How Would You Feel If You Signed a Bad Contract?

Key Takeaways

✅ A contract is a one-way door. Once you sign, you're stuck.
✅ If a hospital tells you something is “standard,” it means it’s good for them, not for you.
✅ Money, time, job security - if you don’t negotiate, you’re leaving all of it on the table.
✅ You don’t know what you don’t know. And what you don’t know can cost you.

How Would You Feel If You Found Out Too Late?

Imagine this. It’s three years into your job. You’re exhausted. You’re seeing twice as many patients as you expected. You’re making less than a colleague hired a year after you. Your bonus? Never happened. And now you want to leave.

But - surprise! - your contract says you can’t practice within 50 miles for two years.
Your family just bought a house. Your kids are in school. Your options? Move or commute two hours each way.

How would you feel if you realized you could have avoided all of this… just by asking the right questions?

Most Physicians Don’t Negotiate. Why?

Because they assume:
❌ The offer is fair.
❌ The employer “does things the right way.”
❌ If they push back, they’ll lose the job.

None of this is true.

📌 Here’s the reality:

• The employer expects you to negotiate. If you don’t, they just saved money.
• “Standard contract” means standard for them, not for you.
• Your power is at its peak before you sign. Once you’re in, they don’t have to fix anything.

How Would You Feel If You Asked These Questions?

Instead of just assuming the contract is fair, make them prove it.

🚨 Instead of saying:
❌ “This salary seems low.”
✅ Ask: “How does this compare to MGMA data? What percentile does it match?”

🚨 Instead of saying:
❌ “I don’t like this non-compete.”
✅ Ask: “What percentage of physicians have successfully challenged this clause?”

🚨 Instead of saying:
❌ “I don’t want to work every weekend.”
✅ Ask: “How is weekend call assigned? What do you know about how other doctors in my specialty handle this?”

📌 Why does this work?

• It forces them to justify their offer.
• It shifts the burden of proof onto them.
• It keeps you from looking “demanding.”

Now they have to defend the contract - not you.

The One Question That Exposes Weak Contracts

What if you had one question that instantly revealed whether a contract was bad?

Here it is:
👉 “What do you know about how this contract has worked out for other physicians?”

📌 If the contract is solid, they’ll say:

• “Our physicians are happy with it.”
• “Retention is great—most people stay.”
• “We’re flexible if issues come up.”

📌 If the contract is terrible, they’ll say:

• “This is standard.” (Translation: You’re not supposed to question it.)
• “This is how we’ve always done it.” (Translation: We don’t care if it’s fair.)
• “No one else has had issues.” (Translation: That’s a lie.)

How Would You Feel If You Left Money on the Table?

Most physicians think, “I can’t negotiate salary. It’s set by the hospital.”

Wrong.

📌 Hospitals have budgets. They can stretch them.
📌 They have flexibility. If they want you, they’ll find a way.
📌 Your first offer is not your best offer. It’s just what they hope you’ll take.

So ask:
✅ “What do you know about how flexible salary has been for other hires?”
✅ “What do you know about how bonuses have actually been paid out in past years?”
✅ “If salary isn’t negotiable, what do you know about increasing my signing bonus or CME budget?”

Worst case? They say no.
Best case? You just made an extra $20,000.

How Would You Feel If You Couldn’t Leave?

Let’s talk about the trap no one takes seriously until it’s too late: non-competes.

📌 What do hospitals say?

• “This is just standard.” (Again: standard for them, not you.)
• “No one has had an issue with it.” (Because no one challenged it.)
• “It won’t be a problem.” (Until it is.)

📌 What should you ask?
✅ “What do you know about how this has affected past physicians?”
✅ “Has anyone challenged this and won?”
✅ “What do you know about modifying this to be more reasonable?”

Most of the time, they can’t answer these. Which tells you everything you need to know.

How Would You Feel If You Missed Your Only Chance?

Here’s the truth:
💀 Once you sign, you’re stuck.
💀 Everything you didn’t question becomes your problem.
💀 Every vague promise disappears the second you start.

So before you sign…
Ask.
Push back.
Make them prove their terms are fair.

Because how would you feel if you didn’t - and regretted it for years?