With physician burnout on the rise, many doctors are looking for alternative career options. Locum tenens can be a solution.
Locums is a great way to continue practicing medicine, while allowing yourself the freedom and flexibility to try new experiences, and find the jobs that work for you.
Whether you’ve been practicing at one location for the past decade and are looking to try something new, or you’re feeling burned out and want to take a more non-traditional path, here are some of the ways that locums can work for doctors who are ready for something different.
Locum Tenens Gives You the Flexibility to Fit Your Job Around Your Life, Instead of the Other Way Around
We often hear from physicians that the biggest reason they opt for locum tenens is the flexibility it offers. The reasons are as diverse as the medical community itself: some physicians want to start their own private practice while bringing in consistent income as it gets off the ground, while others have young children that they want to be able to spend more time with, and some are ready to start experiencing some of the benefits of retirement without retiring from medical practice altogether.
With locums, you no longer have to fit your life around your job. Instead, you can have the freedom and flexibility to find a job that fits the lifestyle you want.
“With locums, you have the ability to find a position that fits you, rather than fitting into a position.”
-Hayes Locums Physician
Locums Gives You the Autonomy to Accept the Jobs that Work for You
From medical school to residency to fellowship to your first full-time job, many physicians spend the majority of their careers employed by institutions. That can be rewarding, but for physicians who are looking for a little more freedom, locum tenens can be a great choice.
With locums, you have the autonomy to choose and accept jobs that fit your priorities. That might mean finding a position that doesn’t require you to be on-call constantly, or choosing an assignment that allows you to practice different techniques more often.
That autonomy extends to the assignment itself: because you’re not beholden to attending meetings and other administrative aspects of full-time employment, you have more time to spend with your patients––which is the reason so many doctors got into medicine in the first place.
Whatever your priorities are, locums lets you take the jobs that work for you, and pass on the ones that don’t.
“I decided to go the locums route because I wanted more autonomy to make choices going forward with my career: how long I wanted to stay in a position, what days of the week I wanted to practice, the amount of time I wanted to invest, even the types of positions that I wanted to explore.”
-Hayes Locums Physician
Locums Gives You the Ability to Try New and Different Experiences
If you want to explore alternative career options as a physician, but you’re not ready to stray too far outside your comfort zone, locum tenens can be a great place to start. Locums lets you try out an array of positions and practices––from experiencing different medical settings and geographic locations, to working with a variety of medical teams and possibly working with a different set of tools or resources than you are used to.
Whether you’re a psychiatrist looking to experience what inpatient work is like after spending your career in an office, or a surgeon working in a busy urban OR who wants to see what a rural hospital would be like, locums is a great way to explore different options and gain new experiences.
Whatever the case, if you’re ready to change your routine and try something new, locums can be a great way of experimenting with many different ways of practicing, until you land on the one that works for you.
“If you’re trying to find out what position might be a good fit without a long-term commitment, locums is a fantastic way to explore those things and find something that will fit into your life.”
-Hayes Locums Physician
