best community general surgery residencies

If going to study medicine in order to help save lives has been a life-long dream, then it is only appropriate that you study medicine in one of the best medical schools for surgery. Now, how do you know which are the best community general surgery residencies? The article below tells you just that.

Read on to get the latest information on the best community general surgery residencies, best medical schools for surgery in the world, best general surgery residency, best surgical residency programs, general surgery residents & best general surgery residency programs in us.You will also find related posts on the best community general surgery residencies on collegelearners.

General Surgery Residency Program

We are pleased that you are interested in the UConn General Surgery Residency Program. Our residency-training program embodies the best qualities of a university program combined with superb community based training. Our diverse clinical experience includes a high volume of complex operative cases with exposure to a large experienced faculty. We remain on the cutting edge in minimally invasive surgery, and pride ourselves in adult learning and innovation.

Residents have the opportunity to rotate at five core hospitals, each giving the resident a unique educational experience. Our core curriculum includes mandatory “pagers off” attendance at weekly teaching sessions along with monthly simulation sessions in our state of the art simulation center. The weekly curriculum includes leadership training, quality and safety education, ethics, and follows the SCORE curriculum.

The majority of residents move on to a fellowship after completing general surgery training. Our residents have matched into a wide variety of fellowships and most obtain their top fellowship choice. Residents leave our program well trained, confident, and ready to move on to the next level.

Central Connecticut is a region of natural beauty with dense woodlands and several rivers. Hartford is a quaint city half way between New York and Boston, reaping cultural benefits from both places. If our program sounds good to you, we welcome you to visit at any time! I look forward to hearing from you and if you have questions please feel free to contact me.

Brian Shames, M.D.
Program Director
UConn General Surgery Residency
Division Chief, General Surgery

