Current prospects have five jobs to choose from in today’s market when you’re trying to recruit a doctor
When it’s time to recruit a doctor of chiropractor to join your practice can often encompass an entire range of emotions. Excitement, hope and gratitude all wait with enthusiastic promises on one side of the spectrum for you. Sitting on the other end are fear, dread, frustration and headaches.
Clearly knowing when to pull the trigger is step one. Once you’ve decided it is time to begin your search, your next challenge starts: finding the right person.
The current job market
First, a bitter reality check if you own a clinic, and a positive change in the winds if you are looking for an associate position: The job market for chiropractors has changed drastically since 2020. The data across the United States today reveals approximately five jobs for every one associate chiropractor. You read that correctly. A doctor of chiropractic in today’s job market typically has five jobs to choose from.
The reasons for this are a combination of:
- Fewer graduates in the last decade;
- An aging population of practicing DCs retiring;
- An industry consolidation for the first time in the chiropractic profession; and
- A mix of public companies expanding rapidly at the same time, with several well-funded private equity and venture capital groups buying up individual clinics to roll up into groups of practices that have limited available doctors on the market.
Together these factors have increased the demand for associate DCs and decreased supply.
Economics 101 taught us that when supply decreases, demand increases right along with the price. We have seen the average associate position climb from $65,000 when we started in 2017 to $80,000 today. And remember, that is the average. Today’s typical associate position pays a base salary without bonuses or incentives of $100,000-$115,000.
Affordability and the rule of thirds
So, your first checkpoint when deciding to recruit a doctor or bring on an associate is asking, “Can I afford one?” The simple formula here is to apply the rule of thirds.
Look at the revenue the associate will bring in and then divide that gross revenue into three even buckets. One-third should cover their salary, one-third toward the clinic’s overhead and one-third profit to the owner. To make this really simple, if you average $55 for an adjustment in your clinic and the associate doc sees 150 people a week, you multiply that by 52 weeks, and the associate will generate $429,000 annually for the clinic. Divide that up by the rule of thirds, and the numbers work out nicely for everyone involved.
The reasons for bringing on an associate vary. Helping carry the load of patients in a busy practice is a common reason. Wanting to buy back some free time to spend away from the clinic is also typical as family life changes. Often your exit from the practice is the reason. Planning out a path to sell your practice gracefully by having a younger DC buy your practice in a few years after learning the ins and outs of your business is a great reason to hire an associate now.
If you have made it this far, then let’s presume your numbers make sense to bring on a doc and your reason for doing so is sound. Now then, where do you begin?
Recruit a doctor: post, respond, network
There are many free and low-cost resources available to post your job to recruit a doctor. These range from state association classified ads, chiropractic school job boards, the Chiropractic Economics job board, and general job posting boards such as Indeed or Monster. The effectiveness of these general job boards and classifieds is spotty. The positive side of this approach is the low cost, but the downside is that it tends to be less effective in today’s market.
Because of the current five-job-opening ratio for every one available associate doctor, you must respond quickly to applicants. Remember that when someone applies for your job, they typically apply to several other jobs simultaneously. Therefore, your speed and ability to respond quickly to applicants can mean the difference between getting in front of a candidate and missing out.
The next option is your personal network of chiropractors from associations or other groups you’re affiliated with both locally and on a national level within chiropractic. These connections can pay dividends by allowing you to connect with someone looking for the opportunity you have available. The old adage in chiropractic of “The more people you meet and greet, the more you treat,” applies inside of your hunt for talent to join your office. The more chiropractors within your circle of influence, the better your opportunities to find an associate doctor.
If time is of the essence, or you’ve tried the low-cost approach and come up empty, it may be time to bring in the professionals.
Considering a recruiter
When evaluating if it’s time to bring in a recruiter, look at how much an associate will generate for your practice each month compared to how much money you’re losing by not having someone in place. As the saying goes, “Time is money,” and if that associate was generating $10,000 of bottom-line income, and you’ve spent four months searching on your own with no results, that’s $40,000 you’ve lost.
Recruiters typically charge 20-30% of the first year’s salary. Because chiropractic is a smaller industry, some organizations will do this at a lower cost. Recruiters will also typically provide background checks, which help protect you. Some recruiters will also provide different cognitive or behavioral assessments to help you legally gain data on applicants beyond what you can gather from an interview.
It is important to note that you only want to use assessments that are Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) compliant. The last thing you want to open yourself up to is a discrimination lawsuit when you’re simply trying to find your next team member.
Typically, the biggest investment you make in your practice will be in an associate doctor. If they stay with you for an extended period of time, this investment will usually outpace even the cost of your building if you own it. When you buy a building, think of all the work you do on the front end with inspections and surveys to ensure you know what you’re buying.
When bringing on someone to your team who has the potential to generate millions of dollars of revenue for your clinic throughout your relationship together, it’s well worth doing it right.
ALLEN MINER, DC, is the cofounder and CEO of Chiro Match Makers, which has helped thousands of chiropractors find their ideal associate DCs and CAs around the world. He graduated from Parker University and is the owner of practices in Albuquerque, N.M., and Dallas, Texas. Discover how to hire better at ChiroMatchMakers.com.
