If you’re a doctor looking for new opportunities, you may want to consider locum tenens positions. Working as a locum tenens doctor provides physicians with many benefits, including flexibility and control over their schedule, while gaining experience in different healthcare settings. Locum tenens work also provides opportunities to network with other physicians and learn new techniques.
We’ve gathered together some of the top benefits of locum tenens work to help ease your nerves as you start your new locum tenens position.
The phrase locum tenens, translated from Latin, means “to hold a place.” Similarly, locum tenens doctors accept temporary positions in order to fill in for other physicians or to cover a gap in a medical facility’s schedule.
These assignments can take anywhere from a few days to several months, and can be in any part of the country as long as the provider can obtain proper credentialing and travel.
No matter where you are in your healthcare career, working locum tenens can be a valuable and rewarding experience. If you’re considering this option, here are several key advantages to keep in mind:
Locums providers often make a higher hourly rate than permanent, full-time, hospital-employed clinicians. As a locum tenens provider, you’re taxed as an independent contractor or a corporation and many of your expenses can be written off.
Regardless of where you are in your career, you’ll reap the benefits:
Locums allows you to explore different parts of the country, meet new people, and experience new things. If you’d like to experience different practice settings or enjoy exploring a variety of cultural and recreational opportunities across the country, locum tenens is the way to go.
Travel used to be more appealing to clinicians new in their career, but in recent years locum tenens assignment’s have become attractive to more experienced medical professionals interested in exploring the country while advancing their professional skill set.
Locum tenens providers are not tied down with bureaucratic headaches or hospital politics and rarely have teaching responsibilities. Additionally, they don’t have to deal with billing, coding, or staffing management issues.
Locum clinicians get to spend more time doing what they love — working and treating patients. This benefit not only makes your job more rewarding, but it can pay off in the long run. Successful locum clinicians are often asked to return when the need arises.
You choose when, where, and how much you work to obtain a better work-life balance. Locum tenens can also help clinicians fight burnout in their careers.
Alternatively, your flexibility can help provide a permanent clinician with a much-needed break, helping to battle burnout among colleagues.
Different practice settings and facilities allow clinicians at any stage in their career to “try it before you buy it,” as well as maintain or build a skill set. Locum tenens also allows clinicians to work in communities that are severely underserved or lacking access to healthcare services.
It’s been found that locum tenens clinicians tend to increase patient satisfaction ratings.
Whether you’re a clinician looking for a new opportunity, or are just starting out in your career and aren’t sure what path to take, consider locum tenens. The benefits are many and the opportunities are endless. With the help of a reputable staffing agency like D&Y staffing, finding the perfect position is easy and can be done from anywhere in the world.
Check out our blog to learn more about locum tenens and if it’s a right fit for you. Alternatively, you can contact us using the form below to ask our team any questions you may have.
Note: This blog was originally published on 12/20/2021 and was updated on 8/25/2022.
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