One of the perks of the locum tenens lifestyle is traveling to various locales — but some people prefer the comfort of familiar surroundings. Fortunately, providers can still enjoy that sense of familiarity by taking recurring assignments.
Instead of treating patients at one facility for several weeks, then moving on to another, recurring contracts allow locum tenens providers to return to the same facility for a week out of the month or every third weekend month after month, for example.
There are a few key benefits to returning to the same facility in the same community.
1. Familiarity with the practice setting
Each new locum tenens job inherently presents a steep learning curve in terms of becoming acquainted with the equipment, software and supply closet.
A recurring benefit: Each return trip to the same hospital unit or physician’s office reinforces the setting’s specifics and flattens out that learning curve. After a while, the environment should start feeling like a second clinical home because you know where everything is and how the workflow is structured.
2. Relationships with co-workers
It can be challenging to be the new face in the workplace. Staff members have established relationships, whereas locum tenens physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants must remember new names and faces and quickly create trust among colleagues.
A recurring benefit: Accepting regularly scheduled contracts at one facility means multiple opportunities to get to know the support staff. What’s more, they get to know you. As you all spend more time together caring for patients, trust and comfort continue to build, and friendships form.
3. Patient follow-up
Because locum tenens opportunities are temporary positions, clinicians rarely have the chance to follow up with patients.
A recurring benefit: If you’re spending several days every month at the same facility, there’s a higher probability you’ll treat the same people on more than one occasion. Greater frequency means greater ability to check on patients’ progress.
4. Scheduling consistency
Many clinicians appreciate the flexibility of an occasional locum tenens opportunity; however, there are others who prefer to have long-term plans in place.
A recurring benefit: If you want to know what you’re doing several weeks out, you’ll value the consistency of a recurring contract. You’ll get both the benefits of supplementing your income and scheduling certainty.
5. Comfort with the community
It’s fun to discover a town that’s brand new to you. There are restaurants to eat at, shopping centers to browse, museums and cultural venues to check out, and outdoor activities to experience during your off hours. At the same time, you have to map out the neighborhood—gas stations, grocery stores, banks and, of course, the fastest commute to work.
A recurring benefit: You get to know the lay of the land a little better with each visit. The more familiar you become with the community, the more it will start to feel like a second hometown.
6. Feeling at home
Weatherby Healthcare housing experts do everything in their power to provide locum tenens professionals with comfortable accommodations. Depending on the contract and community specifics, your temporary home-away-from-home could be a hotel suite, a room at a quaint bed and breakfast, or a furnished apartment. And while you can personalize the room, it’s not quite the same as going home after each shift.
A recurring benefit: Returning to the same assignment may mean returning to familiar accommodations (discuss the possibility with your consultant). In that case, you’re not walking into strange surroundings. Plus, the hotel staff or apartment management will get to know you, and that friendly relationship may prove helpful in a pinch.
7. Informed tour guide
It’s hard to become an authority on a city when it’s all very new to you.
A recurring benefit: If family and friends come to visit while you’re on a recurring assignment, you’ll have had the time to develop a sense of what they’ll enjoy in town. You’re better informed to play tour guide so they can create pleasant memories right along with you.
