Join us on April 18-20, 2021. AAPPR Connect is a NEW, in-person event designed specifically for leaders and decision-makers within physician and provider recruitment.
The Association for Advancing Physician and Provider Recruitment (AAPPR) is redefining recruitment to retention and is the only professional organization where physician and provider recruitment leaders and others who influence recruitment, onboarding and retention can connect, learn and advance their careers.
This new, in-person event is designed specifically for leaders and decision-makers within physician and provider recruitment and talent departments. This event offers education and networking for recruitment leaders and the opportunity to connect with business partners that offer tools an solutions to enhance recruitment programs. Our goal is to provide you with the perfect platform to advance your personal and professional success in an environment that prioritizes health and safety.
Health care professionals interested in attending AAPPR Connect must complete an online application. AAPPR will review applications based upon applicants’ decision-making authority and purchasing level/interest. Accepted applicants will receive complimentary registration and two nights of hotel accommodations. They will be required to meet with at least eight of the sponsoring business partners.
Dates & Times:
Thursday, January 14 at 1pm ET – Register here
Tuesday, January 19 at 1pm ET – Register here
Wednesday, January 27 at 1pm ET – Register here
Cost: Members/Free, Non-members/$99
Roundtable Overview
AAPPR’s January roundtables will focus on working with locum tenens physicians. Utilizing locum tenens is a nuanced process, but it doesn’t have to be a stressful one. Whether you have been managing locums for years or are new to the process join fellow AAPPR members to discuss the ins and outs of locum tenens.
In our new virtual world, AAPPR is committed to finding new and innovative ways for recruitment professionals to engage with one another to discuss timely topics and share ideas. We recognize that, more than ever, members are working together to establish new practices and meet the needs of healthcare organizations.
Participation is limited to 25 members per session, and early registration is encouraged.
Please note that these roundtable discussions will not be eligible for CE credit and will not be recorded for later viewing.
At the end of a successful campaign, we like to look back, evaluate and measure success. It is also a great opportunity to say thank you to those who participated and engaged. We are grateful that at the close of the #IamAAPPR campaign, we can do both things.
Throughout the three-month campaign, we saw an increase in website traffic to aappr.org and in followers across all AAPPR’s social media platforms – Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. Not only was there a boost in our followers, but the overall user engagement was at levels we had not seen since March, before the COVID-19 pandemic. There was even an up-tick each month in both new AAPPR memberships and partnerships.
What does this tell us? That even during a global pandemic, when there is a high likelihood for social media burnout and general inbox exhaustion, with the health care community taxed, AAPPR members were continually inspired to respond, comment and share – to be an active part of the campaign. The key reason for this engagement and inspiration, without question, was all the great stories shared by our members and partners. Both in the number of stories told and in the depth of their individual expression, your IamAAPPR stories defined this campaign and is what made it so compelling.
Whether you liked a post or shared your story, it is our sincere hope that you found new value in your AAPPR membership. Your enthusiastic engagement and willingness to spread the word about AAPPR is the essential foundation for a successful campaign. After all, there is always a need for inspiration and we look forward to hearing the next great IamAAPPR story.
Advancing Connections in Health Care
Online/Virtual
Join us on April 26-27, 2021 for the AAPPR Annual Conference, virtually. This conference draws health care professionals in physician and provider recruitment, talent acquisition, physician liaison, business development, marketing, or administration. This conference is a must do event for anyone in or impacting physician and provider recruitment, retention and onboarding. This will be the year not to miss. As you strive to meet the challenges and opportunities of the evolving health care environment, your need for information is more essential than ever before. Take advantage of this unique opportunity to connect with colleagues and industry experts (yes, even virtually!) and receive the cutting-edge knowledge that is critical to your success. You will walk away with strategies for you and your team to source smarter, recruit faster and retain longer!
Visit the AAPPR Annual Conference webpage for complete details including schedule, speaker information and more!
