THE INTERVIEW

20 QUESTIONS TO ASK A CANDIDATE

1Tell me about yourself using adjectives. How do others describe you?

2Why are you interested in practicing here?

3Why did you choose ______as your specialty?

4Why should we hire you?

5Where do you see yourself in 3-5 years?

6What are some of your greatest strengths? Describe this for me.

7What is one of your weaknesses? How will you improve this?

8What are your compensation and benefit expectations?

9What is important to you in a practice?

10 What do you do in your personal time?

11Which feature of this practice interests you the most?

12Which feature of this practice interests you the least?

13What are your plans for continuing your studies?

14Tell me about your training and with whom you studied.

15Share an example of clinical frustration you had and what you did about it.

16Describe your philosophy and style of medicine in practical terms.

17What are your particular interests or skills that would contribute to the practice?

18What special interests or skills to you have to bring to the group?

19Please describe your work ethic.

20Share an example of proactive leadership.

THE INTERVIEW

20 QUESTIONS YOU CAN EXPECT TO BE ASKED

ABOUT THE PRACTICE

1What are the long-term goals of the practice with regard to type of practice, number of physicians and type of patients you would be seeing?

2How would the practice describe its style of patient care?

3How are conflicts handled in the practice? Can an example be provided?

4How are decisions made in the practice?

5What are the practice members’ levels of training and expertise? How long in practice?

6In what other medical activities are the practice members involved? Part-time teaching appointments? Specialty society activities?

7How is the practice thought of within the community? By other physicians?

8What is the evening and weekend call schedule?Vacations?

9What is the typical patient load for each physician? Where do the referrals come from?

10To what type of patient will you be providing care? What types of procedures do you perform in the office? In the medical practice, to what types of patients would you provide care and which patients would be referred to another physician in the practice?

11How is billing handled in the office? Tell me about your accounts receivable.

12Can you eventually have an ownership position in the practice?

13What type of facilities does the medical practice have?

14What type of medical equipment is available to you?

15What types of third party payment arrangements do the patients have?

16At which hospitals do the physicians have staff privileges? Are specialists available?

17Does the medical practice appear to be well-managed? Is there a business manager? If so, what is the role of the business manager?

18 How does the group feel about ethical considerations in the treatment of patients?

19What is the average revenue generated by the group members?

20What are the future plans of the group over the next 3-5 years?

AND GENERAL QUESTIONS YOU MAY BE ASKED

 What do you see ahead for your practice in the next five years?

 How do you see the future for our healthcare industry overall?

 What do you consider to be your practice’s most important assets?

 What can you tell me about your new services and new equipment in the near future?

 How do you rate your competition?

 What happened to the last person who held this job?

 What types of skills do you NOT already have onboard that you're looking to fill?

 What is the overall structure of the practice?

 What have been the practice's successes in the last couple of years?

 What would you consider to be the most important aspects of this job?

 What are the skills and attributes you value most for someone being hired for this position?

 Where have successful employees previously in this position progressed to within or outside the practice?

 Describe a typical day or week in this position.

 What are the most immediate challenges of the position that need to be addressed now?

 What are the performance expectations of this position over the first 12 months?

 What are the next steps in the interview process?

DENNIS BURNS, EVANGELICAL COMMUNITY HOSPITAL, LEWISBURG, PA