How to Hire a Physician

Why hire a physician?

A great physician is a real asset to any hospital. Their knowledge comes into play in treating acute diseases and relieving their patients from the symptoms, thus ensuring they can live a healthy life. A quality physician can:

• Conduct routine checkups of the patients to assess their underlying diseases, making treatment plans accordingly
• Provide valuable advice on adopting healthy habits, a nutritious diet and preventive measures to improve overall immunity and health
• Prescribe medicines to ailing patients and continuously monitor their responses, as well as performing all the necessary lab tests to detect underlying infections 

What are the ranks of physicians?

Physicians progress through the ranks as they gain experience in their specialty areas. Some physicians move on to leadership roles within a practice or hospital. Some ranks of physicians from top to bottom are:

• Chief or head physician: This senior management position might also be called the head or director of the department. Chief physicians typically handle administrative or management roles, having less direct contact with patients.
• Attending physician: Attending physicians work independently and spend most of their day seeing patients. At this point, they’ve finished all schooling and training, including residency.
• Resident physicians: After completing medical school, physicians still have on-the-job training to complete during their residency before they’re free to work on their own. Residency varies in length, depending on the specialty the physician chooses. Residents in their last year are sometimes named chief residents, which means they’re in charge of younger residents.
• Interns: During the first year of residency, a physician is called an intern. The intern year often involves rotating through various specialties, not just the one the student chooses.  

Where to find physicians

To find the right physician for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

• Partner with medical schools. Offer your time as a guest speaker, or let medical students visit your facility. Becoming a learning hospital or facility gives you contact with new graduates, which can help with recruiting physicians.
• Ask your medical network. Spread the word to all your contacts in the medical field that you need a new physician. You can also ask your staff for referrals.
• Participate in organizations and conferences. Medical organizations and conferences are two prime places to meet new physicians. Reach as many people as possible through those industry-specific options by being active in them.
• Post your job online. Try posting your physician job on Indeed to find and attract quality physician candidates.

What are the ranks of physicians?

Physicians progress through the ranks as they gain experience in their specialty areas. Some physicians move on to leadership roles within a practice or hospital. Some ranks of physicians from top to bottom are:

• Chief or head physician: This senior management position might also be called the head or director of the department. Chief physicians typically handle administrative or management roles, having less direct contact with patients.
• Attending physician: Attending physicians work independently and spend most of their day seeing patients. At this point, they’ve finished all schooling and training, including residency.
• Resident physicians: After completing medical school, physicians still have on-the-job training to complete during their residency before they’re free to work on their own. Residency varies in length, depending on the specialty the physician chooses. Residents in their last year are sometimes named chief residents, which means they’re in charge of younger residents.
• Interns: During the first year of residency, a physician is called an intern. The intern year often involves rotating through various specialties, not just the one the student chooses.  

Writing a physician job description

A thoughtful description is important to finding qualified physician candidates. A physician job description includes a compelling summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities and the required and preferred skills for the position.

When writing your physician job description, consider including some or all of the following keywords to improve the visibility of your job posting. These are the most popular search terms leading to clicks on physician jobs, according to Indeed data:

• Physician
• Telemedicine physician
• Physician assistant
• Medical director
• Nurse practitioner
• Doctor
• Internal medicine physician
• Foreign medical graduate
• Primary care physician
• Cannabis

Interviewing physician candidates

Hiring a quality physician requires comprehensive testing of their knowledge, experience and skill set in handling critical patient conditions. A combination of situational and knowledge-based interview rounds will ensure the right hire. A great physician will be confident answering questions regarding:

• Their understanding and suggested treatments of diseases
• Knowledge of various types of critical medical tests and their indications
• The critical stages of planning a long-term treatment for a heart patient

Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of physician interview questions for examples (with sample answers).