Memorial Day - A Day to Give Honor

This past Monday I had the honor to attend Memorial Day services in honor of our fallen heroes. Being a veteran myself, this is time for me to remember not only my time in service of my country but those who have served in years past. It was truly a solemn moment.

This year the service occurred during a fairly heavy rain and unfortunately less attended than in years past. During the service, I could not help but notice that of those in attendance were mostly veterans of past wars. I noticed gentlemen from World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam vets and Iraq. I noticed most proudly wore the medals than earned. I cannot understand why more folks could not take a hour or so out of their year to learn about some of these truly amazing people.

The service was very touching. I was glad it was raining...it easily hid the tears on my cheeks.

Hopefully next year I will see more folks...but I doubt it.

Bob Eskridge, CPC, CTS, PRC, CSP

President &

Board Certified Physician Recruiter

Eskridge & Associates

512.244.7023 (Office)

512.663.5387 (cell)

512.532.0771 (fax)

"Here for you 24/7"

Member – National Coalition of Healthcare Recruiters

Member - National Association of Personnel Services

bob@eskridge-associates.com
www.eskridge-associates.com

Happy belated Mother's day!

I recently was reading an interesting news bit on what a stay at home mom's paycheck might be. According to Rueters on May 2, Ellen Wulfhorst reported the following:

"If the typical stay-at-home mother in the United States were paid for her work as a housekeeper, cook and psychologist among other roles, she would earn $138,095 a year, according to research released on Wednesday.

This reflected a 3 percent raise from last year's $134,121, according to Salary.com Inc, Waltham, Massachusetts-based compensation experts.

The 10 jobs listed as comprising a mother's work were housekeeper, cook, day care center teacher, laundry machine operator, van driver, facilities manager, janitor, computer operator, chief executive officer and psychologist, it said.

The typical mother puts in a 92-hour work week, it said, working 40 hours at base pay and 52 hours overtime.

A mother who holds full-time job outside the home would earn an additional $85,939 for the work she does at home, Salary.com.

Last year she would have earned $85,876 for her at-home work, it said.

Salary.com compiled the online responses of 26,000 stay-at-home mothers and 14,000 mothers who also work outside the home."

I think the least we can all do is recognize and thank our Mothers and wifes for the hard work they do. It also made me think about what I would have to do if, God forbid, something happened to my wife. I think I had better call my insurance agent and review my wife's insurance policy!

It also made me think that if I had an employee in this position, what I would do in terms of a retention strategy. I sure has heck would not take them for granted. I think the least I can do is surprise her more often with her favorite flowers!

What is your retention strategy?

Bob Eskridge, CPC, CTS, PRC, CSP
President &
Board Certified Physician Recruiter
Eskridge & Associates
512.244.7023 (Office)
bob@eskridge-associates.com
www.eskridge-associates.com

Member – National Coalition of Healthcare Recruiters
Member - National Association of Personnel Services

What are they thinking?

Well today I had a first! I was working on a Family Practice lead in the Catskills of New York for about the last six months. One of my folks was all excited that he found a physician interested and presented him to me. I call my client with the good news. As soon as I mentioned his name, my client started to laugh! Turns out they had already had made a offer to this physician and was waiting to hear back from him!

I called my recruiter back to break the bad news. I asked if he explained where the position was and he did. Why the physician did not inform us of the offer, I have not the foggiest idea. It potentially put us in a bad position with our client (fortunately this client has been with us for a long time and is not holding it against us) and it definitely put the physician is a bad light with the client. The client is about ready to pull the offer because he felt that the physician is gaming him trying to get a better offer.

I do not understand why folks go to these lengths and are so nonchalant about their job search. Examples like this just destroys any credibility one has both with the client and with the recruiter. I wish this physician all the best in his search...he will need it!

Bob Eskridge, CPC, CTS, PRC, CSP
President &
Board Certified Physician Recruiter
Eskridge & Associates
512.244.7023 (Office)
bob@eskridge-associates.com
www.eskridge-associates.com

Member – National Coalition of Healthcare Recruiters
Member - National Association of Personnel Services

Can I Leave a Message?

Can I leave a message?

Recently the Executive Vice President of the American Medical Association had written a letter to all Graduate Medical Education program directors requesting their help in stopping recruiters from unsolicited calling or paging of resident/fellow physicians in the workplace.

He has also wrote the National Association of Physician Recruiters directly asking for their help in ending a recruiting practice directed at resident and fellow physicians that interferes with physician training and patient care. In response to the increasing shortage of physicians, physician recruitment firms have become more aggressive in their outreach to physicians-in-training.

He says the American Medical Association (AMA) has received numerous complaints from resident and fellow physicians who report increasing interruptions throughout their work day by recruiters who often have them paged through the hospital or program’s main number. In some instances, recruiters are not always forthcoming in identifying themselves or the purpose of the call. Some have even alluded (wrongfully) to having an affiliation with the AMA. He feels unsolicited paging tactics are disruptive to patient care and add additional frustration to an already busy day. Over time, residents and fellows may develop animosity toward recruiting firms.