Cancellation and Substitution Policy
Following the conference, the entire event will be available to view on-demand through May 31, 2021. Therefore, registration to the virtual conference is nonrefundable.
Registrants unable to participate in the virtual conference or extended on-demand access may send a substitute. If the alternate is not a member of AAPPR and the original registrant is a member, the nonmember registration cost differential must be paid in advance. Please email requests to events@aappr.org.
Like the communities they serve, rural health systems are unique and, unsurprisingly, have unique challenges. In September, AAPPR hosted a series of member roundtable discussions on the topic of rural recruitment. A common theme to all the discussions was how much has changed in the last six months.
The landscape of health care nationwide has been changed, possibly forever, by the COVID 19 pandemic, and rural areas are no different. From telemedicine to candidate pipelines, recruitment professionals have seen a shift and felt the impacts of a changing world.
If you asked recruitment professionals in rural areas a year ago about the most significant challenges they faced, the first would likely have been location, the second sourcing, and the third perhaps competition from larger, urban health systems. A year ago, most would have agreed that these challenges were, in many cases, difficult to overcome. Now, however, it seems that the pandemic has shifted the landscape in ways that previously seemed unimaginable.
Over the last six months, what was once the biggest challenge for recruitment professionals, a rural location, has become one of their most significant assets. AAPPR members who recruit in rural areas almost universally reported that they have seen an increase in providers seeking opportunities outside of major metropolitan areas. Individual reasons for relocation vary from wanting to reside in less densely populated areas to hoping to be closer to family. Still, the commonality is a search that looks more closely at rural areas. The result is recruitment professionals in rural areas seeing more robust, deeper pipelines.
Traditionally, sourcing has also been challenging for recruiters. Many rural recruiters relied heavily on career fairs, residency and fellowship program visits, and clinical conferences to meet candidates, network and, build relationships with them. Brad Lindblad, Director of Provider Development, Professional Development at Mary Lanning Healthcare, in Nebraska, has been working in a rural setting since 1997. He believes that “in rural recruitment, it always comes back to creative sourcing and building relationship. In some cases, that means starting to recruit someone 4-5 years before they are actively looking for a job and building a long-term relationship.” For the first time this year, Lindblad signed a provider virtually. He feels that “a good recruiter sees a challenge and turns it into an opportunity. Providers who may not have been interested in a rural area a year or two ago are now interested and will have a conversation with us.”
Other rural recruitment professionals agree as the pandemic continues to change how teams approach searches, many are finding new and creative ways to source, recruit, and hire candidates. In some cases, recruitment professionals have noted that virtual interviews and site visits have allowed them to show off practices and communities to candidates who might not have previously thought about a more rural area without having a significant impact on timelines or budgets. Furthermore, as both health systems and candidates become increasingly comfortable in a virtual world, many AAPPR members noted that their timelines to interview and hire candidates have tightened. With so many employees continuing to work from home, recruitment professionals report that their teams have invested the time to streamline their processes and adapt them to remote work. Additionally, as virtual interviews and site visits become the norm, many providers who otherwise would have to take several days to travel to a rural location can get a feel for the hospital, clinic, colleagues, and community in a few hours without ever leaving home.
Rural health care has also seen considerable benefit from the increased use of telemedicine. Rachel Ruddock is the Workforce Development Manager at the Michigan Center for Rural Health and serves as a board member for the National Rural Recruitment and Retention Network (3RNet). She has also noted the number of providers interested in telemedicine opportunities, which for rural communities, could bring needed services into underserved areas. Ruddock believes that “telemedicine will transform how medical care is delivered to rural communities. Pre-Covid many rural clinics and hospitals already utilized telepsychiatry, teleneurology, and other telehealth services due to providers shortages and lack of access to these specialties. This usage has exploded in the last several months as a result of Covid-19. Overall, the feedback from patients and providers who are using telemedicine during this pandemic has been positive. Patients are grateful to no longer need to travel far distances to access care, and providers appreciate being able to see patients in a manner that keeps them healthy and safe. Telemedicine is here to stay even after Covid-19 ends.”
