How to Find a Physician Job

Physicians usually find a job by networking. That works, but you can never be sure that you have contacted every possible employer / physician. By mailing a letter to every single physician in the area where you want to live and work you contact absolutely everybody. This allows you to find the best job you can get. This method is superior to any other means of finding a physician job!

Steps

1. Decide where you want to work and live. Consider the economic situation and outlook, the demand for physicians of your specialty, the average physician income in your specialty, your family's preferences, the quality of public schools, the climate, the available culture, the cost of living, the cost of real estate and your hobbies. Consider the level of income tax and sales tax. Consider the cost of malpractice insurance.
2. Buy a list of all addresses, phone number and fax number of all physicians in your specialty in the desired area. This is much easier and cheaper than you may think. You can buy these lists directly online or over the phone from list provider companies or marketing list companies. List providers would include companies such as InfoUSA.com, USAData.com, WebMD or MMSlists, the marketing arm of the AMA, and others.
3. Find a list provider that allows you to easily select just the right group of physicians you want online. Look for a provider that allows you to purchase your list online, without having to call and speak to anyone - this is more convenient. Look for a list provider that does not restrict your use of the list you receive - some of them actually try to restrict the number of times you can use the list. Choose a list provider that gives you the choice of receiving the list quickly by email in either CSV or Excel format.
4. Expect to pay about 50-75 cents USD per contact information. One set of contact information usually includes the name of the physician, the address, telephone and fax number, and sometimes also the year of graduation, number of years in practice, name of office manager, number of patients seen and number of prescriptions written each week and other useful data.
5. Calculate the number of physician addresses you will need. You calculate this based on the number of responses you need. You can expect a response rate of 1-2%. This means: if you mail 400 letters, you will receive about 4-8 calls or written responses and if you mail 1000 letters, you will get 10-20 responses. The more physicians you contact, the more interviews you will get.
6. Write your CV and cover letter. Have these documents reviewed, rewritten or maybe written anew by an expert, such as a friend who is a marketer or publicist, an English major, or a professional writer. There are companies which offer this kind of service. You may find these companies by searching for "CV writing", "cover letter writing" and similar.
7. Have your CV photocopied on quality paper of 22 to 24 lb, maybe light beige. This is better than plain white paper.
8. Mail-Merge your cover letter with the address list you purchased from your list provider using your word processor.
9. After the Mail-Merge print the personally addressed letters on the same paper as your CV. Your office store could do that as well for you. Sign all letters, fold and put them in envelopes. Address the envelopes with clear plastic labels, that you can buy at your office store. You can print the addresses and your own home address on these labels using your computer. Word processing software often has the formatting information for address labels pre-installed.
10. Mail your cover letter and CV to all doctors in your target area. Mail them so that they arrive on a Tuesday or Wednesday, which are the least busy days early in the week. This increases the chance of being read.
11. Consider faxing your cover letter and CV (or maybe just your cover letter) to all physicians in your target area. You can fax all letters individually or you can use an Internet fax service. Some internet fax services enable you to merge your letter with your lists - just as your word processor does. Using an internet fax service you can literally fax your letter to hundreds of physicians with a single click. This costs about 6-10 cents per fax. Please consider the laws about unsolicited faxes that apply in most states! You may be deemed to have sent unsolicited faxes, which may be illegal! You are doing this at your own risk!
12. Follow up, follow up, follow up. That means sending another letter, another fax or calling one or two weeks after sending the letter. Be persistent and you will succeed.

Tips

• Sounds like too much work for you? You do not know how you can fit this into the schedule? There are companies that will do all the legwork for you - for a fee. You can find these companies on the Internet using a search engine.
• Try to find more objective and more reliable information about searching for physician jobs and finding physician jobs. Use a search engine to find material written by physicians!. This information might prove more reliable than information posted by the people who sell jobs for a living. Don't forget to search among blogs!

Warnings

• Do not fax anybody without being informed about the state laws concerning unsolicited faxes. Should you have a relationship with a physician, you obviously can contact him or her. But otherwise you may send an unsolicited and therefore illegal fax. The chances that a physician will sue another physician that is simply applying for a job are minimal, but, as they say, it takes only one...