Spring 2001 Forum

pring 2001 Forum
The Job Hunt: What’s Right for YOU?
June 21, 2001
Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Items:

1. Elections for New Officers
Elections were held for the new officers for the 2001-2002 academic year. The following residents were elected:

    President: Mark Mullins, M.D., Ph.D. MGH
    Vice President: Wayne Monsky, M.D., Ph.D. BIDMC
    Secretary: Sharon Kuong, M.D. BMC/BU
    Webmaster: Christoph Wald, M.D., Ph.D. Lahey Clinic

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2. Head Hunter Advice
Head Hunters from Search One, Inc., Euless, Texas gave us some excellent advice on how to search and interview for a job in private practice. Casey Hughes, CEO,casey@search1.net can be contacted for more information, or for a very informative brochure of the presentation. Topics discussed included:

  1. Checklist: What are you looking for in a practice opportunity?
  2. Determining your personal needs: What is important to you and your family?
  3. Information Gathering and the Interview Process
  4. The Offer Phase: contract negotiations, CME coverage
  5. Making the Final Decision
  6. Finding the right employment option using a search firm
  7. Using the Internet to job search
  8. Addresses for Resources

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3. Job Searching Advice
Peter Van Der Meer, MD, former radiology resident at Lahey Clinic and musculoskeletal radiology fellow at MGH 2000-2001, shared his experience and advice on interviewing and job searching in the private practice market. Some of his pointers were:

  1. Find out the group’s philosophy and vision for the future of their practice. What is valued most — e.g., financial aspects, academic interest, comraderie amongst radiologists in the group?
  2. How large a group do you want to practice in, and what are the implications of such a choice — e.g. regarding call schedule, vacation time, partnership track, income?
  3. Geographical, and consequent financial, considerations and its implications for your family
  4. The interview process: How and when to interview, what questions to ask and what not to ask, e.g.:
    • Don’t discuss salary on the first interview.
      Do ask what the turnover is over the past 5-10 years.
      Do ask how many years until partnership.
      Do ask what is the practice’s vision and future goals.
      Do bring your spouse or significant other to the interview.
  1. The job offer: How do you know when to say yes when you haven’t yet heard from other practices yet?
  2. Negotiating a contract
  3. Reassess what your possibilities are for partnership after one year of practice
  4. Projecting that the job market will be good for approximately another 5 years

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4. Academics vs. Private Practice
Janet Baum, MD, from the mammography section of BIDMC, dept of radiology, has been in private practice and is currently in academics. She shared with us her insights on the job search, and emphasized that there is always opportunity for change. You can start out in private practice and then go back to academics, or vice versa. The main differences are:

  1. Salary: private practice will always be higher, of course.
  2. Number of studies read: less in academics. E.g., 12,000 films per year in academics, versus 15-20,000 in private practice.
  3. Academic responsibilities: due to her increased volume during the day, she often does her academic preparations at night at home.
  4. Benefits of certain academic institutions can significantly enhance your overall income, up to 20-25%.

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5. Advice on private Practice Radiology
Peter Gordon, MD, in private practice in the South Shore, gave us some advice on private practice radiology.

  1. There is a large variety of private practices, from financially-oriented, to a mixture of financial and academically oriented, with teaching affiliations and educating each other within the practice.
  2. You should visit one or two practices during residency, and start thinking about what type of practice to join in second, third and fourth years. In other words, it’s never too early to search.
  3. Work in the environment that suits you best, and prioritize that over all other things, including finances.
  4. He cordially invited any resident or fellow to spend a day in his private practice group.

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