Finding your first job in a community hospital

Community hospitals offer excellent opportunities for graduating orthopaedic trauma fellows. To successfully compete for these jobs, applicants today must be better prepared than their predecessors. Organizing your practice aspirations and researching job opportunities before the interview are necessary for an effective job search. Often, a collaborative effort with hospital administrators is required to establish a viable practice that fulfills the unique needs of the hospital and surrounding community while concurrently satisfying your practice goals. Issues to consider in defining your desired practice, guidelines on how to prepare for an interview with a community hospital, and suggestions on how to justify the expense of establishing your practice are presented.