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• Early Career Psychiatrists
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Practice

Economic Issues
Foremost in your mind as an ECP might be, "Can I make a living? How am I going to make it? How much can I make?" One early choice you are facing is how much you will need from your base salary. If you have debt or a family to support, it may be necessary to choose a position which provides your primary income. You need to advocate for what you are worth and want to make. Some jobs offer salary plus the potential of a bonus. You may be interested in a combination of part-time salary with other practice opportunities, such as private practice, research, fellowships, and industry jobs. If you want to know more about a range of jobs, visit the APA Job Bank. If you would like to share some of our experiences, visit our bulletin board.

Starting a Private Practice
You can do it! Many of us have; we offer a workshop at the APA Annual Meeting (and regionally throughout the year) to talk about how to get started. If you would like to share our whims, woes and victories in getting established in private practice, visit our Bulletin Boards.

Legal
Remember your training: the first defense is consistent documentation and following the community standard of how your peers would practice. When in doubt, consult your community colleagues and ECP peers using our Bulletin Boards. There are no black and white answers on how to proceed in certain cases. You will want to know how to access legal counsel for questions that come up in your professional and personal life. Your practice and training are an important investment to protect.
Professional Risk Management Services, Inc. (PRMS), sponsored by the APA, can provide a refresher in case you would like it. You have a local ethics committee at your district branch which is a free resource for your consultation and the APA Ethics Committee is also a valuable resource.

Malpractice
You face the choices of "Where do I get my insurance? What kind should I get? What is a good price?" There are two kinds of insurance: "claims made" and "occurrence." A "claims made" pays for claims that come in during the duration of the policy, and requires that you purchase a "tail" which covers those claims made after your practice is no longer active. "Occurrence" covers all events which took place during the time the policy was in force, regardless of when the actual claim is made. It costs more, but doesn’t need a tail. For more information on how to weigh the alternatives, press visit the APA-endorsed Professional Liability Insurance Program (PLIP). If you want to hear from ECP peers on "tails" of success and woe, visit our Bulletin Boards.

Negotiating a Contract
You are worth it! Now you have to advocate for yourself in order to get what is fair after all those years of hard work and training! One of the hardest things for you (or anyone starting a new career) is valuing yourself. Find out what the community going rate is for your services. Consult with peers, colleagues, and organizations which will review your contract. As a member of your local district branch, you have legal counsel at your disposal to help with this. It can feel intimidating, but can also be very rewarding.

Managed Care Issues
Don’t forget that you have a choice to participate or not to participate. If you do, you probably have heard that you can’t get on the panels. This is a problem for you if you haven’t yet been board-certified. Still, you would be surprised at the turnover in the panels and the fact that good people are being recruited. Managed care-based practice could be something to do as you get established and want a dependable referral stream of patients. If you don’t want to participate, don’t worry; it is possible to make a very good living without living by the whims of managed care. 

Jobs
Looking for a job? Want to make a change? Visit our Bulletin Boards to learn some things we have used along the way. Some of us have used headhunters. Have you? What has it been like? Share your experiences using our Bulletin Boards.

Research Interests
You may be interested in doing basic science or clinical research as your sole practice or as an adjunct to another job. It offers an opportunity to advance the field, gain recognition, and it can be lucrative too. To hear more about what some of us are doing, visit the Practice Research Network, our information on subspecialization/fellowships, or our Bulletin Boards.