There are, however, two sides to every story. There are certainly health systems struggling with the impacts of COVID 19, and rural communities are no exception. They, too, have had their share of hospitals and clinics furlough employees or freeze hiring initiatives. Ruddock notes that “six months ago, almost any rural healthcare employer would have told me they needed more primary care providers. Now, as a result of COVID 19, I’m seeing rural primary care providers being let go due to a lack of volume and financial constraints. This isn’t happening everywhere, but I’ve seen this occur more in the past six months than the last five years.” Many continue to wonder if the financial implications of COVID-19 will lead to an increase in mergers between health system and how the plans of large corporations like Walmart and CVS to enter the health care field will impact the already tight competition for providers, especially in rural areas.
Like their counterparts in metropolitan areas, rural recruiters are watching trends and working hard to leverage what they can to continue to bring top talent to their communities. In rural areas, recruitment professionals understand that they have a window to work with providers seeking new opportunities in smaller communities.
They continue to work hard to build long-term relationships with candidates while being mindful that health systems’ long-term viability may depend significantly on how the pandemic continues to unfold in the coming months.
Absent a crystal ball; the future is uncertain whether you live in a city of millions or a town of just a few hundred. But one thing is sure; rural recruitment professionals are continuing to adapt to an ever-challenging and changing landscape. With COVID-19 still a very real presence across the United States, collectively, they are finding creative solutions to both old and new challenges and are embracing the success of every new provider they bring to their communities.
As the COVID-19 pandemic spread over the world, taking over our collective global consciousness, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the earliest days of my career as an infectious diseases physician. My fellowship began during another viral pandemic: H1N1 influenza. Every night brought calls to the bedsides of shockingly young patients who were profoundly sick in the ICU. The similarities between 2009 and the current COVID-19 pandemic, however, end there.
Despite being a new strain of influenza that was particularly deadly for young people, H1N1 quickly revealed its secrets to us. We learned early how it spread, how to treat it, and, eventually, how to develop a vaccine for it. The current novel coronavirus however, has offered no such early victories. Much of the spring passed in a blur as healthcare workers across the country struggled to cope with the sick flooding into our hospitals.
The pandemic made it impossible to deny the inequities in our society, with historically marginalized and underserved populations disproportionately represented among those sick and dying. It laid bare how unprepared we were across the world for a disease of this magnitude. As we were racing to get treatment studies up and running, infection control preventionists were working through appropriate ways to cohort patients and protect hospital workers, and our environmental services workers were perfecting safe ways to terminally clean rooms. We learned how the disease spread, as we tried to work out what medications and interventions worked. This collective challenge for our community of healthcare workers was unlike any most of us had experienced. Caring for the patients we were unable to save and speaking with their frantic family members over the phone contrasted dizzyingly with the euphoria of seeing critically sick patients eventually be discharged after weeks on the ventilator. My hospital rang a bell each afternoon as a reminder of those discharges, something that often afforded me a rare moment of uplift in the middle of a punishing day.
Six months on, we have learned more about this complicated virus. We have more information on which treatments don’t work and which may. We know better how to manage patients in the hospital and the complications that can arise with this infection. Having incorporated the lessons learned from the first wave, our community is developing logistical solutions to help us navigate the second one. For instance, my division responsively devised back-up teams to step up as the numbers surge again. Similar preparations are being made in hospitals around the world.
We should have been in a better place. We had a reprieve in summer when numbers went down, but they never went as low as they should have due to factors that are obvious to us all. The politicization of every aspect of this pandemic has exacerbated its harms, and hampered our response. And now we live through déjà vu as we turn to face the headwinds of the second wave.
