Question- Independent contractor

[jules fnp]

Hello! This is my first post here, but I occasionally browse this board and have found the advice given to others to be quite helpful. Here's my situation-

I am a new graduate FNP. The physician I was with for my final clinical rotation this spring invited me to join his practice which is 2 family practice physicians and 2 other FNPs. This fall, the office is being expanded to have almost double the exam rooms, and a satellite office is in the works in a nearby town. The NPs all work as independent contractors. I decided to accept because I really enjoyed my clinical rotation there. I will see patients in the office and also round in some of the nursing homes.

Here is my problem, which is probably my own fault for not asking the right questions. Right now I have limited office hours, which I expected. What I did not realize (again, probably my own fault for not getting the right info) was that all appointments are scheduled based on seniority. So this is my first week, and I have had zero patients because none go to me unless all the other providers are full, or if the patient asks for me specifically.

I'm not sure how to recruit patients who will ask to see me specifically. Current patients don't know who I am because I just started (unless they happen to remember me from when I was a student) and without having any appointments, I don't know how they can get to know me. I live in a big-ish city and attend a lot of networking and social events, but I commute to a small town about 25 minutes away for work, so it is hard to recruit people to travel long distance when there are plenty of practices closer. I've also applied at several retail/urgent care clinics in the area for PT/PRN work which would definitely help with recruiting patients, but the job market is kind of saturated with new grad NPs right now because there are several programs in the area.

Any suggestions on how to get my name out there? Or any advice, in general on the situation? Thanks for reading!