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I've always hoped that I could provide valuable information on these forums. Both for active members and the lurkers. So here's another thread that current students and residents (maybe even young associates unhappy with their current gig) may find interesting or beneficial...
Since locums is not popular within our profession, largely due to a lack of hospital/MSG type positions when compared to MD/DO specialties, I'll save you from googling. Locum tenens is a position in which a physician temporarily fulfills the duties of another. That may be due to a leave of absence (ie maternity) by a current provider, and probably more commonly when a hospital or MSG is looking to continue a service line while short staffed and looking for a permanent hire. So far, my experience is that within podiatry the latter is more common and they are usually in less than desirable locations. Which is the reason finding a permanent hire ends up taking them so long. These positions can range anywhere from 1-2 months of coverage to indefinite positions where they are willing to have you until you piss them off or until they find a permanent hire. In the MD/DO world, it is not uncommon to be able to work 1-2 weeks at a time as you split coverage with another physician. Good luck doing this as a podiatrist, because that would require multiple DPMs being interested in providing locums coverage. I haven't found that to be the case. However, if more folks were willing to do it then that could change. That means within our profession, you are most likely going to have to commit to "full time" availability. All of the locums companies will fly you back "home" on the weekends at least several times per month, if not every weekend. And you can typically have your family come with you to the locums location while you complete the assignment.
You may see these locums positions listed on job boards, or if you signed up at any of these sites then you may get random emails about locums openings. But if you are actually interested then it is best to contact some of the larger locum tenens companies and have them start reaching out to their current contacts on your behalf. This goes back to these positions appearing to be few and far between within our profession. Part of that reason is that these companies, who have no podiatrists who are interested, will get requests from hospitals or large medical groups and then never bother to open them since advertising costs money and they feel that they have such a low chance of success in filling the job that it isn't worth their time or money. When the companies have your info/CV/availability/wants/etc. then you will find that there are pretty consistent opportunities. This is important because locum tenens is probably a bigger gamble for podiatrists compared to a hospitalist, for example. You are signing up for a temporary job...what do you do when its over? You could be in a lot of trouble if there is only 1-2 podiatry positions a year and you don't have anything permanent lined up in the near future. A hospitalist or general surgeon has 20 open positions to choose from at any given time. It's not really a gamble for them at all.
So why do locums? Or maybe, who would even consider it? It could be beneficial to have a locums company looking out for you if you are at the end of your 3rd year and still don't have a worthwhile job lined up. Individuals who are not getting paid well (basically most associates in a podiatry practice) and have a better permanent opportunity in the coming 6,8,12 months could consider a locums gig in between just to make some actual money. Single folks who don't care too much about settling down in one location at the moment, or maybe adventurous young families who are interested in traveling around the country for a bit. There may even be folks who find 2-3 months of work and then having 3 months off is more appealing that part time work in a single location. Someone planning on starting their own practice after residency could also use locums to bring in money while they work on everything it takes to open your doors.
That brings me to pay. I fall in the category of bad pay currently with an upcoming permanent gig. I will be doing a 3 month (could be longer if the hospital or I want to extend it) locums gig, doing foot and ankle surgery within the ortho department of a hospital system. It has been stated that there will be surgical cases similar to if you were joining the ortho group full time. It pays $1500 per day. So in 3 months worth of work, I will be paid $90,000 (all locums is 1099 so take employer payroll taxes into account since you will be paying them). That's damn near my base salary for the whole year at my current job. I can then not work for 5-6 months leading up to the new job if I don't want to. Average pay for a locums podiatrist is around $120 per hour, so you can expect $1000+ per day pretty easily in most cases. The pay is part of the reason that locum tenens positions aren't as popular for podiatrists. A majority of our profession is in private practice (or podiatry groups). They either can't afford to pay someone what it would take for them to come cover, or they are too cheap to do so. Just look at the contracts being offered to new grads by other podiatrists, and then consider that on the low end of these locums positions you are getting paid around $1000 per day. And your travel is paid for. And your housing is paid for. And your rental car is paid for...and those things fall on the employer who is hiring the locums doc.
