated negotiator to address the questions you have about your agreement with a chief, a chair, and/or a practice's partners.  The key is in your willingness to set the appropriate expectations upfront.  The large majority of graduating residents and fellows have received inadequate business of medicine and career education prior to completing their medical training.  It is unlikely that a graduating surgeon or specialist will also graduate a master knowledgeable negotiator.  This does not have to be a disadvantage!  A successful expectation-setting conversation might go something like this:

Physician: "I am not sure about your training program, but we received very little in the way of business and career education.  Was it that way when you were in training?"

Practice: "Absolutely.  Most of us have learned the business side of medicine via on the job training and have made a lot of mistakes in the process"

Physician: "I am glad to know it is not just me because understanding the ins and outs of these employment agreements has been a bit overwhelming.  I have some questions about my contract and I wanted to make sure you were OK with me discussing them with you?  (Pause for affirmative response)  With my current lack of business savvy, I am concerned about not offending you or your colleagues but do know that the conversation will be educational for me and will help me feel more confident about the opportunity.  (In a jovial manner, say:) You promise not to get offended by my questions?

Alter the above to fit your style but do not fail to set expectations.  Admitting your current knowledge level and experience at this point is not seen as a sign of weakness and puts you and the practice or institutional representative on the same team.  Conversely, trying to pass oneself off as a sophisticated negotiator will surely create a competitive environment and a greater likelihood that conversations will damage the established chemistry.            

3) Go Live Or Risk Going Viral:  Emails or faxes containing your lengthy requests and concerns about your agreement are not advised.   As suggested above, it is better to visit live via phone or face-to-face.  Live conversations allow you to read your counterpart and maintain a sense of positive direction by reading tone and/or body language.  The conversation is also an excellent educational opportunity.  You should prioritize you wish list as there is no guarantee of making it through the entire list.  The danger of avoiding conversation and sending your requests via email is you loose your ability to manage the conversation.  If item #4 on your list creates a sense of irritation with the chair or partner, then you have no ability to withdraw or manage the remaining twenty requests.  Images of you being difficult and demanding can be easily created and can become viral and may negatively impact the teams perception of you as a future member.    

4) The Amazing Invisible Ink: The conversations suggested in #3 above will yield many thoughts and dreams and promises on the part of the practice or university.  Work hours and locations, compensation and bonuses, partnership or tenure, research support and marketing support will all be discussed.  You must make every effort to convert the promises and discussions into the written word of an employment agreement.  Once you sign, you can count on healthcare reform, endowment depletion, further resident hour reductions, and the tightening of outside funding sources to step into the mix and challenge the institution's or practices abilities to keep their commitments.  Historical experience would say it has been hard for many to keep the commitments put in writing let alone those made on a verbal promise or a handshake.  I believe there is always a real interest in keeping promises made but the environmental pressures present at the time may not allow it to be so.  Having all terms in writing may not ensure you all that was promised but it will provide you some protection in proving a breach should the need arise.  I would hate for you to trust in the promises of people only to find out that the invisible ink of well-intended promises has simply disappeared.    

5) Legal Expertise:  Remember that there are two parts to a contract negotiation: 1) Negotiating the deal, and 2) Determining if the deal negotiated is legal and is effectively embodied  in the language of your employment agreement.  Negotiating your deal can be done by yourself or a business consultant, accountant, or attorney with appropriate knowledge and skill sets.  It is imperative that you select wisely for this step as the process and interactions will have long lasting impressions about you as physician and potential partner or professor.  Selection of an offensive and/or caustic personality for negotiation purposes could be detrimental.  Once the deal terms are negotiated, a contract attorney is the only person who can tell you if what you negotiated is legal and if what you negotiated is embodied in the agreement.  The costs for legal review of a typical employment agreement with both written and verbal feedback by and attorney should not exceed $500.      

Congratulations on taking the first steps towards becoming proactive in your career journey! Let me know how CareerPhysician can help you. www.careerphysician.com

Regards,

W.

wesleymillican@careerphysician.com

Why Are You Afraid To Call?

