Jackson Physician Search overcomes the challenges of recruiting a Maternal-Fetal Medicine specialist in a small candidate pool through strategic and creative recruitment efforts. The success resulted in finding the perfect candidate and further solidified the partnership with the academic hospital.
Healthcare organizations and physician recruiters trying to fill physician vacancies have long known just how challenging it can be in today’s ultra-competitive physician recruitment environment. Couple that with a tiny candidate pool that is characteristic of some specialties, and sourcing physician candidates becomes much more difficult.
Over the past five years, Senior Vice President Dane Altman and Regional Vice President Brent Barnacle have cultivated a successful partnership with a major Midwest academic hospital. Because we’ve made multiple successful placements, the hospital reached out to us once again for assistance with a tough Maternal-Fetal Medicine specialist search that had already stretched out six months.
Recruiting a Physician Specialty with a Small Candidate Pool
In the United States, there are approximately 1,255 Maternal-Fetal Medicine specialists (MFM), and only 75% of those are board-certified. On an annual basis, only 6-7% of physicians make a move, making the candidate pool for this search extremely small. Dane and Brent brought in Regional Vice President of Recruiting Tara Osseck to lead this physician search. Not only is Tara an expert physician recruiter, but she also has a very special connection to this particular physician group. The leader of the group delivered her baby a couple of years prior, so Tara was even more passionate about helping them find a physician who would be both a clinical and cultural fit.
Tara went right to work with the client, who was very responsive in supplying information and data about the position. The hospital has a prestigious reputation and was seeking a candidate with experience and leadership aspirations. To add a layer of urgency to the search, one of the facility’s physicians was eager to retire.
Creative Job Ad Makes Strong First Impression
Tara worked with the hospital’s administration to create a position that offered ample opportunities for the right candidate to flourish. One aspect included the potential to become the Medical Director of a clinic for expecting mothers with addiction issues. The client was open to being as flexible as possible, to the point of almost allowing the right candidate to design their ideal position. Tara knew that would be a great selling point for the search campaign, so she set out to create a physician job description that highlighted schedule flexibility, grant and research opportunities, and exceptional work/life balance.
Once the details were in place, Tara executed a strategic and creative digital physician search campaign. Despite the extremely limited candidate pool for the MFM specialty, the response rate to her text and email outreach was phenomenal. Knowing she had to make a strong first impression with her job ad, she used the tagline, “Design the job of your dreams – clinical, teaching, research, leadership.”
In Comes Dr. C
The opportunity caught the eye of Dr. C, a physician with almost five years of experience as part of a Maternal-Fetal fellowship, who had growing concerns about his current practice setting. He was covering excessive call and found himself being pulled in too many directions, impacting his work/life balance. Tara discussed the opportunity with him, highlighting the hospital’s prestige, the chance to grow his leadership experience at the opioid clinic, and the potential to pursue his passions through research and grant opportunities. As luck would have it, Dr. C had a strong passion for helping expecting mothers with addiction issues.
We’ve Placed 12 Physicians and Counting…
Ultimately, Dr. C was hired for the position. In less than five months, Tara had found the perfect candidate by shedding light on aspects of the job that cut through the noise and captured the attention of physicians with a rare skill set. This marked our 11th search with this client and, since then, we have already placed a 12th physician.
Whether you are facing a hard-to-fill specialty or want insight from a trusted physician recruitment partner, Jackson Physician Search has the tools, technology, and experience to make all the difference. Contact our recruitment team today to learn how we can help.