Top 30 General Surgery Residency Programs

January 2, 2021

General Surgery Residency Program . To view open positions click on the PGY year: PGY-1, PGY-2, PGY-3, PGY-4, PGY-5, Attending. Our residents bring to the program diverse perspectives and backgrounds, enriching the program further and deepening the care experience that our patients receive. General Surgery is a highly competitive specialty which demands a high level of excellence and dedication from residency applicants who are interested in becoming a surgeon. General surgery training in NYC was uniquely affected by decreased operative training opportunities lost during the 2019-2020 academic year. The program’s greatest strength is its residents. The General Surgery Residency Training Program at Duke focuses on both clinical and research education, producing competitive graduates who are prepared for careers in academic surgery. Professor of Surgery Vice Chair for Education, Department of Surgery. ERAS provides a list of the specialties and programs currently participating in ERAS. Just to compare, there are 236 programs in Psychiatry, 204 in Pediatrics, and 241 in OB/GYN, so comparatively speaking there are more surgical residencies. The real key to finding a residency program that’s welcoming to IMGs is searching for ones that are most likely to be friendly toward you. Three years of preparatory surgery training plus two years of plastic surgery training. The Geisinger General Surgery Residency is a five-year program that accepts three categorical R-1 residents for the full program. Post Residency, Fellowship, or Attending vacant position in Surgery-General Find Your Perfect Residency Program Match. Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. General Surgery Residency Program Our program is a 5-year, fully-accredited, non-pyramidal program with 8 categorical positions per year. However, given the significant critical care training that general surgery residents routinely receive, these residents became poised to aid in the pandemic response primarily managing COVID-19 ICUs. To generate a rudimentary outcomes-based program ranking, surgery programs were rank-ordered according to an average percentile rank that was calculated using board pass rates and the prevalence of alumni publications. The University at Buffalo general surgery residency program is one the oldest and largest in the nation. Sunday at 7:19 AM. The program is under the direction of Jacob A. Greenberg, MD, EdM. View your favorite programs. Residents leave our program well trained, confident, and ready to move on to the next level. Emory University. Pediatric Surgery. Friday at 2:36 PM. We have been pushing the boundaries of surgery for over 150 years, and within these walls, we train the surgical leaders that will push them for hundreds more. All text and design is copyright ©2020 Koala Guide LLC. The program objective – aims to address this disparity, creating excellence and parity in global surgery and anesthesia care delivery to people in resource-limited settings around the world. 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General Surgery training is five years and serves as a gateway to a number of advanced surgical specialties such as Orthopedic Surgery or Vascular Surgery. Learn the rankings, program … You might be surprised to know applying to programs in certain locations can work in your favor. #24. in Best Medical Schools: Research (tie) … Although its scope is broad, general surgery usually involves the abdomen, breasts, peripheral vasculature, skin and neck. General surgery has both categorical and prelim residency programs. Post Residency, Fellowship, or Attending vacant position in Surgery-General At Brookwood Baptist Health, we offer five ACGME-accredited residency programs where you will find a culture of intellectual curiosity, comradery and, we believe, the best community-based teaching in the country. Top Internal Medicine Residency Programs Which are the best internal medicine residency programs in the U.S.? Surgery-General Residency Positions in New York (NY) There are 41 Surgery-General programs in New York. In 2016, our Department celebrated the Centennial anniversary of the Yale Surgical Residency. Overview. McGovern Medical School is situated in the heart of the largest medical center in the world, in the fourth largest city in the nation and the largest city in the South. That doesn’t mean everything is always easy. C. Getting COVID during residency. The program provides the opportunity for residents to learn in-depth the fundamentals of basic science as they are applied to clinical surgery… Anesthesiology MedStar Georgetown University Hospital Dermatology MedStar Washington Hospital Center Emergency Medicine MedStar Georgetown University… Among the information gathered, Program Directors were asked to to cite factors they used to select candidates for interviews. doyouhaveaflag. Residencies can last from three to seven years, with surgical residencies lasting a … To view participating programs in a specific specialty, click on the specialty name below. This study evaluated the extent to which program rankings based solely on peer nominations correlated with familiar program outcomes measures. Our Training Community. Residency Programs The UK Department of Surgery hosts three surgical residency programs: General Surgery, Plastic Surgery, and a Cardiothoracic Surgery I-6 program . All residents are required to be involved in the research project and present and publish at least one paper. One of the oldest and most prestigious training programs in the country, the Mass General Surgical Resi… In this list, we pare the list of 319 surgery-general residencies down to the 10 programs that rose to the top for user interest. M. University of Chicago-safety? The last century has been rich with innovation, novel educational endeavors, and groundbreaking research. Houston’s incredible diversity is reflected in the clinical experience available to our residents. In support of a holistic review of applications, residency programs at the McGaw Medical Center do not use USMLE scores as a screening tool. Choosing a residency program is one of the biggest decisions new physicians face in their careers. General surgeries require proper license and certification and by applying to the best program, you can prepare yourself with future examinations, internships, and training. Every specialty has unique factors they want each candidate to have in their residency application. Johns Hopkins is one of the best hospitals in the country. Our graduates have gone on to become board-certified surgeons, obtaining highly competitive They were also asked to rate each factor on a scale from 1 (least important) to 5 (most important). Atlanta, GA. in Surgery Programs. Clinical Interests: Limb salvage surgery, clinical trial design, resident education and mentoring, upper extremity ischemia, advanced aortic surgery including hybrid cases, advanced dialysis access, and healthcare economics. We accept two residents per year into a six year residency program with one year of required research. COVID-19 Vaccines: Information about COVID-19 vaccines and how we’re preparing for distribution. Residency Programs. We provide our residents unparalleled clinical and operative experiences; robust didactic, simulation and conference curricula; and limitless research opportunities. Our top-ranked residency program offers: Depth and breadth of clinical and research opportunities: With more than 7,000 operative cases annually, and excellent NIH funding support, Michigan General Surgery provides the rich learning opportunities for which you’re looking. 