Neonatology Private Practice Lifestyle

[El Curandero]

Hey all.

I have an opportunity to do research with a neonatologist this summer (I'm an OMS-I) but it's pretty specific to neonatology and I'm wondering what life would be like as one. I know there's a few night shifts and such but what I really want to know is the average amount of hours worked per week in private practice (I know this is a hard question to answer but it's important to me) as a neonatologist. Other threads I searched for talked about this but weren't really giving a raw number about average amount of hours per week.

I heard that working for pediatrix you'll get a lower salary and work more but is there going to be any private practice jobs in a decade with all this consolidation going on?

Thanks guys.

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[Step Up]

I think the better question for you is how many service weeks per year and call shifts per month, how much does this vary, and what are some examples of scheduling models.

If a neonatologist works 80% of the hours one week and 5% each of the next two weeks, purely looking at the average hours per week doesn't give you a great understanding of the nature of their time spent at work.

 

[oldbearprofessor]

Okay - there are no set answers, but in general, neonatologists (this isn't all that different in many cases between academic neonatologists when on the clinical service and private practice ones, just the academics tend to be on service less), will commonly work 2 week (range 1-4 generally) at a stretch daytime rounds until sign-out and take night call on average every 5-8 days (range 4-10 generally) whether on service or not. Other models of private practice include entire shift work (often 24 hour shifts every 5-8 days). So, I'd say a good average is about 55-60 hours/week. It gets more complex if you consider smaller NICUs where call may be from home more frequently but fewer calls coming in. There is no way to get a time on that for you.

I'm pretty sure Pediatrix recruiters weren't the source of "we work more and pay less"!

 

[BigRedBeta]

Not to be a shill for pediatrix, and while I don't have information for independent private practice neo positions, I do work for a Pediatrix group that includes neonatology and Peds CCM in one practice. Compared to academic medicine, my initial starting base salary was competitive with the academic offers I received, but the bonus structure was far superior to what was happening on the academic side. My clinical time is more than my academic counterparts (26 total weeks to 16-18 weeks) with 5-6 weeks of those being night shift (compared to the 35-40 call nights my academic offers were quoting me, not including in the total service time...so the same). With signon bonus and starting bonus for the first year, I was making the same as my academic offers in terms of total compensation. But my bonus continues to grow over my buyin period which wasn't going to be the case for my academic spots. Pediatrix 401k match is better than any academic center I've seen, which shouldn't be discounted, and my life insurance and disability insurance are decent perqs that were matched by some academic medical centers but not others. Medmal is covered by Pediatrix, which could potentially be a concern in a smaller private practice group.

Additionally compared to academic med, my remaining non clinical weeks are mine, free to do with what I please. If I was in an academic center, those would work days. I would have to be productive in a different way. Instead I get spend time with family, moonlight, or do research if I want to.

Again, can't compare to another private practice group, but the key point is to consider all the elements that go into total compensation and determine how that fits with your goals.

 

[Stitch]

Not to be a shill for pediatrix, and while I don't have information for independent private practice neo positions......

Just want add that my wife worked as a hospitalist for Pediatrix/Mednax for nearly three years while I was in fellowship. When she left to do fellowship, the offered her a significant stipend/salary during her fellowship years on the condition that she would come back and work for them afterward. It was a good deal. I've also done some moonlighting for them and they practice/encourage good medicine.

They treated her well, and I agree with everything BRB said. As trainees we ignore and forget about things like 401k and insurance, but they are a big deal and worth considering.