How to hire a clinical fellow

How to hire a clinical fellow, step by step

Here's a step-by-step clinical fellow hiring guide:

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

What does a clinical fellow do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a clinical fellow, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a clinical fellow to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a clinical fellow that fits the bill.

   The following list breaks down different types of clinical fellows and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Clinical Fellow	Description	Hourly rate
   Clinical Fellow	Psychologists study cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior by observing, interpreting, and recording how people relate to one another and their environments.	$25-43
   Staff Psychologist	A staff psychologist is responsible for monitoring patients with mental health conditions and conducting counseling services to observe their behaviors and diagnose their developmental disorders. Staff psychologists develop treatment plans and administer medications for the patients and may also facilitate referrals to other institutions and medical professionals for further examinations... Show more	$25-52
   Research Psychologist	Research psychologists are psychology professionals who examine questions and test hypotheses by using scientific methods to understand human thought and behavior. These psychologists must conduct experiments in controlled lab settings as well as out in the field to examine the social behavior of people living in a rural town... Show more	$30-61

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patients
   • Veterans
   • Autism
   • Surgery
   • Patient Care
   • Group Therapy
   • Rehabilitation
   • Social Work
   • Early Intervention
   • Asha
   • Medicaid
   • CSE
   • Language Disorders
   • Motor Speech Disorders

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Level of therapy provide included acute and subacute, as well as long-term rehabilitation at the hospital's skil nursing center.
   • Evaluate and treat patients suffering from neurological disorders and brain injury.
   • Evaluate, personalize, and carry out cognitive-linguistic and dysphagia rehabilitation for geriatric clients.
   • Collaborate on interdisciplinary team comprise of psychiatry, neurology, nursing/case manager, and neuropsychology.
   • Provide clinical consults with goal of minimizing unnecessary tests and procedures and increasing patients' participation in health care decisions
   • Develop, monitor and maintain patient individualize treatment plans base on principles of ABA and in collaboration with a multidisciplinary team.

   More clinical fellow duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your clinical fellow job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A clinical fellow salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a clinical fellow in Tennessee may be lower than in Idaho, and an entry-level clinical fellow usually earns less than a senior-level clinical fellow. Additionally, a clinical fellow with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average clinical fellow salary

   $69,060yearly

   $33.20 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level clinical fellow salary

   $52,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 22, 2026

   Average clinical fellow salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$96,254	$46
   2	Oregon	$85,597	$41
   3	Washington	$81,538	$39
   4	New Hampshire	$79,055	$38
   5	Connecticut	$78,899	$38
   6	Colorado	$78,295	$38
   7	New York	$76,031	$37
   8	District of Columbia	$76,025	$37
   9	Massachusetts	$75,966	$37
   10	Missouri	$71,285	$34
   11	Maryland	$69,772	$34
   12	Virginia	$69,564	$33
   13	Minnesota	$67,394	$32
   14	Georgia	$64,954	$31
   15	North Carolina	$64,191	$31
   16	Pennsylvania	$62,943	$30
   17	Florida	$62,589	$30
   18	Ohio	$62,008	$30
   19	Illinois	$61,153	$29
   20	Tennessee	$60,962	$29

   Average clinical fellow salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Genentech	$98,487	$47.35	41
   2	Novartis	$94,085	$45.23	2
   3	Staten Island Academy	$82,726	$39.77
   4	Finger Lakes Community Health	$80,819	$38.86	1
   5	Stanford Health Care	$80,551	$38.73	86
   6	Loma Linda University	$79,940	$38.43	4
   7	Hackensack Meridian Health	$78,977	$37.97	100
   8	Community Health Systems	$77,216	$37.12	130
   9	Lahey Hospital & Medical Center	$77,185	$37.11
   10	University of California	$76,859	$36.95	227
   11	Legacy Health	$76,637	$36.84	24
   12	Montefiore Mount Vernon Hospital	$76,625	$36.84	3
   13	University of California-Berkeley	$76,491	$36.77
   14	Brigham and Women's Hospital	$76,369	$36.72	58
   15	Tufts Medical Center	$76,316	$36.69
   16	Massachusetts General Hospital	$76,295	$36.68	4
   17	Geisinger Medical Center	$76,223	$36.65	66
   18	Boston Medical Center	$76,167	$36.62	8
   19	Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center	$76,163	$36.62
   20	Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory	$75,779	$36.43	5

4. Writing a clinical fellow job description

   A clinical fellow job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a clinical fellow job description:

   Clinical fellow job description example

   Under the mentorship of an advanced clinical provider leader, performs a variety of functions and technical procedures necessary for patient admission, assessment, diagnosis, treatment, follow-up, and outcome evaluation. Participates in performance improvement, research, and educational activities.
   Job Responsibility
   
   * Under the mentorship of an advanced clinical provider leader, takes initial patient histories and performs physical examinations.
   * Initiates, documents, and communicates the plan of care and follows up to ensure complete screening and preparation of patients.
   * Performs daily patient rounds.
   * Writes orders for medications, laboratory work, and diagnostic tests.
   * Interprets laboratory and test results.
   * Confers with attending physicians, residents, nursing staff, and/or other care providers to ensure optimum quality of patient care.
   * Upon discharge, notes discharge summaries, prescriptions, and any referrals on patient charts.
   * Informs patients of the necessary post-discharge care instructions.
   * Performs related duties as required. All responsibilities noted here are considered essential functions of the job under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Duties not mentioned here, but considered related are not essential functions.
   
   Job Qualification
   
   * Master's Degree in a Nurse Practitioner Program and National Board Certification in specialty area required.
   * Current License to practice as a Nurse Practitioner in New York State,
   * and Current License to practice as a Registered Professional Nurse in New York State required.
   * OR Bachelor's Degree, required. Graduate of an accredited (Accreditation Review Committee for Physician Assistant Programs ARC-PA) program, required.
   * Current license to practice as a Physician Assistant (PA) by the New York State Department of Education, required. Current NCCPA Certification from the National Commission on the Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA), required.
   * OR Bachelor's Degree in Nursing and Master's Degree in Nurse Midwifery from an accredited midwifery educational program, required.
   * Current license to practice as a Registered Professional Nurse in New York State, required and current licensure as a Nurse Midwife in the State of New York, required.
   * American Midwifery Board Certification, required.
   * OR Master's Degree from a nurse anesthesia program accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs (COA), required.
   * Current license to practice as a Registered Professional Nurse in New York State.
   * Certified by National Board of Certification and Recertification for Nurse Anesthetists (NBCRNA) .
   * ACLS, required.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right clinical fellow for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with clinical fellows they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit clinical fellows who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your clinical fellow job on Zippia to find and recruit clinical fellow candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit clinical fellows, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to 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 clinical fellow

   Once you have selected a candidate for the clinical fellow position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize the agreement with a contract.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is 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 a clinical fellow?