The Hire Connection: 5 Important Questions To Ask When Interviewing Physicians

Quality physicians are the lifeblood of many communities. Residents rely on their healthcare professionals to keep themselves and their families in good health; without quality care providers, the overall health (and consequently, the morale) of a community can drop significantly. If you are the CEO of a hospital in a small or rural community, it is imperative that you find quality physicians for your facility. Our medical recruiting firm is here to help in anyway we can. This week, we're dedicating our blog to some of the important questions you should ask when interviewing prospective physicians.

1. What Brought You Into Medicine?
Asking this question can help you learn about your candidate's motives and values. Although most people know that doctors tend to be well-paid, you will probably want to avoid hiring physicians who say they went into medicine specifically for the earning potential. A healthcare professional who found his calling through a desire to help people may be a much better choice.

2. What Interests You About This Position?
This question is a good one to ask after talking about what brought them into medicine. As with the first question, it provides a glimpse into what motivates your applicants. Do they talk about the local area and how it will benefit their family? Do they talk about the salary and benefits package you advertised? The local cost of living? Ideally, this question should provide you with some insight on your applicants' personality, motives, and lifestyle.

3. What Advantages Could You Bring To Our Practice?
Asking this question offers two distinct advantages of its own. First, it gives your candidates a chance to provide their perspective on their unique talents and how you may be able to benefit from them. Second, it gives you a chance to identify applicants who may be a bit conceited and boastful. If you want to avoid hiring these types of people, this question may help you weed them out.

4. Do You Have Any Experience With A Practice Similar To Ours?
As you are probably well aware, healthcare facilities' culture and overall dynamics vary greatly depending on their size and whether they are a public or private practice. While we certainly don't mean to say that physicians who have only worked in large public facilities would not be a good fit for a small private practice, it can be helpful to understand what your candidates' background experience is.

5. Who Are Your Favorite Patients To Treat?
What makes your applicants' eyes light up? While they may have experience treating many different kinds of patients, there will probably be one particular specialty they prefer. By encouraging them to talk about their favorite arenas, you allow them to let their guard down a little by giving them the chance to showcase their true personalities.

Good Luck On Your Interviews!
These five questions are especially important to ask during an interview, but they certainly shouldn't be the extent of your questions. Here are a few other basic questions you should also include on your list:

Why are you looking for a new position?
Is there something in particular that attracted you to our area?
What are your strengths?
What are your weaknesses?
How do you handle yourself under pressure?
Why do you think I should hire you?

The Hire Connection Can Help With Your Interview Screening Process

When we recruit physicians on behalf of our clients, our healthcare recruiting professionals take each applicant through an in-depth screening process that enables us to identify the candidates with the highest potential. Your time is your most valuable asset, so we want to ensure that you only spend it talking to the applicants who show true promise for your facility. For more information about our physician recruiting services, visit our website at www.TheHireConnection.net or call us at (866) 661-4473.

The Hire Connection Team