While we have drugs that help patients with COVID-19, we do not have a cure. Our only true defense is prevention of spread. After forty six million worldwide cases and having lost well over a million humans to this virus, we know what that looks like. Hand washing, masks and social distancing. Hand washing works. Masks work. Social distancing works. We all have to practice all three. While vaccines are studied and a cure is perfected, preventive measures buy us time; they hold death at bay. They allow as many of us as possible to live until our species achieves herd immunity, which, despite media and political disinformation, is only truly obtained via vaccination. Without prevention, uncontrolled spread will burn through us like wildfire. So-called natural infection will cost us untold lives, and many millions more will experience illness and disability. Not only do we have no idea what threshold number of infections gets us to population immunity, we do not even know if such a thing is achievable or long lasting: thus far, we have no reliable understanding of how long immunity will last. What we do know are the myriad complications of this disease. We know that people with even “mild” disease suffer. We know that not only are people sick when acutely unwell, but a significant number are still symptomatic weeks and months after recovery. Uncontrolled spread, allowed in the hope that it will result in herd immunity via natural infection, carries too high a cost for us all, and offers no guarantee that it will bring this pandemic to an end. We must persevere and focus on prevention until a safe and effective vaccine is available to us all.
Multiple large vaccine trials are underway in an unprecedented, coordinated effort to achieve this. These trials must prioritize enrolling people to be truly representative of the population for them to have any impact on the covid-19 pandemic. Researchers and physicians must address historical and ingrained biases and enroll elderly volunteers and people of color, or the vaccines they produce will be inadequate. Once we have effective vaccines whose immunogenicity and effectiveness we fully understand, we come upon yet another hurdle. The vaccines must be made universally available without exception, quickly, and free of charge to all. We cannot allow venality and commerce to be a factor in this time of acute global challenge.
The H1N1 Influenza pandemic of 2009 is estimated to have caused just under 600,000 deaths worldwide. With 1.2 million deaths, of which at least 7,000 have been healthcare workers, this pandemic has far surpassed that. We have moved past a point where it is appropriate to ask if masks are irritating. We must acknowledge the grim reality of our situation and what is to come, and ask instead: what can we do? Wear a mask and socially distance. Our friends, our families, the entire global community depend on each of us taking responsibility for our own part in the fight to end this pandemic
March, 2020. Social Distancing was starting to become a familiar term, and all eyes were on the rising numbers of COVID among the U.S. It was just a typical day in the office on Friday the 13th – typical in the sense that we were still able to sit in our office and collaborate with our colleagues IN PERSON. Corporate travel had already been halted, COVID numbers were the talk in every corner, and we were moving to an official Pandemic in the world.
I headed home for the weekend … and then never went back. It happened so fast. As most of us in the nation, the majority of Mayo Clinic staff was pulled out of our offices and told to work from home until further notice – only direct patient care were to be on the campus. We had daily calls to update us on the ever changing situation of the nation and at Mayo. Elective or non-emergent cases were getting cancelled. Direct patient care staff was starting to get pulled home. It was getting scary.
At first, our team was told that hiring APPs and Physicians was a priority – so to continue to recruit full speed ahead, but interviews would be coordinated virtually. The pendulum was starting to slide in the opposite direction by the end of our 2nd week in. Mayo Leadership had asked all positions to be pulled from our website until further notice. Do not recruit. Instead, compile status reports of each position –do that tonight and then wait for more direction.
Our director pulled us into projects until we knew more. She tried to keep us calm, and keep us occupied. She was transparent that she couldn’t promise the future wouldn’t be scary. But that she had faith in Mayo. And then, in early April our highest leadership made some very historic decisions (historic for Mayo Clinic). It was announced all salaried staff were taking pay cuts. The higher up in ranking, the higher the pay cut. Our physicians were taking cuts too. Then, the words and information surrounding pending furloughs was announced.
Mayo Clinic? Furlough? What does that even mean? How does this happen in a matter of weeks? Thankfully, our leadership anticipated the questions and had the answers. Given the situation, they did as well as they could. We were provided multiple resources. All staff was asked to consider volunteering for furloughs. After it was all said in done, our Physician Recruitment team was cut by 80%. Just enough to keep the lights on, the rest of us were off for 4 months. Some were to be longer, none were to be less.
