research technician

postdoctoral fellow

medical secretary

pain management physician

research assistant

Hospital for Special Surgery

Having worked for the Education division, I must say, that, of the three years that I was in the workforce, this was the worst position I had held, and the worst workplace in which I had the displeasure of being employed with.  Work/life balance is non-existent, if you hold an exempt position.  Work hours, despite being an administrative division that employs those with backgrounds in the social sciences and administrative management, are painful.  I was not told until my second day at work - not during the interview process, which would have been the appropriate place to disclose this - that my hours would begin between 7 am and 8 am and I would not leave  the office until after 6 pm.  

The turnover of my particular position was deplorable - also a fact that should have been disclosed during my interview, when I asked why the previous employees had left the position.  If you have a different coordinator each year, it is only necessary to question your management skills.

Favoritism runs abound and lower level employees are expected to cater to and kiss up to physicians and senior management, to the point of questionable ethics. The "culture" at the hospital is deplorable - individualism is largely discouraged and suppressed, and while a "diverse" staff is boasted, the diversity is purely ethnic and is only encouraged as long as your personality and approach is entirely in line with what senior management expects of it. Arrogance is everywhere, among employees, staff and doctors - apparently due to the name and reputation of the hospital. Overall, the working conditions for those who aren't considered golden becomes insufferable to the point where certain positions see extremely high turnover due to overwork and the inability to take advantage of generous PTO (which is awarded in vain). There are very few young employees outside of secretarial and administrative assistant positions, which is essentially due to the inability of senior management to catch up to current technological and cultural practices in the workplace.  

People keep discussing how great the benefits are ... maybe compared to other for-profit industries and companies, but compared to other non-profit organizations, they're not competitive.  The Education and Development divisions, at least, operate as 501c3 divisions, and the fact that employees have to wait 2-3 months for health insurance at a hospital, and the cheapest plan option is $50 per pay period, per employee, is actually only a mediocre health plan.

I worked in research administration and ultimately decided to leave after realizing there was very limited opportunity for professional growth. While the organization often speaks about development and advancement, in practice those opportunities rarely materialize for administrative and coordinator-level staff. 

One of the biggest challenges was leadership. Many directors lacked effective management and leadership skills, and there was a noticeable disconnect between expectations placed on employees and the standards leadership held for themselves. Increased workloads were frequently framed as growth opportunities, but in reality much of the additional responsibility felt like leadership offloading their own work without providing appropriate compensation, title progression, or meaningful career advancement. 

There was also a lack of accountability and consistency within management. Policies and workplace expectations often seemed to apply differently depending on position level. Leadership had significant flexibility with schedules and office presence, while lower-level staff were held to much stricter standards. This created frustration and negatively impacted morale. 

Unfortunately, many of the organizational changes and restructuring efforts appeared to primarily benefit those already in director or upper-management roles, with little visible investment in the development or retention of administrators, coordinators, and support staff. For employees in these roles, career progression felt capped after one to two years unless they were willing to remain in the same position and compensation range indefinitely. 

Overall, there are hardworking and talented people within the organization, and the work itself can be meaningful. However, prospective employees especially those seeking long-term growth in research administration should carefully evaluate whether the organization s leadership culture and advancement structure align with their career goals.

I relocated to NY and accepted a position at HSS thinking I was making a good move and working for a great hospital. Although for patients this a great hospital to go to, as for my time here, it was not so great. 

First of, the management here for the dept I worked for were truly unable to put themselves in the shoes of others. This hospital is really cuthroat in a sense that they dont back you up when something goes wrong. This hospital is filled with small practices that are extremely under staffed. Something is bound to go wrong and nothing was ever done. They were constant management shuffling and you didn't know who to go for what. 

After only a few months there, I was able to turn a dysfunctional practice into a more productive and efficient one. The doctor I worked for was a great person but was very unorganized. She was very demanding with things that were out of the scope of a traditional administrator. I was a nurse, medical assistant, office manager all in one. 

After missing a few blood test follow ups (again, office understaffed, something is bound to go wrong) I was shown the door the very next day. 

Upper management wants you to be a slave for the doctor working long hours into the night. I believe in a different philosophy. Some of the people there gossip a lot. I didn't like that at all. 

Definitely will never work for another Manhattan Hospital again. Thankfully I was able to relocate back to Baltimore where I am now a small business owner. 

Would have given this Hospital a zero star if it weren't for there compensation packages. It is truly second to none.

A typical day for me is to just grab my charts and code as many as I can in one day.  They do have a productivity standard of 50 charts per day as an outpatient coder and 20 charts per day as an inpatient coder. However, since ICD 10 is being coded as well, our productivity has slowed down.  
I learned a lot about being a coder, however, working for a specialty hospital can be crippling to you as a coder because you are basically only coding the same diagnosis all day long, so you do not see the other side of coding.  I would only do this job again if I was already a coder at a general hospital already and had gotten out into the world of coding more. 
My co-coders are good people to work with, they are always willing to help you if you have a question about something.  The rest of the people in the department are ok, but they have their little drama going on sometimes amongst them but everyone does get along pretty well in spite of their differences and the work gets done at the end of the day.
The hardest part to my job is getting to work.  I have a VERY long commute and this is the reason why I gave work/life balance only two stars.  They do give you a generous amount of vacation time though.

