Working as a physician is both rewarding and challenging.  It is a long road to becoming a physician, and I remember asking people before embarking on that road whether it was worth the personal sacrifices required.  Since then, my colleagues and I hear that same question many times from people at all levels of training, and it remains an intriguing question, especially as I realize in retrospect how strongly influenced I was by the answers I received when asking it years ago.

Before becoming a physician, I worked as a physician recruiter at one of the first successful large physician recruiting firms in St. Louis, Hitchens & Foster.  My contacts from that period remain strong, and many of my fellow recruiters have gone on to create their own successful recruiting companies.  I am so thankful for this background, as it has served me well in navigating my own job searches (yes, for many physicians including myself, finding the ideal job requires figuring out what the ideal job is, and what is right for you.  You hate to think that the first, or even second, job that you take may not be where you’ll stay forever, but take the good with the bad, and you’ll always come out ahead…but that’s another post…)  The recruiting background has given me a  unique perspective among physicians on the topic of doctor job hunting.

My hope is that DocWorking will serve as a platform for initiating discussions among practicing physicians, residents and fellows, medical students, premed students, doctor moms, doctor dads and anyone else who may find the subjects at hand interesting. Topics for upcoming blog posts include:

The long road to becoming a doctor: Is it worth it?
Doctoring: Choosing the right career path
How physicians plan for the right job
How physicians find the right job
Finding doctor jobs in saturated markets
When is working with recruiters useful? and when is it not?
How to get work as a physician in the U.S.
MD Steps to practicing medicine in the U.S.
Physician life choices
Doctor Mom to Doctor Mom

I hope that these and other upcoming topics will spur some interesting discussions, and help some people with choices and decisions along the way!