Beat Medical Blog

Why traditional medical recruitment advertising is like beating your head against a wall, and burning money

Posted by Beat Medical

As medical recruiters, we often hear variations of the same stories from our clients, who come to us after months (sometimes, years) of unsuccessful recruitment:

"I was advertising in Australian doctor, but the applications were no good"
"I had an ad on the division website, but didn't get any resumes"
"We had the job listed with a number of agencies, but didn't get any results"

It is no wonder that in the age of Facebook, Google, and Twitter that traditional advertising is just not working anymore. Think about it - when was the last time you posted an ad, and got a bunch of great applications from doctors?

As an agency specialising in recruiting doctors, we wouldn't ever dream of running a traditional advertising campaign. Not only is it a waste of time, it is like burning money. The solution to this problem is running specific marketing campaigns aimed a so many different media that it creates an overwhelming amount of attention in what you are "selling".

Imagine that GP Practice A decided to run ads through a popular medical publication, and put postings on the division and RACGP website. They sit on these for a few months, hoping that a recruitment miracle will happen. It never happens, and they speak to every agency under the sun. After 12 months, still no doctor.

What has happened in this scenario is that the marketing effort has been concentrated into the local market that doesn't want to move - Australian GPs are an extremely immobile workforce. Unfortunately, just because GP Practice A wants an Aussie-trained FRACGP, it doesn't mean it is going to happen.

The clinic across the road, GP Practice B, ran a more aggressive campaign - promoting the position on social media, relevant international medical employment websites, Google ads, large ads in GP journals in the UK and Ireland, and sent direct mail to the homes and offices of doctors overseas, and used a referral program for other doctors to promote the position for them.

The response isn't instant, but within months, Practice B have a list of qualified candidates ready to move to Australia immediately, within 6 months, and over the next few years. There is a cost to a more aggressive campaign - in both time and money. However, given the greater quality of the candidates, the continuous future stream of candidates, and the fact that the they have started a sustainable recruitment process, there is incredible value in what they have done.

It is clear that traditional advertising just doesn't work, recruitment miracles are just as likely to happen as snow at Christmas in Darwin! By considering a different approach, you will increase your recruitment throughput to levels you would have not previously imagined.

Beat Medical has a solution for Aggressive Medical Recruitment Marketing, which - compared to the DIY approach will save you both time and money. Of course, as part of the package, we take care of the back end - medical registration, visa, provider number, and so on. We will run a very tailored campaign for your practice which will find you a quality candidate faster, with the added value of over 10 years of medical recruitment expertise.

Until 20th August 2010, we are offering a 100% money back guarantee that we will find you a doctor through our Aggressive Marketing Package.  Contact us for a proposal today.

National medical registration system struggling with demand from doctors, agencies, employers in Australia

Posted by Beat Medical

Following criticism levelled by doctors, medical recruiters, and employers, the Medical Board of Australia (MBA) is reporting that they are increasing their capacity.

After failing to respond to enquiries, poor response times, lack of available documentation, and serious mistakes when transferring information about practitioners to the new national database, AHPRA has advised that they are taking action on the emergent issues.

Representatives of the Board have said that: "AHPRA’s focus continues to be on boosting our enquiry response capacity and bedding down our IT systems. By early next week, we will have doubled the number of enquiries staff whose sole priority is to respond effectively to enquiries, in a timely way[...]".

As a medical recruitment and locum agency, we are very concerned that there will be serious after-effects from the lack of preparedness that the Board has shown in the roll-out of national medical registration. Not only are the phones left unanswered, the Board has failed to provide key forms, policies, and documentation to enable us to place doctors where they are needed as quickly as we usually do.

As members of the Association of Medical Recruitment Australia and New Zealand (AMRANZ), Beat Medical are contributing to assisting the MBA to bring their service to the standard expected by the healthcare industry, and the Australian public.

As an AMRANZ councillor, Beat Medical Director Shaun Hughston is playing a key role in exerting pressure on the MBA to meet the immediate demands of medical employment in Australia. We wish to assure our clients and candidates that we are the forefront of addressing the key concerns and issues surrounding the very tenuous implementation of national registration.