I would have to say that my overall experience of working at HSS has been positive and rewarding. I have the opportunity of working with a very diverse group of individuals. In the international center I have dealt with patients from all over the world and because of that I was able to educate myself about the different cultures and believes of countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar , India, Turkey, Israel, Kuwait, Lebanon and also enhance my Spanish speaking skills in working with the countries of Latin America. As the administrative coordinator I have gained superb knowledge of what it takes to have a productive and well managed office. I have polished my written and verbal skill, as well as conflict resolution, clerical and presentation skill.  

I believe that the hardest part of my current roll as the Administrative Coordinator and HSS is that I’m the main point of contact and depending on how the inquiry is handled it sets the tone for the patient interaction with the hospital. I have to be able to choose the correct words and have the proper tone so that the patient is satisfied with the service received. I am proud to say that during my employment ah HSS I have not had any patient or co worker complaints.

My day begins with bedside reporting with the night shift RN. I perform a thorough head to toe nursing assessment of my patient. I seek out the patient care assistants assigned to my patient rooms and provide them with an up to date report on each patient.  At approximately 0830 we have morning rounds.  This is the time in which all the members of the team come together to determine the patient's plan for the day with discharge goals, any issues over night that may have occurred. Following rounds the day continues. I make sure to provide effective communication with all members of the team, including ancillary staff, physicians, residents, PAs, and case managers, to name a few. 

While working at HSS I have learned how to manager my time most effectively.  HSS is a fast paced, elective surgery institution. I have learned how to provide the best care to patients recovering from orthopedic surgeries during the acute care phase up until discharge. 

The most enjoyable part of the job is getting to know my patients and helping them handle the challenge of recovering from an extensive surgical procedure. I take pride working hard to advocate for my patients.  

The hardest part of this job is seeing the frustration on those specific patients that may have a difficult course during the recovery period.  I try to make the recovery period as smooth as possible.

I have worked in the medical field for over ten years and have rarely encountered a culture that does not welcome proactive individuals.  I interviewed with a recruiter and MD. I met my manager post-onboarding. The first time I worked in an administrative position where I was supposed to speak to management before performing tasks. I am proactive and always gone above to help doctors and patients. Not at this place. I was repeatedly warned not to speak to other departments without approval. I was waiting for insurance information to be clarified and never received that information. I verified that information and reprimanded for stepping out of my role. I was called a turn-off, crazy, unprofessionally trained, and I would not work out. There were constant virtual meetings that were mandatory, even during patients' treatment days. The clinical side of the role was terrific. The doctor was highly competent and fun. You are not allowed to say work WITH the MD but work FOR the MD. I worked through lunch everyday. I ended up resigning from the position. I came from another significant institution where many colleagues went to work at HSS, and all either resigned or fired. WARNING: Their benefits package is HORRIBLE. First time I have no regrets about quitting.    

I've often said, if circumstances and location made sense, I would work here again. This is where I learned to always put the patient or visitor first, even if you are in a non patient facing role. The halls and building of this place can be confusing. I would often escort people to the right location, even though this didn't come close to being my role. This is because it was emphasized that every encounter is part of the patient experience. I met several times with the CEO and he knew me by name. In the grand scheme of things, I'm low down in the ranks and there was no reason for me to ever get that kind of face time with the CEO, but this is something Lou seemed to value, knowing the employees, no matter the rank. HSS is the best at what it does and if anyone needs orthopedic care in my family, I still tell them there's only one place to go. The job could get hectic at times, and while I was there the technology (and elevators) seemed frustratingly antiquated (though this may have changed with the recent implementation of new systems). One thing I wish I saw was more of an effort to bring their world class care to lower income individuals - many of the doctors did not take insurance or were very limited in insurance accepted, which was quite discouraging.

On average vacation/personal time off is the best in the industry. For each 5 years you gain 5 more days starting with 15 days 10 vacation days and 5 personal days. Over the years, there is always an opportunity to learn something new. HSS offers online classes through the intranet for Excel as well as a variety of staff development courses at your leisure. 
Management made decisions of time off based on work loads and flows. I tried to introduce multiple roles within the staff. This would essentially have staff trained in different roles so that staff could take time off and the work wouldn't suffer or become backed up if staff was sick or on vacation. Without support from management it became a stressful and toxic environment. Meeting deadlines was the hardest. The Assistant Director did not recommend opportunities to advance if he didn't like you regardless of your knowledge/experience.The most enjoyable part was the staff treating each other like family. A lot of birthday, marriage, baby and moving on/retirement celebrations with support for sympathy at the loss of a loved one. This review is indicative of a single department, not the hospital as a whole.

Having worked at this organization for a little over 10 years, I can say that I have obtained a plethora of knowledge and work experience. Having worked in several departments, that each differed from the other, a typical day was primarily focused on giving each patient and visitor an optimal experience from their arrival to their exit. Through the job titles I have held, I learned how to efficiently operate housekeeping equipment, learned a great deal of knowledge in the field of Radiology and Physical Therapy, and most of all I learned how to provide high quality patient care. Management has been instrumental in getting the best work out of me as well as providing useful advice professionally. I had many great relationships with co-workers that I will cherish forever. The hardest part of any job I worked there, but not consistently difficult, was finding a work schedule that worked with my family life outside of work. The most enjoyable part of working here was knowing that anyone employed there has an opportunity to grow within the hospital and receive the support in whichever that individual defined as growth.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Research technician 1 salary reported	$47,500 per year
Postdoctoral fellow 7 salaries reported	$55,000 per year
Medical secretary 3 salaries reported	$23.19 per hour
Pain management physician 1 salary reported	$150,000 per year
Research assistant 1 salary reported	$30.25 per hour

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