WO R KF O R CE
RUR A L R E CRUI T M E N T
REIMAGINED
A virtual workshop seeks to change the rural recruitment mindset. On June 9, 2020, Benjamin Anderson started his presentation
Welcome wagon
with the now-familiar phrase: “Can everyone see my screen?”
It sounds simple enough. Be nice to the people you hire,
What was originally planned as an in-person, full-day event,
and they’ll stick around. But it’s not that easy, Anderson told
the Rural Recruitment Reimagined Workshop instead took place
the audience, especially when talking about the millennial
virtually to more than 60 participants from around the state of
physician generation.
North Dakota. Anderson, a former rural Kansas hospital CEO and current vice president for rural health and hospitals for the Colorado Hospital Association, was the main presenter for the day. He was joined by a panel of faculty members and millennial physician residents from the Via Christi Family Medicine (VCFM) Residency in Wichita, Kan., as well as faculty members from the University of North Dakota (UND) School of Medicine &Health Sciences (SMHS). The workshop focused
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“Lifting two fingers off the top of your steering wheel is not hospitality,” Anderson said. “In fact, to a newcomer, that can feel like the middle finger. The action communicates ‘I see you, but I don’t care enough to stop and get to know you better.’” His message to workshop attendees was to focus on addressing the millennial physician’s primary question: Who will be my family here?
on recruiting and retaining the new generation of physicians
Physicians coming into the workforce now are in a tough spot
to rural communities, and the importance of hospitality from
professionally. Many health care employers are looking for new
the health care facility, its colleagues, and most importantly,
physicians to fit the old mold, which is that of a physician who
community members in keeping these younger providers.
works 80-plus hours per week, is motivated by salary, and
North Dakota Medicine Fall 2020
