Is there any way I can get physician job recruiting emails as a med student?

[someqsaboutstuff]

I'm gonna guess the answer is probably no, but I think it would interesting to see in real time what salaries are like for my chosen specialty. The more I learn about the details of physician compensation, things like MGMA report don't really convey what X specialty compensation is like *right now*.

Again, this is purely for curiosity, but if there was a way I could verify that I am a future MD to a recruiter, and give them an alt email address to see all of these offers, that would be really interesting.

Any ideas?

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[LucidSplash]

I'm gonna guess the answer is probably no, but I think it would interesting to see in real time what salaries are like for my chosen specialty. The more I learn about the details of physician compensation, things like MGMA report don't really convey what X specialty compensation is like *right now*.

Again, this is purely for curiosity, but if there was a way I could verify that I am a future MD to a recruiter, and give them an alt email address to see all of these offers, that would be really interesting.

Any ideas?

Most of the recruiting emails won’t list a salary. They will list a range or MGMA.

MGMA compensation data is findable on the Internet if you search enough. It might be a couple years old as you have to pay to get access to it so the newer data is harder to find. But getting emails seems a bit more trouble than it’s worth for something you can google.

 

[operaman]

The recruiter emails are worthless because they either don’t list salary at all or they don’t give you all the details. And you can check physician job boards and see the same postings the recruiter would email you anyhow.

But the devil is in the details. It may say $800k potential income, but that really means $400 plus productivity bonus. But whether you can hit that productivity depends on staffing and space and equipment and referrals and umpteen other things. It may say $750k guaranteed salary, but in truth it’s a loan against future earnings and after a couple years you have to start paying back the difference between what you got paid and what you generated if there’s a discrepancy. Another two might say $450k base plus productivity bonus, but one has an $750k hard cap and the other a soft or no cap at all. And there’s countless other ways the actual numbers get washed away.

MGMA and similar surveys are likely the best general indicator and also shows relative comp to other fields. Most employed positions also base their salary offers off those as well. But in the end, the actual comp is very job dependent.

 

[mrbreakfast]

You do not want this. Trust me. The number of emails - or texts, or phone calls - you will eventually receive daily will shock you.

Generally speaking, I agree with the other posters that any job that openly advertises a salary, or will give you a ballpark number prior to a minimum of a multiple phone interviews, is probably a) not being honest, or b) a job you probably don't want. For example, part of your initial "guaranteed" salary may actually be a loan that is forgiven after working several additional years at a productivity-based, lower salary. Many places throttle your productivity bonuses. Also, salaries are hard to interpret - what is much more important is your average pay per hour, or your pay per average patient volume.

You will have plenty of time to worry about this in the future. But no place is going to recruit you as a medical student. If the jobs you see now are still open when you graduate from residency, that's a huge red flag.

 

[operaman]

Yeah a surefire path to an unhappy first job out of training is to pick the highest paid one from recruiter emails. There’s usually a reason they have to hire a recruiter to fill a position! Remember that if the recruiter finds a candidate and they’re hired, they get paid a LOT of money. No employer is going to pay that much money unless they have to.

The best jobs are never posted. My job was never posted and it’s awesome - got it from cold calling a guy I met at a meeting. Good academic jobs are usually posted but via their own sites and academic job boards, never through a recruiter.

 

[mrbreakfast]

Recruiters are helpful if you are looking for a community practice within a wide geographical range (though job boards are typically more helpful). Also, keep in mind that medical recruiters are like the shady used car salesmen from TV; they are working FOR, and directly paid BY, the practices they are pitching you, and are highly motivated to get the proverbial lemons off their lot. Similarly, you may start getting recruited in the middle of residency by a small group of places; would you WANT to sign at a practice that is willing to hire residents who are still 2-3 years away from graduation?

A huge amount of academic job searching is word of mouth, or referrals from people who already work there. For example, several of our most recent hires were people referred by current attendings who worked with those people in residency/fellowship. Etc.

 

[eyeeye_captain]

I actually kinda like getting these emails (thankfully they go to my spam folder). They’re great comic relief and remind me how good my job is. I think I’ve been reading about how charming Cooperstown, NY is for close to a decade now. My new favorite is hospital-employed, very average pay, in a village of 3,000 people on the West Virginia border.

 

[GotToGetThatGPAUp]

The recruiter emails are worthless because they either don’t list salary at all or they don’t give you all the details. And you can check physician job boards and see the same postings the recruiter would email you anyhow.

But the devil is in the details. It may say $800k potential income, but that really means $400 plus productivity bonus. But whether you can hit that productivity depends on staffing and space and equipment and referrals and umpteen other things. It may say $750k guaranteed salary, but in truth it’s a loan against future earnings and after a couple years you have to start paying back the difference between what you got paid and what you generated if there’s a discrepancy. Another two might say $450k base plus productivity bonus, but one has an $750k hard cap and the other a soft or no cap at all. And there’s countless other ways the actual numbers get washed away.

MGMA and similar surveys are likely the best general indicator and also shows relative comp to other fields. Most employed positions also base their salary offers off those as well. But in the end, the actual comp is very job dependent.

dang seeing numbers like that, I chose the wrong specialty eh

 

[operaman]

dang seeing numbers like that, I chose the wrong specialty eh

Well those numbers may or may not be real depending on the specifics of the job. Mgma median for ent is around $460ish last I looked. That’s pretty consistent with what I saw when I was on the job hunt, some higher and some lower. Lowest real numbers I saw were around $300k and highest around $700k, most falling around the median.

The $800k and up ads are interesting. It’s definitely feasible to hit and exceed that in this field, but it depends on many things. At its core, higher earnings come from higher productivity, so if you’re making double the median you’re probably doing double the work or else you’ve found other income streams.

When podunkville hospital promises you $800k+, then to sustain that you’ll need to be doing about double the median in volume. This means they need to be sending enough good referrals your way, have a huge need, and also give you space and staff to manage said volume. If the hospital/pp really wants to invest in your success and there’s a need, then this is quite feasible, but this may mean a sizable capital outlay in terms of clinic space and equipment, funding enough FTEs for your staff, adequate OR block time, etc. If they come through, then sky’s the limit; if they really just wanted someone for ER coverage and don’t really care about your day to day, then you may find it nigh impossible.