By: Logan Ebbets, MS, CPRP
AAPPR Board Member

In April, Stephanie Wright, MSA, CMPE, CPRP, Marjorie Alexander, MBA, CPRP, RMSR
(fellow board members), Christy Ricks, MHA, CPRP-DEI (AAPPR member and former Vendor Committee Chair), and I were accepted to sit on panels at Becker’s Hospital Review Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL.

Becker’s Hospital Review is a well-known medical industry trade magazine and online newsletter. The audience at the Annual Meeting was over 420 hospital and health system executives. In other words, our target audience.

One of the top board imperatives is to increase the visibility of AAPPR and the profession. Part of this work includes targeting the C-Suite to create a cultural shift where they start to rely on their in-house recruitment professionals and consultants as subject matter experts and trusted advisors.

We were extremely excited to get this opportunity and a seat at the table…finally. Our panel topics included Physician Contracting Over the Next 5 years, Physician Pay in Value-Based Care, The Impact of Empathy on Burnout and Healthcare Economics. Our fellow panelists included Chief Medical Officers, Chiefs and Vice Chiefs, Clinical Officers, Chief Administrative Officers, and Medical Directors.

When I first saw the agenda, I was slapped with a heavy dose of imposter syndrome. I immediately felt like I did not deserve to sit on this panel. But this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I did not want to let myself or AAPPR down, so I forged ahead.

I am happy to report that Becker’s was a wild success, and I was left with two major takeaways.

First, the feeling of imposter syndrome is real, but you have to fake it until you make it. Because, in reality, you’re not really faking it, you’re actually doing it.

To ensure I could hold my own amongst a panel of C-Suite leaders and Executives. I over-prepared and then prepared again. I was also thoughtful about how I could speak about data from AAPPR and best practices from our profession to bring home the point that provider and physician recruiters are the subject matter experts in our space. At the end of the day, our roles give us the unique opportunity to learn about physicians’ and providers’ motivations and drives. We see the impacts that our healthcare system is having on these key clinical staff members firsthand.

After my panel discussion, I was left feeling accomplished and validated that our work makes us amazing spokespeople for offering thought leadership around the challenges that we face in healthcare today.

With that takeaway, an even more exciting realization was confirmed. We deserve a seat at the table, and this audience wants to hear what we have to say. Stephanie, Marjorie, Christy, and I were all blown away by how receptive our audiences were. Throughout our careers, many of us have felt like we have been on the hamster wheel, fighting for that seat at the table with our C-Suite and Executive leadership.

After attending Becker’s, I realized something. Rather than waiting to be invited to the table, we need to just show up and take our seats. Becker’s didn’t reach out to us, we reached out to Becker’s. We took that seat, and we were amazingly well received.

As a board, we are committed to increasing visibility for AAPPR and our profession. But at the same time, I challenge our members to look for opportunities to take their seats at the table. Don’t wait to be asked. You would not be successful in this profession if you did not know what you were talking about. Have faith in your expertise, and don’t listen to the imposter voices, because I promise you, you’ve got this!