How to hire an attending physician

How to hire an attending physician, step by step

Here's a step-by-step attending physician hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write an attending physician job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new attending physician
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does an attending physician do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your attending physician job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find an attending physician for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   An attending physician's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, attending physicians from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   This list shows salaries for various types of attending physicians.

   Type of Attending Physician	Description	Hourly rate
   Attending Physician	Physicians and surgeons diagnose and treat injuries or illnesses. Physicians examine patients; take medical histories; prescribe medications; and order, perform, and interpret diagnostic tests... Show more	$60-154
   Doctor	A doctor is a medical expert who diagnoses and treats illnesses and injuries, often specializing in particular areas. Their responsibilities revolve around conducting initial interviews and examinations, studying a patient's medical history and laboratory results, providing consultations and care advice, prescribing medication, and referring patients to specialists when necessary... Show more	$50-196
   Family Practice Doctor	Family practice doctors provide lifelong care for a patient and their family. They offer medical attention to all family members, educates patients on disease prevention, provide health maintenance, and ensure mental and emotional needs are met... Show more	$48-165

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patients
   • Primary Care
   • Surgery
   • Internal Medicine
   • BLS
   • Rehabilitation
   • Emergency Room
   • Medical Care
   • Emergency Medicine
   • Direct Patient Care
   • Epic
   • Surgical Procedures
   • Compassion
   • CPR

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage neurological cancer research protocols: collected/organize data, assure compliance with protocol guidelines, manage study database and enroll patients.
   • Prepare patients for ultrasound guide injections and aspirations which includes draping patients, prepping medications and preparing sterile instruments.
   • Manage neurological cancer research protocols: collected/organize data, assure compliance with protocol guidelines, manage study database and enroll patients.
   • Monitor and manage patient medical records in compliance with HIPPA.

   More attending physician duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the attending physician job description is a good way to get more applicants. An attending physician salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for an attending physician in Nevada may be lower than in New Jersey, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level attending physician. Additionally, an attending physician with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average attending physician salary

   $200,702yearly

   $96.49 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level attending physician salary

   $125,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 19, 2026

   Average attending physician salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Florida	$206,717	$99
   2	Minnesota	$204,130	$98
   3	Ohio	$202,310	$97
   4	Illinois	$200,900	$97
   5	West Virginia	$192,238	$92
   6	North Carolina	$189,675	$91
   7	New York	$187,655	$90
   8	Pennsylvania	$187,618	$90
   9	New Mexico	$187,513	$90
   10	Maryland	$186,388	$90
   11	California	$186,286	$90
   12	Virginia	$186,137	$89
   13	Tennessee	$185,478	$89
   14	Delaware	$181,203	$87
   15	Georgia	$179,444	$86
   16	Connecticut	$178,579	$86
   17	District of Columbia	$169,493	$81
   18	Massachusetts	$161,225	$78
   19	Colorado	$156,686	$75

   Average attending physician salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Community Health Systems	$258,082	$124.08	64
   2	UnitedHealth Group	$254,690	$122.45	502
   3	Dignity Health	$235,490	$113.22	191
   4	Mayo Clinic	$233,050	$112.04	268
   5	Comprehensive Spine and Sports Center	$226,889	$109.08
   6	George Fox University	$224,171	$107.77
   7	FYZICAL Therapy & Balance Centers	$217,239	$104.44	27
   8	Allina Health	$215,879	$103.79	27
   9	Hospital for Special Surgery	$213,274	$102.54	5
   10	Colfax Corporation	$210,810	$101.35
   11	Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center	$210,378	$101.14
   12	Connecticut Children's Medical Center	$209,953	$100.94	15
   13	Piedmont Healthcare	$209,492	$100.72	183
   14	Ascension Michigan	$209,194	$100.57	524
   15	Fresenius Medical Care Windsor, LLC	$207,907	$99.96	30
   16	North Shore Health Systems	$207,907	$99.96
   17	Integrity Locums	$207,451	$99.74
   18	Urgent Team	$206,226	$99.15	2
   19	Advanced Recovery Systems	$205,905	$98.99	1
   20	Medstar Health	$205,837	$98.96	4

4. Writing an attending physician job description

   A job description for an attending physician role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's an attending physician job description:

   Attending physician job description example

   To provide direct care to patients under the supervision of a physician.
   
   Essential Functions:- Provides independent patient care services including minor surgery, acute and chronic health problems within the guidelines of established procedures and individual training and experience.- Assesses health needs of patients, including physical assessment.- Provides direct patient care in accordance with certification. Uses observation and judgment in evaluating patients, designing and implementing programs of care. This program of care is under the direct supervision of a physician.- Collaborates with the physician and other clinical staff members to maintain continuity of care.- Maintains established systems of follow-up for patient care.- Refers patients to supervising physician or, with physician agreement, to other health/professionals as appropriate.- Makes telephone evaluations as indicated, as well as giving medical advice and information to patients by telephone where appropriate.- Participates in developing medical protocols for care which physician's assistant will implement.- Participates in planning for the delivery of clinical service.- Participates in monitoring quality of care according to professional standards and established criteria.- Carries out clinical and administrative procedures that may be promulgated by the Health Plan.- Participates in training of students.- Performs other related duties as directed.
   
   Basic Qualifications:Experience- One (1) year of primary care experience is required.Education- Graduation from an accredited PA program.- Bachelor's degree required.License, Certification, Registration- State PA certification required.- AAPA certification required.- Qualified to obtain license to practice in the jurisdiction to which person is assigned.- National Provider Identification (NPI) required. Additional Requirements:- N/A
   
   Preferred Qualifications:- Two (2) years of primary care experience is preferred.
   
   COMPANY: KAISER
   
   TITLE: Assistant, Physician Medical Group
   
   LOCATION: Largo, Maryland
   
   REQNUMBER: 1108243
   
   External hires must pass a background check/drug screen. Qualified applicants with arrest and/or conviction records will be considered for employment in a manner consistent with Federal, state and local laws, including but not limited to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, protected veteran, or disability status.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right attending physician for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your attending physician job on Zippia to find and attract quality attending physician candidates.
   • Use niche websites such as healthcarejobsite, health jobs nationwide, hospitalcareers, medreps.com.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting attending physicians requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new attending physician

   Once you've found the attending physician candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new attending physician. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire an attending physician?