“Dr. Weston, can I talk to you for a minute?” The chief physician at the hospital motioned to me as he approached.
“Yes sir, Dr. Benton.” I walked towards him. “What can I do for you?”
“I got something you might be interested in—I was going to have my assistant set up and appointment, but I was already on the floor, so I thought I would just come see you in person.” He motioned towards one of the empty rooms.
“Okay.” I nodded and followed him into the room.
I’ve only had a few conversations with Dr. Benton since I started working here, so this must be serious.
“Have you had time to think over our offer?” He put his hands on his hips. “We’d really like for you to work here after your residency is over.”
Oh, this again…
“I’ve been thinking about it.” I nodded. “I just haven’t made a decision yet.”
I’m leaning towards declining it, but I don’t want to tell him that until I’m almost done with my residency. I don’t think he would sabotage it by any means, but it’s safer that way.
“I figured as much,” he sighed. “You don’t seem like the type of doctor that’s interested in climbing the corporate ladder to compete for my job when I retire.”
“No sir.” I shook my head back and forth. “I like being a doctor—I don’t want to be an administrator.”
Which is part of the reason why I will probably decline the offer when the time is right.
“That’s why I think you would be perfect for this new opportunity that just came across my desk.” He lifted his hand and shook his finger at me—he did that to everyone.
“Oh?” I raised my eyebrows inquisitively.
“The company that owns the hospital just acquired a new Urgent Care center. The lead physician that works there isn’t happy with our pay structure and is leaving to start his own practice. That means we’ve got an opening…” He tilted his head slightly as if I could fill in the rest on my own.
“You want me to work there?” I narrowed my eyes.
“Your residency isn’t over, but you’re already better than some of the doctors that have been doing this for a decade—I talked with my boss, and she agreed.” He nodded. “We would be willing to let you finish your residency at the Urgent Care center—and put you on the real salary scale now so it will come with a considerable raise.”
“Wow!” I blinked in surprise.
“You won’t be the lead physician there, obviously, but we have to fill the spot. We need someone to start immediately, which is the main reason we’re doing this. If you decide that you want to leave after your residency is over, there will be no hard feelings—just give us some notice so we can hire someone to replace you.” He cracked a smile and chuckled.
A smile from Dr. Benton? That’s rarer than a conversation with him.
“Can I think about it? I know you said you need someone to start immediately, but can you give me a couple of days?” I winced, because I already knew that wasn’t the answer he was hoping for.
“Yeah, absolutely.” His smile faded. “I’ll have my assistance email you the information, and you can look it over. But I need an answer tomorrow—otherwise I’ll have to start looking at some other candidates.”
“Understood.” I nodded. “Thank you, Dr. Benton.”
After I took care of a few patients and finally had a break, I went back to the office that I shared with a few other resident doctors. We weren’t important enough to have own individual offices since we were still residents at the hospital, but most of us worked different shifts, so I usually had it to myself when I was on duty. I reviewed the information that Dr. Benton sent over and it was a really good opportunity. The Urgent Care center was in a fairly nice part of Los Angeles, and the pay increase was sizable—the fact that I could get that while completing my residency wasn’t something I could easily ignore. It wasn’t my dream job by any means, but it would give me a little more experience with a smaller office, which might come in handy if I was able to open my own practice one day.
Maybe I should consider this… It might be better than the offers I get once my residency is over—especially if I’m not going to stay at the hospital.
It didn’t pay quite as well as a position at the hospital, but there was an option to bridge that gap by working at the hospital two days a week. I knew that a lot of doctors in Urgent Care centers did that and were very happy with the trade-off since it meant they were in one location the rest of the week. One part of the offer that was extremely attractive was the fact that I wouldn’t be on call every weekend. The doctors there took turns working the weekend, and they had the rest of them free. That would give me a chance to visit Holly a lot more often, and the increased salary would give me a little more freedom financially to do just that. It seemed like a win all around in my book, except for the risk of complacency.
A cushy job like that with a guaranteed raise every year will be hard to give up, even if I do want to open my own practice one day.
My analytical brain wouldn’t allow me to just accept the offer, even though it seemed really good on paper. I would have to tear into every detail, build spreadsheets in my head with every possible outcome, and weigh the options against every variable I could come up with. Thankfully, I only had one day to make the decision, because that would give me a short timetable to work with—which meant I wouldn’t spend days dwelling on the pros and cons of the opportunity. There were definitely more pros, but the cons were still there. I would still be a slave to the system and wouldn’t get to see the same patients very often. Finishing my residency there was a great opportunity, but that came with the risk of putting myself in a position where my motivation to leave would dwindle—to the point that it was extinguished.
I doubt I will be able to find a job like this in Arizona—and would I be willing to settle for something less in order to be close to Holly? I’d like to believe that I would, but my analytical brain would fight me every step of the way.
Later that night