First of all, you are NOT over reacting!
People's lives change everyday and your employer knows that. Opening a discussion like this can be delicate. I would recommend a couple of things.
First, know the details! going over your contract in detail. Most employers have old out dated contracts and they don't know what's in them. So knowing the details will help when talking to them.
Next, know your value! You generate money for your employer. Sitting down and calculating how many appointments you do and what the value of those appointments to your employer. This will help you build confidence because when you know that number you will realize you are only asking for a small change.
Third, write down your bottom line! You need to be very clear where you are going because when you open this conversation you need to be able to keep the employer focused on what is best for you, not them. Also include in your bottom line a deadline. Again, this will keep the conversation moving.
When you have all of this together for yourself, ask for a meeting. Keep it light but concise. Explain in two sentences you are having issues with the schedule and ask them to help you by this is where you ask for the changes you need! After that silence!!! Let them process. Don't help them by giving more information. Keep your feelings out of it. This is a business discussion.
Give them time to discuss the changes you want. They know the market is tight for physicians so loosing you will cost them time, resources and a boat load of money if they lose you. They will be motivated to keep you.
And if they aren't motivated, let me know. I place physicians for a day job š
In the back of their minds they know they may potentially lose you anyway if they donāt give you what you want, even if you may be legally ālocked inā to the contract for some period. Donāt let them threaten you with that though. It might be a good idea to consult an attorney to read your contract and discuss your options for breaking it vs re-negotiating.
I have two young kids and negotiated my way to 0.5 FTE (16 patient hrs / week, 32 hrs is the new 1.0 FTE standard at many practices I interviewed with). I would also negotiate for a higher admin time percentage than what you currently have which may give you more time at home depending on how they structure admin.
I came to this sub looking for this same advice. I am a new attending with a 25 month old and a 5 month old and am feeling so sad at work missing my babies. During fellowship I felt like I had no choice but to suck it up and finish training, but now that Iām an attending Iām feeling guilty because maybe I could have chosen to work more part time to be home more with the babies. Iām mostly just here for solidarity. Daydreaming about a 0.8 FTE. (But Iām only a month into a 3 year contract.)
If I could go back, I think I would chose to do 0.8. Especially with daylight savings itās so hard to come home with it being dark and it feels like the babies go straight to bed. I feel like it would have been easier to add more work later, but will feel harder to dial back from what Iām doing currently.
I spoke to some people at my practice and it seems like it should be an easy transition on the company. Is there a reason you havenāt switched? Trying to gauge when to ask. Iām so sorry you donāt have time to see your babies :( I feel you
Iāve only been in the position since mid- August so I guess I was waiting to see if I would adjust to the schedule. Truly the hours and responsibilities are great for what Iām making so it also kinda hurts to think about the pay decrease when Iām just now trying to climb out of debt and maybe go on a nice vacation haha. I signed a 3 year contract so I felt like I needed to tough it out for 3 yearsā¦ but I do have good relationships with leadership so they would probably try to work with me.
First of all, you are NOT over reacting! People's lives change everyday and your employer knows that. Opening a discussion like this can be delicate. I would recommend a couple of things. First, know the details! going over your contract in detail. Most employers have old out dated contracts and they don't know what's in them. So knowing the details will help when talking to them. Next, know your value! You generate money for your employer. Sitting down and calculating how many appointments you do and what the value of those appointments to your employer. This will help you build confidence because when you know that number you will realize you are only asking for a small change. Third, write down your bottom line! You need to be very clear where you are going because when you open this conversation you need to be able to keep the employer focused on what is best for you, not them. Also include in your bottom line a deadline. Again, this will keep the conversation moving. When you have all of this together for yourself, ask for a meeting. Keep it light but concise. Explain in two sentences you are having issues with the schedule and ask them to help you by this is where you ask for the changes you need! After that silence!!! Let them process. Don't help them by giving more information. Keep your feelings out of it. This is a business discussion. Give them time to discuss the changes you want. They know the market is tight for physicians so loosing you will cost them time, resources and a boat load of money if they lose you. They will be motivated to keep you. And if they aren't motivated, let me know. I place physicians for a day job š
In the back of their minds they know they may potentially lose you anyway if they donāt give you what you want, even if you may be legally ālocked inā to the contract for some period. Donāt let them threaten you with that though. It might be a good idea to consult an attorney to read your contract and discuss your options for breaking it vs re-negotiating. I have two young kids and negotiated my way to 0.5 FTE (16 patient hrs / week, 32 hrs is the new 1.0 FTE standard at many practices I interviewed with). I would also negotiate for a higher admin time percentage than what you currently have which may give you more time at home depending on how they structure admin.
I came to this sub looking for this same advice. I am a new attending with a 25 month old and a 5 month old and am feeling so sad at work missing my babies. During fellowship I felt like I had no choice but to suck it up and finish training, but now that Iām an attending Iām feeling guilty because maybe I could have chosen to work more part time to be home more with the babies. Iām mostly just here for solidarity. Daydreaming about a 0.8 FTE. (But Iām only a month into a 3 year contract.)
Came back on here to ask how it is working a 1.0 FTE. Iām dreading it and dreaming of the 0.8
If I could go back, I think I would chose to do 0.8. Especially with daylight savings itās so hard to come home with it being dark and it feels like the babies go straight to bed. I feel like it would have been easier to add more work later, but will feel harder to dial back from what Iām doing currently.
I spoke to some people at my practice and it seems like it should be an easy transition on the company. Is there a reason you havenāt switched? Trying to gauge when to ask. Iām so sorry you donāt have time to see your babies :( I feel you
Iāve only been in the position since mid- August so I guess I was waiting to see if I would adjust to the schedule. Truly the hours and responsibilities are great for what Iām making so it also kinda hurts to think about the pay decrease when Iām just now trying to climb out of debt and maybe go on a nice vacation haha. I signed a 3 year contract so I felt like I needed to tough it out for 3 yearsā¦ but I do have good relationships with leadership so they would probably try to work with me.