The cost of recruiting

This summer I attended the AAFP's national conference of residents and students for the umpteenth time with some of our program faculty and residents to kick off the recruiting year. This annual August affair is quite the sight. A fellow faculty mate along for the trip estimates that the 14 programs recruiting resident applicants in our immediate vicinity spent nearly $100,000 for the three day exhibit fest. All that for a chance to meet a handful of students who might want to apply to your residency.

Seems like there should be a less expensive, more direct and targeted way to achieve the end: recruiting medical students to the specialty of family medicine.

Now that recruiting season is really heating up I can't wait to see how this year's version of future family physicians will play out as they walk across the recruiting stage. More later.