The AMA asks that the National Association of Physician Recruiters adopt voluntary marketing guidelines that will discourage unsolicited paging of residents and fellows at their places of work. They also ask that the association caution their members not to allude, implicitly or explicitly, to any endorsement by or affiliation with the AMA when contacting prospects.

Now I have no problem slamming the door on recruiters who misrepresent themselves. Clearly that is unprofessional. But on the other hand, their IS a huge shortage of physicians. Many of my clients are recruiting directly from second and third year students to ensure they are able to meet their needs. Is he asking the same of them...to not call the students at work?

Instead of making a blanket request across the board why not address the specific complaints. I would greatly encourage the AMA to ONLY work with board certified physician recruiters. Why not work with the ones who have invested in their profession just like the physicians we represent. Seems to Dr Mave’s request is greatly handicapping the folks he is trying to help…Stop throwing the baby out with the bath water…let me leave a message.

Bob Eskridge, CPC, CTS, PRC, CSP
President &
Board Certified Physician Recruiter
Eskridge & Associates
512.244.7023 (Office)
bob@eskridge-associates.com
www.eskridge-associates.com

Member – National Coalition of Healthcare Recruiters
Member - National Association of Personnel Services

We All Need to Hold a Revolt!

WE ALL NEED TO HOLD A REVOLT!

I am fed up with being hammered with exorbitant hospital bills. I had to take my daughter to the emergency room one weekend recently. We thought she had broken a finger. Fortunately it turned out it was a simple sprain. They splinted it and we went home…45 minutes tops. I just received the bill from my insurance company…$908.00!!

I was dumbfounded! I was prepared to have to pay extra for using the emergency room but I was not prepared for this. We really need to figure out a way to make visiting your physician more reasonable. Is it any wonder folks do not see their doctors on a regular basis for preventive care…who could afford it? I wonder if it would be cost effective for the government to subsidize just preventive care. Perhaps more folks would take advantage of it and get healthy and stay healthy…I know…wishful thinking. Really, we should use insurance for only catastrophic illnesses. Seems to me health insurance should be like homeowners insurance. If my doorknob is broken, I replace it. I do not file an insurance claim to get it fixed nor do I expect Home Depot to file a claim on my behalf. If a storm comes through and rips half my shingles off the roof, then file a claim. Seems to me health insurance could be the same way. I would think it would be less expensive for physician offices as well. What do you think? Any ideas?

Bob Eskridge, CPC, CTS, PRC, CSP
President &
Board Certified Physician Recruiter
Eskridge & Associates
512.244.7023 (Office)
bob@eskridge-associates.com
www.eskridge-associates.com

Member – National Coalition of Healthcare Recruiters
Member - National Association of Personnel Services

Keep Your Recruiter in The Loop

Keep your recruiter in the Loop…

You have developed a good rapport with a recruiter specializing in your industry. He spent time talking with you to understand what type of opportunities your interested in. He spent hours talking with his clients about your background and interests. He found several good opportunities for you to consider. You picked a couple that you thought matched your interests the best. The client was impressed with your CV and the telephone interview went better than expected. What happens next is probably the most important step in the process. Call your recruiter and fill him in on the conversation!

I am floored how often we do not get a follow up phone call from our candidates to discuss the interview or site visit and determine what is the best strategy to move forward. It has been our experience at Eskridge & Associates that generally the next thing the client does shortly after the interview or site visit is to call the recruiter and discuss what they liked or did not like about the candidate. Usually there are a number of questions they have based on what they learned that they want us to find answers to. The best time for the candidate to call us is immediately after talking with the client while everything is still fresh in their minds.

We, at Eskridge & Associates, are in a very unique position to act as the candidate’s “talent agent,” but we are hamstrung until we talk with the candidate. The candidate can ask us to send up what I call “trial balloons” to determine where the client is on any given issue. This way the candidate can still hold all the cards and not burn any bridges. They can use the information we learn to make a solid decision should be acceptable.

There is nothing to loose and perhaps quite a bit to gain….make the call!

Bob Eskridge, CPC, CTS, PRC, CSP
President &
Board Certified Physician Recruiter
Eskridge & Associates
512.244.7023 (Office)
bob@eskridge-associates.com
www.eskridge-associates.com

Member – National Coalition of Healthcare Recruiters
Member - National Association of Personnel Services

Eskridge & Associates Blog Introduction!

Welcome to Eskridge & Associates official Blog! This is an interesting experience for me. I look forward to being able to provide some additional insights into the world of recruiting for physicians in a more informal relaxed atmosphere. Over the last year or so, I have been reading and attending seminars where folks waxed eloquently about blogs, blogging, social networking, …explaining this is the new communication tool for recruiters. We at Eskridge & Associates have decided to be part of this movement forward and join the world of blogs. I look forward to some interesting conversations from my fellow recruiters, physicians and clients.


Bob Eskridge, CPC, CTS, PRC, CSP
President &
Board Certified Physician Recruiter
Eskridge & Associates
512.244.7023 (Office)
bob@eskridge-associates.com
www.eskridge-associates.com

Member – National Coalition of Healthcare Recruiters
Member - National Association of Personnel Services