Your compensation at Merced Faculty Associates begins with the security of a guaranteed base salary during your first year, then transitions to a productivity model that rewards your clinical effort. This structure protects you during practice ramp-up while offering uncapped earning potential once your patient panel matures. Combined with signing bonuses, recruitment grants, and loan repayment opportunities, the total compensation package positions you for financial success in a market where your cost of living stretches every dollar further than coastal California alternatives.
The physician-owned structure means compensation policies reflect what doctors actually need rather than corporate profit priorities. Shareholders have shaped these arrangements over decades of practice, creating a model that balances guaranteed income with productivity incentives.
Your guaranteed base salary ranges from $275,000 to $300,000 annually, depending on your training background and experience. This guarantee applies throughout your first 12 months, providing financial stability while you build your patient panel and establish relationships in the community. You receive this amount monthly regardless of whether your productivity initially falls short.
MFA offers a $75,000 signing bonus paid upon contract execution, requiring a three-year commitment with pro-rated repayment if you leave earlier. This upfront payment helps with relocation costs, establishes your household, or addresses educational debt immediately upon arrival.
Dignity Health Mercy Medical Center Merced provides an additional $99,000 recruitment grant separate from MFA's compensation. This grant breaks down into two components: a $14,850 signing bonus (15% of total) paid as 1099 income at the start of employment, and $84,150 available for relocation expenses and/or student loan repayment. The hospital grant requires a two-year service commitment for full forgiveness.
This recruitment support reflects the hospital's recognition that attracting physicians to underserved areas requires meaningful financial incentives. The funds address real costs of relocation and help reduce educational debt that burdens many early-career physicians.
After your first year, compensation transitions to a productivity model with quarterly reconciliation. You continue receiving a monthly draw based on your Year 1 base, with quarterly true-ups comparing your actual production to your draw. If productivity exceeds your base during Year 1, you receive 33% of the difference as a bonus. Starting in month 13, your draw may adjust based on demonstrated productivity.
The model distinguishes between Type A income (teaching and non-office services) and Type B income (clinical/office services), with different percentage splits reflecting the varying overhead costs of each activity type.
Type A Income (Teaching/Faculty Services): 83% to physician Type A Income (Other Non-Office Services): 79% to physician
Type B Income (Clinical/Office Services) - Graduated Scale:
This graduated structure rewards higher productivity with increasingly favorable splits, creating meaningful incentive to build a robust practice. Teaching income compensates at higher percentages, recognizing the lower overhead associated with academic work.
Beyond the hospital recruitment grant, you may qualify for the CalHealthCares loan repayment program, which provides up to $300,000 over five years for physicians serving Medi-Cal patients. Given MFA's predominantly Medi-Cal patient population, you would likely meet program requirements. This state-funded benefit operates independently of employer-provided loan assistance, potentially stacking with the hospital's $84,150 allocation.
MFA also qualifies as a Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) eligible employer, meaning your federal student loan payments during MFA employment count toward the 120 payments required for PSLF forgiveness. For physicians with substantial educational debt, this eligibility represents significant long-term value.
MFA provides comprehensive health coverage through Anthem Blue Cross Prudent Buyer PPO, with employer contributions that make quality coverage affordable. The plan features a $2,500 individual or $5,000 family deductible, 80/20 coinsurance after deductible, and $5,000 individual or $10,000 family out-of-pocket maximum.
Physician monthly contributions are reasonable: $125 for employee-only coverage, $250 for employee plus children, $350 for employee plus spouse, and $500 for family coverage. A Health Reimbursement Arrangement provides $1,000 (single) or $2,000 (family) annually toward copays and deductible expenses.
Additional Health Benefits:
Voluntary dental coverage through Delta Dental and vision coverage through Anthem Blue View are available at employee expense. These plans offer competitive rates for comprehensive coverage.
MFA provides professional liability coverage through The Doctors Company (TDC), one of the nation's premier physician-owned malpractice insurers. Coverage limits are $1,000,000 per claim and $3,000,000 aggregate on a claims-made basis.
Critically, tail coverage is 100% employer-paid if you are terminated without cause. If you voluntarily resign, tail coverage becomes your responsibility unless your new employer provides TDC prior acts coverage. This arrangement protects you from catastrophic tail premiums in situations beyond your control while maintaining appropriate accountability for voluntary departures.
The TDC Tribute Plan provides an additional retirement benefit: a lump sum distribution available at age 55 or older with five or more years of continuous TDC coverage. The split between MFA and the physician depends on tenure: 50/50 if employed 10+ years, 75% MFA/25% physician if employed less than 10 years.
MFA provides $50,000 in employer-paid group life and AD&D coverage. Voluntary supplemental life insurance is available up to 5x salary or $500,000 maximum, with $150,000 guaranteed issue for new hires requiring no medical underwriting. Spouse coverage up to 50% of employee amount or $250,000 maximum, and child coverage at $10,000, round out family protection options.
Your first year includes three weeks (15 days) of paid time off plus one week (5 days) of paid CME time. Sick time accrues at 3 days annually. Subsequent years offer reasonable unpaid time subject to approval, recognizing that productivity-based compensation already accounts for time away.
After three years of employment, you become eligible for a three-month temporary leave of absence. After six years, eligibility extends to six months. The first three months of approved leave continue your normal draw if productivity supports it; time beyond three months is unpaid. These provisions acknowledge that physicians sometimes need extended time for family, health, or personal reasons.
MFA reimburses required business expenses including medical license renewal, hospital application fees, DEA license, and HPO/IPA membership fees. Additional professional expenses, including CME costs, professional society dues, auto/transportation, and home office expenses, are handled through pre-tax payroll withholding arrangements that provide tax advantages.
The Lincoln Financial Employee Assistance Program provides five in-person counseling sessions annually, 24/7 phone support, and one free 30-minute legal consultation with 25% discount on subsequent services. TravelConnect offers emergency travel assistance for medical issues occurring 100+ miles from home. LifeKeys programs include discount services, identity theft protection, will preparation assistance, and grief counseling.
This compensation package combines competitive base salary, meaningful bonuses, substantial loan repayment opportunities, and comprehensive benefits into a total package that supports both your immediate financial needs and long-term career sustainability.