Long term locums assignments?

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futuredo32

futuredo32

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Any advice? I am moving way far from home to do Locums work. How much can I ask for. He agreed to one flight home a month and they will pay for a second flight home so I can keep my hospital moonlighting job. Does anyone get all weekends with free flights home?
It would actually be cheaper and easier to rent a car than to drive mine. Do they allow this over ubers?
I am driving 15 hours to get there because I have 3 cats to bring and they suggested an SUV. I am not going to fit all of my clothes pots pans dishes make up etc in an SUV. It's a 12 month job. I need like a U Haul or can I ask to have stuff shipped? I don't want a furnished house or apartment because my cats would destroy the furniture. Has anyone stayed in a long term hotel? That would work much better. I'd get free tv, a bed, laundry facilities, and they'd clean. They have to have deals with hotels for a year, no?
Any other perks I should ask for?
 
futuredo32 said:
Any advice? I am moving way far from home to do Locums work. How much can I ask for. He agreed to one flight home a month and they will pay for a second flight home so I can keep my hospital moonlighting job. Does anyone get all weekends with free flights home?
It would actually be cheaper and easier to rent a car than to drive mine. Do they allow this over ubers?
I am driving 15 hours to get there because I have 3 cats to bring and they suggested an SUV. I am not going to fit all of my clothes pots pans dishes make up etc in an SUV. It's a 12 month job. I need like a U Haul or can I ask to have stuff shipped? I don't want a furnished house or apartment because my cats would destroy the furniture. Has anyone stayed in a long term hotel? That would work much better. I'd get free tv, a bed, laundry facilities, and they'd clean. They have to have deals with hotels for a year, no?
Any other perks I should ask for?
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This is all stuff you traditionally negotiate as part of your contract. You have signed already so your leverage is limited.

It sounds like you have never moved before. I would be very interested to know how renting a car for a year could possibly be cheaper than driving your own, unless your car is actually a tank. Remember you are still paying for gas and then a daily fee on top of that for a while year.

U-haul is vastly cheaper than shipping your things.

Extended stay hotels fall into two basic categories a) apartment substitutes for people who can't put together deposits or consistently make rent from month to month and are thus usually dingy and awful or b) cater to people travelling on expense accounts and spending someone else's money. Any of them will be vastly more expensive than an equivalent apartment. Staying in an apartment instead of a hotel would probably save you more money than you would make on one of your moonlighting weekends.

If your cats wreck the furniture in a hotel room you still have to pay for it.

In terms of getting a deal you should start calling hotels to ask. They will not be advertising this.
 
futuredo32 said:
Any advice? I am moving way far from home to do Locums work. How much can I ask for. He agreed to one flight home a month and they will pay for a second flight home so I can keep my hospital moonlighting job. Does anyone get all weekends with free flights home?
It would actually be cheaper and easier to rent a car than to drive mine. Do they allow this over ubers?
I am driving 15 hours to get there because I have 3 cats to bring and they suggested an SUV. I am not going to fit all of my clothes pots pans dishes make up etc in an SUV. It's a 12 month job. I need like a U Haul or can I ask to have stuff shipped? I don't want a furnished house or apartment because my cats would destroy the furniture. Has anyone stayed in a long term hotel? That would work much better. I'd get free tv, a bed, laundry facilities, and they'd clean. They have to have deals with hotels for a year, no?
Any other perks I should ask for?
Click to expand...
This whole scenario makes me less envious of being young again. Futuredo32, I hope this becomes an amazing experience for you with lots of adventure. I wouldn't have the guts because I prefer a little more keel on my ark. Do these things while you still can and stop doing these things because you no longer want to, and not because you no longer can. If you are willing to share how it goes, we look forward to vicariously enjoying the experience. :corny:
 
MacDonaldTriad said:
This whole scenario makes me less envious of being young again. Futuredo32, I hope this becomes an amazing experience for you with lots of adventure. I wouldn't have the guts because I prefer a little more keel on my ark. Do these things while you still can and stop doing these things because you no longer want to, and not because you no longer can. If you are willing to share how it goes, we look forward to vicariously enjoying the experience. :corny:
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Medicine was a 2nd career for me so I am not all that young.🙂 I am going to an undesirable location just for the money and the opportunity to get BC in addictions. I will appreciate a year of big checks but I am absolutely dreading it otherwise, I I prefer home and I am flying home every weekend except maybe one a month if a tele psych job goes through. My former PD does 3-6 month locums assignments pretty much exclusively. She stays home some months and just spends time with her husband. She's in her 60s. She's married and has adult kids. Seriously if you want to do it, you should go for it. I like a vacation now and then but I definitely prefer to live in my home state. I am keeping my apartment where I currently live and will obviously sleep in it when I come home on weekends.
 
