| Recruiting Physicians Today is an advertising service of the publishing division of the Massachusetts Medical Society. Distributed six times per year, the free newsletter features articles by physician recruiting firms and other independent groups involved in physician employment. The content that appears here should not be construed as coming from the New England Journal of Medicine, nor does it represent the views of the New England Journal of Medicine or the Massachusetts Medical Society. |
Legally Acceptable Interviewing
September - October 2003
Monica Schnitzer, Search Consultant with JCNationwide’s Retained Search Division. Ms. Schnitzer frequently makes presentations on human resources/recruitment issues to in-house recruiters. Calvin Bruce, a senior staff writer with the firm, has previously written articles for Recruiting Physicians Today. They can be reached at mschnitzer@jcnationwide.com; cbruce@jcnatiowide.com; phone: 1-800-272-2707; and website: www.jcnationwide.com.
Interviewing physicians is serious business. There are consequences in terms of winning or losing qualified candidates, as well as legal issues to consider. Without doubt, asking inappropriate interview questions increases the risk of potential litigation —something every hospital seeks to avoid.
The old adage “Ignorance is no defense” well applies to employment law. Whether recruiters have worked one month or twenty years in physician staffing, they should be aware of what constitutes legally acceptable interviewing.
“It is absolutely imperative that anyone involved in interviewing potential employees have a working understanding of the basic do’s and don’ts when it comes to legal interview questions,”says attorney Lester S. Rosen of Novato, California, who is also president of Employment Screening Resources, a national background screening firm.
“Job applicants, especially those with professional degrees, have become very sophisticated about what types of questions are proper and have plenty of legal recourse when employers ask illegal or discriminatory questions,” he adds.
“Alphabet Soup” Laws
In conducting interviews, physician recruiters are advised to be aware of the federal laws pertaining to nondiscriminatory employment. Of primary importance to recruiters are the “alphabet soup” employment laws described as follows:
Civil Rights Act of 1964 (amended most recently in 1994): Created by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), this law makes it illegal to discriminate against any individual based on race, color, religion, sex (gender), or national origin. Employment agencies and recruitment firms are also covered by the Act. Employment tests, including interviews and applications, must be validated to prove that they do not adversely affect a protected group.
Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978: Illegal to discriminate on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. Employers must treat pregnancy as a temporary disability.
Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) (amended in 1986): Illegal to discriminate against individuals aged 40+.
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA): Illegal to discriminate against persons with a disability with or without reasonable accommodation, unless it would impose an “undue hardship” on the employer. This Act also covers individuals recovering from substance abuse.
Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986: Illegal to discriminate against any individual, other than an unauthorized alien, because of citizenship status.
Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1970 (amended in 1996 and 1998): You must obtain permission to conduct reference checks. If verbal permission is given, you must confirm this in writing within three business days. If requested, you must disclose, in writing, the nature and substance of information contained in the reference check within five business days of the request.
Two additional points are noteworthy. Federal laws pertaining to employment supercede state laws. However, physician recruiters are not relieved of the responsibility to observe applicable state or local laws throughout the hiring process.
Many states have passed laws that expressly regulate what job applicants may be asked, or have published pre-employment inquiry guidelines through a state office that regulates civil rights. California, for example, has published a chart showing proper and improper questions, which can be viewed at www.esrcheck.com/services/legal_illegal_questions.php
Secondly, antidiscrimination laws don’t pertain to where a physician received his medical training. Yet it is important that health care employers avoid any bias against International Medical Graduates (IMGs).
In fact, the American Medical Association (AMA) firmly adheres to the policy “that it is inappropriate to discriminate against any physician because of national origin or geographical location of medical education.”
If IMGs are properly trained, duly licensed, and certified to practice medicine in the United States, they should be regarded as equally qualified as any other candidate for locum tenens or permanent employment.
“Questions relating to studying or working abroad must be handled in a fashion that does not tend to indicate a bias based upon ethnicity, race, or country of origin,” cautions attorney Rosen.
He further explains: “The critical rule is that all questions must be a valid predictor of job performance. It is perfectly acceptable, for example, to ask a candidate about education or work experience gained abroad, since that is clearly job related. However, it would be unacceptable to ask a candidate where they are from. The fact that they may have been born abroad has no relationship to job performance.”
Appropriate Questions
The purpose of an interview is to assess how qualified, interested, and affordable a candidate is for the position under consideration. To make this determination, recruiters are permitted to ask questions that focus on the physician’s medical training, clinical and patient-interaction skills, practice development accomplishments, business savvy, and professional goals.
The list of acceptable (though somewhat “delicate”) questions includes the following:
- How has your medical training prepared you to handle the responsibilities of this position?
- What medical procedures are you most comfortable performing?
- What is your secret to handling “difficult” patients, such as geriatric cases?
- Give an illustration of how your medical input aided in the treatment of a particularly difficult case.
- How have you contributed to the growth of your medical group’s practice?
- What are the main challenges you face as a practitioner in your specialty?
- In terms of management philosophy or style, what would you change about your current situation?
- What are you most proud of regarding your professional accomplishments?
- How does this opportunity compare with others that you are considering?
- What do you think of our community and its amenities?
- Does the employment or schooling of any family member have a bearing on your decision
- If an offer were extended, what would you be looking for in terms of a compensation package?
Thought-provoking questions like these reveal a great deal about the candidate’s personality, professional drive, and commitment to take on a new practice opportunity.
Conclusion
Interviewing physicians is a challenging undertaking. Physician recruiters must respect, and abide by, existing laws pertaining to nondiscrimination in employment. Furthermore, they need to be careful about obtaining additional information of a sensitive nature when asking “delicate questions.”
Balancing objective fact-finding with subjective evaluation of a candidate’s suitability for a given position is an achievement that comes with experience and mature judgment.
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