Pain Management Employment Search Resources
1. Networking
Networking is a great resource for finding your ideal job. It is a great way to get unbiased, reliable information on potential jobs and “ins” to desirable jobs that may not feel the need to advertise through conventional mediums. Networking opportunities exist through:
-Faculty at your institution: Take opportunities to get involved in research with faculty, and seek out a mentor.
-Conferences
-Professional societies (like ASIPP, EPA, AAPM, AAPMR, ASRA, ASA, NANS, ASPN, PSPS, and more): Getting involved with societies increases the likelihood and effectiveness of your networking. Don’t forget about any local chapters of professional societies, which can provide increased opportunity for facetime networking.
2. Job Fairs
Several organizations hold multi-specialty job fairs throughout the country:
-Practice Match: https://www.practicematch.com/physicians/career-fairs-and-events/career-fairs.cfm
-Practice Link: http://info.practicelink.com/2016-practicelink-physician-job-fair-schedule
-CareerMD: http://www.careermd.com/physicians/careerfairs.aspx
-Your home institution may hold in-house job fairs periodically as well
3. Online Job Postings
Several websites exist that post physician job opportunities. They vary in quality/quantity of pain management positions posted. Most primarily consist of postings by recruiters and individual hospitals. A substantial amount of overlap exists in the postings across the websites. Below is a list of the best websites available. They are ranked according to usefulness, as I have experienced.
Practice Link www.practicelink.com: A substantial amount of pain management listings nationwide. A mix of recruiters and individual hospital postings. Able to search for pain management jobs specifically, by state, region, J1 visa acceptance, practice type, and academic positions. You can search by multi-state (search as many states as you want at the same time, which saves a lot of time as opposed to searching each state individually). You are able to make a profile and upload your CV, as well as track your saved job listings, and jobs applied for. A free 10 step job search guide is a very useful plus, and they hold job fairs around the nation throughout the year.
Practice Match www.practicematch.com: Very similar to Practice Link. You are able to make a profile and upload your CV, as well as track your saved job listings, and jobs applied for. However, their search options are much more limited. You also have to search for “pain medicine” and “pain management” jobs separately. There is a substantial amount of overlap of listings with Practice Link, and they in general have fewer listings than Practice Link. Because of this and the mentioned shortcomings, I have personally stopped using Practice Match, using Practice Link instead. They hold job fairs around the nation throughout the year.
CompHealth www.comphealth.com: This website allows you to search for jobs, but only jobs through the recruiter CompHealth. You cannot make a profile, and you must search for anesthesiology jobs and pick out the pain management jobs intermixed with anesthesiology jobs. Search options are limited to multi-state. That being said, the quality of jobs found here is very good, and they provide recruiters that are very helpful. I elaborate further on their recruitment services in the “Recruiters” section, but in short, they are very helpful, and they along with the quality of listings are why this website is ranked so highly.
CareerMD www.careermd.com: This website contains a large amount of pain management listings. You are able to create an account; however, this is difficult as you have to get it approved via email which they don’t do quickly. I had to call to get this accomplished, and then after a few weeks, I was not able to log in anymore. Because of this I abandoned the profile, and just use the search function while not logged in. Listings are lumped in with pain/palliative medicine listings. You are able to search by state and city which is unique; however, you have to search by state individually (not multi-state) and aren’t able to save specific listings. They hold job fairs around the nation throughout the year.
MDsearch www.mdsearch.com: Provides a mix of recruiters and hospital postings. You are able to make a profile, upload your CV, save jobs, and apply for jobs. You are able to search for pain listings by multi-state and practice type.
GasWork www.gaswork.com: Provides a mix of recruiters and hospital postings. You are able to make a profile, but not upload your CV. You are able to save and apply for jobs. The search options are very large, and geared more towards anesthesiology jobs. You are able to search multi-state and for pain jobs specifically.
ASA www.careers.asahq.org: This is the website through the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) that allows you to search for jobs. The number of listings is very low. Also, you cannot search by state or by pain management job listings specifically. You are able to make a profile, upload your CV, and save and apply for jobs.
Medical Opportunities www.medopps.org: This website allows you to search for jobs in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. You are able to make a profile, upload your CV, and save and apply for jobs. You are able to search for pain listings by multi-state and specific regions in the states.
Indeed www.indeed.com: This is a website that post listing for all jobs, not just physician jobs or even healthcare jobs. The search function is very limited. You search by keyword, not specific categories (i.e. pain management), and can’t multi-state search. You can create a profile but can’t upload a CV, and you can save and apply for jobs. Because of its search short comings, I have not found this site very helpful.
4. Recruiters
There are two main types of physician recruiters:
In-house recruiters: They are employed by the hiring party (hospital, physician group, private practice, etc.). They often work in the town where the job is located and can carry the title of recruiter, or other position such as office manager, etc.
