Surgery Stipends, Benefits & Leave

  Resident Stipend Scale 2010-2011

Surgery Residency Benefits include:

• Call Quarters
• Insurance
  • Health and Dental Insurance
  • Disability Insurance
  • Life Insurance
  • COBRA Insurance
• Leave
  • Parental Leave
  • Sick Leave
  • Vacation
  • Personal Days
  • Holidays
  • Educational Conference Leave and Professonal Development Reimbursement
  • Funeral Leave for Immediate Family
  • Military Leave
  • Other Leave
  • Compliance with Board Requirements for Absence from Training
  • Leaving the Program
  • Interview Time Off
• Malpractice
• Moonilghting
• Southeastern Surgical Congress for Reisdents and Fellows
• Other Benefits

Call Quarters

Erlanger provides comfortable call quarters for residents and fellows within the hospital.

Health and Dental Insurance
Carrier:  CIGNA HealthCare
CIGNA phone # to verify coverage:  800-564-7642
The plan is administered for us by:
    Gerald Holland Insurance Company
    P. O. Box 328
    Southhaven, MS  38671
    888-393-9500 (speak with Jerry Holland)

Premiums (Rates for July 1, 2010 - June 30, 2011)
Below are the resident portions of the monthly health and dental insurance premiums:
  

              
The annual Individual deductible (calendar year January - December) is $250 and the annual family deductible (for in-network) is $500.  The plan pays for 90% of charges for covered services from network facilities and providers.

The University of Tennessee provides health and hospitalization insurance coverage for residents. The University pays the majority of the monthly premiums for either Individual, Resident and Spouse, Resident and Children, or Family coverage. 

Erlanger Health System facilities accept the amounts paid for covered services by the resident insurance plan once deductable amounts are met.  This provision covers both residents and their covered dependents.  Erlanger facilities include Erlanger Medical Center, T. C. Thompson Children's Hospital, Willie D. Miller Eye Center, Erlanger East and Women's East, and Erlanger North.

Please note:  The resident health insurance plan through CIGNA no longer has a contract with the Plaza Lab, located at Erlanger.  Since Erlanger is only a partial owner of that facility, the discount offered residents and dependents at Erlanger facilities does not extend to the Plaza Lab.  If your physician's office does not offer lab services within the office, lab work will need to be sent to Quest Laboratories.  In Chattanooga, Quest Labs have two locations:  one on Shallowford Road and the other at the Chattanooga Surgical Center on McCallie Avenue and Holtzclaw not too far from Erlanger.

The plan also provides for mental health and substance abuse benefits through CIGNA Behavioral Health.  Go to www.cignabehavioralhealth.com for details and covered providers.  Before going to any behavioral health provider (psychiatrist, psychologist, or counselor), the resident should contact the CIGNA Behavioral Health service line at 800-274-4573 and have them set up sessions and coordinate benefits.  The plan provides:

• 25 mental health days inpatient care per contract year (same benefits as regular inpatient hospital services)
• 25 individual mental health office visits/counseling sessions per contract year (with $15 co-pay), and
• 40 visits/sessions per contract year for group therapy (with same co-pay)

The plan also provides inpatient and outpatient substance abuse benefits.

Disability Insurance
The University provides $1,500 per month of tax-free disability benefits following 90-days of disability. Benefits are payable to age 65. This coverage cannot be cancelled by the insurance company and premiums are guaranteed level at your current age rates through age 65. Full benefits will be paid even if you collect from Social Security or workman's compensation.

In addition, this policy has a guaranteed issue of up to $4,000 per month for residents who choose additional coverage. You may elect additional coverage at employment or at completion of your residency. For your convenience, the additional coverage at your own expense may be payroll deducted.

To offset the cost of the basic long-term disability coverage ($1500 per month), the University adds $50 each month to the agreed upon stipend scale. Actual premiums depend on the resident's date of birth.

For additional information regarding your disability coverage, please contact Ed Barnett with the Barnett Group in Cordova, just outside Memphis.  His email address is:  ebarnett@barnettbenefits.com.

Life Insurance
Basic life insurance is provided in the amount of $100,000 and an additional $100,000 Accidental Death and Dismemberment Coverage.  The $50 added to the monthly stipend also helps offset the small monthly premium (under $7 per month) for this basic life insurance. This coverage is through Unum.  Your agent is:

Edwin W. Barnett
Barnett Benefits
1180 Vickery Lane, Suite 2
Cordova, TN 38018

E-mail: ebarnett@barnettbenefits.com

Continuation of Health Insurance via COBRA
Health insurance coverage after completion of training or or during an  unpaid leave of absents for a period up to 18 months may continue by paying the entire premium (employee and employer portion plus a small fee).

