QUOTED: Signing a contract at the end of med school

[NotAProgDirector]

I am a MS4 and recently have been speaking with a hospital in my hometown about career opportunities when I have finished residency. It has come to the point that they are offering to have me sign a contract to come work there in return for an educational stipend to be received now and throughout my residency. I have no idea what a "good deal" would be and I worry about asking people here at school for politic reasons since I am in the process of applying for residency.

I'm obviously going to have a lawyer look over this thing before I sign it, but what things should I specifically look out for and what is a decent monthly stipend for a contract like that? I'll be going into primary care (med/peds). Is it a bad idea for me to sign something this early?

In some ways, you have already answered your own question -- true legal advice is invaluable in a situation like this. Many residents consider offers like this in their residency, but I have never heard of such a thing out of medical school. My advice:

1. Things change. Med/Peds is a 4 year commitment. You might want to specialize. You could get married/divorced/etc. Look VERY CAREFULLY at what happens if you decide not to fulfill your commitment. At best, you will need to return all of the money. At worst, you owe the money, interest, and penalties.
2. Non compete clause -- see if the contract has a non-compete clause. If so, you might be barred from looking at other jobs in the area.
3. What are they promising you? If they are just promising you "a job", you have no idea what stipulations they may put on it -- working 6 days a week, inpatient vs outpatient, number of patients seen, adults vs peds, RN support, number of exam rooms, salary, incentives, etc. What if you don't like what they offer? Normally, you'd have lots of bargaining power, but with a "pre-nup" like this you might have to take their offer straight out or face the consequences of not taking the job, which might leave you in a very bad bargaining position.

That being said, if you are pretty certain that you want to return and the contract is reasonably fair, it's free money!

I would love to see what others feel, esp anyone with personal experience in this area.

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