With demand up and physician numbers down, recruiters expect another challenging year in 2013. According to the 2012 Association of Staff Physician Recruiters' "In-House Physician Recruitment Benchmarking Report," only 51 percent of employment searches were filled in 2011, down from 60 percent in 2011.
"It seems like a tighter market all the time," Andrea Santiago, director of communications and media relations at The Medicus Firm, told American Medical News.
According to amednews, this means that physicians searching for jobs may be fielding more enticing offers, including larger signing bonuses and loan-repayment programs.
In addition to being financially competitive, there are several other steps medical groups and hospitals can take to increase their recruiting success, Becker's Hospital Review reported. For starters, organizations should plan for their physician recruiting needs two to five years in advance, Tony Stajduhar, president of the permanent recruitment division of Jackson & Coker, told Becker's, "If you do it year to year, you will always be putting out fires," he said.
Recruiting organizations must put strong efforts into impressing not just physician candidates, but their families. To do so, Stajduhar recommended tailoring the interviewing process to individual candidates whenever possible to make physicians and their families "feel wanted and needed both professionally and personally."
Especially in rural communities, it's critical to highlight opportunities for family members during the recruiting process. For some candidates, a small community with a friendly atmosphere and good schools will be preferable to working in a big city.
To learn more:
- read the story from Becker's Hospital Review
- see the article from American Medical News