Should you become an associate?
By Keith Maule

What if you don’t want to open your own practice right now? Perhaps you have a significant amount of debt and don’t want to incur more to start your own practice.

Or maybe you feel unsure of your ability to run a business because you lack experience. Or you may be looking for specialized knowledge and you have the opportunity to practice with an expert in that area of specialization.

In any case, your best option may be to become an associate.

Starting your career as an associate has several benefits:

• An immediate, unfinanced income;
• The opportunity to learn from an established, successful practitioner; and
• Limited startup cost and risk.

The established practitioner you work with receives benefits as well: You lighten his or her workload and responsibility. If the doctor is looking to sell the practice, you are a proven, capable professional who can be trusted to care for his patients.

But before you jump at the first employment offer, here are five things to consider doing:

1. Make lists. You should have two lists: one to delineate the things you must have, and one to describe the things you would like to have.

If the practice you are looking at does not have everything on the must list, don’t work there. If you are trying to decide between two clinics that have everything on the must list, compare them to the “like list,” and see which one has the most desirable likes.

This method will help you avoid basing your decision on emotions. Below are items to consider adding to these lists, but only you can decide which are needs and which are wants.

• Location. Consider not only which state, city, or town you want to practice in, but also what area of town.

• Pay. How much do you need as a minimum and how much would you like to have?

• Days and hours. Realize you are not paid by the hour, so get a feel for what will be needed and expected. Have an idea of what you would consider “too much” in light of your family, personal interests, and lifestyle.

• Marketing. What kind of marketing will you be expected to do, and what kind are you willing to do? How do you get new patients? Are you just treating the patients the clinic sends to you or do you generate your own?

• Type of practice. You owe it to yourself and the hiring doctor to make sure you are comfortable and a good fit. Your must-have list can indicate certain practices that you cannot fit in, and the other list may include what type of practice you would like (such as a practice that utilizes a certain technique, or volume).

• Management. Whether the practice has management will tell you a lot about its commitment to growth, management style, and code of conduct. Develop a list of what you prefer.

2. Look for a model of your dream clinic. You may think this sounds obvious but it really isn’t. You could become disgruntled if you go to work in a largely personal-injury (PI) practice and learn that you dislike PI.

The same would be true if you accepted a position in a high-volume practice and discover that the patients are treated with little personal contact or relationship-building. Or you might find yourself “stuck” a small town when you prefer city life.

Choose to work in a clinic that you would truly want to model after. This is your chance to learn the secrets to success from a practice that is exactly the kind you want. Choose a practice in which, if the truth were known, you would work for free because of the tremendous opportunity and the pleasure you derive from being there.

The doctor who owns the clinic should be someone you would choose as your role model. You don’t want to come away from the experience thinking “The only thing I learned is what I don’t want to do.”

In other words, work for a mentor. Don’t work there just for money, security, or convenience.

3. Look at the position from a long-term perspective. Before taking the position, ask yourself this question: “Would I be happy to stay here the rest of my life?” If the answer is no — then don’t go. This is not to say you will stay there the rest of your life, but it forces you to make sure you are looking at this opportunity with a critical eye and giving this job your best effort and possibility of success.

If you look at the job as a very short-term commitment, you will not look at it critically enough. You may ignore many red flags. That’s a big mistake for you. And it is not fair to the doctor who is hiring you.

4. Don’t go where you want to open your own practice. You are probably going to sign a contract that requires you to move outside a certain radius when you leave. Wherever you associate, make sure you do not block your own plans.

5. Look for clinics that fit your criteria. Seek them out. Don’t wait for something to show up on a college bulletin board or a state association newsletter (although you should closely monitor those).

Make something happen — take control. Don’t be afraid to contact clinics and ask them about their needs. Put on your business suit and visit them in person. Don’t just e-mail a resume or send a letter.

You will be surprised at what you can find. Many doctors think about hiring an associate but haven’t reached the point of advertising their desire.

If you contact them, it is very possible they will consider it a “sign.”

Keith Maule is the CEO and co-owner of Kats Management, a chiropractic consulting organization based in Lincoln, Neb. He has been instrumental in bringing national exposure to the chiropractic profession by providing chiropractic care and financial support to the USA's Olympic Decathlon athletes through Kats Management. He can be contacted at 800-843-9162 or through the company's Web site, www.katsmanagement.com.