Have you had a problem with the new national Medical Board of Australia? Let us know... click on "Comments" below.

Electronic medical records - is it all going wrong?

Posted by Beat Medical

With electronic media so much part of our everyday life, isn't it logical that our medical records are kept electronically?

The benefits of electronic medical records (EMR) are huge - instant access to records, information sharing, standardisation, integration of systems, and so on. Some say that EMR will revolutionise healthcare.

So, why is it that as a medical recruitment and locum agency, we hear so many complaints about EMR? We hear that the systems are slow, and inaccessible. People tell us that they discourage patient and collegial interaction. Some say that the NSW government has not invested enough in the system, and has 'gone cheap'.

It is unlikely that the system with backpedal on EMR, so what can be done right now to change where things are heading?

Let us know your thoughts....  Click on 'comments' below to have your say

Jayant Patel found guilty, but who else is to blame?

Posted by Beat Medical

Yesterday, Jayant Patel, the Bundaberg surgeon accused of gross negligence was found guilty of manslaughter and grievous bodily harm.

Appeals will most likely commence from here, but for the families of his victims, it will hopefully be some resolution.

Alongside the news on the case in the media, this article in The Australian was published today. Tony Morris highlights that there are two issues at play in the case - that of Patel's incompetence and the subsequent deaths, and that of the process that enabled him to work unsupervised as the Director of Surgery in a regional QLD hospital.

It was a complex case, with a number of contributing factors. There were so many preventable events that took place before his employment that it is almost impossible to imagine how Patel was granted registration in the first place:

-the recruitment agency did not adequately check the documentaiton
-the medical board did not complete the requisite checks, and granted registration
-the hospital appointed Patel to a position outside of the scope of his medical registration
-there was internal pressure against the 'whistleblower', who brought matters to the attention of the health service


It is absolutely the responsibility of each person in the medical recruitment process to ensure that they scrutinise, and question the veracity of CV's, references, professional documents. If something feels out of place, dig. If it still feels out of place, keep digging.

It is human to be blinded by pressure to find a doctor for shift, position, or job - and create a false gap between what you actually see, and what you want to see. It is the individual responsibility of us all in this industry to speak up if something is not right, and unless you are completely satisfied of a medical professional's competence and background - do not give them the job.

Consider the deaths of Patel's patients, and their families - who have felt the deepest cut of his behaviour and the omissions of his employers. It is up to administrators and recruiters to work towards preventing this from happening ever again.

The medical recruitment company involved dismissed a staff member, and most likely felt a level of corporate shock they never will again. The health service and the medical board were held to account, and a whistleblower's life and career still stands deeply affected by the events.

We ask the same question Tony Morris asks: should there have been other people in the dock?

Click on 'comments' below to have your say

Medical indemnity insurance - why it is a must for working as a doctor in Australia

Posted by Beat Medical

A phrase we hear every day from locum doctors and doctors looking for jobs is: why do I need medical indemnity insurance? I thought the hospital provides cover...it's in my contract...

It may well be the case, but there are a number of good reasons why you need to have your own medical indemnity insurance cover. This is best illustrated with a scenario:

Dr X is working as a locum in Bigtown Hospital Emergency department, and sees a patient for a simple, minor presentation. Dr X treats the patient according to protocols, and common sense - but the patient returns to the ED the next day with serious complications, which appear to be as a result of the treatment provided by Dr X. The patient says they are going to sue the hospital, make a complaint to the HCCC, and go to the media about the shoddy treatment they received.

The hospital conducts its own investigation and finds that Dr X did not follow the latest protocol, and that Dr X is at fault. They suspend Dr X pending the HCCC investigation, and write a letter to the Medical Board, informing them of the situation.


Dr X is obviously going to be in a difficult situation here - his reputation is already damaged, the hospital is distancing themselves from him, and he may have to face the legal costs of fronting the HCCC, the Medical Board, and of course - the court case. Although the hospital may indeed be found negligent - Dr X may be stung with contributory negligence if it is found that he did not follow the protocols and policies of the hospital.

