Pediatrician Salary/Compensation

[MD & DPT]

Hey all! My wife is currently a PGY2 in pediatrics and we are starting to look into attending positions. Wondering if anybody out there could speak to what a competitive salary/compensation package would entail for a pediatrician.

A little background we are specifically looking at more rural communities in the PNW. My wife has been in contact with a few sites already and is planning to do a 3-4 week rotation at our desired location this coming summer. These are mostly outpatient clinics, though do also have some call/newborn rounding at the local critical access hospitals. Based on how communication has gone so far it seems within the realm of possibility should it go well this summer an offer could shortly follow (one of the MDs has already started to reach out to the local community regarding jobs in my field!). We are really excited about these possibilities, though also want to make sure she gets a competitive offer. Given the little more unique situation would you all also recommend having any potential contract reviewed? Thanks!

[mamaham]

I am also a spouse so I cannot answer most of your questions... however, we used Contract Diagnostics, Jon Appino to review the contract. As part of the review you can select the option to include both the national salary data (MGMA, i think??) and their firm's data. Worth every penny as it gave us a lot of peace of mind to both have contract reviewed and have an idea that the compensation etc was appropriate.

Doing a 3-4 week rotation there sounds wonderful! Get a feel before you commit. As you know, most doctors don't stay at their first position for long. Maybe that could be avoided with a rotation ahead of time....

[MD & DPT]

I am also a spouse so I cannot answer most of your questions... however, we used Contract Diagnostics, Jon Appino to review the contract. As part of the review you can select the option to include both the national salary data (MGMA, i think??) and their firm's data. Worth every penny as it gave us a lot of peace of mind to both have contract reviewed and have an idea that the compensation etc was appropriate.

Doing a 3-4 week rotation there sounds wonderful! Get a feel before you commit. As you know, most doctors don't stay at their first position for long. Maybe that could be avoided with a rotation ahead of time....

Thanks for the reply! Her program had Jon Appino give a presentation recently, it was really beneficial. Heard somewhere that’s it’s essentially like signing a million dollar deal so makes sense to do everything possible to get it right.

[Savedfpdoc]

I’m fm so can’t speak to comp but it sounds like she’s leaning to an employed position ie w a large corporation. I recommend looking at small to medium private practices instead. Owned by a group of physicians that will give her a path towards partnership. I’m employed by a large Corp and dealing w admin headAches is something I don’t wish for anyone. Fyi wci recently had a pediatrician on who was in private practice and was able to make $500k…this is not the norm but it generally there’s more money to be made in private practice

[MyMichTime]

I am almost 3 years out of a general pediatrics residency. I joined a hospital owned practice as the 4th doctor for my first job out of residency. I am employed and it has been great and I would not go back. They offered a very competitive starting salary of guarantee $230k/year for the first 2 years and then moving to productivity only. I work 5 week days, off weekends and only have phone “call” a few times per month. We have no hospital coverage either. Being a part of a large hospital owned practice has offered awesome benefits like 401k, disability, life insurance, etc. I’ve spoken with some of the other residents I graduated with and definitely seem to have signed on a great gig in comparison.

In regards to having the contract looked over, I would recommend it. I had a family member in the medical field look it over but should have hired some to review it.

[cards67]

Your strongest negotiating position is with another job offer(s) in hand. MGMA or some survey could be scoffed at by employers. You don't necessarily need someone to negotiate on your behalf, nor have them review a contract. Sometimes it's just a simple one page boilerplate contract. But I'd suggest your wife doesn't put all her eggs in one basket at one place. She should use those 3-4wks to get to know the lay of the land, keep her ear to the ground and learn what other options are in that area (if any).

[MD & DPT]

I’m fm so can’t speak to comp but it sounds like she’s leaning to an employed position ie w a large corporation. I recommend looking at small to medium private practices instead. Owned by a group of physicians that will give her a path towards partnership. I’m employed by a large Corp and dealing w admin headAches is something I don’t wish for anyone. Fyi wci recently had a pediatrician on who was in private practice and was able to make $500k…this is not the norm but it generally there’s more money to be made in private practice

We aren’t yet sure at least for the clinic she is going to do a rotation at whether or not it is owned by the hospital in town or whether it is still truly a private physician owned group that then just has the contract at the hospital. I’m certainly hoping for the later as you said opens up the track for some potential partnership. Either way it wouldn’t be with a large corp, the hospital in the town is a small private entity as far as hospitals go so hopefully that still allows for some more flexibility.

