How do you guys decide which hospital is the best? Do you by the rep, the facilities, the location, etc? Obviously the salary is an important issue, but I can't imagine that one would just take a gamble because of 'big money'. But on the other hand, you can't hop on a plane and check all different hospitals out for yourself.
So in addition to the question of the TS, which criteria did you use in order to choose your new workplace as an attending?
Well, you DO just "hop on a plane and check out the different hospitals". When applying for attending jobs, the hospitals will fly you out, put you up in a hotel, pay for meals, etc. They and you know this is a BIG commitment, so there is no reason to take a job, nor would you likely be offered one, without an in-person interview or two (or even three, if you are seriously considering their offer). Besides, its likely that you will have specific requirements and that the list of hospitals which have these, will be manageable.
Most of the time you evaluate the options for geography, type of practice (ie, private vs hospital based) and any other requirements you might have - say a spouse needs to be in a certain area for his/her job. For example, I wouldn't look at any job which required me to take general surgery call - a deal breaker IMHO. I also didn't want a "meca" and preferred to be relatively close to family and/or friends. The latters weren't deal breakers, but desirables.
When invited for an interview, I spent some time researching the area, reading local news reports, etc. and trying to get a feel for the regional medical environment. Finally, it largely comes down to the people - can you work with what they are offering you, do you like your co-workers? I mention this because the nicest hospital with the largest compensation package that I was offered really had some other people there that I just didn't care for (you'll find that as a fellowship trained surgeon, sometimes the general surgeons and radiologists aren't real happy about you coming to town and taking a piece of their "pie") - so it ISN'T all about the money, but it can be hard to turn down, especially if its a significant difference (and there may be a reason why it is - you need to ask around). Some fields are small enough that you may know others who are interviewing for the same positions - you can talk about impressions, offers, etc. with your colleagues.
In a nutshell, everyone will have different reasons for preferring one hospital over another, but you can't beat in-person visits, at least one, preferably two or more, and a little research on your end.
