Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Why a physician recruiter needs to consider the spouse of a doctor

Bo Claypool
Physician
September 25, 2011
Share
Tweet
Share

Whether you are a physician saddled with the task of spearheading the recruitment efforts of your practice, a group practice administrator, an in-house physician recruiter, or an agency recruiter like myself, you have probably heard the following at least once (if not several times, as in my case) in your career from a prospective physician candidate you are seeking to recruit:

“You know, I just wanted to say that I really appreciate all your hard work and the group’s hospitality … you really rolled out the red carpet for me … but … you know, my wife just won’t me let take the job.”

First off, within the physician recruitment industry, we call this the “spouse blame,” and it never is fun to hear (and it goes both ways, with both sexes, for sure). Often, my instinct is to respond with, “Well, have a nice life, doctor!” followed by a loud slam of the phone receiver – SLAM! – but over the years I have learned that practicing diplomacy in such a situation tends to be the best idea.

Often, this blame placed upon the spouse is not actually the truth and the spouse is used as a scapegoat for why the candidate really doesn’t want the job. As much as rejection hurts for whatever reason, the only good that can really come out of it is that you should be able to conduct a post-mortem on the failed recruitment in order to determine what went wrong, so as to properly refocus your recruitment efforts.

However, I am here to tell you that if you even get to the point where a candidate can reasonably say such a thing as “my wife won’t let me,” then you have failed in your job as a recruiter.

Quite simply, you should recruit the spouse as hard, if not harder, then your physician candidate. In fact, you the recruiter and the significant other should be actively conspiring on how to get the candidate – their spouse – to take the job. That’s how a real recruiter does it.

You see, there’s this interesting phenomena present within the physician recruitment industry whereby physician candidates will interview once, twice and in some cases even three times before they even seriously delve into the topic of relocation with their significant other. I don’t have a reason for why this occurs, and I am sure there’s some commentary on the status of marriage in our country to be made here, but the simple fact is that there are a number of candidates who will literally waste hours of your time, thousands and thousands of your dollars (interviews are not cheap) and get your hopes entirely way too high just to let you down, simply because they did not want to have a serious conversation with their spouse.

So its your job as a recruiter, to have it for them.

In the case of every betrothed (or affianced or soon to be) physician candidate you plan to interview, before even the first interview, either you, your spouse, your administrator or your recruiter need to speak with the candidate’s significant other and secure that they a) have even heard about your job, b) that they are seriously open to a relocation to your town, and c) that their particular career could reasonably continue within your town.

Do not interview until all three items have been addressed. I don’t care how nice the candidate’s CV is, and I don’t care how much assurance the candidate gives you that that their spouse will be “on board” with their decision. Someone needs to speak to the spouse first and ascertain their status with respect to those three matters presented. You will find that in most cases they will be exceptionally candid with you, and in the event they are in fact “on board” this presents a great opportunity to start building rapport with the spouse so you can get to that place of collusion where the two of you are working together to close the deal with the physician in question.

Do you not feel comfortable having such a conversation, or does no one come to mind within your organization as particularly appropriate for such a thing? Then perhaps consider outsourcing the task, as an experienced and successful agency recruiter is no stranger to such a thing.

However you choose to do it, if you are going to be truly proactive within your recruitment endeavors, you absolutely must not neglect to cater to the spouse, because to do so means to commit the most rookie of all recruiter mistakes and, ultimately, to waste practice time and money.

Bo Claypool is a physician recruiter who is the managing partner of Monroe & Weisbrod, a psychiatry-specific physician recruitment firm.

ADVERTISEMENT

Prev

Attending in flight emergencies is part of our Hippocratic Oath

September 24, 2011 Kevin 28
…
Next

Divorce after the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease

September 25, 2011 Kevin 14
…

Tagged as: Primary Care, Specialist

Post navigation

< Previous Post
Attending in flight emergencies is part of our Hippocratic Oath
Next Post >
Divorce after the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Bo Claypool

