An employment contract can govern a medical practitioner’s career and professional life for many years. There are numerous tips for negotiating employment contracts for medical professionals. First, the offer of employment and potential employer should be carefully considered. All positive and negative aspects of the offer and the employer are important. One positive or negative matter should not disqualify the employer or seal the deal.
Practitioners, especially those first coming out of residence, should not be hesitant or self-conscience about negotiations or discussing issues. Interviewers expect applicants to ask questions, which will also reflect that they fully researched the employer and the position. Also, it should not be assumed that potential employers will withdraw job offers if an applicant engages in negotiations. Their efforts in considering an applicant and the offer usually reflect their hope that the applicant will accept the job offer. An applicant should be wary of an organization that is unwilling to negotiate or deal with questions.
Employers, however, have different flexibility on what they are willing to negotiate. Larger practices or hospitals may have less flexibility than smaller independent practices. Applicants should not treat reluctance to negotiate certain matters as a personal attack or being insincere. Larger health organizations may need to deal with multitudes of employment contracts. To manage these contracts, the facility or practice may follow the institutional policy of using standard agreements with little deviation.
A prospective employer may not deviate from important business issues, such as non-competition clauses. However, it may provide concessions on matters that are considered relatively minor, such as research projects. Where negotiations on certain issues are rejected, employers may also reconsider these issues after several months of employment if the practitioner becomes a valuable employee. Applicants should ask for an agreement that certain issues will be discussed after the employer worked for a time period such as several months.