Use These 7 Networking Strategies to Further Your Medical Career Goals

In the business world, networking is an important skill. As a physician, the benefits of growing a network of colleagues are likely to be far reaching and long lasting. Because there are so many jobs available for physicians, networking may not seem necessary. However, if you have your eye on a leadership role or if you are interested in searching for a nontraditional job in the medical field, then networking is a good way to locate those opportunities at any stage in your career.

Maintaining a professional network of associates and coworkers can also help keep your own skills and knowledge current and relevant. It will enable you to stay informed about the latest challenges, trends, and best practices. By staying in touch with a variety of medical practitioners in different work environments, you can remain up to date with emerging areas of medicine, new specialty fields, and job opportunities.

Also, by interacting with other physicians, you will be in a better position to develop a big-picture view of health care. The perspective and insight gleaned from professional networks can help you identify new ways to address old, familiar problems. A broader, informed perspective can also facilitate serving in leadership roles that may help shape medical research priorities or determine health care standards and practices in need of revision.

By and large, most job opportunities for physicians are not widely advertised. Finding these types of opportunities requires creative problem-solving. Often, doctors who hold leadership roles or have nonclinical jobs explain that they were asked or invited to assume such positions. This can only happen if those who are hiring for such positions know who you are and have a strong sense of what you can bring to the table, which often requires networking. In fact, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that 70% of all jobs are found through networking.

The first step in creating a strong network is to determine your professional goal and what you intend to achieve. Networking requires a give and take and will only pay dividends if you are genuine about wanting to get to know and help others. This might sound counterintuitive, but only if you are sincere about helping others will they want to help you in return. Heidi Moawad, MD, in an article in MD Magazine, advises that it is important to enter any networking opportunity without a “me-first” attitude to maximize the benefit for everyone—including yourself.

Here are seven networking strategies you can use to expand your network:

1. Identify people who are likely to have the connections and knowledge to help you reach your goals. Start with your list of coworkers and associates. Begin with those you know and expand outward from there.

2. Expand your physician job opportunities by staying in close touch with your recruitment specialist. Prepare a high-level pitch. Keep practicing until you can convey who you are and your professional goals by speaking calmly, naturally, and without hesitation.

3. Join professional groups and associations and take advantage of their physician networking opportunities by regularly attending meetings and conferences. Recruiting firm Merritt Hawkins has this suggestion: when meeting a new professional contact, get to know the person a little and start by asking for information—not a job. By talking to contacts, you can find out more about the person. Once you have
made a new professional contact, make sure you have each other’s information—exchange business cards and follow up. Nothing beats sending a text, email, or even a handwritten note to demonstrate your appreciation and interest.

In an interview with ENT Today, Lisa Ishii, MD, MHS, chief quality officer at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, said it’s important to take advantage of as many growth and development opportunities as possible. Advancing your medical career “does require someone to stretch beyond their comfort zone.” In fact, staying within your immediate circle means you will end up with a limited point of view. She added, “It’s really just a matter of stretching yourself to do it. If you stretch yourself to seek other ideas, thoughts, and innovative ways to address problems, then you’ll come up with a more comprehensive [network].”

4. Participate in online discussions and forums to make new contacts who you can meet later at conferences and/or networking events.

5. Connect via social media. The proliferation of social mediasites such as LinkedIn is a game-changer for relationship building. While the traditional method of networking is attending local, regional, or national events, Dr. Ishii said social media is “enabling people to stay connected in a way that they were never able to do.” Now, with just a few clicks, you can read about what someone was doing.

She added, “With Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat, we have instant access with people all of the time. If anything, one has to be careful to limit oneself to not spending hours a day just browsing around, seeing what people are up to. But, with discipline, it’s a great tool to stay connected with people.”

When using social media to network, pay extra attention to what you post and how you represent yourself online.

6. Stay in contact with former colleagues and employers. Allow five to 10 minutes each day for a call; slow and steady relationship building is the foundation of good professional networking.

7. If you leave a facility or practice for another, resist the temptation to bad-mouth your former employer. According to Merritt Hawkins, it is important not to burn bridges with the people you are leaving behind. The medical community is small. If you leave a practice, fire an employee, or experience any other unfortunate circumstance, keep it professional.

There are many reasons why cultivating a professional network is important for physicians. Expanding the depth and variety of your professional relationships helps you become better at what you do and can translate into an abundance of new—and often unexpected—professional opportunities.