Medical Staff

Ask the expert: How can we find hospitalists from the residency pool?

Hospitalist Leadership Connection, October 26, 2010

Build relationships with nearby residency programs with the target goal of reaching current and graduating residents. Keep in mind that in rural areas, the closest residency program might require a long-distance commute. In a metropolitan area, however, several programs might be closer and involve only a short drive. For example, within the Washington, DC area, there are five major medical schools within a one-hour drive of the National Mall.

Contact the program director and seek referrals from the current class, future classes, and even past classes. Offer to sponsor an event, such as a noon lecture, in return for 10 minutes at the beginning of a lecture to present your hospitalist opportunity. Better yet, offer to give the lecture. Residency programs appreciate valuable information about hospital medicine careers, such as hospitalist salaries, work schedules, and employment contracts. The residents will see the speaker as a resource. These types of lectures are very well received when they are not simply a big sales pitch. These relationships might produce good candidates quickly, or they might be an investment in future sourcing efforts.

Another residency relationship strategy is to enlist the physicians on the existing medical staff to contact their former program directors. Regardless of how recently or how long ago they completed their training, if their program director is still working there, have the current medical staff reestablish the relationship and ask for referrals.

The above excerpt is adapted from Practical Guide to Hospitalist Recruitment and Retention, by Kirk Mathews, MBA, and John Nelson, MD, FACP, FHM, published by HCPro, Inc.

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