Physician profile: Sam H. Saadat, M.D.

 

WORK: Tri-Area Community
Health Center, Floyd, Va.

EDUCATION/TRAINING:
Medical school and residency: West Virginia School of Medicine, Morgantown, W.Va.

Graduated in 1998 with Residence of the Year award from the Department of Family Medicine.

Diplomate of American Board of Quality Assurance Utilization Review Physicians and certified in age management medicine through Cenegenics.

IN PRACTICE SINCE: 1998
Saadat is an avid table tennis player and enjoys hiking, biking, swimming and spending time with family and friends.

What’s your advice for residents who are beginning their physician job search?

Value your skills and proudly negotiate for your worth…you earned it! But don’t just look at the gross pay of any job. A better way would be to look at the net take-home pay along with your satisfaction at that particular job.

You really need to take into account if you have a job that pays for the following items: your educational loans, malpractice insurance premiums, paid vacations, cme costs, medical license fees, DEA renewal expenses, membership fees to medical organizations, health/dental/vision insurance premiums.

Also, pay special attention to the retirement benefit structure as it makes a big difference in the bottom line.

Spend a few days at the practice site to become familiar with your potential colleagues, patient demographics, patient flow and the scope of care within the clinic. Join them at lunch a couple of times during the week to get to know the nurses, lab and X-ray techs, front office staff and the office manager.

Also, spend a few hundred to have an attorney review your employment contract. It’s a good idea to call an attorney you know who doesn’t do that kind of work, but who can recommend someone in town who can.

Keep in mind that there is a life outside of medicine, so investigate the amenities available in that location. A realtor may be very helpful to you in that regard.

What surprised you about your first post-residency job or job search?

I was shocked by how well residency had prepared me for my first job. Enjoy your first job; you are most likely overqualified in terms of medical knowledge and you will find work hours and intensity much less demanding than residency.

What do you wish they had taught in med school but didn’t?

Practice management, contract negotiation and the training to assess financial data of different positions with respect to take home salary and retirement benefits.

Anything different about your physician job search?

I was online looking for clinical and non-clinical jobs, and PracticeLink showed up in one of those searches. I decided to give it a try. PracticeLink allowed me to take control of my job search and target my career needs to land the perfect position.