Benefits and Stipends

OSUMC Residents and Fellows are provided the following benefits. For a detailed list of benefits, please refer to the Limited Staff Agreement. For a printable copy of these benefits, please click here.

Medical Benefits

Health Care:
Limited housestaff are eligible for enrollment in one of several University-sponsored health insurance plans including single and dependent coverage. Prescription drug coverage is included in all plans. Coverage, deductibles, and co-payments vary by plan. (hr.osu.edu/benefits/home.htm)

Dental:
Dental coverage for residents and dependents is available upon employment.

Vision: Vision benefits for residents and dependents are available upon employment.

Sick Leave:
Upon employment, Resident will begin accruing sick leave benefit hours. This benefit provides the Resident full pay for up to the total number of hours that have been accrued. Sick leave does not accrue during unpaid leaves of absences. There is no limit on the number of hours that may be accrued. Fulltime employees (100%) accrue 120 hours of sick leave per year. Appointments less than 100% accrue sick leave at a pro-rated amount according to time actually worked. No moonlighting while on sick leave is permitted.

Parental Leave:
Parental leave consists of six weeks of regular pay for birth mothers and three weeks of regular pay for fathers, domestic partners and adoptive parents. Notice of pregnancy should occur in the first trimester, to ensure proper scheduling and receipt of benefits. Because the length of the leave may impact the amount of time allowed away from a training program by a certifying board, the program director may use vacation, sick leave, personal days, or conference leave to accomplish completion of the training requirements training period. No moonlighting is permitted during parental leave. Additional information regarding paid leave programs can be found in OSU Human Resources Policy 6.27

Vacation:
Limited housestaff receive a minimum of two weeks (14 days) paid vacation time to be taken at a time approved by the Program Director. Additional vacation may be provided based on departmental policies.

Insurance Benefits

Liability Insurance:
Professional liability insurance in the form of occurrence coverage is provided by the OSU Self- Insurance Program for all activity within the residency-fellowship program, when the program activity is performed at OSU owned or operated locations. Coverage at non-OSU facilities will be provided according to affiliations or other contractual agreements with affiliated training sites. No coverage is provided at non-OSU, non-affiliated locations unless prior written approval of the Chief Medical Officer and the OSUMC Director of Insurance is obtained. Outside professional activity performed for hire (moonlighting) is not covered unless prior written approval of the Chief Medical Officer and the OSUMC Director of Insurance is obtained.

Life Insurance:
Limited staff are automatically entitled to prepaid term life insurance in an amount of two and one half times annual stipend, plus an accidental death benefit in an equal amount. Optional dependent group life plans are available for spouses, or same-sex domestic partner (separate affidavit required) and dependent children up to age twenty-three or when they no longer meet eligibility requirements if earlier. A variety of plans with varying premiums and limits of coverage are available.

Disability Insurance:
Limited housestaff receive prepaid long-term disability income insurance with benefits one-half of annual stipend in case of total disability lasting beyond 90 days. The contract has portability features upon completion of training.

Worker’s Compensation:
You may be eligible for workers compensation as a result from job-related injuries or occupational diseases. If your claim is allowed by the Bureau of Workers' Compensation, your medical bills and wage loss related to the injury will be covered by the Bureau of Workers' Compensation pursuant to applicable law.

Retirement Benefits:

OSU does not participate in the federal Social Security system, other than contributions to Medicare. While employed with the university, your retirement contributions must be invested with one of the state retirement plans, either the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio (STRS-OH) or Alternative Retirement Plan (ARP). Complete definitions and policies regarding these retirement plans can be found in the University Handbook of Benefits or by calling the Office of Human Resources at (614)292-1050 or visiting their website. Regulations can be found at: http://medicine.osu.edu/gme/www.strsoh.org

OSU Medical Center Advantages

On Call Facilities:

Residents on-call are provided with access to the vending, lounge, computer and study facilities. Individual sleep rooms include televisions, bathrooms and computers in each room, as well as 24-hour access to linens and towels.

On Call Meals:

Funding for meals is provided while on in-house or home call consistent with policies adopted by the Graduate Medical Education Committee and approved by the Chief Medical Officer. Additionally, evenings snacks (i.e., pizza) are provided on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.

Palm Pilots:

A PDA is provided to OSUMC limited staff, at the beginning of his or her training program and is loaded with a variety of software, including eProcrates, eresults and E*Value. Additional information is provided by PDAcentral.

Lab Coats & Dry Cleaning:

Two white lab coats with the OSU insignia per year and scrubs are provided free of charge by the Medical Center. There is free dry cleaning service for all work-related clothing.

