CA-3 job search help please

[Victor Bouton]

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I'm in my CA-3 year. I had a strange scenario play out when I recently called a staffing agency (alliance recruiting resources) regarding job placement for LT in california. The agent I spoke with took my info and asked for my CV which I promptly emailed. He said he'd get back in an hour. The staffing agent never called back and when I sent a followup email a day later, I got no reply. I thought LT agencies were supposed to pesker interested residents endlessly. I realize that the agent's lack of reply may have been for a lot of reasons . . . but it got me thinking.

Is being a DO place me in a more difficult position for finding a good job in a competitve market? It would seem the easy answer would be yes. But i want to know from MD's & DO's that actually *do* the hiring in their group, if this really plays out. I also want to know what the experience has been for the recently graduated DO anesthesiologists that have been looking for jobs in the more competitve marketplaces?

 

[huron]

Just because one agency doesn't call you back immediately doesn't mean a thing.

Locum agencies don't schedule much more than three months ahead of time and one to two month is probably the norm. So you may be calling too early for locums if you graduate in June.

There are lots of posts about DOs versus MDs, with the exception of a very small number of groups it should not make any difference, Where you did residency, your recommendations from attendings, how well you interview and how interested you are in the area, will count a whole lot more. You need to explore a number of opportunities and not rely on just one recruiter.

Most important as a new graduate, you need to learn as much as you can about where you are going for a permanent position and try to avoid bad situations like a malignant Anesthesia Management companies or a bad group that has no intention of offering partnership. Don't take the word of a recruiter but independently verify and investigate what kind of group you are signing on to.

 

[mdjobexchange]

I have worked in private practice and people really look more at where you did your residency than medical school.

As far as the locums company, just call a few more. Now is actually a good time to start contacting them, as you will need more than one state license if you are thinking about doing full time locums. Each license takes about 3-6 months to get. You also have to get credentialed with the agency, which is reasonably fast. PM me if you need some contacts for some locums agencies, I know a bunch of people at many different companies. Recruiters vary quite a bit in their quality.

I did locums for 2 years. It is great. It is paying even more money now than it did in the past. It is at about $1200 or $1300/8 hrs and $170/hr for overtime. It is great way to get the lay of the land in an area where you are thinking about going. I was signed up with 5 different companies at one time and had 6 different licenses.

If you are thinking about private jobs, be sure to ask them how many units they are billing and how much they are getting per unit. Average is 10,000 units/yr per FT person (55-60 hr/wk) and average reimbursement is $40/unit, so multiply units x 40 and you get $400,000 which is a typical total package (pay plus benes) for an anesthesiologist.