You just need to get an unfurnished apartment that allows your cats, and hire some movers to load and unload a Uhaul at each end. The Uhaul website offers this service. I've had good luck with it in the past and it is without a doubt the cheapest way to move, and the easist unless you hire expensive full service movers. Another option is to load up a Pod container that is shipped for you (uhaul and most moving/shipping companies do this now) and just take your cats with you in your car. Ideally your locums contract would include your moving expenses, itemized, and mileage reimbursement since you'll be there a whole year.

You won't find a good extended stay hotel that accepts more than one cat, if any at all.
 
FlowRate said:
Typical budget car rental is $1000/mo. You can purchase or lease a real nice car for that much money.
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I know. The locums company is paying for one in the state where I will be working and one when I come home two weekends a month!!!!! It's their money.
 
wolfvgang22 said:
You just need to get an unfurnished apartment that allows your cats, and hire some movers to load and unload a Uhaul at each end. The Uhaul website offers this service. I've had good luck with it in the past and it is without a doubt the cheapest way to move, and the easist unless you hire expensive full service movers. Another option is to load up a Pod container that is shipped for you (uhaul and most moving/shipping companies do this now) and just take your cats with you in your car. Ideally your locums contract would include your moving expenses, itemized, and mileage reimbursement since you'll be there a whole year.

You won't find a good extended stay hotel that accepts more than one cat, if any at all.
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Thank you.
I spoke with the department that deals with housing (they have a department for everything). We were on the phone forever and they were quite helpful. We decided that I am getting a furnished apartment minus sofa or chair, so that will be ok, that's all they claw. I am just taking a few pans and dishes and clothes , blankets and of course my kitties 🙂. That will fit in an SUV.
I am keeping my apartment in Michigan, I absolutely love it and it would likely be gone in 12 months, so a furnished apartment minus a sofa and chair is easier. I HATE moving and there's no need to move everything being that I am keeping my Michigan apartment-. I can buy a cheap sofa in the state where I am moving and just toss it in a year. They are paying for my gas to drive out of state to get there and back, my gas to and from work, and they said they would find a hotel (probably nothing great) halfway in between that would let my cats stay. They are paying for my ubers to the airport from work two weekends a month plus airfare. They are spending a fortune! I don't know if it's the locums company or the facilities that are picking up the tab, but as long as it's not me, I am fine with it. Apparently they have a lot of physicians in the area where I am going, mostly surgeons, so they are familiar with the area.
 
clausewitz2 said:
This is all stuff you traditionally negotiate as part of your contract. You have signed already so your leverage is limited.

It sounds like you have never moved before. I would be very interested to know how renting a car for a year could possibly be cheaper than driving your own, unless your car is actually a tank. Remember you are still paying for gas and then a daily fee on top of that for a while year.

U-haul is vastly cheaper than shipping your things.

Extended stay hotels fall into two basic categories a) apartment substitutes for people who can't put together deposits or consistently make rent from month to month and are thus usually dingy and awful or b) cater to people travelling on expense accounts and spending someone else's money. Any of them will be vastly more expensive than an equivalent apartment. Staying in an apartment instead of a hotel would probably save you more money than you would make on one of your moonlighting weekends.

If your cats wreck the furniture in a hotel room you still have to pay for it.

In terms of getting a deal you should start calling hotels to ask. They will not be advertising this.
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I'm not paying a dime for any of this. Yes I have moved before but not out of state and not for just a year.
 
michaelrack said:
My guess is that futuredo32 has been offered $200 per hour
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that’s not that much tho..I mean it’s very good but not unusually good..EM docs are making 300/hr standard in some cases
 
Merely said:
that’s not that much tho..I mean it’s very good but not unusually good..EM docs are making 300/hr standard in some cases
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Psychiatrists make less than most other specialists unless they do private practice cash only as a rule. And no. Not 200 an hout
 
Merely said:
that’s not that much tho..I mean it’s very good but not unusually good..EM docs are making 300/hr standard in some cases
Click to expand...
michaelrack said:
My guess is that futuredo32 has been offered $200 per hour
Click to expand...

Many locums jobs in the tri-state area offer 200/hour. I know colleagues who are getting significantly more ($250-300/hour) in less desirable areas.
 
