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Due to the growing demand in the physician job market as the US faces an increasingly older population, the industry is providing incentives to young adults.

As the US faces a significantly high older adult population, a growing need for medical services comes with an increased need for qualified physicians. This trend is evident all across the country amongst the gamut of specialties, providing a wealth of opportunity for seasoned and novice physicians alike. Due to a rising demand for physicians, clinics and healthcare organizations offer higher salaries to entice qualified candidates.

According to AMN Healthcare’s Physician Permanent Solutions division president, Leah Grant, hospital systems groups are experiencing the most demand, along with new recruiting practices. Increased competition to recruit a qualified physician no longer exists largely in the hands of hospital systems and private practices. Grant notes that in today’s healthcare industry, entities like insurance companies, private equity groups, telemedicine groups, urgent care centers, and retail clinics are all vying for doctors to join them. From 2019 to 2022, the number of hospital-owned physician practices grew by 9%, while the number of corporate-owned physician practices grew by 86%. What’s more, Grant notes that there were 1,400 private-equity healthcare acquisitions in 2021, which has increased in recent years.

In response to rising recruitment efforts, compensation models are changing. According to Grant, many employers offer record-breaking incentives to secure qualified physicians. Helen Falkner, regional vice president of recruiting for Jackson Physician Search, notes that demand for family medicine practitioners is extremely high and shows no signs of faltering. With an annual addition of only 3,200 practicing family medicine residents per year, Falkner notes that only 7% of practicing family medicine practitioners leave their jobs in any given year. This yields a mere 10,800 physicians in the entire country available to fill positions, otherwise viewed as 200 family-medicine practitioners per state. Falkner points out that of these 200 physicians, many may prioritize sub-specialty interests, have specific scheduling requirements, prefer specific geographic locations, etc., leading to a significantly lower state hiring pool. Given Falkner’s statement that the US has nearly 3,000 available family-medicine practitioner positions, hiring a physician may be daunting. CEO of the Association for Advancing Physician and Provider Recruitment, Carey Goryl, adds that demand is way beyond supply—a problem that could be alleviated if the US would alter its immigration policies, thereby increasing the applicant pool with medical graduates from abroad and foreign-born physicians.

Given that the country is seeing an increase in the number of nurse practitioners (NPs) and advanced practice providers (APPs), Grant points out that many doctors express concern about losing job opportunities. Grant notes, however, that reality shows that excessive physician demand, compared with physician supply, is the reason for the rising NP and APP numbers. Falkner also stresses that physicians should not feel threatened by NPs and APPs, as non-physician practitioners are often employed in underserved areas, like rural communities, where physicians typically choose not to work. Sadly, healthcare facilities in such locations have no choice but to employ NPs.

With demand for physicians outpacing supply amidst a growing physician shortage, Falkner notes that most organizations recruiting physicians are proposing initial salaries on par with or higher than the Medical Group Management Association average. Organizations are also offering more valuable incentive packages, with some worth upwards of $100,000. Falkner points out that 55% of her company’s 2023 family medicine placements had recruitment packages valued at $100,000 or more. Furthermore, 65% of signing bonuses or recruitment packages were valued at $50,000 or greater. Grant notes that her company dealt with one employer offering its candidate a relocation allowance of $150,000 while another offered its candidate a signing bonus of $570,000.

Grant encourages physicians not to let high salaries and valuable incentives overshadow their career moves. Doctors need to consider the day-to-day environment at any given employer’s organization, making sure to take a job where both their professional life and quality-of-life needs will likely be met.