Healthcare Career Blog, Physician Blogs

Physician Jobs Lead to Substantial Student Loan Repayment Award

Author Healthcare Career Blogger | 31.03.2009 | Category Colorado Physician Jobs, Education, Locum Tenens, Medical doctor jobs, OB GYN jobs, Physician Career Path, Physician Recruitment, Physicians, Pschyriatry Jobs

As the doctor shortage worsens in rural and high-need areas nationwide, states are stepping up incentives to recruit physicians of all types. New York State alone has pledged $22 million to its Doctors Across New York Program and Michigan is working hard to abate a projected physician shortage of 6,000 doctors over the next ten years. Physician recruitment agencies are focused on these areas and fast-tracking physician specialists for permanent and locum tenens jobs.

Why offer payback incentives in a field known for high salaries? The simple fact is, practicing medicine in what the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services refers to as a designated Health Professional Shortage Area – or underserved market – isn’t as lucrative as physician jobs located in larger market areas. So, in exchange for student loan payback incentives, qualifying doctors agree to work in shortage areas for three to five years and dedicate one-third of their practice to treating patients with Medicaid, Medicare or no insurance at all, depending on the requirements of individual state and federal payback programs.

The Colorado Health Foundation’s Physician Loan Repayment Program is currently awarding eligible doctors up to $50,000 a year for a maximum of three years if they serve in a qualified rural or urban Colorado community. Currently, 57 percent of the state’s 64 counties lack enough primary-care physicians to sufficiently serve the population. The program awarded more than $2 million to 18 physicians in 2008. Physician recruitment agencies are ideal sources to find physician jobs and locum tenens opportunities in these areas as well as highly coveted positions located in Metropolitan areas.

Student loan payback incentives have been around for a few years. After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, the state of Louisiana developed the Greater New Orleans Health Service Corps, an organization offering incentives of up to $110,000, including student loan repayment and income guarantees to doctors, dentists and other medical professionals willing to work in post-disaster conditions – a move to lure needed doctors into the ravaged city and to stanch an outmigration of doctors eyeing greener pastures. The federal government provided $15 million to finance the Louisiana program and the state awarded 81 grants to attract physicians for primary care medical doctor jobs, OB GYN jobs, psychiatry jobs, dentists and a handful of nurses and counselors.

For doctors less interested in pay and more inclined to utilize their skills to help what most would consider the underprivileged, states across the country have various programs in place that offer doctors loan repayment in exchange for medical services. Oregon’s Rural Health Services Loan Repayment Program offers to repay 20 to 25 percent of the loan principle for health professionals who agree to work in a rural
hospital, a rural health clinic or pharmacy located in either a federally designated Health Professional Shortage Area or state designated Area of Unmet Health Care.

For doctors not interested in practicing medicine, The National Institute for Health offers health professionals up to $35,000 in student loan repayment for a commitment as a medical researcher. Not such a bad deal, say loan payback proponents.

How to Become a Licensed & Board Certified Physician

Author Healthcare Career Blogger | 05.03.2009 | Category Board Certification, Education, Healthcare Career Blog, Licenses, Locum Tenens, Medical doctor jobs, Physician Career Path, Physicians

A licensed and board certified physician must complete specific stages of medical education and meet internship requirements to become a fully licensed and board certified physician. Those stages are:

• Pre-medical
• Medical school
• Sub-internship
• Internship
• Residency
• Fellowship
• Pre-medical
• Medical school
• Sub-internship
• Internship
• Residency
• Fellowship

Board certification includes these elements:

• Licensure
• Continuing medical education

What are the pathways recommended to obtain a medical degree to practice and work as a physician in the United States?

• Medicine (MD)
• Osteopathic (DO)
• (IMG)

What kinds of degrees can be obtained?

• Doctor of Medicine
• Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine
• MD/PhD or DO/PhD

What exams are required to become a licensed physician?

• MCAT
• COMLEX
• Step 1, 2CE, 2PE, 3
• USMLE
• Step 1, 2CK, 2CS, 3

What are the regulatory bodies that govern the education and licensing of physicians in the United States?

• Association of American Medical College
• American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine
• National Resident Matching Program
• National Matching Service
• Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education
• Liaison Committee on Medical Education
• Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation
• Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education
• American Osteopathic Association
• American Medical Association

Medical doctor jobs are available to licensed and board certified physicians to work as permanent physicians and/or locum tenens in hospitals and healthcare facilities throughout the United States.

See Medical doctor jobs and locum tenens specialties

What organizations can medical students belong to in college that will help them advance their education?

Student groups include:

• American Medical Student Association
• Alpha Omega Alpha
• Sigma Sigma Phi
• Student National Medical Association