Primary Care And The Looming Shortage

This is a trying time for primary care recruitment.  As the lifeblood of specialist referrals we are seeing less and less medical students staying with primary care as their chosen vocational endpoint.  Overworked, underpaid, and under-appreciated, more and more PCPs are leaving medicine or retraining in a fellowship even after being in practice for 10 or more years.  As the gatekeepers of cost control Medicare and the federal government fail to recognize the key aspects of having a strong primary care base in any market.  As a result many of the primary care physicians augment their practices with anti-aging medicine, lipsuction, aesthetics, and medical spa options.  This is hardly what they envisioned in medical school and residency.  Please read the attached article below to see what the real world often looks like for PCPs.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/08/25/harris.primary.care.doctor/index.html

Until next time...

The Chamelion

As an in-house recruiter who used to be a retained recruiter I have a unique perspective on the market from both sides of the same coin.   In my retained days I worked a heavy book of business with over 23 open needs.  I was on the road for two weeks a month working with clients from Wichita to Great Falls and from Yakima to Coos Bay.  Each week I faced the inevitable question from my bosses "how many placements will you have this month."  I relished the days of profiling new clients with new mail and postings.  However, that was short-lived as my book of business aged with accounts that went beyond 120 days and dried up like dessicated fruit left out in the hot sun.  There was always the thrill of making each placement and the anticipation and nervousness I would feel sneaking up to the bell to announce mission accomplished to my colleagues.  That too was short-lived as the next placement loomed on the horizon and the possibility of a physician not staying in place seemed inevitable at times (especially as a rookie.)  Let's face it, there is NOTHING worse than a commission returned.  I would not be the first to say that when that happened it was a long month for me and my family.

My transition to the in-house side of life was as much about timing as it was about being a good recruiter.  I was fortunate to have an exceptional client in Central California that recognized my talent and had an opening for a physician recruiter.  The prospect of no travel (unless I wanted to), a salary that was predictable and stable, and the opportunity to create my own department was too irresistible to refuse.  In essence they made me an offer I could not refuse.  However, the transition to the in-house side was not as easy as I imagined.  The bureaucracy of a hospital system, fair market value committees, contracting, lawyers, CFOs, COO's, relocation, Stark, and outside recruiter calls all needed attention and a place in the process.  It was harder than I thought but a year later I have begun to understand how things get done.  As a retained recruiter I had no idea.  It is the reason many clients get upset with retained guys, because they have no idea what has to happen to make a deal happen (and that's just to get the contract on the table).  After the contract is signed the in-house recruiter's job really begins as the candidate goes from prospect to signed and the position goes from open to closed.  Trust me, on-boarding is much more intense than recruiting.

There are several things each side must know about the other.  This is key to a successful search and placement for both sides.  Until next time....