I know most jobs in private practice are not advertised and mostly word of mouth. Im starting to realize that my program, while on the larger side, doesnt have much of an active alumni network outside of the area. Well at least one where residents/fellows who left the immediate area keep in touch with the program. My wife and I are both pathology residents looking to leave the area, but finding jobs elsewhere seems difficult. We originally planned to do fellowships at our home program, but we are realizing it may be better to do them in a different area where we would ultimately want to practice. Any other recommendations for networking in other areas/states? We still have a few more years left, but both of us looking for private practice jobs in the same city will be exceedingly difficult. Any advice or input is appreciated!
Networking out of state
- Thread starter Deucedano
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These things are so highly situational that I doubt there is any general 'best' advice. That being said, all the typical things that people advise still apply here (get to know as many practitioners in the field as you can, especially in the geographic area(s) in which you'd like to wind up, etc.) How far away is your geographic target area from the place where you're doing residency? It is certainly possible that doing fellowship at an institution that is closer to where you want to end up might improve your odds, but there are a lot of factors at play here (e.g., would you leave a highly reputable residency program for a much lesser known program for fellowship?).
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Just some thoughts, hopefully of some help......
1. In general, groups want the best person possible who will help the group the most (and be a good fit personality-wise). Leaving your program for fellowship to "network" could backfire. Staying at your institution for a junior faculty year or two could be quite helpful for both of you.
2. Yes your careers are important to you and to society at large. Your marriage is even more important. One of you may have to take an academic job or some other type of non-private practice job, at least for a while.
3. It would be best if your fellowships are not in the same specialty.
4. Both of you put your heads down and work very hard these next few years- the job market is not getting any easier but there are still (some) positions for the best candidates.
1. In general, groups want the best person possible who will help the group the most (and be a good fit personality-wise). Leaving your program for fellowship to "network" could backfire. Staying at your institution for a junior faculty year or two could be quite helpful for both of you.
2. Yes your careers are important to you and to society at large. Your marriage is even more important. One of you may have to take an academic job or some other type of non-private practice job, at least for a while.
3. It would be best if your fellowships are not in the same specialty.
4. Both of you put your heads down and work very hard these next few years- the job market is not getting any easier but there are still (some) positions for the best candidates.
The area we want to practice is in the Northwest and we are currently doing residency in another state at a reputable "top 5" program. It would be a step down for fellowship but we would stay to do one at our home program. I know its not ideal, but we really want to be in the Northwest near family. Obviously we wouldnt restrict ourselves and would go anywhere that we can get jobs, but it would be nice to be near family.
Staying on a junior faculty is not as easy as you would think. Its fairly competitive at least at my program and several people were just hired.
How do people find out about jobs who are out of state? Do people just find out about jobs by networking and advertised jobs? Is cold calling practices an acceptable strategy?
Cold calling/cold emailing is definitely acceptable, and probably necessary if you are targeting a geographical area outside of your training network. It actually simplifies the job search in some ways that you have a location to target.
You need to be proactive and identify all the private groups in the area, contact them, and see what sticks. Random unexpected retirements/job swtiches happen frequently. If something opens up unexpectedly and your (relatively strong) CV is on hand, you have a shot in any market. Groups try to avoid the pathoutlines/global advertisement circus if they can.
You need to be proactive and identify all the private groups in the area, contact them, and see what sticks. Random unexpected retirements/job swtiches happen frequently. If something opens up unexpectedly and your (relatively strong) CV is on hand, you have a shot in any market. Groups try to avoid the pathoutlines/global advertisement circus if they can.
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One easy way to find out about external locations:
As you may know, many academic centers have "career fairs" for physicians to seek employment, mostly at private medical centers from around the country. They virtually never directly employ pathologists, but they usually know the groups that they contract with. You can ask for this information and contact the groups directly, or have the rep for the hospital network do it on your behalf. If they like you and recommend you it may be helpful.
As you may know, many academic centers have "career fairs" for physicians to seek employment, mostly at private medical centers from around the country. They virtually never directly employ pathologists, but they usually know the groups that they contract with. You can ask for this information and contact the groups directly, or have the rep for the hospital network do it on your behalf. If they like you and recommend you it may be helpful.
