Q&A: A guide to negotiating your second contract

Since you're on ProSal, you shouldn't have to renegotiate your percentage as long as the total compensation package comes out to something close to 25 percent of your production, says Veterinary Economics Editorial Advisory Board member Mark Opperman, owner of VMC Inc. in Evergreen, Colo. You should be getting a "raise" by your increased productivity and an increase in your practice's fee schedule. Ask the practice owner to complete a total compensation statement (download one at dvm360.com/tcs) to make sure you're in that 25 percent range.

When it comes to benefits, you can probably expect an increase in time off—in personal days or vacation days—and an increase in time off and money allocated for CE. Unfortunately there are no rules here to determine exactly what you deserve—that's up to you and the practice owner to decide.