As medical professionals, we spend many years training, thousands in student loans, and countless hours away from family and friends. The last thing we expect at the end of our long journey is to be taken advantage of by a broken system. Unfortunately, this is exactly what happens. Our industry is plagued by unreasonably high turnover, excess waste, and lack of transparency. It is no surprise that most medical professionals become burnt out and leave their job within the first few years. The recent pandemic only served to accelerate what we already knew was happening.

We moved six times in ten years to complete our training cycles. Our first job offer had a signing bonus retracted due to a recruiter demanding a $30,000 placement fee. Third party recruiters routinely remove large sums from the equation for a simple introduction. To make matters worse, they often present candidates with the least risk as opposed to the best most qualified individuals. This is fundamentally flawed.

We submitted personal information to random (and sometimes questionable) job boards to find many jobs were not active or updated. We were forced to manage multiple accounts, sites and follow alerts in an attempt to seek all of our career options. Finding a good job quickly became a second job. Generic search engines did not understand the complex nature of medical training and often yielded incorrect matches. There was no trusted “go to” place that simplified this search for busy medical professionals. More importantly, what few options existed did nothing to help find the right job.

Along our way, many considered it forbidden to discuss essential items up front such as contract structure and pay. In order to unlock that data one had to spend days preparing, traveling and interviewing and hope expectations matched up. IF not, it was a waste of time and resources for both parties. It was difficult to know which jobs were actually worth your time with important pieces missing.

Consulting with hiring managers, we quickly learned this was not a one-sided problem. They were forced to subscribe to many pricey services returning suboptimal results. It was a fragmented process with many touch points. Turnover and recruitment cost was killing organizations. Consulting firms occasionally stepped in but provided no true long term solution. Organizations had many vacant positions and were losing revenue due to opportunity cost and paying inflated rates for temporary coverage. To top it off, the complexity of medicine made it difficult to map skills and know exactly who was the best match; someone who was qualified, had similar job expectations and would be truly happy and not leave!

Throughout our combined 37 years in the industry, we have worked and interacted with individuals representing nearly every medical profession. We grew tired of seeing family, friends and colleagues taken advantage of by this same broken system. The repercussions of which dealt major financial and mental blows to an industry that is the backbone of our society. We knew something had to be done. We started by offering free contract reviews to family and friends. This grew into regular discussions surrounding the industry. We researched and consulted with hiring managers and surveyed medical colleagues. After years of planning, we pledged to create a higher standard in the medical recruitment industry and created STAT Careers.

In medicine, we are taught the concept of “preventive medicine.” The best way to treat a disease is to prevent it from happening in the first place. These issues can all be traced back to one origin; a potential job. If we can intervene and improve at the root of the problem, we can avoid many of the issues that plague our great industry, its organizations and all of the brave healthcare workers that compose it.

Consider STAT Careers preventive medicine for your career and organizations.

Drs. Kasie and Rockford Adkins

Co-Founders, STAT Careers