Taking locum tenens work is one of the many options for physician employment. Some doctors go the locum route as a stepping stone to permanent placement work while others make locum tenens a career. Still other doctors who are either employed or own their practices use locum tenens opportunities as a way to generate more income. The question is, how are all these doctors finding work?
Locum opportunities can be found on nearly all the online physician job boards. There is also the option of working with staffing agencies who specialize in recruiting locums. A third option is to simply go it alone. Locums hoping to maintain their independence can certainly contact facilities on their own to secure employment and work out the details.
Table of Contents
Finding Work through Job Boards
Job boards are a good thing for doctors looking for physician employment either as locums or permanent employees. But where locum work is concerned, the general job board might not always yield the best results. Keep in mind that general job boards list nearly every kind of medical position under the sun. Having to wade through mountains of listings to find a good locum opportunity can be time-consuming.
The exception to this rule are those job boards with a specialized focus on locums. Vista Staffing, a medical staffing agency with headquarters in Salt Lake City, offers such a job board, here: Physician Jobs & Doctors Employment Job Listings | VISTA Staffing – Doctors looking for locum work through Vista can go right to that particular board without having to wade through other listings.
Finding Work through Staffing Agencies
Vista is a staffing agency, not just an online job board. They encourage doctors looking for locum physician employment to work through them rather than going it alone. Vista locums enjoy certain benefits:
- Opportunities screened to meet individual skills, experience, and interests
- Paid travel, housing and local transportation
- Paid liability insurance
- Licensure, credentialing, and privilege assistance
- No placement fees.
Vista is obviously not alone in offering benefits to locums willing to work through them. In fact, competition for competent locums is such that staffing agencies are having to be more aggressive by offering newer and better benefits. It is hard to make the case against pursuing locum work through a quality staffing agency.
Going It Alone as the Locum
There is more than enough room for physicians who want to go it alone as locums. Why would a doctor want to do that? Because working independently is the locum tenens version of having a private practice. It gives doctors complete and total control over everything they do as locums.
Imagine a doctor who has been in private practice for more than 30 years and wishes to use locum physician employment to transition to retirement. It can be hard to go to work for an agency when the doctor is used to independence. He or she may determine that he/she would be better off remaining independent as a locum.
Whatever Works for You
You may be a new doctor or a seasoned professional with decades under your belt. In either case, there is no right or wrong way to find work as a locum. The fact is that physician employment is wide open at this point. There are facilities across the country looking for locum tenens physicians to meet their staffing needs. Likewise, there are job boards, staffing agencies, and recruiters attempting to match doctors with facilities.
There is plenty of work no matter how you go about finding it. If you are currently a locum or planning to get involved in the future, you are in demand.