You’ve just finished your medical residency training. Now what?
If you’re a hustler and a go-getter who loves to travel, working for a Locum Tenens agency may be the right career choice for you fresh out of medical school.
The Place Holder
Locum Tenens in Latin means’ placeholder.’ Many facilities all over the United States need temporary physicians and healthcare providers to cover for providers who may be on maternity leave, taking a leave of absence, or due to physician scarcity. A locum tenens physician temporarily fills the space of another. Organizations like hospitals, Federally Qualified Clinics (FQHC), Dental clinics, and Urgent Care centers employ locum tenens healthcare providers.
Movie Star Status
Working with a locum tenens agency is like being a movie star. Once you sign up with a locum’s agency, you are set up with a locum’s recruiter who works for you like a Hollywood agent works with an actor. You now have a representative who will start looking for your next locum assignment and negotiate your pay and work assignment on your behalf.
Your locum’s recruiter will ask you questions like:
- Where would you like to work?
- Are you looking for an assignment close to where you live?
- Are you willing to travel?
- What states are you willing to travel to?
- What pay range are you looking for?
- What type of jobs are you willing to consider?
- Are you looking for a locum position that will become your permanent job?
Tailor Made for You
What specialty do you want to work in? Do you only want to work nine to five? No weekends, no night shifts, or holiday shifts? Get specific on what you want. Your locum’s recruiter’s primary goal is to ensure you and the client are a perfect fit.
Once you get an assignment, your locum’s recruiter will also be your point of contact. Your recruiter is accountable for you and is there to be your representative to help you resolve any issues like pay discrepancies, scheduling, and various miscellaneous issues that may pop up during your assignment.
Work Through Your Down Time
Some new physicians who attended a medical school overseas or in the Caribbean may face credentialing and licensing challenges in certain states like California or Texas that will not allow you to be eligible to take your medical board exams. For a new physician experiencing these circumstances, you may still be able to work in various other states through a locum agency instead of experiencing downtime. At the same time, you wait for board eligibility requirements.
Make More with Locums
Many new doctors start working with a locum tenens agency because they can make more money quickly. According to the Physician Side Gigs website, across the locum tenens compensation database, the average hourly locum rate was approximately $215/ hour, which varies based on the physician’s specialty. Whether you’re working in internal medicine, outpatient, or critical care, on average, physicians working with a locum tenens agency earn a higher hourly rate compared to their full-time colleagues in permanent positions.
Specific locum assignments may pay more due to physician needs and extenuating circumstances like:
- Increased census load
- Increased time on call
- Rural Areas
Groovy Scheduling Autonomy
Jumping into a new job after residency can be tough. Strict work schedules created six months in advance, with seven days on and seven days off in a hospital, are now your new normal. This can be stressful. It’s a major lifestyle change, leaving you with limited time for family life and personal vacations.
Locum tenens can offer you greater autonomy over your personal work schedule, giving you more flexibility and control over your life. Locum’s work gives you the opportunity to work with a recruiter who will help you create an epic work-life balance to fit your personal needs, leaving you with ample time for family, self-care, and world travel.
Taxes and Write Off’s
If you’re working on a locum’s assignment, you’ll probably be working on a 1099 tax status and have to keep track of your taxes. On the positive, you can write off lots of expenses like gas, lab coats, uniforms, shoes, medical equipment, and many other miscellaneous on-the-job items. You can also create your own LLC.
More Pro’s
Today, physicians and healthcare providers have more freedom to change jobs due to the Federal Trade Commission issuing a final rule banning noncompete nationwide. In the past, a physician may have not been able to start a new job, work an extra job, or moonlight through a locum’s agency that posed competition for their current employer and or corporation due to contractual conditions that prevented workers from taking a new job.
With Every Pro, There Are Also Con’s
Travel, flexibility, and making more money are excellent pros to working locum tenens. Some cons may include:
- Licensing: Some locum agencies may pay for your licensing in various states, depending on provider need and agency policy. However, you may have to pay out of pocket to get licensed in multiple states.
- Credentialing Is verifying a physician’s or healthcare provider’s qualifications. The locum’s agency will evaluate education, certification, work experience, and license to practice in each state. Be aware that some credentialing may take up to ninety days to complete with some agencies.
- Electronic Medical Records (EMR’sEMRs): If you pick up locum assignments in different facilities and states, you may have to learn different EMR’sEMRs every time you pick up a new assignment. Learning a new EMR system can be stressful for some. Learning a new EMR may take time and slow you down when seeing patients. It’s essential to consider this and be patient during the learning process.
- Workflow: Every time you are on a new locum assignment at a new hospital or healthcare organization, you’ll have to learn a new workflow. Remember that it will take some time to get acquainted with staff and learn how everything works.