In 20 years of supporting the career needs of America's young physicians, I have learned that the stigmas of residency and fellowship live on for many years post training.  Countless numbers of newly minted physicians approach the job market as if they are still subservient figures doomed to forever comply with the nonstop demands of senior attendings or practicing physicians.  It is time to realize that at the competition of your training you are now equally trained officially peers and colleagues separated only by experience.  Too many young physicians waste countless time and financial resources mailing pretty cover letters and CVs that will never see more than the official round file of the practice administrator.  While you are sending out your sterile offerings, your competition for the job is on the phone making live direct contact with the practice or program thus creating barriers to entry that your paper documents will never penetrate.  Yes, I realize it will seem foreign to pick up the phone, call your target practice and ask for doctor Smith to discuss your interests and their needs.  Get Over It, Practice Your Pitch In The Mirror, Make The Call.  They are!!!

Wesley

I'm talking to you.

For our many avid and loyal readers, and I am sure there are TONS of them, I would like to take a moment to introduce myself to the crowd--as a new contributor to this grand ole blog. Hello blog world! I'm Casey and I have been an exemplary employee of CareerPhysician for two years now, if I may just throw it out there myself.  I'm a self-proclaimed sharp-shooter and lover of all social media so I sometimes handle our facebook page and our work-in-progress website. I am pleased to be able to contribute to the Wesley's head blog and hope you will join me on this journey.

As a newbie, I wanted to start my blog life off right by asking you, my dear loyal websiters, visitors, pals and close strangers, what brings you here? What drives you to visit us each week? Anyone? Anyone? Do you visit us each week?

As I research different areas and people that I look to for inspiration for our site and the resources we bring you, I want to build as many relationships I can with the people that matter most--young physicians, residents, fellows, doctors, like you. YOU. I'm talking to you! Tell me what you want, tell me what you like, what you don't, what you need in the world of medicine. I'm all ears.

Sound off.

C

The end of a year-a.

Friends,

2010 is over. Well to be precise, in just three short days 2010 will be over. As we close this year, I tip my hat to the year that brought the Winter Olympics, the liberation of the trapped Chilean Miners, the eclectic tastes of Lady Gaga and the evolution of an unknown device called the Apple iPhone 4. I bid adieu and good riddance to the heartbreaking haitian earthquake, the devastating Gulf oil-spill and to the SF Giants for beating our beloved Rangers.

For the majority, 2010 has been a good year for CareerPhysician. We connected with over 250 Residents and Fellows at places such as Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, UCLA, OU Health Science Center and many more. We launched the efforts of completing our fancy new employment agreement tool (to be unveiled very, very soon!) and made even more changes to our evolving website.

As we look to the new year, we make resolutions that we plan on keeping and goals we plan on surpassing. We could not have made it through this year if it weren't for all the schools that have invited us into their programs to share the knowledge that we have and I hope that 2011 brings many more programs and many more memories.

Cheers to 2011.

W.

Fall Back.

It's almost that time, the time to set your clocks back one hour and relish in the fact knowing that you have another hour to sleep in. The fall brings many things, cooler and undoubtably more gorgeous weather, changing leaves and a breath of fresh air. But, more importantly, fall marks the start of a new school year. For many of our CPChiefs Attendees this year, it will be their last year of training and next fall will bring the start of a blossoming career. Like many, Fall 2011 seems so far away, but if you dream of landing that dream position in the private or academic career you so desire, you should get a move on things. This past year we have been diving in head first trying to unravel all the best educational resources we can bring to young physicians, residents and fellows, trying to get a head start on the planning of their career. Our newly launched website is ready to answer questions, concerns and headaches. We pride ourselves knowing that we've got the best educational collateral out there and our sections like employment agreements and contract negotiations are exactly what you need to get started on your career journey. We are currently in the works of drumming up a one-of-a-kind employment agreement tool! I hope that you take the time you need to figure out a good strategy and plan for your upcoming school year. And for those who haven't started even thinking about what steps to make next, I hope you find a good resource on our website for a little guidance. So get out there, join us! After all, you only have 353 days until the first day of fall 2011.

W.