04.30.2018. Top 20 General Surgery Residency Programs in US, University of Florida College of Medicine, 10 Best Neurosurgery Residency Programs in America, 10 best surgical residency programs in the US, best surgical residency programs in the world, brigham and women’s hospital general surgery residency, community general surgery residency programs, duke university hospital general surgery residency, emory university school of medicine general surgery residency, john hopkins university general surgery residency, madigan healthcare system general surgery residency, massachusetts general hospital general surgery residency, mayo clinic college of medicine and science general surgery residency, mcgaw medical center of northwestern university general surgery residency, niversity of florida college of medicine general surgery residency program, stanford health care-sponsored general surgery residency, the university of cincinnati medical center general surgery residency, top 10 emergency medicine residency programs, top 10 OBGYN residency programs in America, top 12 surgery residency programs in 2018, top 20 general surgery residency programs, top 30 general surgery residency programs, top pathology residency programs as well as top internal medicine residency programs, ucla david geffen school of medicine/ucla medical center program general surgery residency, university of california san francisco general surgery residency, university of florida general surgery residency, university of michigan general surgery residency, university of pennsylvania general surgery residency, university of texas southwestern general surgery residency, university of virginia medical center general surgery residency, university of washington general surgery residency, vanderbilt university medical center program general surgery residency, washington university/b-jh/slch consortium program general surgery residency. The residency is a five year program fully accredited by the Surgery Residency Review Committee (RRC). Program highlights include: 42-48 weeks of rich and diverse clinical and operative experience in Madison You’ve encountered some challenges while applying to medical schools despite having a good academic record. Elective rotations in general surgery usually last one month and are available to senior students with the approval of the program director. General Surgery Residency Program. May 19, 2018 . Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore offers the best clinical training in internal medicine, according to Doximity’s 2018-2019 Residency Navigator. Our residents have matched into a wide variety of fellowships and most obtain their top fellowship choice. During the five-year program, residents spend 70 percent of their time on private services, including a children’s hospital, and 30 percent at a county hospital. To find the top anesthesiology residency programs in 2018, we decided to compare the tuition fee and a resident’s salary for the first year of study. The Department of Surgery at Mayo Clinic includes many subspecialty divisions focused on the full breadth of surgical specialties, giving you access to a range of common and complex cases. Rankings are based on identified medical student activity on FREIDA™, the AMA Residency & Fellowship Database®, from Jan. 1, 2019 through Aug. 31, 2019. The independent programs accept residents who have completed either a complete general surgery training program or training in ENT, orthopedics or even neurosurgery. The rural residency program is a track of the larger 5-year UW general surgery residency and matches one resident each year. medico95; … Challenges can be scary, but you also think the greatest rewards are achieved by overcoming obstacles. General Surgery training is five years and serves as a gateway to a number of advanced surgical specialties such as Orthopedic Surgery or Vascular Surgery. Objective: The release of general surgery residency program rankings by Doximity and U.S. News & World Report accentuates the need to define and establish measurable standards of program quality. Download a free copy of our newsletter and see the details inside! Surgical programs at the country’s top medical schools prepare students for careers as general surgeons or as surgeons in specialized fields. Those looking to apply to General Surgery programs should be aware that residency programs prefer younger residency candidates who are in their 20s. NRMP conducts regular Program Director surveys to identify which parts of the residency application are most important in differing specialties. Our preliminary residency track is described more fully below, but these highly qualified individuals are selected from all over the world to obtain broad training in general surgery without the expectation of completing their … Facts About Our Residents. You push yourself and it often leads to success. Photo by Robert A. Lisak. Best Surgery Colleges in the U.S. We have created a 2020 ranking of the best colleges in the U.S. that offer Surgery degrees to help you find a school that fits your needs. Bookmark your favorite programs, add personal notes and order your top programs of choice. Applicants are expected to have high USMLE Exam scores, at least 230 and above. Recently, researchers attempted to rank residency programs within a single specialty (general surgery) based on publicly available program outcome measures [8]. General residency topics, not specialty related. Our commitment is to train young surgeons to a high level of competency in clinical and academic surgery and, most importantly, to guide them in becoming professional leaders in their field of interest. Sorry, no results has been found matching your query. Top 20 General Surgery Residency Programs in US Published on September 25, 2018 at 4:29 am by Sasa Vucic in Lists Share Tweet Email The general surgery residency program matches with nine new residents each year for the five-year categorical program. The training offered here provides an unmatched exposure to the entire spectrum of surgical diseases and procedures with abundant opportunities for research and professional development in a … Thank you for your interest in Cleveland Clinic’s General Surgery residency program. better have >240 USMLE, honors, research to get serious consideration). Meet our current residents at Michigan General Surgery. Program Director, General Surgery Residency. General Surgery Residency Program Ranked in Top 25 Nationally for a Second Year The General Surgery Residency reputation ranking is based on votes received from eligible Doximity voters who are asked to identify up to five residency programs that provide the best clinical training in their own specialty. Make use of our top general surgery residency ranking in order for you to determine the best schools that can offer the right program … The mission of the Massachusetts General Hospital’s General Surgical Residency Training Program in the Department of Surgery is to recruit the finest possible candidates and train them to become the next generation of leaders in academic surgery. How to Best Use Insider Monkey to Increase Your Returns, 6 Things You Didn’t Know About Hedge Funds. 167 general surgery residency program director jobs available. Home » Top Colleges & Universities » Top Internal Medicine Residency Programs. Any evidence of your surgical skills will be priceless additions to your residency application. Massachusetts General Hospital; Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science (Arizona) Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science (Jacksonville) Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science (Rochester) McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University; McLaren Health Care/Greater Lansing/MSU; McLaren Health Care/Macomb/MSU All rights reserved. To view open positions click on the PGY year: PGY-1, PGY-2, PGY-3, PGY-4, PGY-5, Attending. For General Surgery, there are a lot of residency spots available with 267 programs. The low-stress way to find your next general surgery residency program director job opportunity is on SimplyHired. Seven PGY-1 residents are accepted into the categorical general surgery program each year, providing a non-pyramidal structure to the program. Residency programs are accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), with Podiatric Medicine and Surgery accredited by the Council on Podiatric Medical Education (CPME). For another unique view of which programs are capturing the attention of your peers, check out our list of the 20 most-viewed residency specialties. The goal of the residency program is to produce the well-rounded, competent general surgeon, fully trained in the principles and techniques required of a general surgeon. To improve your chances for placement in General Surgery, it is highly suggested to do well in any surgical rotations or experience, and obtain Letters of Recommendation directly from surgeons if possible. Top Schools offering Surgery Degrees in the U.S. Best Colleges ; United States; Healthcare ; Surgery . Each has a distinguished reputation for preparing medical students for a professional surgical practice after five or six years, depending on the program. 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Demystifying Urban Versus Rural Physician Compensation

