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Physician Contract Glossary · Contract Structure

Term of Contract

The term of the contract is how long the agreement lasts before it ends or renews.

The term is the contract's lifespan, commonly one to three years, after which it either expires, renews, or rolls over automatically. The term interacts with everything: termination rights, renewal mechanics, and how long you are locked into the compensation model. A long term with no clean exit is a different commitment than a one-year term that renews by agreement.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

Read the term together with the termination and renewal clauses, not in isolation. A multi-year term only protects you if your exit rights inside it are real.

Related terms

Stop being recruited. Start choosing.

You are about to sign something the senior people in your program signed without reading.

They had no guide either. You do. Start with the option that costs you nothing: see every practice that is actually out there before anyone hands you a contract.

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