Ironspy said:
Many locums jobs in the tri-state area offer 200/hour. I know colleagues who are getting significantly more ($250-300/hour) in less desirable areas.
Click to expand...
And where are they finding these jobs? I am not getting 300 an hour. I am not BC in addictions.
 
michaelrack said:
I know it's not unusually good, but it was my guess of what futuredo32 is getting, but it appears futuredo32 is getting less
Click to expand...
I am just not saying. Maybe more, maybe less. 🙂 I think it's gauche to discuss salary with total strangers personally. One thing that may be a game stopper is that I am telling (not asking) for a week off instead of a day off the week following the week I start. It's really bad timing, but I am going to a Grease event with a meet and greet with John Travolta and Olivia Newton John. It will be the one week of vacation I take all year and yes bad timing, but going for the weekend like my recruiter suggested is ridiculous. I am only taking any other time off for one psych conference in October and doctors appointments and it does fall within the 30 day grace period of letting them know. I am so used to picking and choosing the times and days I work, it will be rough, but it's only a year.
 
futuredo32 said:
I am just not saying. Maybe more, maybe less. 🙂 I think it's gauche to discuss salary with total strangers personally. One thing that may be a game stopper is that I am telling (not asking) for a week off instead of a day off the week following the week I start. It's really bad timing, but I am going to a Grease event with a meet and greet with John Travolta and Olivia Newton John. It will be the one week of vacation I take all year and yes bad timing, but going for the weekend like my recruiter suggested is ridiculous. I am only taking any other time off for one psych conference in October and doctors appointments and it does fall within the 30 day grace period of letting them know. I am so used to picking and choosing the times and days I work, it will be rough, but it's only a year.
Click to expand...

It’s gauche to discuss salary with total strangers but okay to start a thread called “Financial Incentive to get Board Certified in Addictions?” and basically discuss all other aspects of your life with them?

Uh okay.
 
calvnandhobbs68 said:
It’s gauche to discuss salary with total strangers but okay to start a thread called “Financial Incentive to get Board Certified in Addictions?” and basically discuss all other aspects of your life with them?

Uh okay.
Click to expand...

lol yeah very odd thought process
 
Is sub 200 a good rate for locums? I was under the impression it was not.
 
Working through a recruiter doing everything for her and taking a huge cut, my guess is less than $200 an hour. I'm looking for 1099 work and doing everything myself. I've seen job boards without middlemen that advertise for up to $225 an hour. But also when I've called around, some shops have only offered $147 during the week for inpatient work ($161 on weekends) which is the same they pay their employed docs, basically making no allowances for benefits and extra SE taxes. No wonder they can't find any coverage.
 
I make way more than that on the weekends. There are definitely drawbacks to locums like no health insurance, no vacation or CME but there are perks too. I get paid mileage for my weekend job and overtime for anything over 8 hours. I actually get paid a daily rate and if I am done before 8 hours I still get the same as if I had stayed for 8 hours. For my out of state job I am getting paid housing, a rental car, they are paying for the gas to and from work, a free flight home once a month with a car rental for Michigan even though I have a car here because it's less than Uber and a free flight home once a month to work for them at my locums job. And with locums, you don't get paid vacations, but you decide when you work and how many vacation days you want. I need the hours to get the time in for addictions, so I won't be taking a lot of time off, otherwise I usually do. I don't have to worry about RVUs. I have the best insurance and I doubt that a 1099 job would offer the insurance I have. And best of all (for me) if I don't like it, I just have to give 30 days notice. I will have to pay for my food and if not for the fact that I want to stay in my apt at the end of the 12 month assignment, I wouldn't be paying rent either. So there are plusses and minuses. The locums also makes it far easier to get credentialed. I get some sort of allowance on my taxes for my out of pocket health costs, last year it was like 12k lower on my taxes because of the money I spent on health costs. And I have a PLLC which has some tax benefit, which I am going to look into. So it's not so black and white. I am hoping psych will be my job for only another two years, so it works well for me. And guess all you want, but seriously, I would never ask someone on a message board how much they earned. That's private information. Just my opinion.
 
