Better Online Advertising for Rural Physician Jobs

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In the physician job board business, we notice that many employers deliberately create job advertisements to be very general and lacking in specific detail. For hospitals and groups in urban and suburban markets, this makes sense because a wide variety of individual physicians are likely considering practicing in their geographic areas. However, when recruiting physicians to more rural areas, the available candidate pool is probably not as varied, and employers may do better with candidate sourcing by advertising the specific aspects of their jobs that would cause a specific candidate to eventually accept the open position. A high rate of pay or excellent benefits are usually helpful, but physicians who seek out rural positions are often looking for other specific aspects when selecting which job to accept. Some common reasons that physicians cite for seeking rural positions are: autonomy in practice, flexible schedule, part-time work options, specific types of outdoor recreation, cheaper housing or land, visa sponsorship, administrative opportunities, and acceptance of more experienced physicians or physicians near the end of their careers. There are many other aspects of rural medicine that physician recruiters can emphasize in their job advertisements, but the point is, when advertising for rural positions, you don't need to appeal to all candidates, just the one who is likely to accept your position.