Hiring Physicians During COVID-19

Mar 23, 2020

As COVID-19 shuts down entire industries, healthcare remains busier than ever. How will healthcare professionals continue to complete their day-to-day job responsibilities while dealing with a worldwide pandemic? This virus does not eliminate the physician shortage we face. Facilities with unfilled needs feel the stress of open positions now more than ever, but there is a solution.

Some obstacles in-house recruiters (IHRs) now face:

  • Physicians are now even harder to contact - With physicians and advanced practitioners putting in longer hours to test and treat patients, contacting them via phone or email is now even more difficult. 
  • Physicians may be less likely to relocate - Although physicians are more likely than advanced practitioners to relocate for the right opportunity, a state of emergency combined with economic uncertainty can motivate people to stay put and avoid change.
  • The screening/interviewing process will be more difficult - Busy schedules don’t just make a quick phone call difficult. Scheduling screening calls and interviews now face more hurdles as well.

The solution for IHRs is simple: ask for help. What if the tiresome tasks like sourcing and screening candidates were no longer taking up your time? Instead, you’d focus on hiring qualified, pre-screened candidates hand-picked for your openings. When you partner with The Inline Group:

  • We contact physicians for you - We’ll handle scheduling phone calls around the physicians’ busy lives. You won’t waste time playing phone tag.
  • You’ll only speak with pre-screened, qualified candidates - Before you speak with a candidate, we’ve confirmed their interest and knowledge around your opening. No more wasting time on under-qualified candidates.
  • We’ll adjust to your needs - Whether you have ongoing hiring needs or are looking to fill one position, our candidate sourcing experts can customize our services to your specific needs.
  • You’ll build a pool of candidates - Our unique marketing process maintains a pool of candidates who are interested in your facility. When you have another opening, our applicant tracking system is ready.

In this current climate, everyone is online. Our digital suite of services can be here to support you in a variety of ways. Right now, using digital tools will give you "speed to market" that can help execute urgent projects, such as hiring needs for providers, nurses or any other healthcare professionals (temp, perm or per diem) that can help support your team.

Leaning on technology means you are always on and not just scaling human effort. We know you and your team are pitching in wherever you can right now, and we're taking the same approach. With new membership options like Platform Plus, our services can help organizations of all types and sizes place their jobs in front of candidates.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, we all need to work together to overcome the challenges posed in these uncertain times. The Inline Group is prepared to provide facilities with sourcing and screening services at a time when healthcare providers are needed more than ever. Click below to contact one of our candidate sourcing experts and learn more about partnering with The Inline Group.

Tags:

Recruiters, Recruiting Tips


Articles

Related Articles

21 Jan 2020
Student Loans: Get Off My Back!

Many students, past and present, deal with the necessary haggle of student loans; especially for those pursuing higher education. A survey completed by the AAMC in 2015 states that medical students in particular who graduated that year carried on average $182K in debt, while those who graduated in 2016, rose up to $190K, with nearly 25% carrying more than $200K. Pretty substantial, and frankly “scary” numbers for a medical student. In additional to this burden, about 33% of these students still carry a debt from their undergraduate studies, which is typically around $24K.

Now that we've fed you the veggies, how about some good news? Once you matched into a residency program, the general salary for a first-year resident is $52.5K. Though you may not be jumping out of your shoes, there are many programs available beyond your initial salary that can help you chip away at those lingering debts. For example, a ten-year plan would pan out to about $2,000 per month in payments (with $182K in loans). 

Solution number one is to finance your debts through a private lender. This could provide you with a lower interest rate, but you’ll have to pre-qualify first via few factors, including your credit as well as your current income. Solution number two is to consider working for an organization in a state that offers a student loan assistance program. Though it varies by area, certain states can knock away a considerable piece of those loans in just a few years. In Texas, the Physician Education Loan Repayment Program offers up to $160K for over four years of practice in a Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA). In New York, Doctors Across New York provides an additional payment of up to $150K over a five-year commitment to doctors practicing in underserved areas.

The student loan forgiveness state programs are a valuable resource, and should be taken into serious consideration when deciding on a destination and facility of choice. Perhaps you’re thinking of immediate relief, or more of a short-term solution. To be honest, that is not really feasible with $200K in debt. But, when negotiating your “dream” role, it is important to use that as an opportunity to obtain a possible sign-on bonus as well as relocation assistance to help ease the burden, at least temporarily. Keeping a positive mind-set, and considering all possible solutions, can help you achieve your goals of financial growth and stability as a physician.

28 Jan 2020
What is Digital Marketing & How Can it Help Recruit Physicians?

When asked if they’ve “gone digital,” many companies will say, “Of course. We have a website, a Facebook page, and we send email campaigns!” While this kind of online presence is important, digital marketing consists of much, much more. 

Digital Marketing is an action. And not just a single action, but an ongoing, evolving action that empowers you to spend your marketing dollars as efficiently as possible. The first step is putting a piece of content online. What transforms this into digital marketing is the data.

Imagine you see an online job posting. You’re pleased with your current employer, but if a better opportunity presented itself, you’d be interested. In this case, you see a job with a great company and it would cut your commute time in half. You click on the listing, quickly scan it over, make a mental note to return to it later, and move on with your day. 

We all know what happens next: you completely forget you ever saw it. We all see thousands of ads per day. The odds of your one ad being remembered are slim. This is where digital marketing steps in. Remember the job listing you clicked on and forgot about? Since you engaged with the ad, you’ll eventually see a similar ad again. 

This retargeting empowers the workforce to see those jobs they are most interested in and inform themselves about the employer. It also empowers your organization to engage with candidates who have a strong interest in your opportunity. If you’d like to learn more about digital marketing for physician recruiting, click here to schedule a time to speak with a member of our business development team.

30 Jan 2020
How To Avoid Being a Job Hopper

As a physician or advanced practitioner, there are opportunities all over that can expand your experience and your skills, but when it comes to the best time to move from one job to the next is tricky. Everyone’s situation is somewhat the same in one way or another; the specialty isn’t what they expected or the facility wasn’t the right environment for them. Things happen, and wanting to change them for the better is completely understandable; but when it comes to consistently changing jobs year after year, that could potentially ruin your chances in obtaining your “perfect job.”

Before transitioning from one position to the next, ask yourself this: How long have I worked at this facility and how long was I at my previous job?

  • If your employment list is short, or you have worked at a facility for a couple years or more, the chances of being seen as a job-hopper is slim.
  • If you have worked with several employers, and have only been at each for a year or less, that may bring up concerns from future employers.
  • If you have worked with your current employer for a year or less, identify your reason for wanting a change.

Ask yourself why this position is not working out for you, is it because of salary, hours, or location? What position are you wanting to transition into and why? Carrying on from why you are leaving your previous position for another; what are you seeking to improve or gain more experience in?

Hopefully by identifying your job history and maintaining a balance when transitioning from one job to another, you should have no problem in avoiding job-hopping.