When you’re looking for your first physician job after residency or fellowship, there are innumerable factors to consider. What is the compensation and benefits package? Where do you want to live? What will your work hours be like, and will the employer value your well-being?
Perhaps the most ineffable of all the factors, though, is your relationship with the person who may be sitting next to you as you scroll through job openings online: Your spouse or significant other.
“I truly think the spouse and the family are huge in the decision-making process,” said Stephanie Voigt, senior provider recruiter for Confluence Health, based in Wenatchee, Washington. If for no other reason than “it’s difficult to uproot—to go and accept a job and stay there for just a couple years and then decide that's not what you like and then move on.”
Confluence Health is part of the AMA Health System Member Program, which provides enterprise solutions to equip leadership, physicians and care teams with resources to help drive the future of medicine.
Many physicians don’t stay long in their first roles after the end of residency or fellowship training. The formal support structures of training fall away at the same time that performance demands may intensify. It only complicates matters if a physician’s spouse or family isn’t happy where they have collectively landed.
“One of the top things that I see in people who leave is their spouse isn't happy in the community,” Voigt said. “So, when I talk to candidates, I tell them: You're important, but your spouse is about 80% of the decision.”
With that in mind, Voigt and physicians who have been there offer up their advice on how to bring your family into the decision-making process when you’re searching for your first physician job after training, giving tips on how to pick a role that fulfills both you and also those you love.
Start at the beginning
First, talk with your family about what kind of life you want, and need, to be happy. If there are geographic limitations, take those into consideration, but also think about what size, and type of community, makes the most sense.
Meghan Hicks, MD, a pediatrician who recently accepted a role with Confluence Health in Moses Lake, Washington, factored in both a geographic requirement and her family’s lifestyle goals. When her husband needed to relocate to the Pacific Northwest for his job, the two looked for a rural community there, but also one that was near hiking, camping and other outdoor activities.
“We really knew that we wanted to work or be somewhere more rural,” said Dr. Hicks. Once she had settled on a general location, then it was time to find an employer she felt would support her in leading a balanced life.
“Confluence really stood out though in their support of their physicians,” she said. “A big push for the move was so that I could really appreciate my role as a physician, but also as a mother and wife and enjoy that side too. And it seemed like that was really their biggest priority, along with providing good patient care.”
In this article, residents and fellows transitioning to practice will learn:
- Why physicians’ partners or family are such a key part of their job satisfaction.
- Questions to ask during job interviews to make family a part of the process.
- How much physician compensation means to the equation.
- What part of geography matters most to physicians and their families.