Salary Differences Are Minimal, but Incentives and Perks Might Make Rural Opportunities More Attractive 

By Bonnie Darves
In physician recruiting, the basic principle of supply and demand has always been a contributing factor in the ultimate compensation package that job-seeking physicians are offered; and the prevailing thinking is that the harder it is to recruit to a location, the more likely it is that newly trained physicians who accept opportunities there will earn more than their urban counterparts.
Even though that might be the case for some opportunities in rural areas — defined variably in the market as either a population of 20,000 or fewer or up to 50,000 and fewer — it’s not that straightforward. And where a differential does exist that positions a rural practice opportunity as more financially lucrative than a comparable urban one, the compensation difference might not be a significant as some young physicians think. Recruiting professionals and consultants who help organizations structure physicians’ compensation packages concur that while physicians who consider rural opportunities will surely be wooed, welcomed, and financially accommodated to the extent that hiring organizations are able, they shouldn’t expect a bonanza.

In other words, urban myths — that physicians who take a rural opportunity in the Plains region will start out earning 25 to 30 percent more annually than their colleagues in Chicago are just that: myths. The reality, according to Patrice Streicher, senior operations manager in Vista Staffing’s permanent search division, is that the difference will be more in the neighborhood of 5 to 10 percent. “I can say on the record that, based on what we’re seeing, the difference will be minimal — maybe 10 percent at the most — between compensation in a rural versus urban or mid-sized community.” And the salary component of the offer is pretty much the same, regardless of the location, said Ms. Streicher, a National Association of Physician Recruiters board member.
“Five years ago, the rural offers might have had much higher salaries and different structures than urban ones, but with the growth of telemedicine and other market developments, that’s no longer the case,” she said.

Survey data from the American Medical Group Association (AMGA) supports Ms. Streicher’s contention, according to Wayne Hartley, MHA, growth and service line development officer for AMGA’S consulting organization and a longtime physician compensation consultant. “It’s not like physicians are getting paid 30 percent more in rural areas,” he said. “It’s more like 5 to 10 percent.”
Tony Stajduhar, president of Jackson Physician Search in Alpharetta, Georgia, which places approximately 40 percent of its candidates in rural practice opportunities, said that his company’s recent data found a difference of an additional 9 to 10 percent in salaries in rural compared to urban starting compensation offers. (His firm defines rural as a population of 20,000 or fewer.) “Some of the survey data shows a differential closer to 5 percent, but we’re seeing about 10 percent, and in some specialties, slightly more than that depending on the community and circumstances,” Mr. Stajduhar said.

He added that rural practicing physicians often have an earnings advantage ultimately over their city colleagues because of a factor that few young physicians consider — the payer mix and associated reimbursement rates. “The payer mix is often better in rural areas because insurers have less leverage there than in urban areas,” he said, that are well supplied with physicians. “This can make a real difference over time.”

