As the old saying goes, you only get one chance to make a good first impression.
“Come back to Columbia, Mo.”
That’s what the ad on the righthand side of my Facebook homepage said. It caught my eye as I scrolled through my newsfeed one day just a few months after I’d moved away from Columbia, Missouri, where I’d recently finished grad school. The ad included a little picture of what students called “the Columns,” undoubtedly the most recognizable spot on the University of Missouri’s campus and most iconic symbol of the school.
And, boy, did it tug on my heart. (“Hit me right in the feels,” as they say on the internet.) I was in the midst of that unenviable, inevitable post-grad job-seeking stage, trying to figure out where to put my new degree to use. I’d deliberately moved to be nearer family—to be home—but that little ad (produced by the school’s alumni department) tugged on the part of me that knew I had left another home behind. Out of all the countless Facebook ads I have scrolled past over the years, that ad is the only one whose headline and image I still remember.
Just as Facebook advertisers could target (and tug at) me based on my current and past locations, physician recruiters, too, can use PracticeLink to target specific physicians based on their current and past locations. You can create effective “heartstrings campaigns” by sharing your jobs with specific audiences whose hearts are already tied to your area in some way.
I have a friend who recently accepted a new position that requires her to travel about 50 percent of her time. She hasn’t traveled much except for pleasure, so she came to me for advice. “What is one tip you’d give a frequent flyer?” she asked.
If you’ve ever tried to recruit physicians for a rural opportunity, you would surely get a kick out of the CW show Hart of Dixie.
The show focuses on Dr. Zoe Hart (played by Rachel Bilson), a young physician who just finished a heart surgery residency in New York City. When her plans to practice as a surgeon in the big city fall through, she ends up accepting an offer to work as a general practitioner at a small private practice in rural Alabama. At first she feels like a fish out of water, but quickly she learns to love the small-town—the people, the practice and the pace of life.
(The show went off the air last year, but if you’re interested, all four seasons are now on Netflix for your binging pleasure.)
Like all things in life, physician recruitment isn’t quite as simple as it looks on television, but there’s still a truth to Zoe Hart’s story: Rural opportunities have much to offer physicians, and they may be the right choice even for candidates who don’t initially look like they fit the bill.
