Recruitment Challenges

Psychiatric News asked Peter Buckley, M.D., what several of his biggest challenges are in running the Department of Psychiatry at the Medical College of Georgia. “Recruitment is always a challenge,” he replied. One recruitment difficulty “is that in a small department such as ours, where you have limited resources, you have to be careful of how you spend those resources. By that I mean, there is so much talent from which to recruit—for instance, someone who is an expert in anxiety disorders rather than an expert in schizophrenia.”

He continued, “It is also an ongoing challenge nowadays to keep a department afloat financially. This is a crucial part of our job because, as they say, 'No margin, no mission.' But with the help of the faculty and staff within my department, we've managed to turn a deficit around and have been in the black for five years now.

“And recruiting national talent to a Southern city as small as Augusta can be challenging,” Buckley added. “But it is actually a fantastic city to live in and raise children in.”

Does Buckley have any lessons he might share with the chairs of other psychiatry departments? “In our jobs,” he replied, “we are often torn in loyalty because we wear multiple hats and have numerous bosses. But the most important thing, I think, is to maintain a strong alliance with one's medical school and hospital.

“I also think that reaching out is very important for a smaller department like ours. It may be relevant to large departments of psychiatry as well. For example, we are working with the public mental health system in Georgia, with the Emory University Department of Psychiatry, which has been like a big sister to us, and with the departments of psychiatry in Columbia and Charleston, South Carolina, which have collaborated with us on some research projects.”