Hospitalist market saturation

[Red Beard]

Was going to post this in one of the other 'hospitalist' threads, but it is a different topic:

http://www.todayshospitalist.com/index.php?b=articles_read&cnt=852

The gist of it is that in some areas steady hospitalist jobs are becoming hard to get. To get a job in some areas you will have to either have significant post-residency experience, be willing to work crappy hours, or forgo benefits while you work locums.

What I've been hearing for the last few years is that the field is wide open, you will be able to get a job anywhere after residency. Now I am a little bit nervous about going into IM (writing my personal statement as we speak.) I am interested in the medicine, but not looking forward to moving to the middle of nowhere to find a job in 4 years.

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[Hernandez]

some places are hard to get jobs in anyways due simply to physician saturation to begin with. I get emails (unsolicited, and I'm not sure how they got my info to begin with) with hospitalists jobs 3-4 times a week all over the country. If you're going to look in a very narrow geographical area, you're going to have to make a trade off on either salary, benefits or shifts.

 

[DrSmiles]

I live in Phoenix, just finished IM residency. There are several hospitalist positions here and you can pretty much pick where you want to go. My friends that are moving back to California, however, have a more difficult time finding hospitalist positions that are in desirable locations (ie L.A. or San Fran) and have said that it is mostly locum tenens work that is available. This is coming from a group that just finished residency. So if you are determined to work in a city that everyone wants to live in then you will most likely find a higher saturation of hospitalists in that area.
Keep in mind that if you work for large hospitalist groups like IPC or API you can work in more desirable areas, but you will be working harder too.

 

[nephappl]

It is just the balance between supply and demand.
Here in a rural area of my state the hospitalist programs are quite full.
I think hospital medicine cannot have and endless supply of jobs particularly in large metropolitan areas and those jobs will pay a lower salary.
NA

 

[mig26x]

I wasnt very happy to read that article on Today's Hospitalist. Im looking for a spot in Miami and unfortunately Miami was mentioned in the article!! Well looks like I would have to look in the Tampa Bay or Ft. Lauderdale area.