When it comes to hiring a medical professional, it’s essential that you choose the right person for the job. Unlike most jobs, a doctor or nurse has to prioritize others’ lives, and placing your patients in the wrong hands could spell disaster. Before you hire a new doctor, nurse, or technician, you should consider these factors (while also screening them legally).
Training and Qualifications
Doctors, nurses, and technicians will diagnose, provide treatments, and provide counseling for their patients in regards to their injuries, diseases, or illnesses. Since their job description requires them to collect personal information, examine patients, and perform diagnostics tests, you need to hire someone qualified to do so.
The qualifications necessary to become a medical professional varies based on their job description, but surgeons and medical doctors have to go through extensive training, complete MCAT prep courses and practical tests. Some nurses and technicians only require a year of training, while doctors and surgeons need 8-12 years.
It’s crucial for you to understand all the requirements necessary to fill the position so you can screen them properly. You also have to make sure they provide proof of their qualifications like their bachelor’s, master’s degree, or medical license. Always call the college or university they stated they attended to receive confirmation of their attendance.
Background Checks
Never, ever hire a medical professional without doing an extensive background check. A hospital and doctor’s office needs to be a safe place free from incompetent, dangerous, or unqualified people. Surprisingly, there is no federal law that requires background checks in the United States, but you should do it anyway to avoid potential harm to your patients.
While screening candidates, conduct the following background checks:
- Criminal history screening
- Drug screenings
- Civil history checks
- Verification checks
- Exclusion and sanction lists
- Sex offender registry checks
- Alias checks
- Address history checks
- Role-specific checks.
Not only will performing these checks keep your patients safe, but it will also prevent legal risk, lawsuits, and threats of a negative reputation for your practice.
Knowledge and Experience
Understanding the theory of many health care topics is a fantastic starting point, but as an employer, you also need to know if the person attending the interview has relevant work experience. Many qualified medical professionals get plenty of experience while training during medical school, so even newer doctors could fit into this category.
Investigate their knowledge by asking questions relevant to their job title and the types of patients they’ll be seeing daily. You should also ask about their previous work experience and speak to their past employers about their typical duties. It’s vital to prioritize what their past employers thought about how they treated their patients because their satisfaction is important for their health and wellbeing, as well as the reputation of the place they worked at.
Personality
Medical professionals need to have an excellent overall personality to succeed in the role. Even if they’re overqualified, a doctor or nurse that can’t speak to their patients with empathy and respect will likely fail at their role somewhere down the line. Communication skills are essential here – doctors and nurses need to be good listeners and speakers.
Compassion is another good quality to possess because your patients won’t want to feel like they’re speaking to a robot. Acting with kindness, civility, care, and sympathy will help your patients open up about personal topics and symptoms that they’re uncomfortable discussing.
Other important traits a medical professional should have include:
- Patience
- Professionalism
- Emotional stability
- Work ethic
- Humility
- Intelligence
Becoming a doctor is difficult, and maintaining these qualities under pressure is the bare minimum metric for becoming a great doctor. You may need to test your potential doctors to act in a situation that’s stressful or confusing to see if they remain confident and calm.