So, I embraced the summer with a bittersweet feeling. I have kids – so to be a full time mom off of work for a long period of time was fun to consider; especially with the kids not in school. But of course, in the back of your head there is worry. Would I really get my job back? Those left behind were busy holding down the fort. BUSY. I felt bad for them! But, it did help the anxiety and worry of a job to return to. They promised they couldn’t wait to have us all back together again.
Mid summer, WAY earlier than planned, Mayo leadership announced that furloughs would all end no later than 8/31/2020 – even if you were to be out longer. And, everyone’s full pay was being reinstated. VERY GOOD NEWS! In the spring, Mayo had made quick – drastic – changes to our payroll to be sure we could survive the revenue that had stopped from cancelling and delaying certain patient needs. Because of that and the fast-acting decisions to safely get patients back, things were up and running on a quicker timeline than planned.
This was all very exciting. And it has been great to have our entire team back. Across the nation, employees everywhere are working from home. The one difference for Mayo, unlike many others – is that it is permanent. We will NOT be going back to campus. Our offices have been condensed and repurposed. Leases have been let go. We are now completely virtual Mayo Clinic employees.
I walked in to our office to grab all of my things – and my calendar was still stuck on March. That hit me hard. I gathered 9 years of materials, paperwork, pictures, etc. and walked out of the office. I walked around our campus and smiled with my eyes at all the patients I saw (because…mask over my mouth). And I cried. We are recruiters! We like to interact with people. I personally love connecting with the patients and being reminded why we do our jobs. And just like that – my motivators had to change. I had to figure out different ways to remind myself why I do the job I do.
It’s tough. I’m not going to lie. It’s an interesting concept to wrap our heads around. But our Recruitment team is adjusting to the “new normal”. We are intentional with our team interactions. Making sure we find avenues to collaborate in a professional and social way safely via Zoom. It’s been a lifesaver for our sanity. We’ve identified different ways to give team shout outs. We celebrate the successes in very different ways. But we still do it.
We also clearly defined roles & responsibility among our departments, our assistants, the recruiters, and more to be sure that nothing gets missed. The candidate experience is different – but it is still meaningful. The job is getting done.
For me, the hardest part being home is blending my professional world with my home life. I value being a subject matter expert. Being a professional and known as Marissa the recruiter. Not Marissa the recruiter who has a kid walk behind her in the camera…or Marissa with the random table in the background (shout out to the inventor of virtual backgrounds!). I’m learning how to set my boundaries of work and home. I took my email off of my phone because my workstation is always a few steps away. I try to schedule intentional social breaks with people in my “COVID circle” such as a coffee or lunch.
I’m still learning. We all are. And, as we approach the colder Midwestern months – my anxiety of being stuck inside and home all the time is definitely getting to me. But, like all of us – I will keep adjusting my needs and finding my balance. I will keep supporting my colleagues and my family through this interesting year. I will keep working with the AIR leadership team to figure out ways to connect our community. I will keep on keeping on. And I bet you will too.
When I was offered an opportunity to start a new Onboarding program for our faculty practice 11 years ago, there were very few successful programs out there to replicate. Fortunately for me, I was a member of AAPPR and was able to rely heavily on my colleagues to bounce around ideas and they were always there to encourage me. As my program developed, I expressed interest in presenting at an AAPPR conference. Though I was nervous about presenting, I genuinely wanted to share what I was doing and learn with other AAPPR members. After interest grew in onboarding within AAPPR, I was asked to create an onboarding presentation for our AAPPR fellowship program (Now the CPRP Certification). I accepted the invitation to present and found out – I love presenting! I had found a hidden passion. Additionally, one of the highlights of my career was in 2016, our onboarding program was awarded a Best Practice honor by Joint Commission. Was AAPPR done helping me unearth and bring out passions and talents inside me? Not by a long shot.
