8 things young physicians want from a first job

Final-year residents are the future of medical practice in the United States. But what kind of work are they looking for when starting their careers?

Merritt Hawkins, a national physicians search and consulting firm, surveyed final-year medical residents to learn about the recruiting process, what young physicians want out of their first employers and what preferences they use to decide on where and how they want to practice. Here are eight things to know about young physicians entering the job market.

1 Young physicians are in high demand
Sixty-five percent of residents surveyed said they had received more than 50 recruiting offers, and 45% had received more than 100 offers.

2 Young physicians focus on location, pay and work-life balance
Respondents said the most important criteria when evaluating job opportunities were the following:

• Geographic location

• Good financial package

• Adequate personal time

3 Hospitals are their preferred practice setting

Young physicians ranked their preferred practice setting in the following order:

• Hospital employee

• Single-specialty group employee

• Multispecialty group employee

• Partner with another physician

• Only 2% said they wanted to go into solo practice.

4 They want to practice in big cities
One in 5 residents said they would rather work in a city with more than 1 million people. Another 45% wanted to work in cities with at least 250,000 residents

5 Residents are concerned by student loan repayment
Residents who have loans are very concerned about repayment. Forty-two percent have more than $200,000 worth of loans.

6 Residents feel less prepared to handle the business side of medicine
When it comes to topics such as employment contracts and compensation arrangements, residents said they felt:

• Very prepared (8%)

• Somewhat prepared (54%)

• Unprepared (38%)

• Fifty-three percent said they had received no formal training on these topics in medical school.

7 Physicians have different concerns compared with other generations
The top five concerns were:

• A good income

• Educational debt

• Availability of free time

• Insufficient practice

• management knowledge

• Dealing with payers

8 Some young physicians have career buyer’s remorse
Nineteen percent of final-year residents said they would not choose medicine as a career if they had the chance for a do-over.