Have this ever happed to you? You sign a candidate (after working with him or her for a year) who doesn’t show up—only to discover the competition snagged the physician. Or let’s say you sign a physician who does show up, and does a great job, but they up and leave just a year later.

Recruiting physicians is tough; it requires aggressive tactics sometimes because recruiting comes at a high cost.

It takes about $27,300 to recruit a physician and the average physician turnover rate is 6.8 percent (most turnovers occur in the first three years). What’s more, that $27k price tag is for a direct recruit and doesn’t factor in things like income guarantees, moving expenses, malpractice insurance and other variable costs. All told, the cost can easily reach over $100,000 for an organization to recruit a single physician.

As a physician recruiter, you are the ultimate personnel professional.

You need a true picture of the costs involved with recruiting and retaining physicians. You need to understand the legal, professional, and technical aspects of physician recruitment and retention. You need to understand all of the sourcing and sales tools available to you. You need to know how to present a contract that a physician will actually sign. You need to understand the reality of timing and timeframes (it takes one in-house recruiter about a year to recruit seven physicians). And whether you think sourcing, or closing the deal, or getting a candidate to show up is the hardest part of the job, you need great resources.

You need membership in a professional association.

You’re probably already a member of a group or two, but if you’re not consider this: Joining an association like the Association of Staff Physician Recruiters (ASPR), the National Association of Physician Recruiters, or the National Association of Locum Tenens Organizations (NALTO) gives you an automatic leg up simply because you'll be more informed. If that sounds like we’re stating the obvious, we are, but the obvious assumes you’ll be an active member of the association—and for many physician recruiters that’s simply not true.

Just like any membership, you get what you put into it.

As a member or a professional association you are in a unique position to attend annual meetings, conferences, job fairs, and other events with like-minded professionals in the physician recruitment field. Have you ever considered that these events are attended by the brightest minds in the physician recruiting industry? Unless you attend these events, you may never get in the room with someone who’s at the top of the recruiting field. Never. These professional organizations have the ability to pair you with someone much more experienced or a real thought leader. Plus, they're a hotbed of ideas.

Annual meetings represent an incredible opportunity for you to meet and network with the largest gathering of your peers.

Ask most physician recruiters how they find great candidates and they’ll tell you they network. Well, networking with peers is just as critical for your professional growth—and membership in a professional association gives you a wide network of people who are on top of issues and trends. Networking isn’t just about the people you know either, it’s about the people they know. Go network at events, share your story, ask questions, offer advice and you’ll reap the benefits.

Membership does have privileges.

As a member of a professional physician recruitment association, you agree to abide by a code of ethics and operate according to agreed-upon standards. NALTO members, for instance, govern themselves with an internal arbitration process that sets the standard for the locum tenens recruiting industry. The NAPR is dedicated to promoting a positive industry image through a practical but strict Code of Ethics. That means your membership is literally a symbol of excellence that gives you credibility and demonstrates personal accountability to candidates and peers alike.

Are you new to the physician recruitment industry? Mentoring young members is the cornerstone of many professional organizations. If you’re a seasoned professional, your experience will be valued as a mentor to others.

We encourage you to research and join the membership ranks of the physician recruitment organizations here. Of course, there are numerous associations for recruiting professionals outside the physician recruitment field, too, that will benefit your professional development.

ASPR is the only professional organization exclusive to in-house physician recruitment professionals, so you’ll find common issues—and an uncommon level of support—among your peers. As a member, you can reach out and share ideas and strategies with more than 1,300 in-house physician recruitment professionals employed directly by hospitals, clinics, physician practices, academic medical centers, and managed care organizations from across the United States and Canada. You’ll find all the reasons to join ASPR right here.

NAPR is the professional organization for in-house recruiters, physician groups and hospitals, search firms and locum tenens organizations. NAPR provides continuous and dynamic educational forums that allow thousands of members to respond to the changes in the healthcare industry. Their members, who number in the thousands, are dedicated to ethical conduct and superior performance. You can read the top ten reasons to join NAPR now or ask one of your peers who is a member about the group's benefits.

NALTO is specific to the physician locum tenens industry and provides a foundation of industry standards and ethical guidelines for companies that specialize in locum tenens recruitment. They are committed to continuous educational programming focused on industry standards, ethical treatment of physicians and clients, and changes in the locum tenens marketplace that affect members. Check out the resources available to NALTO members now.

CASPR (the Canadian Association of Staff Physician Recruiters) is a way for Canadian physician recruiters to share best practices, techniques and tools for physician recruitment and retention. Members have access to a database of all CASPR members, a newsletter, and (coming soon) a “members only” section of their website. CASPR was initially formed as a regional chapter of ASPR and maintains a liaison relationship with them.

We also encourage you to take a look at the many regional organizations out there like the Northeast Professional Recruiters Association (NEPRA)—a group of in-house physician recruitment professionals working in hospitals and for healthcare organizations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.

Are your peers using Doximity Talent Finder to connect with great physician candidates? Ask them about it or start searching now. It's free to sign up.