Medical indemnity insurance can provide a serious safety net in terms of:

-legal advice and representation
-underwriting in cases of negligence
-expert advocacy

When choosing a policy, it is important to speak with the insurer to understand what the right cover for you is. If you are working as an independent contractor on an ABN, it is very important to let the insurer know so that you can be covered appropriately. Also let them know about any significant changes in your scope of practice, employer, locum work, or anything else that you think might effect your insurance.

If you doubt the value of medical indemnity insurance, the key question you need to ask yourself is "Can I count on my hospital/employer to be my advocate when the worst happens?". The answer is "probably not" in most cases.

This article is intended as broad discussion only, and not as advice on any legal matters, particular product, or service. For advice on medical indemnity matters, speak with your insurer or legal adviser.


Have you ever had an experience which demonstrated the value of medical indemnity insurance? Tell us about it!

Living tropical - an alternative lifestyle as a GP

Posted by Beat Medical

There are so many options for where to live and work as a doctor in Australia that it can be a bit of an overwhelming choice.

As an overseas trained general practitioner, you are generally restricted to working in a regional or rural area of Australia. Although this might mean being some distance from a capital city like Sydney or Melbourne, it opens the door to a much higher quality of living.

In this article, I am going to focus on Townsville - which is in Queensland. Although there are some similar cities around Australia, Townsville has the enviable quality of having over 300 days of sunshine in the year, and is directly across from Magnetic Island, one of the most spectacular natural retreats in Australia.

Being in a regional area doesn't mean that you have to sacrifice education and lifestyle- with the best in public and private schools, a large international university (which has an excellent medical school and world-class school of tropical medicine), amazing sporting facilities, and easy childcare it is truly the best of both worlds. If you do need a fix of the 'big city', there are regular flights to Brisbane and Sydney, as well as flights north to Cairns which go onward to Bali and beyond.

In comparison to the larger cities, drive time to work is a maximum of 30 minutes (the more common average being 5-15 minutes), crime rates are relatively low, and you get a sense of being part of a community. The best part is you can enjoy your time away from work with proximity to the coastline (within sailing distance of the Great Barrier Reef), and myriad sporting and recreational facilities.

If you don't enjoy warm weather, and a relaxed lifestyle, Townsville is most likely not for you. Otherwise, consider going tropical!


At the moment, we have a number of GP positions available in a rapidly growing area of Townsville.

Nearly national medical registration?

Posted by Beat Medical

A bane of most locum doctors' existence is the lack of a national medical registration system. Thankfully, there is light at the end of the tunnel, with the formation of the new Medical Board of Australia, and national registration on 1st July 2010.

Many doctors will have already received a letter outlining the new system, and what you need to do next. There are some changes, with greater responsibility placed on the individual doctor to keep up their CME, undertake criminal history checks, and more. The actual registration fee remains unknown.

So, why is it nearly national registration? At the moment, there are three dissenting states - Western Australia, South Australia, and Tasmania - who have not passed the required legislation to make the national registration happen. Until this is completed, the national system will be rolled out to some states, but not the dissenting ones. If you are not registered in one of those rogue states, and you wish to be, you will still need to apply for mutual recognition.

When will true national registration happen? Your guess is as good as ours. We hope it happens sooner rather than later - with nationally mobile doctors in locum work across Australia, it is almost ridiculous that they need to go through a complex, paperwork laden process just to work in another Australian state.

What do you think about it? Let us know your thoughts...

Doctors responsible for Emergency Department return rates?

Posted by Beat Medical

In this SMH article published last weekend, there is an interesting commentary on emergency department return rates.

Whilst the health service responded highlighting the aging population as a major factor, the State opposition highlighted that there are many parts of the Garling report which have not been addressed - thus causing major issues in the health services.

Many of our 'inside sources' tell us that the truth is somewhere halfway between the two responses.

As a locum agency placing doctors in emergency departments, we consistently receive feedback that emergency departments are not rostered with an appropriate mix of medical staff. That is, not only are junior staff rostered on at night - on their own, there is often little backup for them to call on when the worst happens. In some cases, there is a huge imbalance between senior doctors and junior doctors. At other times, there is no doctor at all.

