Whether they’ve just finished their training or have years of experience under their belt, emergency medicine physicians are interested in new opportunities. They’re also working together to meet the growing emergency needs across the country.

In a report of the EM physician taskforce, a group of eight organizations working together to recognize the challenges facing the specialty, leaders recognized they’re seeing external forces start to reshape the emergency medicine specialty and recognize that the profession must adapt to developing trends.

“One common thread across different communities is that emergency care is seen as a trusted and essential service,” said Mark Rosenberg, DO, MBA, FACEP, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP). “People recognize the incredible value of accessible, high-quality emergency medicine. Emergency physicians are proud to be able to provide care, whenever and wherever we are needed most.”  

According to the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), the majority of physicians switch jobs within their first five years out of training, making it clear that there's a disconnect between the job doctors think they're accepting and the reality of what the job entails. Here are six tips physician recruiters should keep in mind when engaging emergency medicine physicians. 

1. 1. Help physicians expand their career options. When it comes to finding the right position, many candidates focus too narrowly on one geographic location. They may not know how to negotiate their salary or contracts. Some aren’t sure if they want to work in a hospital or medical practice. Take the opportunity to discuss every option and explain the potential pros and cons of each choice.
   2. Steer candidates through the intricacies (and realities) of compensation. Emergency medicine physicians have invested years of training and incurred medical school debt, so compensation can be a top factor in a candidate’s decision to take a job. According to the 2023 Doximity Physician Compensation Report, Emergency Medicine took the lead among ten specialties in terms of the highest average increase in compensation, reaching $386K annually, marking a 6.2 percent rise from the previous year.
   3. Advise candidates on how employment type affects compensation. As more physicians join larger physician groups and health systems, it is important to understand differences in average compensation by employment type. Data from the 2023 Doximity Physician Compensation Report indicates that compensation varies widely by employment setting, with single specialty, solo practice, and multi-specialty groups ranking the highest in average annual compensation. Experience during their residency also drives many physicians. According to a survey of final-year residents, 68 percent said hospital employment was their first or second preference in a practice setting.
   4. Research location details. Investigate the significant factors a physician and their family will want to know about a location – from the quality of schools to climate to recreational opportunities. Scheduling  local tours should be high on your list for EM candidates. While major cities near the coasts can be popular locations, compensation can still be very strong in less populated cities, as outlined in the 2023 Doximity Physician Compensation Report. For the first time, Doximity introduced an analysis of physician compensation by metro area adjusted for cost of living, indicating that nine of the ten cities with the lowest adjusted compensation last year are located on either the East or West coast, including Washington D.C., San Francisco, and Portland, Oregon.
   5. Be clear about clinical encounters they’re likely to experience in a position. A Level I Trauma Center isn’t for anyone, and a smaller, rural hospital is a dream for some doctors. There’s always a level of unpredictability with emergency medicine, but “likely clinical encounters” are often overlooked in the process.
   6. Recruiters can help by discussing the kinds of emergencies a candidate will likely encounter working in a specific ED. That means discussing anything from violent crimes and gunshot wounds to wild animal encounters and agricultural accidents. No EM physician knows what they’re getting themselves in for (which is likely why they went into emergency medicine), but the location of the ED can provide many clues. It’s also helpful for recruiters and interested candidates to talk to other doctors in a hospital about the work environment and culture.

There are a lot of factors to consider when recruiting EM physicians. Still, if you understand the nuances of emergency medicine, you can support candidates as they make career moves. 

We recently interviewed Amit Phull, MD, Doximity’s VP of Strategy and a practicing emergency medicine physician at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. Watch the video or read the Q&A in the article to get a better sense of what doctors are doing when they log into Doximity.