Questions to Ask a Physician Recruiter
Questions for a call with an in-house or agency physician recruiter, ideally before you agree to a site visit. They cover who the recruiter actually works for, how the pay is built, call and staffing, credentialing timelines, and the contract terms that are hardest to change later.
The questions
Open any question for the note
Are you in-house with this employer, or working on contingency for them?
Why ask it
This decides whose interests sit behind the call. An in-house recruiter will still be there after you sign, while an agency recruiter is usually paid on placement, so speed matters to them in a way it may not to you.
How are you paid on this placement?
Why ask it
A percentage of your first-year pay means the recruiter benefits from a higher offer, which can work in your favor. A flat fee means their only interest is that you sign, which is useful context before you take their negotiating advice.
Which job is this, and which site would I actually be working at?
Why ask it
Recruiters sometimes name a metro area when the practice sits an hour outside it. Get the town, the hospital name and the specific site, then check the drive yourself rather than taking the description on trust.
How long has this position been open, and how many physicians have you submitted so far?
Why ask it
A job open for a year in a busy specialty usually has a reason: the pay, the call, the administration, or the last physician's experience. Few candidates submitted means you have more leverage than you would expect.
Is this a replacement, and what happened to the previous physician?
Why ask it
Retirement, relocation and being pushed out are very different signals. If the recruiter does not know, ask the employer the same question later and notice whether the two accounts agree.
What is the volume expectation, in patients per day or in work units?
Why ask it
The expectation is the job, whatever the rest of the description says. Compare it with what the current physicians actually produce, because a target nobody in the group reaches is a target built to be missed.
What support comes with the role: nursing, advanced practice, scribes, billing?
Why ask it
Two nurses and a scribe versus one shared medical assistant changes both the volume you can carry and the length of your day. Ask what is funded now, not what is planned for next year.
How many physicians are on this service today, and how many positions are budgeted?
Why ask it
Staffed and budgeted are rarely the same number. A group of six that is really four people covering a schedule built for six is the job you would be walking into.
What is the guaranteed base, and how long does the guarantee last?
Why ask it
The guarantee period is the comfortable part. Ask what happens the day it ends, and what recent hires earned in their first year afterwards, since that is your realistic income.
How does the pay split between base, productivity and quality bonuses?
Why ask it
The split tells you how much of your income you actually control. Bonuses tied to metrics you cannot influence, such as system-wide scores, amount to a smaller salary with extra paperwork.
What is the call schedule, and is call paid on top of base?
Why ask it
Call is where physician workload hides. Ask for nights per month and weekends per quarter, whether it is taken from home or in-house, and whether the group has locums coverage when someone is out.
Who handles licensing and credentialing, and how long until I could see patients?
Why ask it
Credentialing can take months, and it sets both your start date and when income begins. Ask who does the paperwork, since candidates often end up chasing it themselves while unpaid.
What is in the sign-on or loan repayment, and what would I owe if I left early?
Why ask it
These almost always carry a repayment obligation. Ask for the exact schedule of what would be owed at year one, two and three, and whether it is forgiven if the employer terminates you.
Is there a non-compete, and what radius and duration does it cover?
Why ask it
A restrictive covenant can turn leaving a job into moving house. Get the radius, the length and the activities it covers, and have a lawyer in that state read the wording before you sign anything.
Is the malpractice coverage occurrence-based or claims-made, and who pays for tail coverage?
Why ask it
The distinction decides what protects you after you leave, and tail coverage can cost a substantial sum. Recruiters either know this or can get it quickly, and hesitation tells you how carefully the offer was built.
How is termination written in the contract, with cause and without?
Why ask it
Without-cause clauses cut both ways, so the notice period matters as much as the existence of the clause. Ask what counts as cause, since broad definitions leave you with very little protection.
What does the area look like for a partner's work, schools and housing?
Why ask it
Contracts fail for reasons that have nothing to do with the hospital. Ask concretely about employment for a spouse, school options, the cost of a house and distance to a large airport.
Can I speak with a physician who joined in the past two years, and one who left?
Why ask it
The two together give you both sides of the story. A recruiter who will only produce the enthusiastic new hire is managing you rather than informing you, and that itself is worth noting.
What do candidates usually ask for that this employer will not agree to?
Why ask it
Shows the employer's real limits before you spend your negotiation on something impossible. Recruiters generally know which requests always fail: call relief, a shorter covenant, a later start date.
Why have physicians left this group in the past couple of years?
Why ask it
Turnover predicts your own experience better than anything on the recruitment brochure. If several left for competing groups nearby, the problem is this employer rather than the region or the specialty.
How to use these questions
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
What a recruiter is and is not
An in-house recruiter works for the hospital or group and will still be there after you sign. An agency recruiter is usually paid by the employer when you accept, often as a share of your first-year pay. Neither one represents you, though a good recruiter will say plainly when a job is a poor fit. Treat everything you hear about compensation as provisional until it appears in a draft contract, and use the recruiter as the fastest route to documents rather than as the source of truth.
Get these before agreeing to a site visit
- The specific site or sites you would cover, and the driving distance between them.
- The base, the length of any guarantee, and the productivity formula including its conversion figure.
- Call frequency, whether it is in-house or from home, and whether it is paid separately.
- Current staffing of the service: filled positions, open positions, and how much locum coverage is being used.
- Whether a non-compete and any repayment obligation exist, even if the exact language comes later.
Common pitfalls
- Do not let an agency submit your CV without telling you the employer's name first. Duplicate submissions from two agencies can get you excluded entirely.
- Do not negotiate against a verbal number. Ask for the draft agreement, then negotiate the document.
- Do not read a large headline figure as a strong offer. A high base with an aggressive productivity target can pay less than a modest base with realistic expectations.
- Do not sign before a healthcare attorney licensed in that state has read it. The fee is small next to a covenant that limits where you can work for years.
- Be wary of site visits arranged before the pay structure is clear. They are pleasant, they take two days, and they are hard to walk away from.
During the site visit
- Ask to see the call room, the clinic and the operating rooms you would use, rather than the newest building.
- Ask to speak with physicians without administrators in the room, even for ten minutes.
- Ask nursing staff how long the service has been short. They usually answer plainly.
- Ask for one current physician's actual schedule for a real week, including call, instead of a description of a typical week.