Neonatology job search: Looking beyond the dollar signs

After about a decade of graduate and postgraduate medical training, many long hours, and personal sacrifices, perhaps carrying significant debt, you are about to land that long-awaited first job out of fellowship. Coming from the perspective of a fellow's salary, attending salaries may look like the Promised Land. Starting salaries in neonatology vary from region to region and by type of practice, but the once wide gap between private practice and academic salaries has shrunk in recent years, just as job descriptions have blurred in both venues. Although starting salary is important and often sets the baseline for future raises, there are many factors beyond salary that will influence your lifestyle, career opportunities, job satisfaction, and lifetime finances. This article is intended to educate graduating fellows and other junior faculty or recent graduates about a myriad of factors that should be considered, along with base salary, when negotiating your first (or subsequent) position out of fellowship.