Housestaff Medical Alliance:

The GME office created the Housestaff Medical Alliance (HMA) group in 2004 to provide resources and support for resident's and fellow's spouses, significant others and families. HMA sponsors social events and is planning more activities in the upcoming year (i.e., new housestaff dinners, book clubs, social events and children's play groups). For more information please contact Kathleen.Simendinger@osumc.edu.

Recreation:

Discounted fitness club memberships are available through the OSU Center for Wellness and Prevention, Recreation & Physical Activity Center, and through the Office of Human Resources' web site Your Plan For Health. The GME office has reserved Basketball Court time at the OSU Jesse Owens North Facility. In addition, many athletic facilities and individual, team, and tournament sports are available across the campus throughout the Recreational Sports program. Also, many diverse activities and cultural events are available at the University and throughout the city and the central Ohio area.

Professional Meetings:

Residents are afforded the opportunity of going to national meetings at departmental expense. The Medical Director's office supports attendance at national meetings for those residents who demonstrate significant involvement in institutionally based efforts. This benefit is designed to train/educate residents and enhances their participation.

Memberships:

All residents and fellows are provided memberships in the Ohio State Medical Association (OSMA), Columbus Medical Association(CMA), and the American Medical Association (AMA) while they are in an OSUMC training program.

Counseling & Support:

The Program Director will provide an opportunity for counseling or consultation referral related to personal problems that arise out of the trainee's participation in the program or that could affect the ability of the Resident to perform his or her professional duties. Three mechanisms exist for this counseling:

The University Faculty Staff Assistance Program (UFSAP) is a confidential counseling service for OSU employees and their families experiencing distress that can interfere with work performance
(http://osumhcs.com/)
The Committee for Licensed Independent Practitioner Health considers issues of physician health or impairment whenever a referral is requested, and provides counseling, referral and monitoring for medical staff, including residents.
Department of Chaplaincy and Clinical Pastoral Care assists patients, families, and Medical Center physicians and staff in meeting spiritual and emotional needs. Sanctuary and meditation rooms are located on 5th floor Atrium at University Hospital, and 3rd floor at East Hospital, respectively. A Chaplain is on call 24 hours per day and can be reached through the Hospital Operator.

Education and Technology

Health Sciences Library

The Prior Health Sciences Library is located next to the Ohio State University Medical Center's Doan Hall. Through the library's website, physicians and residents are provided services such as UpToDate and MD Consult. With UpToDate, physicians and residents are able to immediately access evidence-based answers to frequently asked clinical questions directly from the office, the exam room, or the library. MD Consult provides physicians and residents with full-text resources on a broad range of medical specialties. These resources include journal articles, reference books, practice guidelines and medical news. For residents, MD Consult provides "Clinical Topic Tours" and "Case of the Week" as a complement to their residency experience at Ohio State.

Through the Prior Health Sciences Library, physicians and residents can access other informational databases such as MEDLINE, the Science Citation Index and full-text Cochrane Reviews through Ovid. Residents can access required readings for classes through the Course Reserves section. By utilizing Core25 Resources, physicians and residents have access to the top 25 Health Journals, Biomedical Research Journals, Books and Videos available at The Ohio State University. Hundreds more are accessible through the library's E-Journals and additional databases.

In addition to the Prior Health Sciences Library, The Ohio State University campus offers 27 other academic libraries, including the main library Thompson Memorial Library at the west end of the university's Oval. For a complete list of libraries at The Ohio State University, please visit the University Libraries web site.

Center for Knowledge Management:

Located on the fourth floor of the John A. Prior Health Sciences Library, The Center for Knowledge Management provides the Ohio State Medical Center community with print, television, web and presentational services. CKM offers a wide array of planning and development services to assist residents and fellows, clinicians, staff, educators and researchers in any endeavor. Please visit the Center for Knowledge Management's web site for more information.

Clinical Skills Education and Assessment Center:

The Clinical Skills Education and Assessment Center is located on the lower level of the John A. Prior Health Sciences Library. The Clinical Skills Center is a state-of-the-art training center for the simulation of patient care and assessment of learned clinical skills.

Additional Services for Residents and Fellows:

Notary Service:

Free notary service is provided through the GME office. Educational loan deferment documents are also processed through the GME office.

Parking:

Parking and transportation information can be obtained online, http://www.tp.osu.edu/ or through your training program. Residents have an opportunity to purchase faculty "A" parking permits.

Ticket Donation Project:

Tickets for cultural, sporting and other events can be donated to the GME Office to be distributed to residents and fellows via a lottery system.

As employees and faculty of the University, Residents are afforded the protection of the University and GME Committee policies on Affirmative Action, Equal Employment Opportunity, Non-Discrimination, and Sexual Harassment (GME policies and policy 1.10 and 1.15 in the University Human Resource Policies and Procedures).