Ken Hertz, a principal consultant with the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), cautions young physicians to avoid being enticed primarily by offers of much higher earnings. “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” he said. “And it’s far more important to take a position because it interests you and you want to be in the community — to build your practice with less competition and to serve that community. The reality is that you’re not going to become a millionaire in three years just because you chose a rural opportunity over an urban one.”

Data extracted from MGMA’s recent national compensation survey showed only minor differences in first-year primary care physicians’ guaranteed compensation for non-metropolitan areas and urban ones — a median of $205,588 in smaller areas versus $200,000 in larger metropolitan ones. Physicians taking the non-urban positions received more generous relocation stipends than their counterparts, however. For surgical specialists as a group, the findings for the same two groups were surprising: first-year guaranteed compensation median was $250,000 in non-metro areas and $320,000 in urban ones. Mr. Hertz noted, however, that because rural practicing specialists have little competition, their earnings might outstrip their urban counterparts’ compensation when productivity structures come into play in subsequent years.

Incentives enrich rural offers
The relatively minimal salary difference is hardly dire news, however, for physicians who are exploring rural opportunities. Where they are likely to fare better financially than those pursuing urban opportunities is in the realm of incentives. Ms. Streicher reported that she has seen signing bonuses for non-urban opportunities as high as $100,000 — particularly for primary care positions. “There is not a plethora of these, but they do exist. And I recently encountered a candidate who received multiple six-figure signing bonus offers.” The point, she said, is that rural communities have “more motivation and eagerness to offer signing bonuses, better relocation packages, or other incentives. They’re going to offer those bells and whistles above and beyond what you’ll see in some urban settings.”

The other common area where incentives enrich a starting offer in rural locations is education loan repayment. A secondary analysis of data from the 2018 AMGA Medical Group Compensation and Productivity Survey found that for primary care packages in rural areas, the median loan forgiveness amount offered primary care physicians was $75,000 and the 75th percentile was $100,000. Mr. Hartley cautions that the sample size is small but that based on his consulting experience, such amounts are not uncommon. He also reminds young physicians that any such incentives are generally retention bonuses.
“These dollars are typically linked to a term of service of three to five years, and there are ‘claw-back’ [required repayment] provisions if the term of service is not completed,” Mr. Hartley said. “And as with any contract, all types of recruitment incentives should undergo legal counsel review.”

Ms. Streicher also cautions physicians to thoroughly understand the structure of any incentive they’re offered, as in most cases, there are strings attached. “The signing bonus is usually a retention bonus, and if the physician leaves soon after joining, she’ll likely have to pay it back.” The other consideration, she added, is that leaving an opportunity after just a year or 18 months — when an organization has invested substantially to bring in the physician — doesn’t work out well for anyone involved. “Remember that you’re building a career — your CV is a reputation that you should hold in high regard.”

One financial benefit worth considering, Mr. Stajduhar points out, is that rural locations typically offer a far lower cost of living than urban ones, and the funds saved because of lower housing costs can position prudent young physicians well financially over time. “When I’m speaking to groups of residents, to illustrate this I’ll often compare Atlanta living costs to rural area costs — a house for $400,000 in a rural area might be mansion compared to the fixer-upper that $400,000 will buy in the city,” he said. “That, combined with the fact that a lot of rural employers are willing to help younger physicians with loan repayments, can make a real difference financially over several years.”

All sources mentioned an important reminder about why there’s no such thing as “the sky’s the limit” in rural offers. For one, numerous state and federal laws govern how much hiring health care entities can pay incoming physicians — in salaries and incentives — and all compensation structures must meet the standard for fair market value. In addition, in this age of information transparency, organizations simply cannot (and most would not, for political and ethical reasons) offer incoming physicians a higher salary than their same-specialty colleagues already practicing there.

Comparing rural areas’ compensation structures  
There is insufficient survey data to determine just where in the country rural offers will be the most financial attractive because samples are small and factors such as the employer’s stability and market position, the payer dynamics, and even the Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates may affect the compensation employers offer. All sources concurred, however, that the most lucrative offers are likely to come from rural areas that have historically had great difficulty attracting physicians.

