Welcome to the world of business. For us physicians, negotiating seems to be trivial, too downgrading a process reserved only for self centered people, selfish enough to ask what they want.
WRONG! Negotiations are an acceptable part of corporate America. Remember you are no longer a resident who is supposed to learn and to work eighty hours on bare minimum compensation. Now you are physician businessman with a degree and training in the mighty American capitalism. By practicing medicine we do serve humanity but remember we have medical school loans to pay, a family to support, kids to send to school and plan for the retirement.
Always practice good medicine, ethical medicine and competent medicine. But practicing good medicine does not mean that you settle for a lower compensation, less vacation or lesser benefits. If you do settle for less you are serving your employer not humanity.
Remember job satisfaction comes from performing your work you like to do with utmost competence and receiving adequate compensation from the same. How would you feel if you settled for $10,000 less in salary and three weeks vacation while your physician colleague gets four weeks vacation and higher pay doing the same work?
TAKE HOME MESSAGE. Negotiations are acceptable in business including in the business of medicine. It is accepted that you will try to negotiate your physician employment contract. Nobody minds it. That is one of the reasons the initial physician employment contract offered by private medical practices have two weeks vacation, No CME reimbursement, lesser compensation etc. This will be more explained in the principles of negotiation which will follow.
