How to Hire Pediatricians

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The pediatrician you hire will have a significant impact on your customer satisfaction rates and the success of your business. But it can be difficult to find a qualified applicant who you also feel good about putting in front of your patients.

Need help getting started? We’ve teamed up with ZipRecruiter, one of the largest and best job sites for employers and employees alike, to outline the process for everything you need to know, from how to find great candidates to hiring the right pediatrician.

What is a pediatrician?

A pediatrician is a medical doctor who specializes in children’s health. These specialists work with patients as young as newborns and as old as early adults. Pediatricians are often the primary care physician for a child until they grow up. Their role increases in importance as the relationship between a growing person and their doctor impacts health outcomes. [https://dukepersonalizedhealth.org/2019/03/the-importance-of-physician-patient-relationships-communication-and-trust-in-health-care/]

What do pediatricians do?

Pediatricians perform various tasks related to the well-being of children and adolescents, including:

• Performing regular checkups
• Conducting physical exams
• Tracking the physical, emotional and social development of a child
• Diagnosing and treating illnesses and injuries
• Giving vaccines
• Offering health advice to parents
• Referring children to specialists when appropriate
• Answering questions from parents and patients

You can think of a pediatrician as the primary point of care for a child or adolescent. They are often who these patients turn to first when a health issue or question pops up.

How to hire a pediatrician

If you run an organization seeking pediatricians, finding the right candidates involves multiple steps. We provide more in-depth insight into how to find a pediatrician to get you started.

Create a candidate profile for a pediatrician job role

A good first step is to figure out exactly what you want in a pediatrician. Creating an ideal candidate profile is one way to do that. List out all of the characteristics you would like in your ideal applicant.

Your candidate profile may include:

• Pediatrician education requirements
• Work experience
• Personality traits
• Long-term career goals
• Any preferred hard or soft skills

Begin writing a pediatrician job description

To attract the right candidates, you can use a pediatrician job description template as a reference.

Customize it with the unique requirements of your open position. You should include information about:

• Salary ranges
• Job duties
• Educational and work experience requirements
• Your team and company philosophy
• Anything else you want your applicants to know

Need help getting started on your job description? ZipRecruiter, one of the leading job search sites available in the U.S, offers several templates you can use to guide you in creating a job description that will attract qualified candidates.

Choose a recruiting strategy to attract qualified candidates

With a strong job description in hand, begin sharing it on the best job posting sites for employers. When pediatricians search online with queries such as “full time jobs near me,” your position will come up.

Recruiting strategies you could try are:

• Looking for qualified candidates in more than one place
• Attending and engaging in local networking events
• Networking through LinkedIn and other platforms
• Partnering with a regional medical school

Conduct multiple interviews

As you implement your recruiting strategy, you should receive applications from qualified candidates. At this stage of the process, it’s important not to hire anyone too soon.

Instead, take your time to conduct interviews with different candidates and assess how they compare to one another. You may end up hiring your first favorite option eventually. But doing so right away could prevent you from meeting your ideal candidate. Brainstorm professional and behavioral interview questions to match with the best fit.

Choose the best pediatrician candidate for the role

All that’s left is to evaluate your candidates and make a final hiring decision. Consider both intangible fit qualities and professional expertise. Emphasizing one over the other may lead to the wrong decision.

This is a good time to review the latest guidance on how to retain employees. If you are still struggling to attract enough qualified candidates, you may want to look into the best recruiting software to find the right type of assistance.

How to find a pediatrician for hire

The more of the following tactics you employ, the easier it may be to find your ideal fit.

Update your website’s career page

Make sure that any qualified candidates who are interested in your company know that you are hiring. Your website’s career page is the best place to share this information, along with other details that could attract the right people to submit an application. Take a look at this guide covering how to create a better career page if you would like to learn more.

Post your job opening widely online

Make your availability known across popular job sites and other professional platforms, including LinkedIn. You can use an applicant tracking system (ATS) to keep better tabs on everyone who submits an application from these sources and review this guide covering the best practices for using an ATS.

Reach out to local professional organizations

You may be able to find a great fit in your local community. Reaching out to professional organizations for pediatricians and doctors in your area can connect you with someone you may not have found otherwise.

Top pediatric organizations include the:

• Federation of Pediatric Organizations (FOPO)
• American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
• Academic Pediatric Association (APA)
• American Pediatric Society (APS)
• Society for Pediatric Research (SPR)
• Council of Pediatric Subspecialties (CoPS)

Consider partnering with a recruiting agency

If you try these strategies and come up empty, it may be time to turn to a recruiting agency. These firms perform the hard work of sourcing qualified candidates on your behalf so all you need to do is choose the right fit.

However, recruiting agencies often charge a percentage of the employee’s first-year salary. These agencies can be one of the most expensive options for attracting candidates.

What to ask a pediatrician during an interview

Here are some sample questions to ask a pediatrician:

• How do you manage difficult patients?

• With which age group do you have the most experience?

• Describe a time you have had to diagnose a patient who could not communicate their symptoms to you.

• How do you define excellence in patient care?

• What is your philosophy on [Insert divisive medical issue]?

As you ask questions, you will likely zero in on a few candidates who seem to be the best fit. Before you hire any of them, plug their information into the best background check sites to ensure they do not have a deal-breaking past, especially because they would work directly with children.

Types of pediatricians for hire

Different niches in which a pediatrician may specialize may be important if you are looking for a practitioner with an area of expertise.

Here are the different types of pediatricians you can hire:

• Neonatologist: Infants, especially those born prematurely or with birth defects.

• Pediatric cardiologist: Treatment related to children’s hearts.

• Pediatric oncologist: Treatment of childhood cancer.

• Pediatric surgeon: Surgery for children and young adults.

• Behavioral pediatrician: Behavioral care for young patients.

• Critical care pediatrician: Urgent and emergency care to children.

• Pediatric pulmonologist: Issues related to the respiratory system, including lung diseases.

Pediatrician versus family doctor

The main difference is that a family doctor may work with patients of all ages, whereas a pediatrician focuses on young adults and children exclusively. For example, a pediatrician would only work with the children in a family, whereas a family doctor might also treat the parents.

Family doctors do not spend the amount of time working with young patients that pediatricians do. If your organization wants to hire a new doctor to work with children and adolescents exclusively, then a pediatrician will likely be a better option.

Summary of Money's how to hire pediatricians

Begin the process of finding the right pediatrician for your organization by creating an ideal candidate profile. The profile should include the skills, treatment philosophies and areas of expertise you would want your perfect candidate to have.

Create a job description and share it online to attract qualified applicants. As you go through the interview process, take your time and ask pointed interview questions to influence the right long-term hiring decision that is best for your organization.