Primary care doctors in demand; signing bonuses and higher pay for some

With fewer physicians choosing general medicine amid a growing and aging population, practices are having a harder time filling primary care slots, experts say.

By Myrle Croasdale, AMNews staff. June 19, 2006.

Family medicine resident Karl Kochendorfer, MD, had a better job-hunting experience than colleagues who graduated during the past decade: He had three job offers in the last year of his training and was able to negotiate a package tailored to the way he wanted to practice.

In August he will start in an academic clinical position at the University of Missouri in Columbia, a position that allows him to practice obstetrics and inpatient care while also pursuing his passion for IT research and development. The location met another of his criteria: staying in the Midwest.

"From what I hear, this is better than in previous years," Dr. Kochendorfer said of his opportunities.

Physician leaders and physician recruiters confirm that it is. They add that an increasing number of internists and family physicians are getting perks even beyond a job description tailored to their interests.

With demand for primary care physicians on the upswing and generalists now at the top of the most-recruited list, medical groups and hospitals are beginning to offer incentives such as signing bonuses and school loan repayment, according to physician leaders and physician recruiters. Some markets are even seeing an increase in starting salaries.

"The competition for general internal medicine graduates is quite intense," said William E. Golden, MD, chair of the American College of Physicians Board of Regents and an ACP delegate to the AMA House of Delegates. "The few being produced are in hot demand."