Jonathan Clements on the small things

[G]

Also you guys have to pay for stuff at your hospital? Everything is free at mine. I'm assuming the annual dues pay for some of that though.

Say again?

[Nysoz]

Say again?

Hmm I feel like someone should make a poll *cough* Lordosis about paying med staff dues. I thought everyone had to pay annual dues to remain active staff at a hospital? I (made them take it out of my CME money) even had to pay to be courtesy staff to help cover call at a sister hospital owned by the same megacorportation.

During residency I'm pretty sure all my attendings at separate hospitals had to as well.

[G]

Hmm I feel like someone should make a poll *cough* Lordosis about paying med staff dues. I thought everyone had to pay annual dues to remain active staff at a hospital? I (made them take it out of my CME money) even had to pay to be courtesy staff to help cover call at a sister hospital owned by the same megacorportation.

During residency I'm pretty sure all my attendings at separate hospitals had to as well.

Good grief, I hope our Pencil Pushers don't hear about this. No, I've never had to pay dues. Including at the variety of places I did locums (I set them up myself, so there was no agency paying them, either). At one hospital, we get drinks and snacks in our office and do not have to pay in the cafeteria. At the big hospital, there are drinks/snacks and a physician lounge with breakfast and lunch. It is a very gracious/expensive offering from the hospitals, but to be fair, a lot of business around hospital operations gets conducted at the lunch table. There used to be a yearly "retreat" for the physician leaders (broadly defined)...that got canned, as did the annual holiday party...pretty amazing what a hole those losses left in both morale and general problem solving.

(I do worry that there seem to be more non-doctors than doctors in the physicians' lounge these days...the writing is probably on the wall.)

At one point, we had a chef detailed to the physician lounge. We lost her during the GFC...ahhh, those were the good old days.

Just curious, does your CEO or other bureaucrat ever hang out in the physician lounge? If so, they better be paying dues as well. But of course they are not.

Ha, perhaps if they start charging me to work, that will be the push from FI to FIRE.

[jhwkr542]

All of our hospitals charge all medical staff. To me, this article is really stressing balance. If you get the big things right, you can get a lot of happiness from small purchases.

[hightower]

Eh, didnt think there was much substance to his article. I definitely was not a fan of his suggestion #7. “Smaller purchases typically involve little ongoing maintenance and they often aren’t worth repairing”. Sounds like he’s praising our throw away culture which is why our oceans are full of plastic among other environmental problems with being wasteful. I actually argue we should spend extra to get something that is of higher quality and is repairable and worth keeping for a very long time. Ever hear people say “they don’t make em like they used to?” Yeah there’s a reason for that. It’s more profitable for a company to sell you junk that you’ll need to constantly replace throughout life than one high quality product that will only need occasional repairs. I could name 100 different things I’ve encountered in my time, but the 1950 Chambers Stove I restored when I was 31 years old is a perfect example. With a bit of elbow grease and diy spirit I was able to resurrect a high quality stove (which was still working fine when I restored it for cosmetic reasons) that will easily last another 70+ years. And it actually had better features than any modern stove you could get for the same price. Or the original wood windows I restored on our previous house. Made out of high quality old growth timber that were designed with repair in mind. 130 years old when I restored them and easily could last another 100 years with proper upkeep. Beats the heck out of the cheap garbage plastic windows we are sold today that go bad after 15-20 years and must be thrown away and replaced each time.
I know I’m getting off subject, but I think we are wasteful as a culture today in this regard and I do think it ties into being more sustainable/conservative not only with our money but also with the way we treat our planet.

[Hatton]

Hmm I feel like someone should make a poll *cough* Lordosis about paying med staff dues. I thought everyone had to pay annual dues to remain active staff at a hospital? I (made them take it out of my CME money) even had to pay to be courtesy staff to help cover call at a sister hospital owned by the same megacorportation.

During residency I'm pretty sure all my attendings at separate hospitals had to as well.

I have never heard of the medical staff paying dues to a hospital. You actually provide patients to the hospital. The hospital makes its money from your patients. The hospital has it backward. You could send all of your patients to the rival hospital or surgicenter. This is why competition is good. Do employed physicians have to pay their employer too?

[CM]

I have never heard of the medical staff paying dues to a hospital. You actually provide patients to the hospital. The hospital makes its money from your patients. The hospital has it backward. You could send all of your patients to the rival hospital or surgicenter. This is why competition is good. Do employed physicians have to pay their employer too?

I'm employed and the hospital automatically takes about $130 out of my CME/prof fee stipend for yearly dues or some such thing.

[Hatton]

I'm employed and the hospital automatically takes about $130 out of my CME/prof fee stipend for yearly dues or some such thing.

Glad I retired prior to this effecting me.

[abds]

Hmm I feel like someone should make a poll *cough* Lordosis about paying med staff dues. I thought everyone had to pay annual dues to remain active staff at a hospital? I (made them take it out of my CME money) even had to pay to be courtesy staff to help cover call at a sister hospital owned by the same megacorportation.

During residency I'm pretty sure all my attendings at separate hospitals had to as well.

This is absolutely insane. If a hospital charged me $1 to be on the medical staff I would give up my privileges. You people are paying to bring a hospital business and/or provide essential services to their patients? Come on...

[CM]

This is absolutely insane. If a hospital charged me $1 to be on the medical staff I would give up my privileges. You people are paying to bring a hospital business and/or provide essential services to their patients? Come on...

Well, they pay me fairly well, so it's a net win. :-)

[abds]

Well, they pay me fairly well, so it's a net win. :-)

And if they charged you 30x as much per year it would still be a net win for you. And the principle of the situation is no different. Firm no from me.

[CM]

And if they charged you 30x as much per year it would still be a net win for you. And the principle of the situation is no different. Firm no from me.

Well, call me a pragmatist. I could never earn this much with this lifestyle anywhere else. I suppose I could go elsewhere and earn less and take heinous call in a HCOL area -- but pay nothing for hospital dues.

Maybe when it's time for contract renewal I'll ask them to reduce my compensation by $130, but stop charging me hospital dues. Not. It's a non-issue.

[CordMcNally]

I always thought dues were common that go towards the med staff funds.

[Anne]

Darn it that dang blink-182 song has been in my head since reading this thread title yesterday. It’s like reliving my MS1 year all over again. Why jhwkr542 why???

[billy]

Darn it that dang blink-182 song has been in my head since reading this thread title yesterday. It’s like reliving my MS1 year all over again. Why jhwkr542 why???

the line "say it aint so" popped into my head bc of your quote