According to John Pinto, president of Pinto & Associates, an ophthalmic practice management consulting firm, the following are key success factors for an ophthalmic job search.

• Start early. Start searching at least 1 year before you graduate from your training program of before you leave your current position. Although few employers will make a firm commitment 6 months in advance of your potential start date, you�ll need several month just to get oriented and establish a network of contacts.
• Cast a wide net. Don�t expect prospective employers to find you. Check al the usual listings in the trade press. Access the American Academy of Ophthalmology�s listing program. Ask everyone you talk to if they may be able to help you in your search.
• Choose your location with care. The most important influence should be where you and your family would like to live. Visit these communities and talk to local hospital officials, benefits managers in leading companies, medical directors of large single or multispecialty clinics, provider relations managers in managed care organizations and any locally based health management professionals. Ask them to describe their impression of health care delivery in the area. As a general benchmark, any more than one ophthalmologist per 20,000 population is likely to mean the community is overserved, especially in a managed care environment.
• Be flexible. As an old mentor once told me, it�s not the price it�s the terms. You can help secure your position by setting your base compensation lower, and your bonus opportunities higher.
• Have subspecialty training. Retinal and glaucoma fellows are more employable than general ophthalmologists.
• Be a team player. Demonstrate your ability to work on a multidisciplinary team and defer to group decisions. Solo and small group ophthalmic practices are rapidly scaling up via consolidation into much larger single and multispecialty organizations.