As a physician job seeker, there is a good chance that you will come across the name of a hospital or organization that you are not familiar with. You do not want to just blindly apply to a position at a hospital you have no knowledge of, so run a quick internet search to learn more. By executing a search, you will be able to find news articles, media releases, images, websites, and more about the hospital. Before you start digging into the overly positive or negative reviews, make sure that you keep a few things in mind.
Double-check that you have the right hospital. It is easy to select the wrong hospital because some hospitals have similar names across the country like St. Mary's or St. Joe's. Make sure that if you are searching for a hospital that you note what city or state it is located in. If that still yields multiple results, try adding the organization name as it appears on the job posting. You do not want to decide to apply or not based on false information.
Watch out for overly positive reviews. As you are reading through reviews of the hospital on websites like Glassdoor, read multiple reviews to get an overall tone of the organization. It is easy to convince ourselves that the positive review is the only one we should look for. If you are reading it and it seems like it's too good to be true, there's a good chance that is in fact the case. Check the name of the reviewer (if applicable) to see if they are posting on other sites as well about the hospital.
Watch out for the extremely negative reviews. On the flipside from the positive reviews, negative reviews are also a tricky subject. For many Americans, the internet is a Mecca to voice any disgruntlements. If a negative comment seems out of place from the others, there is a chance that this is just one disgruntled employee. Make sure that you are not focusing on the one negative review. If negative reviews seem to be a trend with that organization, it is probably a good idea to remove them from your potential employer list.
Check the dates! For any articles, pictures, or reviews check the date. Some websites will default to show the most popular article or review/comment instead of showing the most recent. Double check to make sure that the article or comment is recent and still holds merit. If you notice in the comments/reviews that a specific doctor or staff member, check the hospitals directory to see if they are still employed there.
Check the source. We've all heard the term "fake news" by now, but as you are seeking out information about the hospital, make sure that the information is coming from reliable sources. Having a blank Facebook account with no information commenting on the hospital review page isn't going to be as reliable as seeing a current employee's comment. If the source does not appear reliable, then their feedback is probably also not reliable.
Looking for more physician job search tips? Check out the PracticeMatch Career Resources!
Hayley Woszczynski - Physician & Program Relations Manager. You can stay connected with me on LinkedIn for all of the latest PracticeMatch articles and upcoming events.