If your healthcare organization needs to hire a doctor, nurse practitioner or physician assistant, you may face a difficult task. The demand for qualified doctors and mid-level providers is high, enrollment at American medical schools is down and competition for the best candidates is fierce.

There are, however, several tools at your disposal online to help you find the right physician. Your company may offer business jobs for physicians (such as healthcare administrators), or you may need staff for traditional physician careers.

When looking to hire a physician, you should try

1. Websites that feature doctor job openings, candidate resumes and recruiter contacts;
2. Traditional employment recruiting firms; or
3. Locum tenens recruiting firms.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Check out job boards to find physician job openings

Several key players in the job board industry help men and women find their careers as a physician. Such websites have multiple functions. One function is listing reputable physician recruiting firms, many of which are members of the Association of Staff Physician Recruiters (ASPR). Another function is searchable databases of physicians' curriculum vitae by specialty. You can also place an ad on such websites to attract potential doctors. It costs money to search resumes and place ads, but the directories of physician recruiters are usually free.

I recommend: Visit the ASPR website to view member recruiting firms. Physician Work offers a free 15-day trial to potential employers. MD Jobsite and healthEcareers are market leaders in physician job boards.

Utilize a recruiting firm to hire a physician for your company

If you have ever tried to hire a physician, you know one thing: it's hard. Specialties such as oncology graduate very few doctors per year from medical school; it may take years to find the perfect cancer doctor. You should turn to trained experts with access to databases, medical school personnel contacts and job board websites to help you hire that perfect candidate. Some recruiters work on a contingency basis, which means that you don't pay until they find a doctor. Other firms charge a monthly fee or half the placement fee upfront. Most companies allow you to work with other firms so you can have a variety of recruiters searching hard to find your physician.

I recommend: Visit JPE Health, Cejka Search or Vista Staffing to hire a physician recruiter to staff your company.

Use a locum tenens recruiting firm to fill short-term physician jobs

Perhaps you can't find the perfect candidate but don't want to leave the position vacant. Maybe a doctor wants to take a 3-month maternity leave or a year-long sabbatical. Whatever the reason, you may need short-term (temporary) doctors to help fill your firm's needs. So-called locum tenens organizations specialize in finding short-term doctors. Such doctors may be in between jobs, retired or simply like to travel all over the world. Check to see if the firm you hire is a member of the National Association of Locum Tenens Organizations (NALTO).

I recommend: Reputable locum tenens companies include LocumTenens.com, CompHealth and MDA. Visit NALTO’s website to screen potential locum tenens recruiting firms.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Employment for doctors is an unpredictable experience. You may find the perfect doctor as soon as you begin looking, or your search may take months or years. If your firm is located in a rural area, a run-down area of town or has other negative factors that may affect job desirability, brainstorm creative incentives to attract quality physicians to your company.