Eight pearls when hiring a new ophthalmologist

The human resources motto “Hire hard, manage easy” applies to all levels of staff recruitment, but nowhere more critically than in hiring new doctors to join your practice. Ophthalmologists are your most expensive employees. With a drop in residency training slots, candidates are getting much harder to secure, particularly in non-coastal, non-urban markets.

In addition, there are fewer A-level job candidates. After more than 35 years in the field, I can attest that the young MD and DO candidate base is less uniformly superior. They need to be sifted through, screened and vetted more thoroughly than in the past.

Three decades ago, most newly minted surgeons were workaholic careerists at the top of their undergraduate class. Now? Not so much. Some of the most intellectually gifted and ambitious students have chosen careers in information technology, law and business. While most of the medical students who remain are smart enough to come and work for you, they tend to have a bit of “beta” mixed in with their “alpha” characteristics. This can be especially frustrating for older surgeons, whose idea of work-life balance is to add an exercise room to their clinic.

Click here to read the full publication exclusive, By the Numbers, featured in Ocular Surgery News U.S. Edition, October 10, 2014.