Women In Medicine And Employment Contract Negotiations: Turn On Your Power (Even If You Don’t Want To)

“If you don’t ask the answer is always no.” –Nora Roberts

There is no place for “Imposter Syndrome” in contract negotiations.

The concept of “Imposter Syndrome” is self-doubt over one’s accomplishments and fear of being exposed as a “fake” although there is no evidence to support that self-doubt. During employment contract negotiations, especially with your first job offer after training, such insecurities may raise their ugly heads and can sabotage a lucrative outcome. Too often female physicians believe they are not worthy of achieving their dream and are afraid to try to negotiate a better offer than what is initially presented. Your employment contract is an asset, and probably your biggest asset, so you must contract wisely. Don’t let an internal fear of confrontation jeopardize what you have worked so hard to build for yourself.

The reality is that very few contracts are signed as initially presented. Negotiation is more common than not and is crucial to vetting a proposed agreement before signature. The purpose of this article is to help you recognize common anxieties about contract negotiation and provide suggestions to help you succeed despite them.

1. Recognize that you are a brand.

Think about it. What makes you unique? Even when you are employed, it is important to know what makes you stand out in a positive way. You may have a special skill or an interest that makes you marketable to a particular type of patient base. Think about how you can use your expertise to help grow the employer’s business. For example, a physician who has developed a strong social media following can use that to help an employer grow a practice. We see this frequently with plastic surgeons, but it can be done with any specialty.

2. “Chill Girls” do not get the bag.

Do not devalue your worth by being overly anxious and taking whatever is offered without asking for what you want. In our experience, women are generally more anxious about this than men. They do not want to be “difficult.” One way to combat this is to be informed about the market value of your specialty. There is published data about this, such as MGMA and Sullivan Cotter data which show the compensation of most specialties in various regions of the United States. Your attorney may have access to these. They are not the final word on what your compensation may end up to be but they are informational and used by many organizations as a guideline combined with local market data. Be prepared to discuss compensation with as much knowledge as you can.

3. Determine what is important to you.

This is a personal decision. For example, is parental leave important? If so you should ask about the policy and practice. (Maternity/Paternity Leave. Is It OK To Ask?) Do you want to work part time? Do you want to work certain days of the week? How much call can you take? What is the PTO policy? These are not exotic questions, and they should not raise any red flags, so you should not be afraid to ask them. However, if you feel uncomfortable, ask your attorney how to ask the questions.

4. Obtain legal advice to help navigate.

Your attorney functions as your advisor and your advocate. In our experience, negotiation discussions are usually done between the physician and the employer with the physician’s attorney in the background identifying the issues and advising about how to negotiate and what language to use.  This approach works because it makes you more confident and you appear as a team player.

Not obtaining legal advice about your contract is an avoidable mistake. Just as an attorney is not trained to practice medicine, you are not trained to review a contract and understand the implications of what you are signing. Reading a contract for content is one thing but understanding the future implications of the contract requires legal training and experience about how the contract terms will play out from a business and legal perspective. For example, the implications of a restrictive covenant are very important to understand before signing a contract. The cost of an attorney review is small compared to the amount of risk involved for you.

For further information contact:

Melinda Malecki [email protected]

Malecki Brooks Ford Law Group, LLC is a women owned law firm with a concentration in Healthcare Law and physician and provider representation.