Career and Life Planning Guidebook for Medical Residents

R E A D : Additional Compensation Opportunities An employer may offer a variety of upfront or future recruitment incentives that will be treated as taxable income at the time they are paid. These incentives are above and beyond any other physician service provisions to be discussed later in this chapter. Relocation allowance– If you are relocating to (or sometimes evenwithin) a newmarket, you can expect to receive a reimbursement of moving expenses. This reimbursement can be a flat stipend, while most of the time it’s structured as a maximum allowable amount subject to submission of actual receipts. On average, you can expect this allowance to be around $10,000. While more uncommon, you may also receive a short-term housing/living allowance which is intended to allowyou to move to a newmarket and give you time to find permanent housing. Residency/fellowship expense stipend – If the recruiting process starts before you finish training, you may be offered a stipend to help offset expenses incurred during your residency or fellowship. This type of stipend may be in the range of $3,000 - $12,000 per month and comes with the commitment that you will commence employment with the employer after your training is completed. Also, the aggregate stipend paid to you during your training may be subject to repayment for early contract termination. Starting/signing bonus – Employers com- monly offer a starting or signing bonus as a recruitment incentive. This one-time cash payment may be paid to you at the time you start employment or the time you commit to an employment relationship. This upfront cash payment can be quite useful in getting settled in a new practice location, for example purchasing a new home. The amount of such a bonus is negotiable and can typically range from $10,000 - $50,000 depending on your clinical specialty and practice situation. Retention bonus – Another common recruit- ment incentive is a retention bonus typically payable at the end of each contract year as a mechanism to reward a year of continued service and commitment to the practice. This bonus too is negotiable, and can typically range from $10,000 - $50,000 per year depending on your clinical specialty and practice situation. Student loan repayment assistance – Accord- ing to the Association of American Medical Colleges, 75% of medical school students in the class of 2018 graduated with student debt, the average of which was $200,000 (4). Employers may offer assistance to help pay down your debt, often structured as either a one-time lump sum payment or as an ongoing payment over your contract term. If paid up-front, the assistance is typically structured as a loan subject to principal and interest forgiveness over the contract term. This assistance may be paid directly to you or may be paid directly to the loan holders. WHEN UTILIZING PHYSICIAN COMPENSATION SURVEYS, VERIFYWHETHER THE DATA SOURCED IS FOR STARTING SALARIES OR TOTAL COMPENSATION. TOTAL CASH COMPENSATION INCLUDES BASE SALARY, SIGNING BONUS, TAXABLE LOAN REPAYMENT, BONUSES, RELOCATION, AND ANY INCOME CONSIDERED TAXABLE SECTION II: T MINUS TWO YEARS CAREER AND LIFE PLANNING GUIDEBOOK FOR MEDICAL RESIDENTS 226