A detailed description of Public Law 99-272, Title X, requiring employers to offer continuation coverage is available in the Office of Graduate Medical Education and can be furnished upon request.

If you elect to enroll in continuation of coverage via COBRA, you must complete a COBRA Health Insurance application form that will be sent to you directly from the insurance company after you have exited the Chattanooga program.

Leave

Parental Leave
Parental leave (maternity and paternity) is available to residents for the birth or adoption of a child or foster care placement. Annual leave, sick leave, and holidays may be used in order that salary may be continued.  Any additional leave requested would be without pay. Residents are entitled to family leave, including time without pay, for up to 12 weeks.  The resident must give reasonable notice (30 days when the need for leave is foreseeable).  The Residency Program Director is responsible for determining whether the time off (in excess of vacation and holidays) would need to be made up at the end of training in accordance with board certification requirements.  The make-up time, if required, would be with pay.

Please note:  Since residents are on one-year appointments throughout the program, residents cannot carry over sick leave and vacation from one academic year to another.

Sick Leave
Residents may be paid for up to 21 Sick Leave Days per year for personal illness. As soon as the resident realizes he/she will be unable to work due to illness, he should contact his rotation attending, the rotation chief resident, and the Department of Family Medicine (extension 2957) to notify the Program Director of the illness. If unable to contact the departmental office, the resident must page the attending on call for the practice. The resident is expected to identify coverage for any clinical responsibilities. Every attempt should be made to avoid canceling patient appointments.

Vacation

Residents are given 2 weeks vacation during the year. One week of vacation is allowed per six months and no more than two individuals (must be different levels of training) are to be off at the same time. PGY-5 and PGY-6 residents may request a third week of vacation or use the third week for fellowship or practice interviews.

 Holidays
Residents/Fellows are granted the following nine holidays, observed by UT and Erlanger:

New Year's Day
Martin Luther King's Birthday
Good Friday
Memorial Day
Independence Day (July 4th)
Labor Day
Thanksgiving (two days)
Christmas Day

Each department handles scheduling holidays for their Residents/Fellows and it is up to the discretion of that Chair and/or Program Director as to which of the official holidays will be permitted in each department. Not all departments recognize all nine holidays.  The ultimate decision will be the chair's.  Remember that all Residents/Fellows cannot be off on the actual holiday, so you may have to take a substitute day later.  

Military Leave
The University provides time off without loss of pay for employees who are members of the reserve components of the Armed Forces of the United States or State National Guards (e.g., two week summer camp in the Tennessee National Guard). These University employees will receive normal compensation for a period not to exceed 15 working days in any one calendar year.

Leaving the Program

Residents in good standing who are leaving the program at the end of June 2009 and who have saved one week of vacation may be relieved of duties on June 19, 2009 at 5 pm. All other residents in good standing will leave no sooner than 5 pm on June 26, 2009. Any deviation from this policy will be authorized by consensus of the Chair and Program Director. The ability of a resident to leave before June 26 must be agreed upon by the Chair and Program in writing, no later than May 1, 2009.  Check with Cindy Rudolph regarding residents departing in June 2010.

Interview Time Off

Five days will be allotted to those preliminary residents who need time off to interview with other programs. If additional time is needed beyond this 5-day allowance, you

will be required to use vacation. Notify the Chief Resident and your senior team member as soon as you schedule your interview days.

Malpractice
As employees of the State of Tennessee, residents are protected against suits for malpractice via the Tennessee Claims Commission Act. The State is self-insured so there is no insurance carrier; however, coverage is similar to what would be stated in coverage is similar to what would be stated in an insurance policy.

Moonlilghting

The resident is expected to refrain from and not engage in any outside remunerative employment of any sort without the prior approval of the respective Chair or other designated official. Generally, moonlighting is not approved.

Southeastern Surgical Congress for Residents and Fellows

The Department strongly expects all categorical residents to join and maintain membership to the Southeastern Surgical Congress. Dues are minimal and covered by the department.

Other Benefits

• Coats (white, monogrammed coats each year)
• Funding for meals ($20 daily maximum in the hospital cafeteria with a swipe card)
• Parking (at no charge in the hospital parking garage)
• Relocation to Chattanooga (reimbursement of up to $1000 for non-primary care residents such as Surgery)
• Hepatitis B immunization (if needed)
• Used HP iPaq PDAs provided by Erlanger at no charge, or reimbursement up to $250 toward purchase of a PDA or smart phone (out of the professional development reimbursement)
• Alpha pagers provided by Erlanger at no charge
• Medical Library access (24/7 at Erlanger and access from home via internet)
• Copies at no charge in the Medical Library
• Notary service at no charge
• Resident and spouse organizations
• On-site child care available at Erlanger e-Kids (on a space available basis)
• Local UTCOMC CME conferences (registration at no charge for residents)

Revised 6/2010