The Interview Process

Once you’ve selected your geography and the type of medical group you’re interested in, prepared your CV, divined the handful of groups you’re going to market yourself to, and figured an idea of the revenue you might generate, it’s time to begin the interview process. I’d suggest you go to as many interviews as possible, even with the groups and health systems on your list that may not be your highest ranked. You will grow from the experience, you get to see a variety of different operations, and you attain a familiarity and comfort with the interview process — a process that says a great deal about the group. Plus, you’ll be reimbursed for the trips and their associated expenses. Remember, you don’t need to jump at the first thing you see. Consider your options and know that if the group is truly interested in you as a new associate, there’ll probably be another dinner and house-hunting trip in your future.

Your interview exposure to the group begins with the vibe. You’ll know it when you feel it, and you’ll need to know what goes on underneath the interview, under the veneer. In other words, when you’re interviewing, all parties are on their best behavior. That means all the skeletons will be tucked neatly away, periodicals and throwaways stacked crisply in front of them, and the interviewers will have on their best business attire. You’re all there for show, a dance around the prospect of your employment.

You’ll need to cut through the vacuous interview niceties and get a feel for who is where and who does what. Which doctors are included in the interview process? The managing partner? A physician you’ll work with in a satellite office, supposedly someone you’ll need to be tight with? The physician lead or committee in the hospital? Or is there an interviewing body that will pass you around, take you to dinner, and generally pass judgment?

Watch the dynamic of the interviewing physicians. Learn who the key physicians in the group are and what positions they hold. Are there senior physicians there? Do the young guys bite their tongues in the presence of the older guys? Or does everyone seem to say what’s on their minds without the fear of retribution? Do the physicians generally get along well? Do the partners, more specifically, get along well? (A means to that answer, outside of an overt smack to the head, is a question couched like “Do you do anything outside of the office with your partners?” or “What activities do you and your partners do outside of the office?”)

If catching that vibe is on the tips of your fingers, request to interview each partner or, if a large group, a fair number of partners. In a health system, be sure to talk with the cohorts in your specialty. Ask them about the group, about direction, about where they see things going in the next year. Inquire about the following 2-5 years. And, though a bit of a stretch, ask them where they see the group in 10 years. Dance delicately around the partnership and the numbers. Talk about the group’s history, find out about the longevity of physicians, and then ask the interviewing partner what he or she thinks about their partners. Ask them about group cohesion. Remember this factor, and never forget it during the process. This is your second marriage. These are the people who very well may hold the keys to your career in their hands. And these are the people for whom you’ll need to be willing to lie down in traffic, as you would hope they would do for you. Once you become partner, extracting yourself from the group may very well be as complicated, or more complicated, than extracting yourself from a marriage. So, ask the questions you need to, and make sure you find balance between “need to know” for the interview and “none of your business” for other things. The interviewing doctors should not, technically, ask personal lifestyle-related questions. You should keep your questions practice-centric and focused on the partnership and the job at hand. Then you’ll both be on the right track.

These questions are key. The interactions when you meet the group can be indicative and help you gain a sense, the true sense, of the energy of the practice. Generally, I’d separate gut from reason on this and let my gut win that battle. As with test taking, your first instinct is usually your best.

Excerpted from The Employed Physician: Your Essential Guide to the Business of Medicine by Jeffrey T. Gorke.