A Guide to Your Physician Job Search

Table of Contents

1. Where Do I Start?
2. Elbow Grease and Effort Will Get You Where You Want to Be
3. Supply and Demand Do Apply
4. The More You Know the More You Can Ask For
5. You Are In The Drivers Seat
6. Go Temp
7. Where to Look
8. Get Tech Savvy
9. Recommended Daily Checklist
10. Bring Your Confidence
11. More Information

1.  Where Do I Start?
New physicians and experienced physicians continually wonder: How should I apply for jobs? Should I go through a personal recruiter, search online, or contact hospitals directly? Should I call groups in the communities in which I want to live? Perhaps medical societies are the answer?

2.  Elbow Grease and Effort Will Get You Where You Want to Be
Although searching for a job is a daunting task, you are making a major life decision that will affect you for years to come.  You must treat your career search like a part-time job.  In a job you must have a good understanding of your goals and know which tasks to perform each day to achieve those goals.  In order to execute those tasks properly and efficiently, you must have access to the proper tools.  Your physician job search is no different.  You must understand the market, know your goals and utilize the proper tools to get you there.  You must use your time wisely as you are already busy in your day to day practice or in your training program.

There are many options when it comes to securing a great practice, however, many physicians settle for average positions due to lack of time.  Physicians, admittedly evaluate only a few opportunities because they do not have the time to look beyond what is easy.  However, if you want to live in a nice community and if you strive for more than a mediocre job, it is going to require an organized, diversified job search. Should you go through a personal recruiter? Yes. Should you search for jobs online? Yes. Should you call groups in the top communities of your choice? Absolutely. The list goes on. The more opportunities you pursue, the more superior your negotiation position will be when you find the job and offer of your dreams.

3.  Supply and Demand Do Apply
Generally speaking, supply and demand are in your favor as a physician.  There are more jobs right now than there are physicians and that trend is continuing.  However, let’s say for a moment that you are a Dermatologist and you start calling practices in your home town just outside of Orlando, Florida. You find three groups you would be interested in joining and call to ask if they are hiring. Unfortunately not one of the groups is hiring, however, one offers to meet you anyway.  They say they might consider expanding for the right person.  You have a chance!

One problem: who needs who in this situation? You need them. The old rules of supply and demand do apply. If they do not need a physician, they are in the drivers seat. Remember, they were not initially hiring, so they have not thought through benefits packages, partnership tracts, loan repayment options, hospital support, etc. They have little incentive to offer those extras, as those are typically used to attract candidates.  But you are already interested and they have one thing that is priceless in your eyes – location, location, location.

4.  The More You Know the More You Can Ask For
If you search for a variety of opportunities through different avenues, you will likely have excellent offers when it comes time to negotiate with the group of your choice.  The more offers you have, the easier it is to show them what you’re worth.  Now you are in a much better position to negotiate.  What may also happen is that through researching other opportunities, you may discover a practice that is willing and able to make you a better offer financially and with regard to schedule.  Perhaps it is worth it to live and practice in that community that is only a few hours from the community you originally wanted.  Had you not expanded and diversified your job search, you may have never considered anything that far.

You must review many options to find the best career fit. Take the time up front rather than having to move six months after accepting a position.  A recent study of physicians who completed their training in the last five years, by the New England Journal of Medicine, found that 57% have looked for a new position in the last two years and 23% have looked for a new position in the past year. Not only is re-initiating your job search a hassle, it is very difficult and costly to have to pick up and move your family. You also risk a setback in your career.  It typically takes time to become established in practice and move up in any organization.

5.  You Are In The Drivers Seat
One influential study, published by lead author, Richard Cooper, MD, director of the Health Policy Institute, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, concludes that the U.S. will be facing a shortage of 200,000 physicians by the year 2020 if current trends continue. Another important study prepared by Edward Salsberg, a respected specialist in issues related to the physician workforce, concludes that the nation will face a shortage of 85,000 physicians by the year 2020.

The physician recruitment departments of some health care organizations ignore these facts and choose to instead play hardball with new physicians, requiring them to work long hours for minimal pay, with a promise for advancement written into their contract if they choose to stay a certain period of time. Other health care organizations are fully aware of the results of these studies and offer signing bonuses, attractive pay packages, and retention bonuses in order to attract and retain top talent. This isn’t to say that you should resist the efforts of the hardball organizations; they may be playing hardball as a simple negotiating tactic and they may also be very business savvy and a well managed and financially sound organization worth your consideration.

