Finding the Next Generation of “America's Health Responders”: Best Practices to Recruit Hard-to-Reach Health Professionals Into the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) Commissioned Corps

Background:  The professionals sought by the USPHS—physicians, dentists, and behavioral healthcare providers—are being pulled in several attractive directions, including the Veterans Health Administration Medical Centers, state and county facilities, and academic positions, as well as industry and private practice. A Memorandum of Agreement signed April 2008 between PHS and the Department of Defense requires PHS to recruit mental health professionals to help offset the insufficient number of healthcare providers, within military treatment facilities and communities. Our challenge: to show these potential recruits why the Commissioned Corps makes the most sense for providers who seek a professionally stimulating, rewarding, and financially secure career.

Program background:  In October 2009, the USPHS Commissioned Corps awarded Booz Allen Hamilton the “Partners in Recruiting” campaign, a multi-channel effort to recruit hard-to-reach and highly desirable health professionals into a hands-on, service-oriented career in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. The Campaign has the following goals:  

• Raise awareness about why the Commissioned Corps makes the most sense for providers who seek a professionally stimulating, rewarding, and financially secure career;
• Build a permanent behavioral healthcare provider pipeline from the academic training settings to the Commissioned Corps;
• Establish best practices in recruiting hard-to-reach healthcare professionals; and
• Educate behavioral healthcare providers and other healthcare professionals about the Commissioned Corps, and in so doing continue to raise the visibility of the organization and its role as “America’s Health Responders.”

Evaluation Methods and Results:  The campaign uses both traditional and social media communication tactics to encourage dialogue. The campaign features profiles and examples of officers who “answered the call” to serve within USPHS, and are enjoying a successful career and rewarding home life. These stories demonstrate the real-world benefits and rewards of a career in that focuses on serving those most in need.

Conclusions: Advances in communication technology and the revolution in the number and type of channels available to reach audiences present both opportunities and challenges for an effort such as this. Faced with volumes of information, as well as personal and environmental factors, the campaign balances a complex portfolio of offerings. Research serves as the guiding principle of this effort, including in-depth focus groups and surveys conducted with new and current officers.

Implications for research and/or practice:  Conference participants will receive an overview of the project from the Deputy Project Manager of the Partners in Recruiting Campaign, lessons learned, insights into the next phases of the campaign, and best practices on health communication to reach, recruit, and engage the hardest-to-reach health professionals.