How to Build Relationships with Residency ProgramsAshley Poshard

As the Manager of Program Relations at PracticeMatch, my primary focus is to forge meaningful connections with program coordinators. My role involves ensuring that these coordinators are well-informed about our career fairs, available resources, and the value PracticeMatch can offer to their programs. This helps them in turn share our information and recommend us to physicians. My approach to building relationships with program coordinators is informed by my previous experience as a physician recruiter. While my messaging has evolved, the insights I gained from that role continue to guide my current strategies.

Here are some key takeaways I’d like to share:

1. Avoid Solely Sending Job Postings Program coordinators often overlook generic recruitment emails. Instead of focusing solely on job postings, craft your subject lines and opening paragraphs to resonate with their interests. While including job postings is acceptable, ensure your email content is engaging and relevant to them.
2. Include Valuable Information Coordinators are more likely to engage with content that adds value to their role, such as educational resources and networking events. Begin your emails with a brief greeting and highlight valuable offerings, like upcoming scholarship opportunities, notable didactic talks, or useful guidebooks. Recently, we introduced a quarterly webinar for program coordinators, which has significantly boosted engagement and visibility. If your organization doesn’t yet offer such resources, consider developing them. For guidance, consult your client account manager about our residency outreach marketing strategies and assistance.
3. Refrain from Directly Requesting Information Avoid directly asking for physician information, as program coordinators are protective of their data and generally reluctant to share it. Instead, focus on providing value in your communications, such as information about scholarship opportunities or new resources so the physicians will come to you.
4. Include Links to Resources After your initial engaging message, include links to upcoming events and resources. The goal is for program coordinators to share these emails with their residents, encouraging them to interact with the provided links—whether to sign up for career fairs, download guidebooks, or utilize our CV builder. This not only increases engagement but also helps us gather information to create profiles and facilitate interviews.
5. Acknowledge the Coordinator’s Role When organizing events like residency dinners or lunch-and-learns, remember to extend an invitation to the program coordinator. Their involvement is often overlooked, but including them can strengthen relationships and show appreciation for their role.
6. Update Contact Information Regularly Program coordinators frequently change positions, with a turnover rate of around 35% annually. Keeping track of current contacts can be time-consuming. Our team updates contact information annually for each program, but if this task is a barrier to your outreach efforts, contact your client account manager to access updated information through Pinpoint.
7. Stay Persistent Building relationships takes time and persistence. Program coordinators receive numerous emails and have demanding responsibilities. To stand out, vary your messaging, use multiple outreach methods, and maintain consistency. Once you establish a connection, coordinators will often reach out to request additional resources or invite you to speak to their program, which makes the effort worthwhile. Consistency is key to successful engagement.

By implementing these strategies, you can enhance your interactions with program coordinators and effectively build brand awareness for your organization with potential candidates.

Are you interested in building or strengthening relationships with residency programs as part of your recruitment strategy? We have educational resources, consulting services, and marketing campaigns to help you gain visibility into programs of your choosing. Get in touch!

Ashley Poshard is the Manager of Program Relations and Data Quality. She joined PracticeMatch in 2021 and brings over a decade of database management experience. Formerly an in-house physician recruiter and PracticeMatch client, she excels in engaging physicians with the platform. Ashley collaborates with program coordinators nationally, offering educational opportunities and gathering feedback. Her role involves implementing innovative features and services, fostering long-term physician engagement with PracticeMatch. Additionally, Ashley leads the data team, working to maximize data collection efforts and enhance the PinPoint Database's size, value, and quality, solidifying PracticeMatch's position as a leader in healthcare recruitment and data management.