  • a desk with keyboard and ipad with the kevinmd logo

    How a letter of intent can help with physician recruitment

    Bo Claypool
  • a desk with keyboard and ipad with the kevinmd logo

    Why your website is important to recruit physicians

    Bo Claypool
  • a desk with keyboard and ipad with the kevinmd logo

    The use of a signing bonus as tool for physician recruitment

    Bo Claypool

More in Physician

  • Why so many physicians struggle to feel proud—even when they should

    Jessie Mahoney, MD
  • If I had to choose: Choosing the patient over the protocol

    Patrick Hudson, MD
  • How a TV drama exposed the hidden grief of doctors

    Lauren Weintraub, MD
  • Why adults need to rediscover the power of play

    Anthony Fleg, MD
  • Physician patriots: the forgotten founders who lit the torch of liberty

    Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD
  • The child within: a grown woman’s quiet grief

    Dr. Damane Zehra
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why medical students are trading empathy for publications

      Vijay Rajput, MD | Education
    • Physician patriots: the forgotten founders who lit the torch of liberty

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Physician
    • The hidden cost of becoming a doctor: a South Asian perspective

      Momeina Aslam | Education
    • Why fixing health care’s data quality is crucial for AI success [PODCAST]

      Jay Anders, MD | Podcast
    • Closing the gap in respiratory care: How robotics can expand access in underserved communities

      Evgeny Ignatov, MD, RRT | Tech
    • Reclaiming trust in online health advice [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
  • Past 6 Months

    • What’s driving medical students away from primary care?

      ​​Vineeth Amba, MPH, Archita Goyal, and Wayne Altman, MD | Education
    • How scales of justice saved a doctor-patient relationship

      Neil Baum, MD | Physician
    • A faster path to becoming a doctor is possible—here’s how

      Ankit Jain | Education
    • Make cognitive testing as routine as a blood pressure check

      Joshua Baker and James Jackson, PsyD | Conditions
    • How dismantling DEI endangers the future of medical care

      Shashank Madhu and Christian Tallo | Education
    • The broken health care system doesn’t have to break you

      Jessie Mahoney, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • Why fixing health care’s data quality is crucial for AI success [PODCAST]

      Jay Anders, MD | Podcast
    • Why so many physicians struggle to feel proud—even when they should

      Jessie Mahoney, MD | Physician
    • If I had to choose: Choosing the patient over the protocol

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
    • How a TV drama exposed the hidden grief of doctors

      Lauren Weintraub, MD | Physician
    • Why adults need to rediscover the power of play

      Anthony Fleg, MD | Physician
    • How collaboration across medical disciplines and patient advocacy cured a rare disease [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 2 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why medical students are trading empathy for publications

      Vijay Rajput, MD | Education
    • Physician patriots: the forgotten founders who lit the torch of liberty

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Physician
    • The hidden cost of becoming a doctor: a South Asian perspective

      Momeina Aslam | Education
    • Why fixing health care’s data quality is crucial for AI success [PODCAST]

      Jay Anders, MD | Podcast
    • Closing the gap in respiratory care: How robotics can expand access in underserved communities

      Evgeny Ignatov, MD, RRT | Tech
    • Reclaiming trust in online health advice [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
  • Past 6 Months

    • What’s driving medical students away from primary care?

      ​​Vineeth Amba, MPH, Archita Goyal, and Wayne Altman, MD | Education
    • How scales of justice saved a doctor-patient relationship

      Neil Baum, MD | Physician
    • A faster path to becoming a doctor is possible—here’s how

      Ankit Jain | Education
    • Make cognitive testing as routine as a blood pressure check

      Joshua Baker and James Jackson, PsyD | Conditions
    • How dismantling DEI endangers the future of medical care

      Shashank Madhu and Christian Tallo | Education
    • The broken health care system doesn’t have to break you

      Jessie Mahoney, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • Why fixing health care’s data quality is crucial for AI success [PODCAST]

      Jay Anders, MD | Podcast
    • Why so many physicians struggle to feel proud—even when they should

      Jessie Mahoney, MD | Physician
    • If I had to choose: Choosing the patient over the protocol

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
    • How a TV drama exposed the hidden grief of doctors

      Lauren Weintraub, MD | Physician
    • Why adults need to rediscover the power of play

      Anthony Fleg, MD | Physician
    • How collaboration across medical disciplines and patient advocacy cured a rare disease [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Why a physician recruiter needs to consider the spouse of a doctor
2 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...