Overall, the 2018 Medscape Physician Compensation Report bears out the regional compensation differences and alludes to the rural added salary differential that physicians newly trained physicians might see in rural offers. Across all specialties, median physician compensation in the North Central region, which includes a lot of rural areas, was $319,000, compared to $275,000 in the far more densely populated Northeast region.

Travis Singleton, executive vice president at the national recruiting firm Merritt Hawkins, notes that payer mix and market conditions account for physician compensation differences to the same extent that location might affect earnings. “The Midwest, the Southeast, and Texas have long been bastions of fee-for-service medicine, which has kept physician incomes relatively high in those areas — which also include a preponderance of rural areas,” he said. He added that these areas typically must pay more to attract physicians. “And since there is less competition among physicians in these areas, their earning potential often is higher than in urban settings,” he said.

Nonetheless, at the hiring juncture, the salary and incentives that different rural locations offer are determined primarily by a factor outside the employer’s control, Mr. Singleton observed. “I wish I could say there’s a complicated algorithm that drives compensation differences that can be calculated and adjusted for, but it’s far simpler: supply and demand,” he said. More physicians want larger, metropolitan areas, putting rural areas at a disadvantage from the start with fewer candidates to pursue.  Merritt Hawkins’ recent Survey of Final Year Residents found that only three percent of residents completing their training would prefer to practice in a community of 25,000 people or less. “That causes rural facilities to ‘up the ante’ in compensation,” he said, which historically, has meant 10 to 15 percent higher starting salaries and higher signing bonuses.

Further, like Ms. Streicher, Mr. Singleton has observed that variation among compensation structures is lessening regardless of where the opportunity is offered. Given the consolidation and commoditization in medicine, he said, there isn’t as much variation in compensation and contract structures as there used to be. “Perhaps one myth now is that physicians can heavily negotiate contracts with large integrated health systems,” he said. The chance that a large system will substantively amend a contract to accommodate one physician when they employ thousands, he added, “is relatively small,” he said. “However, there is still some wiggle room when it comes to schedule, and sometimes smaller, rural facilities have more latitude to tailor compensation and practice parameters to a candidate’s needs.” 

Negotiating room might exist in non-monetary perks
Several sources mentioned that rural employers are both amenable to accommodating incoming physicians’ schedule-flexibility requests and lifestyle considerations where feasible, and some have figured out that strategic marketing of those perks can increase the candidate pool for hard-to-fill positions. Ms. Streicher cites an organization in rural Maine that successfully enticed a highly qualified young psychiatrist by creating a creative schedule. The position is structured so that the psychiatrist works onsite part of the time and treats patients using telemedicine the rest of the time, allowing greater schedule flexibility. “Technology may offer a real explosion of possibilities in candidates that rural organizations might not have seen otherwise,” she said.
Mr. Hartley cited the example of a rural community that needs a general surgeon but doesn’t have enough volume to keep the physician busy full-time. “Because the hospital might not be able to recruit a part-time surgeon, they might have to hire an FTE [full-time equivalent]. In that case the surgeon might be able to earn median compensation for part-time work,” he said, “even if the schedule includes a lot of call.”

Mr. Hertz points to other potential lifestyle benefits that young physicians who are outdoors enthusiasts or want more time with family — a growing number today cite just such preferences — might find in rural settings. There’s usually no traffic to contend with and the commute might be nonexistent, he said, and proximity to nature can be a draw. He cites the case of a young physician who practices in rural Montana and is a mere 10 minutes from skiing. “She often skis in the morning before coming to work,” he said, and she is able to arrange her schedule so that she can occasionally pop out to compete in a competition during the workday.

Another potential benefit to the smaller setting is the flexibility, for surgeons and primary care physicians, to pursue professional interests in a far less crowded and competitive environment. “It’s like the difference in working in a big versus a small company. In the latter case, you can carve out your niche and pursue your specific interests and wear a lot of different hats without stepping on colleagues’ toes,” Ms. Streicher said. “You can bring a real entrepreneurial spirit to a rural community if you bring a talent and expertise they don’t have. Besides, you get to build your practice on someone else’s dime.”

Finally, physicians who accept offers in rural settings usually find a rather large welcome mat and a willingness to go out of their way to help physicians and their families settle in. “If you’re willing to make a commitment, there are places that will make an investment in you because it’s really expensive to be reliant on locum tenens or deal with turnover,” Mr. Hartley said. “They have a vested interest in keeping you there.”