cardiology locums

[cardiaclubdubbin]

Hey guys; I was hoping someone on the discussion board could help me out. I am new to locums work and recently took on a hospitalist locum job although I am a recent gen card graduate. I wanted to know if anyone out there has done cardio locums and what the general pay rates are and if they are better than doing straight medicine locums. (There doesn't seem to be any info online about whats a good rate; regions with better rates and rates for subspecialties vs. gen. medicine). Any advice on locums or info would be helpful.

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[Myostatin]

I can speak for locums interventional work - looking at 1500 - 2000 a day. Usually an extra 400-500 for holding the pager overnight, and many gigs build into that 4-6 hrs of work, with any additional in hopsital work paying 200-250 per hour. Its certainy better pay than hospitalist work on an hourly basis. That being said, its a lot easier to get hospitalist work and to get a lot more hours of hospitalist work. Locums cardiology gigs are not that easy to come by. Also doing locums interventional work is pretty stressful you have to be able to adapt to all sort of different cath labs / equipment limitations / unfamiliar staff, while doing primary PCI. Its not for everyone.

 

[BelaMedicine]

The cardiology (general) locums rates I have come across have been insultingly low and I don't know why physicians accept this. I have seen lower daily rates than hospitalist work! $1200 per day! I told the locums recruiter why on earth would I accept that and he said well there are other cardiologists that will. If only we knew our true worth....

 

[dragonfly99]

I think there are not many cardiology locums gigs because if a practice has someone out on leave (or who quits), they usually just suck it up and make do with the people they have until the person comes back (or a new person comes on board). I also found that cardiology locums (noninterventional) does not pay that well - I think it was similar to medicine locums. I think the reasons are probably multifactorial. For one thing, I think the locums companies get a large finder's/placement fee. Internal medicine is so in demand right now (primary care and hospitalist both) that they have to pay people to try to induce them to come, particularly in these rural places. My sense is that the cardiology job market is fairly saturated right now, at least in certain locations. That makes our bargaining power less. Also, my experience with locums was that a lot of the gigs had quite a bit of clinic and that doesn't necessarily produce a lot of revenue.

 

[captaincrunch]

Locums work for cardiologists is out there, though not as easy to find as IM gigs. There aren't that may sub-specialized positions, but they do come up. I know someone who actually did TAVR as part of a locums gig (not bad considering how much structurally trained people struggle to find jobs). The locums companies take a huge cut and multiple companies advertise the same job (I get nearly daily ads). If you think you might do it for more than a few months, consider entering a PSA with the hospital and bypassing the locums company. You'll get way more money that way.

The rates for an interventionalist seem to be about $2000/day, plus call and overtime. They pay you're travel expenses (if needed). In a PSA agreement you can make more. Not bad, all things considered

The typical scenario is a hospital in a difficult-to-recruit location has a series of departures. The docs who do it are either between practices, just out of fellowship and looking for work or using vacation/weekend time to make extra dough.