Early in my membership, I realized that the recruitment niche of the academic arena was not truly represented in AAPPR. When I approached the AAPPR leadership at that time about the interest in creating a chapter for academic members, they were very supportive. Within a few short weeks of making phone calls, I had several academic members interested in creating a formal chapter – AIR – Academic In House Recruiters – and we were off and running, developing governing documents, having monthly meetings and developing educational content to meet the needs of academic members. A few years after that, I changed my role to onboarding and did the same thing – and the OAR – Onboarding and Retention Chapter – was created. I never thought I was capable of originating or leading in that capacity and gained so much from the experience. I had found more skills I didn’t know I possessed, and another hidden passion was now uncovered. I built on that success and gained more confidence to do something else I thought I’d never do and ran for an AAPPR board position where I served for six years. AAPPR had opened yet another door for me to grow and develop on my journey as a professional.
How did the journey begin? I honestly believe it was with those first few AAPPR relationships. The encouragement, answers to questions and support kept me confident enough until, in time, I was advising others. The strength of the networking within AAPPR helped me find strengths within myself. It can start with one person, or even one meeting – and the connections just blossom from there! The networking among AAPPR members is off the charts. Our members are there for each other – to celebrate with you and to help you when times are tough. When a member calls me with a question, I love being able to give them the name of another member they can call who has had similar experiences and can give them insight.
AAPPR is also there to provide support as I work to impact health care in my community. Our internal colleagues work hard to ensure our new providers have a great onboarding experience and thus help increase retention for their organization. We recently added offboarding to our department’s responsibility and reporting to leadership on trends/ concerns that need attention to ensure our providers are happy and stay. Less turnover means less red tape and interruption of first-rate service and AAPPR is there to give recruiters the information and inspiration they need to retain top providers.
The AAPPR networking and educational opportunities really come to life at AAPPR conferences and events. The events help keep members connected, and the more involved you get in AAPPR, the more valuable, and fun, the connections become. Something fun to do at an AAPPR conference is to wear ribbons with various titles. Some of those are traditional – Board Member, Presenter, etc. and some that the vendors give out are more fun. At one of the conferences a few years back, an AAPPR colleague had a DASPR designation and I said that I liked all his ribbons except for the DASPR…we talked about him needing to get his FASPR certification (Now the CPRP Certification). At the next conference, when we connected, he proudly showed off his FASPR ribbon. I guess another hidden passion I’ve found is helping to promote all the tools and resources available within this organization, just like others did for me when I got started. Members encouraging other members and both wanting the best for each other – that’s AAPPR!
Officially, AIR is a Shared Interest Group (SIG) of the Association for Advancing Physician and Provider Recruitment (AAPPR). AIR’s membership consists of in-house recruiters across the nation who ac into faculty-affiliated jobs, either at their respective university, affiliated hospitals, or groups. The organization is dedicated to empowering the advancement of academic recruiters through networking opportunities, education, creating a platform for research and articles, promotion of member facilities to residents and fellows, and serving as a collaborative organization for support of members.
“This special sub-group of physician recruiters faces a daunting set of additional challenges and serve an incredibly important part of medicine in our country. AAPPR works every day to remain a trusted resource for information, advocacy and support,” said Carey Goryl, MSW, CAE, CEO of AAPPR.
All physician recruiters help hospitals run smoothly and help reduce red tape within administration offices by making sure the best physicians in the country are hired and then retained. However only AIR members are tasked with finding top physicians also seeking faculty roles and leadership positions on research teams.
AAPPR understands the importance of a career dedicated to recruiting talented, passionate individuals to academic medicine. It is our mission to provide tools and services to meet the needs of our members. Academic In-House Recruiters who join AAPPR receive a quarterly rotation of membership calls, webinars and the “AIRmail” newsletter to share information. Membership in AAPPR brings academic recruiters together to share ideas, strategies and information to create further awareness of academic opportunities among physicians. Any member of AAPPR can join the Academic In-House Recruiters at any time for no additional cost.
