Questions to Ask During Your Career Search

During my experience on the interview trial, I received so much advice from recruitment specialists, lawyers and mentors. I have attempted to compile a list (though not exhaustive) of some of the questions I asked myself and/or the recruitment team during my job search and interviews.

1. What is the groups five year retention? If poor, ask why. Organizations with a good workplace culture  typically have less problems retaining talent. Having high physician turn over due to physicians leaving for fellowship, family, etc. is certainly more favorable than turn over due to poor job satisfaction or a lackluster workplace environment. However, with high turnover of any flavor, the program may be susceptible to rapid cultural shifts depending on their recruitment strategies. All in all, it's best to pay more attention to programs with higher retention and programs that hire for fit rather than fill.
2. How long has recruitment been searching to fill this position? If a while, what challenges has the group faced? If there have been difficulties filling the position, is there a problem with recruitment, or is the position simply undesirable due to salary, workload, group dynamics, leadership or location?
3. Patient volume ie average Number of patient encounters per day. This number is derived from the average census divided by amongst the number of providers on service. During my career search I was told to expect an average of 16-18 patients per day. I certainly came across programs with hospitalist seeing and average of 20-23 patients per day. However, my personal preference was to find a position where I challenged, but not overwhelmed. If you find yourself interviewing at programs with a higher census, inquire about productivity/RVU compensation to ensure the position matches your professional and financial goals.
4. Availability of specialist (neuro icu, intensivist, surgeons etc). The absence of certain specialists means that the care will fall on the hospitalist or the case will have to be transferred out to a different facility. This can be a burden especially for the middle of the night transfer, or worse, a crashing patient in which you are unable to find a receiving hospital.
5. What procedures are required by the hospitalists? Some hospitalist programs do not require any procedures, whereas as others will be counting on you to perform your own lines, intubations etc. Find a program that matches your professional desires to prevent burnout and provide workplace satisfaction.
6. Are providers responsible for codes? There are hospital systems that have a dedicated code team and others that operate on a "first come" basis. Knowing these details ahead of time will help you decide what environment you feel most comfortable practicing medicine.
7. How long has Medical director been there or any recent changes to leadership and how it has impacted  the group? Medical directors have the ability to make or break a program. Does the group have a medical director that embodies the leadership style you're comfortable with? Or does the program have an interim director present to make large non negotiable changes that are disliked by the group at large? Try to get a feel for what is happening with leadership from the members of the group during your interview process.
8. What scheduling model does the hospitalist group use? There are plenty of models out there for each group and it's important to find a group that has a schedule you feel comfortable working under. There are groups that use what I call the "7777" model of 7 days on, 7 days off, from 7am to 7pm. There are other variations of this. Ive seen group that use a five-on five-off model, swing shifts, and shifts where you are only a rounder or an admitter, but never both. There are endless possibilities to choose from, so be certain that the working conditions of the potential group match your preference.
9. If asked "tell me about yourself” reverse the question by saying, “Good question where would you like for me to start?” Out of all the questions I've been asked on interviews, in my opinion, this one has to be the most difficult to answer. There are so many different answers one can offer. Also, preparing for the question ahead of time, although perfectly fine, can often lead to a response that feels scripted and inorganic. One way to combat this is to simply ask the interviewer what they'd like to know. So far, when I've used this "reversal" the interviewer usually responds with a more direct, closed ended question which is easier to answer.

I hope these questions are as useful for you as they were for me! Credit goes to my friend and mentor Eric Rubin,  physician recruitment specialist and one of the founders of National Health Partners.