You’ve been working your entire adult life toward this: the moment when you receive your first physician job offer. But when it arrives, you might not know which terms to look for or how to negotiate. Medical school taught you too little about the business of medicine, and you have even less training in negotiating an employment contract. But don’t worry—thousands of others have navigated this process and come away with fair employment terms and peace of mind.
The AMA has partnered with Resolve, a contract review and negotiation firm specializing in physician employment, to provide custom contract review to AMA members at a discount. Resolve offers personalized legal experience to help physicians secure the best employment contract terms no matter where they are in their careers.
AMA members receive a 20% discount on all Resolve services. With Resolve, you get:
- Custom contract review for any type of employment contract(s).
- Access to experienced attorneys who can negotiate on your behalf.
- Real-time, comprehensive compensation data and benchmarks to help you understand your worth.
- An instant contract review option, powered by Resolve’s attorney-trained AI model.
- Free tools like a contract scorecard, to give a quick overview of where your contract stands.
Ready to access your AMA-member Resolve discount? Learn more now.
To head off the apprehension many physicians experience when reviewing their first job offers, one Resolve podcast explores the most common fears around negotiating employment contracts and how they can be quelled.
You’re not alone
“I would say those coming out of training are typically going to have a little bit more of that apprehension,” said Bryce Krieger, an attorney with Resolve. “But it's quite common. I would say it's three-fourths, at least,” of physicians who experience it.
The fear can also vary by specialty and geography, Krieger noted.
“I would say there is an overarching fear of it, but I would say a-lot-more competitive positions, [and] desirable locations, that’s when fear sets in a little bit more,” he said. “If you're looking at a position that you think has lots of candidates—meaning you're looking in New York City, Denver, San Diego, the kind of the places people want to live more commonly than a rural area—more fear in that situation.”
If you’re seeking your first physician job post-residency, get your cheat sheet now from the AMA.
Know all the common fears
Concerns can be different for physicians depending on where they are in their careers, as well as their practice environments.
“I would say in private practice, it would be more so them looking bad, because that partnership ability is out there down the road, and they don't want to lose out on that. They don't want to look too aggressive,” Krieger said. “Usually in nonprivate practice, though, it's going to be losing the offer more than anything—the concern of, ‘This is way too much. We’re going to move forward with another candidate that's going to sign as-is.’”
Another common worry is the one that comes from simply asking for changes. Many young physicians expect employers will be offended by suggested edits to a contract.
Get tips on your transition to practice
Make your transition from resident to attending physician seamless with expert advice.
“We can never control what an employer thinks or what they say, but that is a very unlikely scenario—I would say it's less than 5% of all contracts we come across,” Krieger said, adding that even fewer contracts will be pulled because the applicant asks for changes. “Less than 1%. It is a handful out of all the contracts that we come across on a yearly basis.”
Making a midcareer switch? Know these keys to physician employment contracts.
Compromise is key
Even if an employer reacts negatively, “a lot of times there's ability for us to save it,” Krieger said, noting that many employers will say they use a standard contract, but even then, they are accustomed to making changes. “We usually don't see everything accepted. We don't see everything rejected. It's typically somewhere in between.”
In fact, it’s vital to remember as a prospective employee that you have tremendous leverage—because you generate revenue.
“I'd say over half of the contracts that we come across, we'll hear that rationale of: Hey, everything is standard. And sometimes even in that same breath, they come back and say: Well, we're able to make a change here or there,” Krieger said, adding that it’s fair game to push on the points that matter to you. “If they say no, you’re in the same spot as you were before.”
Learn more with the AMA about understanding physician employment contracts.
Embrace agency—and assistance
The key to negotiating is creating a lasting relationship, Krieger noted. So you should come into contract talks with confidence.
"There's going to be an element of fear with any type of negotiation,” he said. “But typically, the chance of something getting pulled or things not working out is very minimal and sometimes overblown. So there will be some fear involved a lot of times, and that's normal to have that. But it's a very unlikely scenario for things to go horribly, horribly wrong.”
With Resolve, you can upload your contract and get results in just minutes. The firm’s experienced attorneys will give you a quick overview of your contract's risk and also break down specific issues, risk levels and detailed recommendations. You can then compare your compensation, and attorneys experienced in physician employment are available to help you secure the best contract terms.
Krieger noted that physicians transitioning to practice experience numerous growing pains, and this is necessarily one of them.
“When they’re in training, it’s, ‘Here’s the document. Sign it.’ It is what it is,” he said. “Especially with that first position, there may be some nerves that come with that, but that is really their chance to stand up for themselves for the first time.”
