When it comes time for that first job after residency training, early career physicians may find they have their pick of practice setting. Data from a top physician recruiting firm shows some areas where recruitment may be stronger, though the opportunities remain varied.
“All of these different places are looking for primarily the same talent,” said Alex Herbison, vice president at AMN Healthcare’s Physician Solutions division. “They may not all have the same urgency of need,” but they are all competing for the same physicians.
Herbison said that hospitals, private practice medical groups and academic settings increasingly are being joined in the recruitment of physicians by urgent-care centers, telehealth platforms, insurance and pharmacy companies and medical groups owned by private equity firms.
“There are so many different areas that are looking for a primary care physician, an orthopaedic surgeon or a neurologist—you name the specialty,” he said.
Recruiting up in some arenas
Data from searches conducted by AMN Healthcare shows, though, that practice settings such as hospitals, academic and private equity-owned groups are recruiting more than in the past.
“Recruiting activity at medical groups in recent years has been driven in part by the resources brought to bear by private equity companies, which have greatly expanded their footprint in the medical services market,” says a report from AMN Healthcare with recruiting data for the 2024–2025 year. “Between 2019 and 2022, there was a 9% increase in the number of hospital-owned physician practices, while at the same time, was an 86% increase in the number of corporate-owned physician practices.”
AMN Healthcare’s findings were based on a representative sample of the 1,420 search engagements in 47 states the company conducted from April 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025, and includes data on salary, bonuses, types of practices seeking physicians and more.
Of the searches AMN Healthcare conducted for physicians in the 2024–2025 review period, the most common practice settings were:
- Hospitals—34%, up from 28%.
- Academic—28%, up from 22%.
- Groups—24%, down from 26%.
- Community health center, federally qualified health center or Indian Health Service—3%, down from 5%.
- Other (urgent care, HMO, association, home health, etc.)—10%, down from 13%.
- Solo, partnership or concierge—1%, down from 6%.
Of the 395 academic practice settings that conducted searches, the following types of positions were sought:
- Clinical faculty—89%, up from 83%.
- Leadership or administration—10%, down from 14%.
- Research faculty—1%, down from 3%.
The percentage of searches conducted, by community size, were:
- 100,001 people or more—70%, up from 66%.
- 25,001 to 100,000—20%, down from 21%.
- 0 to 25,000—10%, down from 13%.
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A wide-open field
If residents are interested in one type of practice setting, Herbison said they are likely to find a position that fits. He said hospitals, for example, will always “have a need for your mainstream specialties.” And they’re not the only setting seeking to hire an array of physicians.
“Right now, we see academic medical centers with more of a business mind and really trying to drive the market like a for-profit health system would,” Herbison said. “They're expanding. They're acquiring smaller, critical access hospitals to continue to bring patients back to the mothership, for lack of a better word, for these more high-level procedures.”
The familiarity of an academic setting can be a draw to residents looking for a known quantity.
Newer types of practice settings such as telehealth centers or urgent-care facilities often have “a better work-life balance built into how those opportunities are set up,” Herbison noted.
Physician private practice groups, on the other hand, might have an “old-school” approach, especially in cases where they are looking to replace a retiring partner.
Herbison said they might tell AMN Healthcare that “we want someone with a business mentality, but we really like someone close out of training for longevity purposes.”
Often, though, residents might feel uncomfortable with the business part of medicine.
“They may not be looking for that type of opportunity where they have to hustle, go meet referring providers and try and build a patient base,” he said. “They want to step into a patient base and, in most cases, there are enough opportunities, whether it be with physician practices that are employed by the hospitals or some of the other settings where they don't have to build a patient base.”
Residents should ask themselves what kind of practice setting will work for them.
“As you have chosen your specialty in residency, [ask] what's most important to you setting-wise?” Herbison recommended. “Do you want to spend more time with patients? Well, in some cases there may be some mandates on what expectations are for volume when you join a hospital. So, maybe private practice is better for you or academics, if you want to give back to the next generation of physicians.”
Explore further with the AMA STEPS Forward® toolkit, “What to Look for in Your First or Next Practice
Evaluate the Practice Environment to Match Your Priorities,” which is enduring material designated by the AMA for a maximum of 0.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™.
Learn more about AMA CME accreditation.
The right fit for first physician job
Residents looking for their first jobs after graduate medical education should consider their goals and take a holistic view of the positions they’re considering, Herbison said. Those aiming to take a larger chunk out of their educational debt, for example, might seek a higher amount of loan repayment in their first contract.
To draw physicians to harder-to-recruit areas like less populated towns, employers are making the full package more desirable, Herbison said.
“You can't control geography, but certainly there are the parameters within the opportunity—starting with compensation, but also as importantly, the scope of the opportunity, the time off, the work-life balance, all of the variables that accommodate the candidates,” he said.
Once you have a contract in hand, consult with an attorney to ensure that the offer is all that it could be.
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