I also don't blame them for asking either. Its just how they ask it that tells us everything about how they see themselves and how they are envisioning their role in the practice even before they've started their first job.
As for making $350,000 - which by the way is a pretty good salary out of the gate today: In 2024 you would have to sign out about 7,340 RVUs which is the equivalent of 9,970 biopsy specimens (88305-26s, reimbursed at $35.75) to cover your base expense to the practice. Of course adding benefits and the retirement package will add significantly to that, so that's just the absolute minimum you would have to work to justify your salary. Assuming 44 weeks of work a year (220 days), that's 45 cases or total specimens per day that you would have to see that aren't of the 88300-88304 series, which we all know exist as part of our routine surgical pathology mix. Obviously, that number of cases won't be exact because of either bigger resections (88307-88309s) or special stains, IHC, ISH, etc. that will change the mix of CPT codes billed. But it doesn't detract from the amount of overall work (RVUs) needed to justify your existence.
And in regards to making money for people. If it's anyone's concern that you're going to be making money for the practice owners (being "skimmed"), may I suggest moving to a communist country. There is no scenario in a market based economy under any circumstance in any job, including those outside of medicine, where an employee won't be generating a profit for the corporation. We've had applicants turn us down for employee positions with large hospital owned groups for more money. What they don't understand is that the hospital isn't hiring them for some altruistic reason. That organization is going to make bank off them and probably take anywhere from 50-66% of their billing for themselves. Yes, the pathologists make comparatively more there, but they are also billing more because the hospital contracts are far more favorable in reimbursement. This also holds true in the clinical specialties by the way.