Beyond Just Medical Recruitment !

- A wonderful artcile published on July 4, 2016 by Jimmy Tang in Linkedin.

If you key-in on your google browser the words medical recruitment. In certain countries you will find two very different sides of the coin.

In some countries you will come up with a list of reputable Recruitment companies that list hospital/clinic jobs like: Doctor in Emergency/Obstretics and Gynaecology, or Specialty Doctors in Emergency medicine or Dermatology Clinical Fellow, or Consultant Physician/GP & Speciality Doctor in Acute Medicine.

In other countries the list comes up with Corporate Recruitment companies that focus on all industries and sectors. There will be a Healthcare sector listed in that particular website mentioning they are looking for talent to work in the healthcare industry. Now, here is the other side of the coin: The talent from the job postings are not like in some other countries where the jobs are skilled professional hospital staff, they are business and corporate sector related jobs like: Business development, Sales Director, Strategic planning, Project Management, Sales & Marketing, the list goes on.

Why the difference ?

There is no concrete answer or school of thought to this simple question. It really depends on that particular countries healthcare system, government policies, culture and strategic direction.

In some countries quality international healthcare comes at a cost which only a privilege few in urban cities are able to afford and foreign expatriates on family medical insurance packages provided for by their companies. If you go to a private international hospital or private clinic you get:

• Clean environment
• Modern facilities
• Customer-service and customer-friendly focused staff
• Staff from the receptionist through to the doctors are in neatly pressed and starch clean uniforms
• Internationally trained and qualified doctors
• English speaking staff and English speaking doctors
• The customer service process is international from the minute you walk into the hospital/clinic i.e. arriving at the reception counter, waiting areas, being escorted to the doctors consultation rooms, through to picking up your medication at the in-house Pharmacy, through to billing

These hospitals/clinics charge an arm and leg (pardon the pun) for a consultation or seeing a patient with a common cold or cough. They prescribe exactly the same over-the-counter drugs and medication that you can simply get back home in the UK if you walk into to the local Chemist in your local neighbourhood (no need to go out into the City) and no need to go to the family GP. The patient does not care about the extortionate fees the private hospital is charging as they can afford it or  it’s being covered by their medical insurance provider.

If my above explanation describes private “quality” healthcare. Compared to the UK, these “quality” standards are only just “basic-level entry criteria” for a “normal” NHS family clinic that is funded by the government in the UK in say a local working class neighbourhood. I have not even begun to touch upon the standard basic criteria for “private quality healthcare” in the UK yet.

My point is, healthcare in some countries is a commercial business and it’s all about bottom line. Therefore, medical recruitment companies in these countries only focus on jobs that are business, strategic and profit driven positions as opposed to “skilled-quality” positions.

Call me “old school” I think hospitals/clinics all around the world should be run by real doctors, real nurses and real medical professionals who are passionate experts in their field and skills, who have high ethical standards. And not run by Accountants or Corporate professionals with a Business degree or MBA with a bottom-line profit motive because the Healthcare profession is all about SAVING LIVES and it is not a commercial enterprise nor will it ever be.

Therefore, HR departments and Recruitment departments in these hospitals/clinics when recruiting healthcare professionals should focus on the below basic “entry-level” criteria requirements:

• Managing others and team involvement
• Problem solving and decision making
• Empathy and sensitivity
• Communication skills
• Organisation & planning
• Probity
• Perceptive
• Natural

Medical recruitment companies should not only focus their energy on recruitment they should focus on other areas like Careers consulting, Pre-screening CV’s, Human Resource specialisations, providing Learning & Development at all levels from General Practitioner to Senior Physician or Hospital Director, developing medical staff  in theirnon-medical skills that are needed to get on effectively with their jobs at a required level that is expected of their rank and grade.

These skills could be effective communication skills, risk management, dealing with babies & toddlers as patients, public speaking skills, interview technique, crisis management, preparing the perfect medical CV, supervisory & managerial skills, managing a team, time management, delegation skills, leadership skills, the list is endless.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/beyond-just-medical-recruitment-jimmy-tang?trk=hp-feed-article-title-comment