Faculty recruitment to academic health systems in difficult times: defining current challenges and best practices

Faculty recruitment to academic health systems (AHS) is difficult even in the best of times due to the inherently complex interfaces between health sciences schools, medical centers, affiliated institutions, faculty, and administration as well as the limited availability of top talent. However, with diminishing research and healthcare funding, coupled with proliferating regulations, recruitment has become even more challenging. These factors make it more important than ever to define best practices in AHS recruitment and may prompt the recruitment of internal candidates rather than external ones, the pursuit of philanthropic support for capacity building and start-up packages, the consolidation of academic units, and the combination of leadership positions. The specific needs will vary considerably depending on the type of position sought (e.g. "rank-and-file" faculty member, department chair, dean, academic medical center chief executive officer) as well as the specific responsibilities expected of them. Leadership roles may be particularly difficult to recruit for at this time and may appear too daunting for some potential candidates to consider. These challenges may lead to a reevaluation of roles and responsibilities, reporting relationships, and, perhaps, the redefinition of the positions themselves. The authors draw on their collective experience to define best practices in recruitment to AHS during these turbulent times.