Dive Brief:
- A greater number of doctors are swamped by recruiting offers: 63% received 51 or more job solicitations during their training, and 46% received 100 or more, according to the latest survey by Merritt Hawkins, a national physician search firm and a company of AMN Healthcare.
- The survey, based on responses of 1,200 medical residents about to complete their training and enter the job market, queried residents on how many times in the course of their training they had been contacted by recruiters seeking to interest them in job opportunities, either by telephone, e-mail or regular mail.
- However, in spite of a favorable job market, one in four physicians said they would select a field other than medicine if they could do their education all over again.
Dive Insight:
While this data is interesting, none of it is surprising. For years, we've known that the national physician shortage would impact demand, and this is especially true in today's post-ACA era. Also, as Merritt Hawkins noted, the number of physicians being trained in the United States has remained flat for more than 20 years while the general population has become larger, older and more insured. And with declining reimbursement, overhead costs and a bucketload of health reform, it's no wonder so many would chose another career other than medicine.
The takeaway message here for hospitals is that they will need to make their offers attractive in a competitive hiring market. Not every hospital can be Walnut Hill, the Texas facility that had over 7,000 applications from interested candidates, but attention to physician culture can go a long way.
Want to read more? You may enjoy this story about the tougher-than-Harvard $100M Texas hospital where everyone wants to work.