That seems like a good start. As time goes on I will update the thread. Ask any questions you may have, though until I'm a month or so in I may not have great answers.
Since locums is not popular within our profession, largely due to a lack of hospital/MSG type positions when compared to MD/DO specialties, I'll save you from googling. Locum tenens is a position in which a physician temporarily fulfills the duties of another. That may be due to a leave of absence (ie maternity) by a current provider, and probably more commonly when a hospital or MSG is looking to continue a service line while short staffed and looking for a permanent hire. So far, my experience is that within podiatry the latter is more common and they are usually in less than desirable locations. Which is the reason finding a permanent hire ends up taking them so long. These positions can range anywhere from 1-2 months of coverage to indefinite positions where they are willing to have you until you piss them off or until they find a permanent hire. In the MD/DO world, it is not uncommon to be able to work 1-2 weeks at a time as you split coverage with another physician. Good luck doing this as a podiatrist, because that would require multiple DPMs being interested in providing locums coverage. I haven't found that to be the case. However, if more folks were willing to do it then that could change. That means within our profession, you are most likely going to have to commit to "full time" availability. All of the locums companies will fly you back "home" on the weekends at least several times per month, if not every weekend. And you can typically have your family come with you to the locums location while you complete the assignment.
You may see these locums positions listed on job boards, or if you signed up at any of these sites then you may get random emails about locums openings. But if you are actually interested then it is best to contact some of the larger locum tenens companies and have them start reaching out to their current contacts on your behalf. This goes back to these positions appearing to be few and far between within our profession. Part of that reason is that these companies, who have no podiatrists who are interested, will get requests from hospitals or large medical groups and then never bother to open them since advertising costs money and they feel that they have such a low chance of success in filling the job that it isn't worth their time or money. When the companies have your info/CV/availability/wants/etc. then you will find that there are pretty consistent opportunities. This is important because locum tenens is probably a bigger gamble for podiatrists compared to a hospitalist, for example. You are signing up for a temporary job...what do you do when its over? You could be in a lot of trouble if there is only 1-2 podiatry positions a year and you don't have anything permanent lined up in the near future. A hospitalist or general surgeon has 20 open positions to choose from at any given time. It's not really a gamble for them at all.
So why do locums? Or maybe, who would even consider it? It could be beneficial to have a locums company looking out for you if you are at the end of your 3rd year and still don't have a worthwhile job lined up. Individuals who are not getting paid well (basically most associates in a podiatry practice) and have a better permanent opportunity in the coming 6,8,12 months could consider a locums gig in between just to make some actual money. Single folks who don't care too much about settling down in one location at the moment, or maybe adventurous young families who are interested in traveling around the country for a bit. There may even be folks who find 2-3 months of work and then having 3 months off is more appealing that part time work in a single location. Someone planning on starting their own practice after residency could also use locums to bring in money while they work on everything it takes to open your doors.
That brings me to pay. I fall in the category of bad pay currently with an upcoming permanent gig. I will be doing a 3 month (could be longer if the hospital or I want to extend it) locums gig, doing foot and ankle surgery within the ortho department of a hospital system. It has been stated that there will be surgical cases similar to if you were joining the ortho group full time. It pays $1500 per day. So in 3 months worth of work, I will be paid $90,000 (all locums is 1099 so take employer payroll taxes into account since you will be paying them). That's damn near my base salary for the whole year at my current job. I can then not work for 5-6 months leading up to the new job if I don't want to. Average pay for a locums podiatrist is around $120 per hour, so you can expect $1000+ per day pretty easily in most cases. The pay is part of the reason that locum tenens positions aren't as popular for podiatrists. A majority of our profession is in private practice (or podiatry groups). They either can't afford to pay someone what it would take for them to come cover, or they are too cheap to do so. Just look at the contracts being offered to new grads by other podiatrists, and then consider that on the low end of these locums positions you are getting paid around $1000 per day. And your travel is paid for. And your housing is paid for. And your rental car is paid for...and those things fall on the employer who is hiring the locums doc.
That seems like a good start. As time goes on I will update the thread. Ask any questions you may have, though until I'm a month or so in I may not have great answers.
