J. Obtaining Health Economics Expertise
2. How can I get hire a health economist for our center?
Health economists are difficult to recruit. Health economists may obtain their PhD from a University economics department, or from a health services research program. Because health economists are recruited by the pharmaceutical industry, medical schools, and other professional schools, starting salaries tend to be higher than those for other health services researchers. Government research centers have had more success in hiring health economists when the position is associated with an academic appointment or the opportunity to conduct independent, peer-reviewed research with the possibility of publication in the academic literature. Experienced health economists are very difficult to recruit at current government salary levels.
The best place to advertise for economists is the publication, "Job Opportunities for Economists", also known as JOE. This is an online publication that is updated 10 times a year. Employers may list jobs for free. To find an economist with expertise in healthcare, the advertisement should be sure to identify the health as the economic specialty. The Journal of Economic Literature Classification is "I1-Health".
New PhD economists look for work beginning in October of the year prior to their graduation. It important to list your advertisement in the October JOE. Candidates are ordinarily interviewed in person in early January at the American Economics Association meeting. Details about the meeting may be found at the AEA web site. Almost all new PhD economists go to this meeting for interviews. Employers then invite their favored candidates for a visit to present a seminar and be more extensively interviewed; job offers are tendered in the early spring, and then the market closes until the next year.
The International Health Economics Association also lists job openings in the job listings page on the IHEA web site. Job listings e-mailed to IHEA at the address given on the job page will be listed at no charge.
Information about jobs for health services researchers with economics expertise may be found from the Academy for Health Services Research and Health Policy. Employers may advertise open positions on career center page on the Academy web site. There is a small job market at the Academy's June meeting. Employers list jobs, and job candidates provide their resumes. Binders with job listings and resumes may reviewed at the meeting; free photocopying is available. The complete binder may be purchased after the meeting is over.
Health economics jobs are occasionally listed in the publications of the American Public Health Association, the American Journal of Public Health, and the Nations' Health. Ads are expensive, as these are widely circulated publications. APHA also operates a web based career service, which lists both employer and job candidate information. The International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research has a career web site; advertisements are $450 for 8 weeks. The Society for Medical Decision Making also has a web site with career information.