When considering a practice opportunity, don’t  overlook one of the most important determinants of career satisfaction: The job itself.

Caught up in the whirl of recruiting dinners, visits to offices and hospitals, compensation considerations, and the possibility of relocating to a new community, learning about what you actually will be doing, when and where you will be doing it, and how much of it you will be expected to do can get crowded out.

Take time to learn about your duties, schedule, location, and workload to avoid regrets later when you are on the job.

Discuss the scope of your practice with your prospective employer. Will you be caring for a broad range of patients and cases, or will your practice be narrowly focused? Will your patient/case mix change as your practice grows? 

Ask about your schedule. When will your work day begin and end? How much time will you spend at your office, in the hospital, and elsewhere? What will your call schedule be like, and how heavy is call?

Confirm your practice location(s). While you may be interviewed in the practice’s main office, you may be assigned to another site. Ask whether your employer may reassign you to different locations, and whether you will have any say in the matter.

Learn about your anticipated workload. How busy does your employer expect you to be when you start? What is your practice’s target size and how will your employer help you build your practice? Consider whether your workload be comfortable and your compensation will be fair.

While the people interviewing you can tell you about your anticipated duties, schedule, location, and workload, there is no substitute for direct interviews and observation. Your prospective colleagues with jobs similar to the one for which you are applying are your most reliable source of job satisfaction information.

Arrange to shadow a prospective colleague during a typical day. You will not only get to see what the work is like, but will be able to ask physicians what they like most and least about their jobs. If they are happy, there’s a good chance that you will be happy, too. To learn more about shadowing, see “Use Your Prospective Colleagues as Surrogates”, February 2008.

Finding out about your anticipated duties, schedule, practice location, and workload will help you assess whether you will be happy with the job itself. Ask, look, and listen during the recruiting process to determine whether the job is right for you.