Permanent Physician Placement

Permanent physician recruiting across all specialties and all 50 states. Our 95% placement success rate is built on focused candidate sourcing, written vetting, and offer modeling against MGMA/AAMC benchmarks. Qualified physician shortlists are delivered in 30–60 days. No upfront fee — pay only on placement. Standard 90-day replacement guarantee.

Retained vs. contingency permanent search — when each makes sense

Retained search is the right model when the role is strategically critical, geographically hard, or in a subspecialty with a small candidate universe — CMO/Department Chief, hard-to-recruit subspecialty, high-comp surgical role, or multi-physician launches. Retained engagements get prioritized recruiter capacity, exclusivity, written milestones, and a phased fee structure that aligns incentives to delivery.

Contingency search works well for broadly competitive primary-care and hospitalist roles open to multiple recruiter channels. No upfront fee; full placement fee due only when a presented candidate signs.

Our permanent placement process

  1. Scoping (30 min): Role, compensation band, dealbreakers, must-haves, timeline, decision-maker mapping.
  2. Search activation: Targeted outreach across our owned physician network plus passive sourcing through MedicalRecruiting.com's 1.5M-contact healthcare network.
  3. Written shortlist (30–60 days): Each candidate profiled with comp expectation, license status, geographic fit, stated reason-for-move.
  4. Interview & site visit support: Scheduling, travel logistics, prep coaching, structured post-visit debrief.
  5. Offer modeling: Base, productivity (wRVU/collections), signing bonus, loan repayment, relocation, CME — modeled against MGMA/AAMC benchmarks for the geography.
  6. Acceptance, credentialing, start: 90–180 days from signed offer to start date for full credentialing.
  7. Replacement guarantee: Standard 90-day window from start; replacement search at no additional fee if the placed physician departs.

Specialties we place permanently

All major medical specialties: primary care (Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics), Hospitalist, Emergency Medicine, Psychiatry, OB/GYN, surgical subspecialties (Orthopedic Surgery, ENT, Urology, General Surgery), Cardiology (general, interventional, EP, structural), Gastroenterology, Pulm/Critical Care, Hematology/Oncology, Neurology, Dermatology, Anesthesiology, Diagnostic Radiology, PM&R, Endocrinology, Nephrology, Rheumatology, and physician leadership (CMO, Department Chief, Medical Director).

Geographic coverage

All 50 US states and the District of Columbia. Deep pipelines in HPSA-designated rural counties, J-1 waiver markets via Conrad State 30 programs, FQHC networks, and academic medical centers. Rural and shortage-area placements typically command 15–25% comp premiums above MGMA median once signing bonuses, NHSC loan repayment, and rural stipends are stacked. See physician recruiters by state for state-specific licensing, incentive, and market notes.

Permanent placement fees

Permanent placement fees are quoted in writing during scoping. Standard structure is a percentage of first-year base compensation, due only on signed acceptance. Retained engagements may include a milestone-based deposit credited against the full fee. We do not charge an upfront engagement fee for contingency searches.

What's the difference between retained and contingency?

Retained gets exclusivity, prioritized recruiter time, and a phased fee. Contingency is no-upfront-fee with full fee on signed placement and competes with other channels.

What's the replacement guarantee?

Standard 90-day window from start date. Replacement search at no additional fee if the placed physician departs within the window.

How long does credentialing add to start date?

90–180 days from signed acceptance to first day on the job. We can bridge with locum coverage during that window.

Start a permanent search

Email hire@physicianrecruitment.com or call 346-515-5160. We respond within 1 business day.