Recruitment Challenges
 

·         Hospital Employment desires jumps from 3% in 2001 to 32% in 2011

·         Private Practice with Partnership Option Employment with 2 years is now about 28%

·         $200K debt is common with over 28% of Medical Residents today

·         The Short Supply of Primary Care physicians gives them leverage for bargaining now.

·         Key for residents coming out - The ability to show a stable, growing practice and quality of life,"  True Stability would come from a practice that generates most of their collections from commercial insurance, as Medicare cuts are looming. The ideal quality of life would be a four-day workweek with little to no call. Financially, they would need to offer employment plus production bonus and would need to be above the 50th percentile for their specialty.

·         Less than 6% of residents coming out would consider income guarantee

·         78% wanted a salary with a production bonus.

These trends are due in part to the fact that residents owe significant sums of money for their education when they finish training. Newly minted physicians have to earn a certain amount to make required payments, but the rollout of health system reform has created a great deal of uncertainty about whether they will be able to do so in certain practice settings.

Practice setting	2011	2001
Hospital	32%	3%
Partnership	28%	21%
Single specialty group	10%	24%
Multispecialty group	10%	28%
Outpatient clinic	6%	8%
Academic	2%	N/A
Locum tenens	1%	3%
Solo	1%	8%
Association	<1%	0%
HMO	<1%	1%
Unsure	9%	N/A
Other	N/A	4%

 

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What worries first-time doctors

Most want time for themselves and their families and are concerned about dealing with payers and malpractice. But today's final-year medical residents are less concerned about their educational debt or ability to find a practice than their counterparts of a few years ago.

Worry	Most concerning		Somewhat concerning		Least concerning
	2011	2008	2011	2008	2011	2008
Availability of free time	48%	33%	45%	46%	7%	22%
Dealing with payers	42%	13%	45%	44%	13%	43%
Earning a good income	41%	38%	47%	45%	12%	18%
Malpractice	40%	32%	44%	37%	16%	31%
Health system reform	39%	N/A	47%	N/A	14%	N/A
Educational debt	30%	60%	36%	14%	34%	27%
Ability to find a practice	24%	41%	34%	38%	42%	21%
Insufficient practice management knowledge	22%	4%	57%	47%	21%	49%
Insufficient medical knowledge	7%	30%	25%	24%	68%	46%
Dealing with patients	2%	4%	15%	35%	83%	42%

 

Location tops list of must-haves

Adequate call coverage and personal time are increasing in importance for final-year medical residents who are considering their first employment opportunity.

Must-have	Most important		Somewhat important		Least important
	2011	2008	2011	2008	2011	2008
Geographic location	81%	57%	19%	12%	0%	31%
Adequate call/coverage/personal time	68%	28%	31%	53%	1%	19%
Lifestyle	64%	N/A	34%	N/A	2%	N/A
Good financial package	56%	46%	42%	41%	2%	13%
Proximity to family	52%	30%	35%	37%	13%	33%
Good medical facilities/equipment	44%	23%	51%	43%	5%	34%
Specialty support	31%	17%	54%	51%	15%	32%
Low malpractice area	16%	33%	58%	31%	26%	36%
Education loan forgiveness	12%	42%	38%	24%	50%	34%

 

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More prefer major metro areas

Almost half of residents today want to practice in the most populous areas of the country. But in 2001, only 6% of residents sought out jobs in cities with more than 1 million people.

Community population	2011	2001
10,000 or less	<1%	0%
10,001-25,000	4%	8%
25,001-50,000	2%	13%
50,001-100,000	10%	21%
100,001-250,000	15%	15%
250,001-500,000	21%	25%
500,001-1 million	20%	12%
More than 1 million	28%	6%