futuredo32 said:
I make way more than that on the weekends. There are definitely drawbacks to locums like no health insurance, no vacation or CME but there are perks too. I get paid mileage for my weekend job and overtime for anything over 8 hours. I actually get paid a daily rate and if I am done before 8 hours I still get the same as if I had stayed for 8 hours. For my out of state job I am getting paid housing, a rental car, they are paying for the gas to and from work, a free flight home once a month with a car rental for Michigan even though I have a car here because it's less than Uber and a free flight home once a month to work for them at my locums job. And with locums, you don't get paid vacations, but you decide when you work and how many vacation days you want. I need the hours to get the time in for addictions, so I won't be taking a lot of time off, otherwise I usually do. I don't have to worry about RVUs. I have the best insurance and I doubt that a 1099 job would offer the insurance I have. And best of all (for me) if I don't like it, I just have to give 30 days notice. I will have to pay for my food and if not for the fact that I want to stay in my apt at the end of the 12 month assignment, I wouldn't be paying rent either. So there are plusses and minuses. The locums also makes it far easier to get credentialed. I get some sort of allowance on my taxes for my out of pocket health costs, last year it was like 12k lower on my taxes because of the money I spent on health costs. And I have a PLLC which has some tax benefit, which I am going to look into. So it's not so black and white. I am hoping psych will be my job for only another two years, so it works well for me. And guess all you want, but seriously, I would never ask someone on a message board how much they earned. That's private information. Just my opinion.
Click to expand...

Which locum company do you use? How do you find the best one? Feel free to PM if you feel more comfortable doing so.

For you weekend position, do you DC over the weekend? If so, how do you mitigate risk as you're not familiar with the patients?
 
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AD04 said:
Which locum company do you use? How do you find the best one? Feel free to PM if you feel more comfortable doing so.

For you weekend position, do you DC over the weekend? If so, how do you mitigate risk as you're not familiar with the patients?
Click to expand...

you can just choose to not DC..not that difficult
 
AD04 said:
Which locum company do you use? How do you find the best one? Feel free to PM if you feel more comfortable doing so.

For you weekend position, do you DC over the weekend? If so, how do you mitigate risk as you're not familiar with the patients?
Click to expand...
I don't choose to discharge over the weekend. In fact I am "not allowed" to decide to discharge over the weekend. VERY occasionally an attending has already set it up that the patient will be discharged over the weekend,. Unless the attending has decided the patient will be discharged over the weekend prior to Saturday the soonest they will be discharged is Monday by the attending. The patient is usually gone by the time I arrive. I don't do the discharge summary. It's happened maybe 3 times since March 2018 ? It's always been a Friday discharge that was planned and fell through due to transportation.
I don't know what the best locums companies are. I have used a few. I think that they vary by region. I have had issues with FSC or FCS, but other than that, no problems.
 
I keep the locums sites bookmarked if they post more detailed information about job opportunities, such that I can likely figure out which hospital it is and just call them myself. Some will keep the details extremely vague, but many will post enough information (such as the city, unit size, EMR, etc) that can be cross referenced through Google. Then you can just call their HR and tell them that you're not working with an agency, and name your price, which you know can't be less than what they'd pay an agency. If a psychiatrist makes $200 an hour through an agency, they surely must pay the firm $250-$300 an hour?
 
cookymonster said:
I keep the locums sites bookmarked if they post more detailed information about job opportunities, such that I can likely figure out which hospital it is and just call them myself. Some will keep the details extremely vague, but many will post enough information (such as the city, unit size, EMR, etc) that can be cross referenced through Google. Then you can just call their HR and tell them that you're not working with an agency, and name your price, which you know can't be less than what they'd pay an agency. If a psychiatrist makes $200 an hour through an agency, they surely must pay the firm $250-$300 an hour?
Click to expand...
I've tried that, but they don't post enough information online or via phone for positions they are contacting me about. The ones I work with know my likes and dislikes. When I ask about city they tell me how many miles it is from my address, they aren't sure about exact unit size but guesstimate. But dealing directly with the facility, you would have to sign at least a 12 month contract with no option out I am assuming? I like the 30 day escape option 🙂
 
futuredo32 said:
I've tried that, but they don't post enough information online or via phone for positions they are contacting me about. The ones I work with know my likes and dislikes. When I ask about city they tell me how many miles it is from my address, they aren't sure about exact unit size but guesstimate. But dealing directly with the facility, you would have to sign at least a 12 month contract with no option out I am assuming? I like the 30 day escape option 🙂
Click to expand...
CompHealth, Vista, StaffCare, FCS are some of the ones that post cities at least some of the time. I haven't actually taken any of these assignments yet but I would never take a 12 month commitment. I am very selective.

I avoid agencies in large part because I can't stand the third party recruiters. One agency literally called me for 5 years after residency after I changed states three times, even though I never once answered the phone or called them back. I blocked each and every number but it always changed, until I finally told them to screw off. Their only goal is to move meat.
 
cookymonster said:
CompHealth, Vista, StaffCare, FCS are some of the ones that post cities at least some of the time. I haven't actually taken any of these assignments yet but I would never take a 12 month commitment. I am very selective.