[MD & DPT]

I am almost 3 years out of a general pediatrics residency. I joined a hospital owned practice as the 4th doctor for my first job out of residency. I am employed and it has been great and I would not go back. They offered a very competitive starting salary of guarantee $230k/year for the first 2 years and then moving to productivity only. I work 5 week days, off weekends and only have phone “call” a few times per month. We have no hospital coverage either. Being a part of a large hospital owned practice has offered awesome benefits like 401k, disability, life insurance, etc. I’ve spoken with some of the other residents I graduated with and definitely seem to have signed on a great gig in comparison.

In regards to having the contract looked over, I would recommend it. I had a family member in the medical field look it over but should have hired some to review it.

Wow that seems like a pretty great staring number based off the limited things I have seen! Did you also have productivity bonus on top of the base salary? Mind if I ask what region of the country you are in?

[MD & DPT]

Your strongest negotiating position is with another job offer(s) in hand. MGMA or some survey could be scoffed at by employers. You don't necessarily need someone to negotiate on your behalf, nor have them review a contract. Sometimes it's just a simple one page boilerplate contract. But I'd suggest your wife doesn't put all her eggs in one basket at one place. She should use those 3-4wks to get to know the lay of the land, keep her ear to the ground and learn what other options are in that area (if any).

That’s hopefully the goal! She has been in contact with a few locations so far. All these towns are pretty small so really only 1 pediatric clinic and hosptial. Tried to find a way for her to get a few places in during those weeks but they are all a few hundred miles apart and logistics with credentialing, housing, and what not was going to be a nightmare for multiple sites.

[Tim]

“Given the little more unique situation would you all also recommend having any potential contract reviewed?”
Not a criticism but only a constructive suggestion, especially for the first contract. The natural focus on the compensation. Each paragraph is there for specific legal reasons. Some paragraphs may actually be missing. The only time a contract matters is if there is a serious dispute. The answer is always “what does your contract say”. Then followed by “consult an employment attorney”.
There are advantages of the review services (familiarity and volume), but they don’t provide a legal review. For that you probably need a health care attorney in your state.
You need to have a clear understanding of each paragraph and your rights and obligations and the employers rights and obligations. Use a review service as a tutor for an educational learning opportunity. If there is a dispute, if it’s not in the contract it doesn’t count. Especially upon exit, which has a high probability at some point.

[MyMichTime]

Wow that seems like a pretty great staring number based off the limited things I have seen! Did you also have productivity bonus on top of the base salary? Mind if I ask what region of the country you are in?

^ I feel the same, I don’t think any of the other peds residents I graduated with make over $200k.

They did offer a once per year productivity bonus if my RVUs generated the prior year were above my last years salary. (This is still in place going forward as well). Covid and a slow start did not allow me to get one after my first year but after the second full year I received a $60k bonus (pre-tax) because my productivity has bumped up. I’m currently on track for a $300k salary starting this summer! I am currently working 4.5 days per week seeing about 24 patients per day and anticipate my salary to drop some the following year since I’ve now taken half a day off.

I’m located in the southeast (outside Atlanta) where the coat of living is low.

[Tuxedo]

Starting general pediatrics compensation varies by as much as 100k depending on the job.

Yes you should get the contract reviewed. I have used attorneys not contract review firms.

You will need multiple offers to compare.

[CordMcNally]

Starting general pediatrics compensation varies by as much as 100k depending on the job.

Yes you should get the contract reviewed. I have used attorneys not contract review firms.

You will need multiple offers to compare.

The advantage of physician contract review firms is that they’ll have much more knowledge about compensation in addition to the legalese. They all have attorneys on staff. A random attorney looking at the contract won’t be incredibly helpful.

[Tuxedo]

Should have expounded I meant the final sentence of my second paragraph to imply that I didn't have experience with contract review firms.

My explicit advice is pay someone to review the contract. I would not count on a friend, family, program director to be your sole counsel on any contract. Sure, have them look at it. But pay a professional (who is also not your friend) to do it too.

[Tim]

The advantage of physician contract review firms is that they’ll have much more knowledge about compensation in addition to the legalese. They all have attorneys on staff. A random attorney looking at the contract won’t be incredibly helpful.

Some assumptions in there. We used an healthcare attorney that had previously worked his way up to general council of a sister hospital system. You are absolutely correct than a random attorney without a practice involving physicians will not have familiarity. Breadth and depth are hard to find. This one happened to have knowledge of competing local hospital and private practices in state. In either case, physicians need to really learn the “gotchas” and where there is room for negotiations. Whichever you choose, don’t just outsource a review, learn it.