6.  Go Temp
Over half of America’s hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare practices are in need of temporary assistance at any given moment. Temporary physicians are often used to rescue a facility. According to the report, 2004 Review of Temporary Healthcare Staffing Trends, the temporary physician or locum tenens market leaped 25% in 2003 to about $2.6 billion in revenue and continued very strong in 2004. Spending on locum tenens services has more than quadrupled over the past five years. This increase in demand for locum tenens services is due in large part to increasing numbers of women in the physician work force and an increased emphasis on career/lifestyle balance.  Factors also include an increased number of practitioners seeking early retirement and the continued increases in demand for specialists, particularly surgeons. If you are having a hard time finding the right position or if you are indecisive about what you want, a locum tenens position may prove to be a valuable experience buying you more time and exposing you to a variety of practice environments.

7.  Where to Look
A study by the New England Journal of Medicine reported the most common sources used for finding physician jobs:

50% of physicians utilize personal and professional referrals
43% of physicians utilize physician recruiters
42% of physicians utilize online job sites
40% of physicians utilize recruitment ads in print journals
34% of physicians utilize mailings

The same study by the New England Journal of Medicine reported the most useful of the sources to be:

Personal and Professional Referrals – 57%
Recruitment Ads in Print – 26%
Online Job Sources – 22%

Based on this study, you should be working your professional and personal network first and foremost. You will have many connections through your medical school and subsequent training programs.  Scour the print ads in medical journals and check for jobs on the top internet websites. You should spend time, every day, conducting these activities, in that order.

8.  Get Tech Savvy
One of the reasons that online job sources may be so far down the “effective” list is that physicians have not yet completely harnessed new technology in an efficient manner. Twitter, Facebook and other social media are great ways to find out about new positions, in real time, and stay in touch with your personal network. You should familiarize yourself on how to use these mediums without allowing them to become distractions from your job search.  Make a pledge to use Twitter and Facebook for professional use only during the day.

There are quite a few online recruitment sites that you can sign up with as well, one of the most prominent being eMatchPhysicians. This online job service, hosted at http://www.ematchphysicians.com/, will e-mail you as often as you like with opportunities that arise in your area of interest, essentially doing all of the legwork for you. It allows you to narrow down your options quicker than any other website, by inputting community and practice preferences which provide you with results by match percentage. Instead of searching through hundreds of taglines and vague descriptions on job boards, you simply input your preferences and receive compatibility percentages offering you the best opportunities first. You can then spend more productive time on the internet, reading information about the practices and communities that are a good fit for you.  This cuts down your online search time and increases your efficiency without sparing the best results due to lack of time.

9.  Recommended Daily Checklist

• Job Board Sites:  Search www.practicelink.com for any new job postings.
• Job Matching Sites: Register at www.eMatchPhysicians.com & check for new matches.
• Hospital Recruiters:  Target hospitals in the top 2 cities of your choice.
• Medical Groups:  Call groups in the top 2 cities of your choice.
• Local Medical Societies: Counties typically have medical societies. Check in weekly.
• Specialty Societies: Visit your specialty society’s website for job listings, weekly.
• Physician Forums: Facebook, Twitter, StudentDoctor.net
• Locum Tenens: Search www.locumtenens.com daily.
• Medical Journals: NEJM, Modern Healthcare or periodicals within your specialty.
• Personal Recruiters:  They will contact you.

*Only work with recruiters who ask for permission to share your CV for each new opportunity or you may quickly become overwhelmed with calls from employers in places you have no desire to live.

10.  Bring Your Confidence
If you have a medical degree and the willingness to practice, you are already the candidate that everyone is looking for. Many candidates get nervous and worry that their marks weren’t perfect or that they have too little experience; while these may be valid concerns with some extremely high-end employers, most health care organizations are not going to fault you for not graduating as valedictorian of your med school class. As physicians, we are all high achievers and this personality can lead to misgivings that simply do not matter in the scheme of things. You are bright, you are capable, and you are exactly what everyone wants – so get out there and show them how it’s done!

11.  More Information

Jessica Joseph
(949) 215-0501 x302
jessica@ematchphysicians.com

eMatchPhysicians Customer Service
(949) 215-0501
support@eMatchPhysicians.com
questions@eMatchPhysicians.com

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