I was wondering how busy could a surgeon possibly be doing locums work. I was also wondering what your thoughts are on a new residency grad going that route for a few years.
locums as a surgeon
- Thread starter pogo
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1) how busy? Call a locums agency and ask them. Also ask them to put you in touch with people doing it right now
My general thoughts, based on absolutely zero personal experience, is that it would be a tough road. For one, locums jobs are locums for a reason.
a) In some cases, that reason is just that the hospital is small and isolated and illness/vacation require a locums to fill in. Probably no systematic problems with those jobs, but they are going to be in out of the way locales. The assignments will also likely be short such that you may not have the chance to see patients in clinic before or after the OR. (As appealing as this might sound, my impression is that a big part of the leap from resident to attending is deciding who to operate on and seeing the long term results of your decisions.)
b) in other cases, jobs use locums because no one wants the job permanently, probably because there is something wrong with it. Maybe the hospital the next county over gets all the business and there isn't enough work for the surgeon. That might be OK. Or maybe the local lawyers eat surgeons for breakfast. Hard to know
Overall, I don't know that it would be all that great a way to practice.
If I were looking for adventure after residency, I'd personally try either mission hospitals in the 3rd world or the underserved areas program in NZ and australia - spending 1-2 years a single but exotic and interesting location sounds fun to me.
My general thoughts, based on absolutely zero personal experience, is that it would be a tough road. For one, locums jobs are locums for a reason.
a) In some cases, that reason is just that the hospital is small and isolated and illness/vacation require a locums to fill in. Probably no systematic problems with those jobs, but they are going to be in out of the way locales. The assignments will also likely be short such that you may not have the chance to see patients in clinic before or after the OR. (As appealing as this might sound, my impression is that a big part of the leap from resident to attending is deciding who to operate on and seeing the long term results of your decisions.)
b) in other cases, jobs use locums because no one wants the job permanently, probably because there is something wrong with it. Maybe the hospital the next county over gets all the business and there isn't enough work for the surgeon. That might be OK. Or maybe the local lawyers eat surgeons for breakfast. Hard to know
Overall, I don't know that it would be all that great a way to practice.
If I were looking for adventure after residency, I'd personally try either mission hospitals in the 3rd world or the underserved areas program in NZ and australia - spending 1-2 years a single but exotic and interesting location sounds fun to me.
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My friend just finished his fellowship this year, and he decided to take some time to do locums. His plan is to do LT for about a year, do international work for 6-12 months, then get a "real" job. He did his fellowship in transplant, so not unexpectedly there is not any LT positions in that field, so he is looking for (and finding) general surgery positions. The offers are not overwhelming, but they are out there. It seems that it is a viable short term plan for someone flexible.
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Seems a logistical nightmare to me...then again, I have been very frustrated with getting hospital credentials and on insurance plans when I haven't worked anywhere but residency and fellowship. Can you imagine having to get verfication from every place you LT'd?
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My dad just did a rad's locum and the organization handled everything for him. I don't know how the surgical ones go with it. He just gave them all the information they asked for and they did the rest. It was still a bit of a process, but not nearly as bad as it could be I suspect. Also, he did pay a hefty fee for the convenience.
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The problem is not getting credentials to do locums work. The facilities are in a bind for coverage and will be likely to expedite your paperwork. The problem is when you go to apply for a permanent job. Your hospital (and state medical board and malpractice carrier and perhaps other people) will want a letter of reference from every hospital where you have ever practiced. You will then be beholden to all 11 hospitals where you locumed to get credentialled. Even the ones that have closed/merged/etc/
I agree with KC - it could be a nightmare
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That is what I was talking about. Like Pilot says, when you apply for a permanent job, every hospital you wish to admit patients to will credential you and verify your sources. Even if the state takes FCVS, the hospitals might not. Every hospital will ask for the same damn information, from every place you have ever worked, even if for only a couple of weeks.
Yes, there are people who will do this for you for a fee. I've got one of those people, but its still frustrating to send the same stuff in time and time again.
Latest hold-up: one hospital wants a reference/credential verification from my residency Program Director. They already have one from the current PD, who was on faculty when I was a resident and quite familiar with me. But since he wasn't the PD until I left, it isn't good enough.
When I asked, "well what if he was dead?" the response was "we'd just use the one from the current PD".🙄
B
Blade28
Uh oh.
Well I moonlight at three hospitals now - guess I'll have to recontact them later when applying for permanent hospital privileges. 🙁
Well I moonlight at three hospitals now - guess I'll have to recontact them later when applying for permanent hospital privileges. 🙁