Further AIR goals are to:
For those who have come to understand the strength in numbers that comes with a membership in AAPPR and AIR, it’s the perfect time to join and invite others to embrace the #IamAAPPR campaign.
A unified mentality is at the heart of every successful organization. When we work together, we can elevate the recruitment profession and encourage others to support, join or otherwise positively influence our organization.
Being part of AAPPR has made a huge impact on my career. I volunteered to present during an AAPPR conference in Minnesota about Applying Lean Principles to Physician Recruitment. Unbeknownst to me, the CEO of American Hospital Dubai was in the audience. Within a few months I was recruited to the Middle East to set up the first in-house physician recruitment department in the Middle East.
During my career in this field, and especially as a member of AAPPR, I have met some incredible, hard-working individuals who really want to be the experts in the field of Physician Recruitment. When I first joined, I was lucky enough to have individuals help me with templates and great ideas and suggestions so that I did not have to re-invent the wheel. Over the years, I have done the same for new recruiters and have offered any tools, templates and techniques I can share. I have built incredible relationships with the vendors over the years, which has strengthened my position as a recruitment leader and has given me additional credibility as an expert in my field.
I’m always singing the praises of being a member of AAPPR. When asked what’s the biggest reason someone new to this field should join, my immediate response is networking. Simply stated – Networking Is Everything! Suppose you are serious about being in the physician recruitment world. In that case, you absolutely need to be part of an organization that allows you networking opportunities and unparalleled educational opportunities that can help you advance in your career. It is an incredible feeling to see all your peers during the yearly conference and the amount of love and support you will receive as part of the AAPPR family! The support of the AAPPR family has allowed me to remain in this profession longer than I ever thought possible.
Physician recruitment is rarely a career you choose; it is often something you fall into or stumble upon. Having the ability to be part of selecting the healthcare providers who live and work in your community, where you and your family live, is an incredible feeling and provides a real sense of accomplishment and most of all, pride. YOU can help decide WHO will take care of your community. How incredible is that?
My involvement in AAPPR has not only opened all kinds of doors for me; it has challenged me to do things I never thought I could. Being around so many other passionate people made we want to do more myself. For example, I was one of the first guinea pigs for the Associate, Diplomate and Fellowship exams (Now the CPRP Certification). I was also part of the committee that writes the fellowship questions and presented numerous occasions on various subjects. I am so extremely proud to be part of such an important organization that is so supportive and inclusive. The fact that so many individuals offer their time to volunteer for this organization tells you how important this group is and how we all want others to succeed and how we want to support each other.
Provider recruitment is not a job, it is a lifestyle that we all have chosen somehow. Since my sons were small, they have always known mom was part of an important organization and loved the giveaways I would bring home for them. They were proud of me when I told them I presented to a large group of recruiters. The conferences have become the part of my year I look forward to and I have gone every year except for 2020 due to COVID-19. I always look forward to seeing everyone and meet new colleagues. The best part is always the evening event where everyone, members and vendors spend time together. The mood is different the next day and people have finally had a chance to relax and have fun together as a group. Having a book signed by the author thanks to PracticeLink is always amazing and something I show at home with great pride.
If you are a company that has anything at all to do with provider recruitment, you need to be involved with AAPPR. This is where all provider recruiters go for their education and for their networking and information gathering and guidance. Not participating in the programming, networking opportunities or annual conferences would be a real missed opportunity to bolster your career, brand your company and create relationships and contacts with the people you need to help grow your business. Take it from me; this membership is time and money worth spending and the best ROI you will ever get.
Over the years, so many members have positioned themselves as big brothers and sisters to me. I often needed some career advice and those I’ve reached out to have ALWAYS been there for me, guiding me when the road ahead was a little unclear. To have that type of support that you don’t have in an office setting is invaluable.
In a way, AAPPR has become part of my family story and I would not change a thing about it. I am a proud member of AAPPR.
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