Search firm/agency recruiters: These are third parties that have been contracted by the employer to find physicians to fill their positions. If they are “contingency” firms, the hospital/practice only pays them a fee if their candidate is hired. If they are “retained” firms, the hospital/practice retains them for a fee to help them find a physician, regardless of whether their candidate is hired. Regardless, the search firm is paid by the employer, and not by you. As you can imagine, “contingency” firms may be more aggressive in trying to find job placements, and theoretically may not care as much about the fit for the physician or practice, although whether this is really the case is up for debate.
There are many, many recruitment agencies that are available to help you find a pain management position. All but one (that is pain management specific) are agencies that help find positions for a variety of physician specialties, and some fill positions for other healthcare professions (nurses, etc.), as well as non-healthcare professions (although these usually have a specific healthcare branch/department). They can work for employers nationwide (although some focus on some regions more than others) or in specific regions of the country. This will affect which recruitment agencies are best for you. You can work with them by going directly to them via their website or phone line. More often, you will start working with them by replying to postings they have listed on the websites I listed above. Some agencies will have you work with one recruiter exclusively, while others you will speak with someone different each time, or depending on what job listing you are inquiring about. You can provide them with exactly what locations and practice types you are looking for, and provide them with your CV. There are many agencies that you may work with, but below are the agencies with the largest pain management listings I have encountered (my search has focused on the Northeast, Great Lakes region, and Mountain West region).
Pain Recruiters www.painrecruiters.com: This is the only recruitment agency I am aware of that deals specifically with pain management jobs. They also serve as recruiters for mid-level pain providers. They list jobs across the country; however, the number of job listings they have is very limited and listed on their website (on the order of 20-30 across the country at any given time). They are great to work with, however, their small number of job listings is a major limitation.
CompHealth www.comphealth.com: This agency specializes in healthcare job recruitment. They have a large number of searchable listings that I touched on in the “Online Job Postings” section. You can work with one recruiter. I have found this to be very helpful, as I can contact them about any job listing I find, and they can provide you with options you may not have found through the search. They know your situation and preferences and this provides a great continuity of service.
KTE www.ktemedicaljobs.com: This agency specializes in physician and mid-level provider jobs in anesthesiology and pain management. They work nationwide, although they don’t have opportunities in all states at all times. They have a relatively large number of listings. They also have a searchable listings database on their website.
MacJobs www.macjobs.net: This nationwide agency works with physicians and mid-level providers for placement in anesthesiology and pain management. They usually have 20-40 pain management listings at any given time and have a searchable database on their website.
Allstar Recruiting www.allstarrecruiting.com: This nationwide agency recruits for various medical specialties. It has a relatively small number of pain management positions at any given time.
Here is (by no means exhaustive) a list of other agencies that recruit pain management physicians (although usually only have a small number of listings: All Care Consultants (www.allcareconsultants.com), Archway (www.archway.com), Doctor’s Choice (www.doctorschoice.net), Enterprise Medical (www.enterprisemed.com), Honor Medical (www.honormedical.com), Lotus Medical (www.lotusmedstaff.com), McCloskey Partners (www.mccloskeypartners.com MidAtlantic Region only), Medicus (www.themedicusfirm.com), SourceMed (www.sourcemed.net)
5. Cold Calls/Emails
Reaching out to potential practices or hospitals about pain management positions can be a great way to find your ideal job. This can take the place of “ins” from your networking. It can help you find positions that aren’t listed through websites or recruiters, or that will be available in the future but have not yet been listed (letting you be the first to express interest).
To get started you need to identify a geographical area(s) you want to focus on. Next, identify all of the pain management practices that exist in that area. This can be achieved by talking to faculty at your institution; however, the definitive list of practices can be found using Google ®. Simply search for the city and state and “pain medicine” and click on the map to see all of the pain medicine providers/practices in the area surrounding your city of choice. After you have compiled your definitive list, you can research each practice to see which ones fit what you are looking for. You can send a well-crafted email (or phone call) to their recruiter, office manager, or whoever seems most appropriate inquiring about any pain management positions they are looking to fill or maybe looking to fill in the near future.
6. Neuromodulation Scientific Company Representatives
Territory Managers and Regional Sales Representatives from the large neuromodulation companies can be superb resources. The big three companies are Nevro, Boston Scientific, St. Jude Medical, and Medtronic. They work intimately with Pain Medicine practices in their area. They often know about a region’s Pain practices’ group dynamics, their recent history of hiring and turnover, which ones are utilizing neuromodulation, and which ones may be looking to hire. They can give you a great overview of all the different practices in a given region. They often can even contact the lead physicians of the group directly for you, allowing you to bypass practice managers, and having a great “in” that shows them you are serious with your inquiry and are a candidate who will most likely be able to bring advanced skills in the area of neuromodulation. In addition, if you have already been in contact with and even interviewed at several practices in a region, they can share with you their experiences with the groups, which can help you ultimately decide which practice to sign with.
7. External and Internal Job Distribution List
-PainLeaders.com is working in conjunction with hundreds of hospitals, private practice groups, and academic institutions to provide an ongoing list of career opportunities. Follow us on Instagram to learn more. https://www.instagram.com/painleaders/