It doesn't matter whether you're a new doctor just starting out or a veteran physician with decades of experience — at some point you may decide that you would rather not be alone.

Sharing a medical office with another doctor can be a risky proposition. There's the risk of interpersonal conflict between yourselves or between your staff that can come from simply having different ways of doing routine things. And there's the financial risk of tying your livelihood in with someone else's.

The good news is there are ways to mitigate the risks and make sharing space a proposition that's beneficial for everyone, saving time and money in the process.

ROOMMATE vs PARTNER
When you share space with another doctor, you are not forming a partnership by default. That means you will not be personally liable for their debts.

So if your colleague refuses to pay their receptionist, or doesn't pay the stationers, they can't turn around and try to collect the money from you. That's because you didn't sign for the expense.

If you were in a partnership, you'd be liable for all of your partner's expenses and vice versa. That reciprocal responsibility can be a mixed blessing.

For small expenses, this can be no big deal financially, but it leads to bad relations. But for big expenses, this can be a major problem. You can sidestep this challenge by setting clear rules about who pays for what, and if there are expenses that are not shared, make sure that your billing and inventory are tracked separately from those of your colleague.

GET IT IN WRITING
"An oral contract isn't worth the paper it's printed on."

That's what MGM Studios founder Samuel Goldwyn had to say about handshake agreements. Mr Goldwyn was certainly an authority on making deals, but you don't need to be a studio head or a lawyer to create a simple contract.

But even if a contract is simple, even as simple as "I agree to let you use my office and an exam room for three evenings a week from June until November," it's best to have it in writing, for the exact reason Mr Goldwyn stated: it's very hard to prove what was said, but it's much easier to prove what was written.

WHOSE LEASE
If you already have an office, you've probably signed a lease with your landlord. Your lease describes your office in lavish detail, outlines the terms of your occupancy, what you pay, and when the lease needs to be renewed.

A doctor who wants to share space with a colleague who already has a lease on an office is in a tenuous default position. Because they're not on the lease, they're vulnerable to being kicked out at short notice.

Likewise, the doctor whose name is on the lease, looking for a colleague to help pay the rent, is in a tenuous position as well. If the colleague leaves with little notice, next month's rent may be hard to pay.

MY SPACE YOUR SPACE
Because all of the fine details are settled in the lease itself, an agreement between the lease-holding and space-sharing doctors can stick to the important stuff : what exactly is being offered, how long the arrangement's expected to last, which expenses are shared and which are not, and what kind of behaviour both parties expect of each other.

Say you're a semi-retired pediatrician who only sees patients on Mondays, Tuesdays and a half-day on Wednesdays, and you want someone to share the space the rest of the week when you're not around. A written agreement should avoid you showing up to work on Tuesday morning to see the waiting room full of your colleague's patients.

You don't need a lawyer to write a contract. But if you have doubt, especially when your income, reputation or office are at stake, it can't hurt (and doesn't have to be too expensive) to talk to one.

But if you want to do it on your own, just keep in mind these three simple rules for pleasant, painless office-sharing:

1. Make it clear
2. Keep it fair
3. Get it in writing

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