Why You Should Use Social Media to Find a Job as a Physician

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Whether you’re about to finish your residency or are decades into your career, finding a new job can be a time consuming endeavor. For busy physicians and exhausted residents, time is a luxury that’s often in short supply.

Searching online job boards and physician recruiting sites are great ways to locate new, open positions in your medical specialty. But there is also a way to bring the job opportunities to you:

Social media.

Not sure how social networks can help you in your job search?

Here’s why you should use social media to find a job as a physician.

Physicians Are in Demand

According to the AAMC, by 2033 there could be a shortage of up to 139,000 physicians in the United States.

An aging population, the need to provide better healthcare in underserved areas, the rising costs of medical school … 

All of these are reasons why the supply of physicians is less than the demand.

For physicians searching for a new employment opportunity, that’s great news. Because you’re in demand you can utilize social media in a way that attracts employers to you so that you don’t have to spend hours upon hours searching for the perfect job.

Social Media Makes You More Visible

Social media is a numbers game. Attracting more followers and getting more likes and shares helps you increase your visibility online and build your personal brand.

Building your personal brand can help you establish trust and authority within your industry. The more people view your pages and share your content, the more visible you will become within your industry. That visibility may encourage employers to seek you out, even if you’re not actively looking for a new job.

You can also use social media to learn more about the medical centers, practices, or hospitals that you want to work for, as they likely have some level of online visibility as well.

By reading an employer’s posts and social content, you can learn a lot about their business, their values, and their other employees. You can use that information to your advantage as a way to demonstrate your understanding of the employer when you have your job interview.

Social Media Makes it Easier for Recruiters to Find You

Creating professional social media profiles and posting relevant content makes it easier for recruiters to find you, especially if you have a profile on LinkedIn.

While Facebook and Instagram may be great for sharing your personal stories, photos, and opinions with the world, LinkedIn is a far better method for physician recruiting. LinkedIn allows you to search people by profession, industry, or job title, making it one of the easiest ways for recruiters to find you.

On LinkedIn you can post your CV, include a link to your personal website if you have one, and share endorsements that you’ve received from other colleagues. You can also post and share links to blog posts, peer-reviewed articles, and studies related to your specific field of medicine. All of these elements can help you stand out from the competition.

Social Media Makes Networking Easier

While social media can certainly bring potential employers to you, it’s also an opportunity to connect with employers on your own terms.

When you identify an employer that you’d like to work for, use social media to connect with other physicians and other employees at that hospital, practice, or healthcare group. Engaging online with potential future colleagues can provide you with insight into the employer, insight that might otherwise take months to gain through in-person interactions.

Protect Your Career With a Contract Review

Whether you find your next position through social media or not, you can expect that your employer will present you with an employment contract before your new position begins. Once you sign it, you are bound to all of the terms, covenants, and clauses within that contract, like it or not.

To protect yourself, hire a contract review specialist to review the contract for you.

Employment contracts include details regarding salary and benefits, duties and responsibilities, insurance requirements, termination, and post-contract obligations. Without a thorough physician contract review, you’re putting yourself and your entire career at risk. 


Social media isn’t just a way to share photos of your dog or connect with friends from college. With professional social media profiles, you can find a job and further your career as a physician, no matter what type of medicine you practice.