I avoid agencies in large part because I can't stand the third party recruiters. One agency literally called me for 5 years after residency after I changed states three times, even though I never once answered the phone or called them back. I blocked each and every number but it always changed, until I finally told them to screw off. Their only goal is to move meat.
Click to expand...
Even if you take a position for 12 months, there is always a 30 day out on either side when you go through locums. I just did a quick check and a few did list the exact city but it's definitely not a city I would want to work in.
 
futuredo32 said:
And guess all you want, but seriously, I would never ask someone on a message board how much they earned. That's private information. Just my opinion.
Click to expand...

Then you might want to stop posting repeatedly that they're paying you a lot. Not just in this thread (where you talk about how generous they're being with housing and moving costs), but in other threads, you've mentioned what a good financial opportunity this is over and over. It's not unheard of for some curious folks to wonder about the hourly rate in response to your posts.
 
Mass Effect said:
Then you might want to stop posting repeatedly that they're paying you a lot. Not just in this thread (where you talk about how generous they're being with housing and moving costs , but in other threads, you've mentioned what a good financial opportunity this is over and over. It's not unheard of for some curious folks to wonder about the hourly rate in response to your posts.
Click to expand...
To say a job pays well (and locums generally covers housing and moving costs no problem as well as transportation, I am guessing you haven't done much or any locums work and apparently others haven't either so I was just answering their questions) ) and to ask someone exactly what they are earning are two different things. Psychotherapy with insurance doesn't reimburse well in my experience, but I am not going to disclose how much. . The point of saying it's paying well was meant to explain one of the big reasons I accepted this position. I am sure most if not all of you will earn far more in your lifetime than I ever will and that's fine.
 
futuredo32 said:
To say a job pays well (and locums generally covers housing and moving costs no problem as well as transportation, I am guessing you haven't done much or any locums work and apparently others haven't either so I was just answering their questions) ) and to ask someone exactly what they are earning are two different things. Psychotherapy with insurance doesn't reimburse well in my experience, but I am not going to disclose how much. . The point of saying it's paying well was meant to explain one of the big reasons I accepted this position. I am sure most if not all of you will earn far more in your lifetime than I ever will and that's fine.
Click to expand...
People aren't asking you this because they want to get into a d*ck measuring contest over who is getting the best compensation. We're doing it because knowledge is power, and transparency in our market value benefits all of us. We all want to know what to ask for and what not to settle for. You can be secretive if you like, but as mentioned above, it's extremely incongruent with the rest of your posts, but more importantly it only benefits the other parties at the negotiating table.
 
cookymonster said:
People aren't asking you this because they want to get into a d*ck measuring contest over who is getting the best compensation. We're doing it because knowledge is power, and transparency in our market value benefits all of us. We all want to know what to ask for and what not to settle for. You can be secretive if you like, but as mentioned above, it's extremely incongruent with the rest of your posts, but more importantly it only benefits the other parties at the negotiating table.
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They were smart enough to get through med school and residency, they should be able to look at a website with different job options and compare compensation for the region.
 
Somehow futuredo32 has amassed a group of fervent haters the likes of which hasn’t been seen here since the Vistaril days LOL. You’d think she was president of the Mein Kampf fan club.
 
PsychApp777 said:
Somehow futuredo32 has amassed a group of fervent haters the likes of which hasn’t been seen here since the Vistaril days LOL. You’d think she was president of the Mein Kampf fan club.
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This is not new. The psych part of SDN used to be quite different. I do appreciate the helpful posts. Many here I blocked long ago. I wont post here in the future unless it's to respond to PMS about boards of residency programs in Michigan or to offer support to those who need it for board exam purposes. I may post in other sections of SDN for my own questions but not here.
 
futuredo32 said:
This is not new. The psych part of SDN used to be quite different. I do appreciate the helpful posts. Many here I blocked long ago. I wont post here in the future unless it's to respond to PMS about boards of residency programs in Michigan or to offer support to those who need it for board exam purposes. I may post in other sections of SDN for my own questions but not here.
Click to expand...

Mostly it seems like your life is a mess and I hope you get some help sorting it out. Good luck.
 
What is this? Mean Girls: Psych Nerd Edition?

Just let the poor girl live her life without pointing out what she did wrong in every other post.
 
AD04 said:
What is this? Mean Girls: Psych Nerd Edition?

Just let the poor girl live her life without pointing out what she did wrong in every other post.
Click to expand...
Thanks.. This was once the friendly part of SDN. I use the ignore button. I have gotten some helpful advice and if some feel the need to be unkind, I hope they learn to deal with their own issues. I've gotten some helpful PMS as well. So thank you again. I've gotten all the advice I needed and bonus information about taxes.
 
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