I imagine at this time that there are a number of health service managers being pushed to provide a response to the adverse media publicity - what do you think the likely explanation will be? Will the doctors be to blame?

Let us know your thoughts.

Down the rabbit hole - the curiousness of health services

Posted by Beat Medical

If you have experience in healthcare at any level - a clinician, manager, cleaner, administrator, window washer - you were most likely nodding in agreement with this fantastically written piece in today's Age.

As a medical recruiter, and (I am a little embarrassed to admit it) former health service manager, I can see some palpable parallels between working with the health system, and the absurd (but all to familiar?)  characters in Alice in Wonderland.

It must have taken a Mad Hatter to design the current system for working as a locum in one Australian state (....to remain nameless). Not only are locum doctors expected to read over 450 pages of policies, and complete hours worth of online learning - they are encumbered by their current employer's consent to work as locums in areas of critical medical workforce shortage. It's also not a walk in the park for the the front line rostering people, who are restricted in terms of how much they can pay locum doctors in accordance with arbitrary geographical zones (which seem as though they were decided upon at a health department tea party). Here is the crux - the people making these decisions, however well meaning, are often at a critically dangerous distance from the reality of health care 'in the trenches'.

What is the point of these polices? To provide better health care, of course.  I've noticed how well it has worked - have you? Well, maybe not.

The aim is, of course, cost reduction. There is a Queen of Hearts in every health service, exacting sharp fiscal control on areas she may or may not have any understanding of, and proclaiming "Off with their heads" at the slightest hint of dissent or creative thought. New health service managers are often given no training, no expectations, no targets to meet, except "reduce the budget".  When I started in a hospital, I felt like Alice, tumbling down a hole to who-only-knows-where, as there is only one way to reduce the budget - to reduce medical staffing. Trying to explain to a high level administrator that it is less expensive to pay our own staff slightly more to work unpopular shifts, than it is to bring in hundreds of expensive outside locums of questionable quality and skills was almost like putting my head through a wall.

More dangerous than the Queen of course, is the Cheshire Cat, the duplicitous sycophant whose sharp teeth are covered by a flurry of nonsensical and vexing arguments. These people are the worst enemy of medical recruitment - swiping away any attempt to boost staffing numbers, citing an endless array of policies, precedents, and alluding to the opinions of a distant CEO who is always at arms length. Here is a common scenario - we need a new emergency specialist. Can we advertise? "No, too expensive". Can we attend a conference to attract potential candidates "No, too expensive. Perhaps try a sandwich board in front of the train station". In their heart of hearts, they know it is less expensive to keep a position vacant than it is to fill it.

I can't help but think that we are compelled to reject the reality presented to us by the looking glass - now is the time to agitate, question the system, and find your way out of the rabbit hole. What do you think we can do to change the system? Is it too late to turn it around?

Alice: But I don't want to go among mad people.
The Cat: Oh, you can't help that. We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.
Alice: How do you know I'm mad?
The Cat: You must be. Or you wouldn't have come here.
Alice: And how do you know that you're mad?
The Cat: To begin with, a dog's not mad. You grant that?
Alice: I suppose so,
The Cat: Well, then, you see, a dog growls when it's angry, and wags its tail when it's pleased. Now I growl when I'm pleased, and wag my tail when I'm angry. Therefore I'm mad.

The Art and Zen of fudging emergency waiting times

Posted by Beat Medical

As a health consumer, I welcome the Federal Government’s $500 million plan to halve waiting times in emergency departments. It is admirable, and in honesty there are few things that would break your heart more than seeing a member of your own family waiting on an ambulance trolley in a hallway for a day in an overstretched emergency department.

As a medical recruiter, and a former health service manager, I know that halving waiting times is most likely too good to be true.

In many hospitals, particularly in regional areas, management exacts severe pressure on emergency doctors to ensure that waiting times are reduced. This sometimes involves pushing them beyond reasonable hours of work, and most frightening – insisting that junior trainees work in supervisory positions, after hours with little or no support from senior staff.