For physician residents and fellows looking for their first role out of training, the invitation for an on-site interview may feel like a weighty—and mysterious—step. In the transition to practice, new physicians might wonder: What does that on-site interview mean for my chances of getting the job, and how many others are likely to be competing for the same position that I want?
Data from in-house physician recruiters can give a peek behind the curtain on the process and help reveal how serious potential employers are about a physician when they’ve asked them to visit for a formal on-site interview.
No matter what, physicians should expect some competition for the role, said Carey Goryl, CEO of the Association for Advancing Physician and Provider Recruitment (AAPPR), a professional organization of internal physician and health care provider-recruitment professionals.
If physicians are “in a higher demand specialty, they might have less competition and more leverage, but that’s not to say that any physician won't have competition,” she noted.
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On-site interview means high interest
Research by AAPPR shows that once an invitation has been extended to a physician for a formal, on-site job interview, employers have likely narrowed the field down significantly from their initial funnel. How much they’ve done so might vary depending on the hiring organization’s location, the physician’s specialty and the type of practice.
The “2025 AAPPR Physician and Provider Recruitment Benchmarking Report: Search Dynamics and Trends” includes information from 128 organizations that participated in the annual research study and includes details from more than 15,000 searches, 61% of which were for physicians.
The study found that there was an average of two on-site interviews per physician hire, and an average of 1.4 offers per hire. The statistics varied slightly among organizations based on a handful of factors.
“When you are applying and doing those initial phone screens, that is the most competitive point in the process because that’s the funnel you have to get through,” Goryl said. “Employers have become much more focused—that when it gets to the point when you’re being invited to an on-site interview, for sure that employer is very interested in you.”
Employers may hire differently
The health care organizations with the highest average number of physician interviews per hire were academic medical centers or university hospitals, followed by multihospital or integrated health care delivery systems, then multispecialty or ambulatory practices.
Location desirability—as determined using data from the U.S Bureau of Economic Analysis on the economic health, arts and culture, outdoor recreation or growth of a health care organization’s primary location—also was linked to some variation. The locations determined to be at the lowest end of the desirability spectrum had the highest average number of interviews per hire, followed by the average, then the above-average range.
Employers in health care organizations with 200 to 749 physicians and other health professionals extended slightly more offers—an average of 1.6—before making a hire than did those of different organization sizes, who averaged 1.3 offers per hire. But employers of all sizes remained around two offers per hire.
Physician specialty could tell the tale
Physicians in some particularly high-demand specialties may see less competition for the jobs they want, experts said. As the U.S. population grows older, the need for physicians in specialties such as hematology/oncology, gastroenterology and endocrinology may outpace the number of those in practice, particularly in rural areas. No matter what, though, Goryl counseled residents and fellows to manage their expectations.
“That’s leverage that is good for the candidate, but they will still likely have one other person who’s being invited on site,” she said. “Do not underestimate that you are still in in the game to ‘win’ the position.”
Physician job seekers should explore the JAMA Career Center®, which presents physician career opportunities, news and information relevant to the full spectrum of medical practice. Search for physician jobs by specialty and location or browse all of the physician jobs by specialty.
