04/27/2016    Name Withheld

Re: Current Compensation Rates for New Practitioners out of Residency (Dieter J Fellner, DPM)

I’ve been reading the responses to this
question and felt as a fairly new practitioner
(on my 4th year of practice) that I should
chime in. I feel that my answer not only
addresses this question but also dives into a
fairly recent debate on PM News about “where
are the new graduates finding jobs.”

I think that starting salaries greatly depend
on the type of practice this new graduate is
joining. If the graduate is joining a solo or
single specialty group practice they may not be
able to absorb losses as well on the front end
as say a hospital employed position could.
However, when I came out I interviewed with
several private practices and on more than one
occasion I heard “now there will not be
patients waiting on you and I myself don’t want
to slow down so you will be responsible for
building your own client base.”

This was typically followed by a salary offer
closer to what an RN is offered when they
graduate from nursing school. My thought is,
if you do not have the patient excess to give
someone a footing you are in no way ready to
take on an associate/partner.

The majority of my private practice offers were
around $60,000 per year for 1 or 2 years. Then
you would get 20-30% of collections over
$300,000 with no promise of partnership. This
is insane. If you see a contract like this then
run far and fast because your max earning
potential will be in the mid 100's. Now, if you
see this contract and the money made off you,
for say 5 years, is considered your practice
buy-in then that might be a different story but
I bet you don’t see that contract (Please note
that when an ortho group brings in a new
associate once they hit a certain revenue
threshold then they are considered a full
partner. No money exchanges hands on a "buy-
in").

Please don’t reply about the expenses you’ve
incurred bringing this associate on board. I do
not want to hear it. My father was in private
practice for 44 years. I know exactly the ups
and downs involved and he never once brought
someone in under such deplorable terms and they
always turned out to be equally beneficial
relationships.

So, in my opinion no one should start at less
than $100,000-$120,000 annually. If your
practice can not support this then you are not
ready for an associate. I joined a multi-
specialty group owned by a hospital and showed
many of my orthopedic partners some of the
contracts I received and they all just laughed.
They found it funny that the other doctor
wanted to view the associate as a cash cow and
not as a needed addition to their practice.
With this said, I would encourage all new
graduates to equally look into joining an
established solo practice, multispecialty
practice, orthopedic group, and hospital
employment. I went the multispecialty/hospital
route and it has been the best decision I ever
made for me and my family.

As for myself, my starting salary was $200,000.
I made $298,000 my first year in practice after
my bonus. I just started my 4th year in
practice and made $507,000 my 3rd year in
practice. Naysayers wondering if this is
sustainable or if the hospital just baited me
in? Well, I just signed another 5 year contract
under even better terms financially. Now, I do
have the benefit of ER consults, hospital
consults, and a strong surgical referral base
making my out-patient surgery schedule much
busier than most people in private practice
will ever encounter (approximately 30-40 cases
per month).

I am not saying that everyone should expect to
make ½ a million dollars per year. You must
realize, I work at least 60+ hours per week but
what I do know is to earn and cover a $100,000
salary with benefits does not take much work at
all.

Name Withheld

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