At Weatherby Healthcare, we place hundreds of locum tenens physicians throughout the country who in turn care for thousands of patients each year. However, many healthcare providers and facilities are unaware of this practice alternative or have misconceptions about how it works.
Benefits of locum tenens
Though only a small percentage of physicians work locum tenens, those who do enjoy several advantages:
- Setting your own schedule and choosing when and how often you work
- Earning a salary without paying administrative costs or malpractice insurance
- Test-driving a job or trying out a different type of facility before taking a permanent position
- Gaining more clinical experience and improving your CV
- Exploring the United States and traveling to places you’d never see otherwise
Why locum tenens doctors are important
Physicians get sick or need a vacation just like everyone else does — but in some parts of the country, that means patients will go without care or drive hundreds of miles to the next available doctor. Locum tenens doctors fill the gaps left when permanent doctors are ill, on vacation or on leave.
They also provide coverage while facilities are in the process of hiring a full-time physician or during seasonal patient census spikes, when extra help is only needed temporarily.
Locum tenens jobs can work for every age
Many doctors think they must retire before working locum tenens, but this isn’t the case. Many of Weatherby Healthcare’s physicians work locum tenens right out of residency or within a few years of graduating from medical school. Others have high-school or college-age children and work temporary assignments throughout the year to pay for their children’s education.
No matter how old you are or how many years you’ve worked as a physician, there’s a locum tenens opportunity for you.
Ready to test your knowledge of locum tenens? Take our quiz below!