NHSC Details?

[PACtoDOC]

Anyone who is a NHSC scholar know anything about the average pay at most of the payback sites for FM? I am just wondering if you can expect to make average for your field. I can't find anywhere that states that you can expect to make average pay, so it concerns me to think that you could get stuck taking a position that is really lower pay, without much a of a negotiating position. Anyone know?

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[neurobiology]

PACtoDOC,

I am applying for the NHSC right now, and just finished my interview a couple of days ago. They gave me a packet of frequently asked questions. I am copying one of the questions that (sort of) answers your question:

"What will my salary range be?

Most NHSC scholars serve as employees of community-based systems of care and are paid directly by those organizations. Compensation packages are negotiated between the professional and the organization. Typical salaries will vary by geographic areas. Salaries for OB/GYNs are generally higher. Salaries for family nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and certified nurse midwives are comparable to GS 7 to 12 salaries.
Physicians are comparable to GS 11 through 14 and dentists are comparable to GS 9 through 11. The GS pay scale can be viewed on line at http://opm.gov.

I copied and pasted the GS pay schedule and the pay schedule for professionals below it (I don't know if this pay scale applies).

I looked through all of the 165 scholar positions for family practice (which is what I am interested in doing) and none of them listed a salary range. Most said "locally competitive, and a few said "nationally competitive".

I don't know if the pay scale as listed below reflects government positions only (say if you worked for an Indian Health service or in a prison) or if this pay is truely reflective of the average pay for the scholar positions. If so, I am concerned about having enough money to support my family (I have two young kids) and have enough money to pay off the rest of my student loans from undergrad and graduate school.

I am getting ready for finals, but this summer I will try and find out from these places directly what their pay scale is. I will post my results, but don't expect them until this summer!

Good luck!



Salary Table 2003-GS
2003 General Schedule
INCORPORATING A 3.10% GENERAL INCREASE
Effective January 2003

Annual Rates by Grade and Step

GS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 15214 15722 16228 16731 17238 17536 18034 18538 18559 19031

2 17106 17512 18079 18559 18767 19319 19871 20423 20975 21527

3 18664 19286 19908 20530 21152 21774 22396 23018 23640 24262

4 20952 21650 22348 23046 23744 24442 25140 25838 26536 27234

5 23442 24223 25004 25785 26566 27347 28128 28909 29690 30471

6 26130 27001 27872 28743 29614 30485 31356 32227 33098 33969

7 29037 30005 30973 31941 32909 33877 34845 35813 36781 37749

8 32158 33230 34302 35374 36446 37518 38590 39662 40734 41806

9 35519 36703 37887 39071 40255 41439 42623 43807 44991 46175

10 39115 40419 41723 43027 44331 45635 46939 48243 49547 50851

11 42976 44409 45842 47275 48708 50141 51574 53007 54440 55873

12 51508 53225 54942 56659 58376 60093 61810 63527 65244 66961

13 61251 63293 65335 67377 69419 71461 73503 75545 77587 79629

14 72381 74794 77207 79620 82033 84446 86859 89272 91685 94098

15 85140 87978 90816 93654 96492 99330 102168 105006 107844 110682


NO. 2003-SL/ST RATES OF BASIC PAY FOR
EMPLOYEES IN SENIOR-LEVEL
(SL) AND SCIENTIFIC OR
PROFESSIONAL (ST) POSITIONS
Min Max
102168 134000

 

[PACtoDOC]

Hey Neuro,

That was realy nice of you to post that stuff. I just had my interview and got the same sheet that you got. It still left a great deal of room for questions in my mind. See for me, taking this scholarship is not as crucial as for some that go to more expensive schools. I will just be starting my second year of medical school if and when I get the scholarship. My school is very cheap, and thus taking the scholarship will help me save about 70K over the next 3 years, included in this figure being the stipend also. So I wouldn't want to lock myself into a job that pays 20% below most starting salaries or I might just come out in the red when it is all done. I have called around though since I posted originally and have found wide variations in the pay scale. The worst paying jobs are the ones that state "GS pay scale". They are bound by your chart you posted, meaning most young docs would only be getting paid about 90K. I made more than that as a PA. In my family practice where I worked for 4 years, we hired a new grad FP to replace me and we started him off at 120K based on national and local averages for new grads. I found some scholar sites that are presently offering about 125 to start, so I am now no longer concerned. It becomes a tough decision, especially if it has to be made by someome who is not sure if primary care is for them. i am blessed in that respect though because it is all I know. One tough thing about it is that I am now at the top of my class after the first year, so I am sure I would be competitive in more high paying fields. However, I don't believe that other fields provide the patient interaction that FM and primary care provides. So FM is where I am headed. Thanks for your post again Neuro, and I hope this helps others. By the way, I also talked to the woman at NHSC who places all the FM docs after residency, and she said that all but one this cycle found and chose their own jobs. The one person had to be placed because they had not found a job themselves. That is a very encouraging statistic.

 

[tedstriker]

Thanks you guys for all the helpful info. You're the best!

 

[alina_s]

Not to be excessively negative- I applied for the NHSC too- but I 've heard that some sites do offer very low salaries because they know that scholars will be forced to accept one of the positions. The federal positions may be the higher-paying ones because they have a set scale. One of my advisors here at school did the NHSC back in the late 80's. He interviewed at one site which offered him a salary in the $20,000 range. Ouch. Even 15 years ago, it would have been rough to support a family on that.

 

[neurobiology]

PACtoDOC,

Thanks for posting your information! As I mentioned in my previous post here, I was wanting to contact some scholar places to find out their pay ranges, so I appreciate you posting this very information!

I will still try and contact some places myself that I am very interested in now (so that I know what the pay ranges are in the places I am interested in), but again, thanks for letting us know what info. you received.

Thanks also for letting us know what the NHSC person said that all but one FM docs finding their own jobs. That IS very encouraging!

Good luck.

 

[PACtoDOC]

FYI,

I called about a job in Chicago and it paid about 105K. I found one in Georgia that paid 125K. Everything else was in between. That is honestly not too bad because as a PA, I helped in hiring a new FP for our practice a couple years ago, and we flat out paid him 120K for slave labor the first year. The good news about underserved and federal sites is that the hours are set by you at a maximum required of 36 clinical hours per week. That is cush guys! And I spoke to many sites that stated it is specifically against the law for them to offer different salaries to NHSC scholars versus the general population applying. These sites are so underserved that they have few options if you don't take a job with them. Remember, there are 3 sites for every grad, so 2 go unmatched with physicians. What do you think will cost them more? Paying you average or having no one to pay? Its a great program overall and I have decided I will take it if offered if for no other reason than to do something good for people who truly need it. I have made 6 figs for many years, and its not all its cracked up to be...trust me! The taxman just takes more.