Locum Tenens – A Lucrative and Rewarding Career for Medical Professionals
If you research locum tenens work, you’ll often find comments leading you to believe the medical professionals who choose locum work fall into two categories – new graduates exploring different career paths and locations; or seasoned providers easing into retirement.
The truth is, locum tenens healthcare can be a lucrative and rewarding career path on its own. Locum tenens providers are often rewarded with attractive pay packages at higher pay rates than permanent staff. (Recent studies have shown that locum tenens physicians can earn up to 50 percent more than physicians in traditional roles, with extra pay for being on call, working overtime and taking on an assignment at short notice.)
Plus, many locum tenens agencies include additional resources such as travel and housing/food stipends and/or malpractice insurance coverage.
That could explain why 78 percent of residents and fellows, 63 percent of solo practice physicians, 64 percent of salaried physicians, and 68 percent of retired physicians said they would consider locum tenens work!
If you are board certified and fall into one of these specialties – know that YOU are in high demand:
- Family practice
- Internal medicine
- Emergency medicine
- Nephrology
- Nurse practitioner
- Orthopedic surgery
- Diagnostic radiology
- Pediatric medicine
- Obstetrics/gynecology
- Gastroenterology
And it’s not just about the money! When you work as a locum, you have the freedom to work as little or as much as you like. You can work in big cities or in rural communities. Want the summer off? Take it! Want to travel around the country living out of an RV? You can do that, too.
Locum tenens placements also gives you a chance to practice medicine and care for patients without becoming embroiled in office politics. You’re being paid for your clinical expertise, not for sitting in meetings or managing department conflict!
More pay, less drama and increased personal freedom – those reasons alone probably explain why more than 40,000 physicians work locum tenens assignments annually, with the number growing every day. As 90 percent of U.S. healthcare facilities contract with locum tenens physicians to cover vacations, maternity leave and to provide continuity of care while searching for permanent physicians, it’s a career that’s here to stay.
No matter what your idea of an ideal lifestyle might be – rest assured, locum tenens can make it happen.
Click here to find your next Locum Tenens contract with SUMO Staffing!