medicare physicals after intern year and license

[intern_for_life]

Has anybody done locum jobs after just an intern year and then getting your license. I see some jobs listed on locumtenans website that states no BE/BC required and job listed for H&Ps only without any labs/medication ordering needed.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Vandalia]

That still requires a valid medical license.

 

[intern_for_life]

That still requires a valid medical license.

You're right. A lot of states minimum requirement for a license is a PGY-1 year and completion of all 3 steps.

 

[xffan624]

Has anybody done locum jobs after just an intern year and then getting your license. I see some jobs listed on locumtenans website that states no BE/BC required and job listed for H&Ps only without any labs/medication ordering needed.

I did it for about a month 3-4 days a week for about 5 hours a day. I will probably still do it part time for a little while after starting a new job. Here's a general description from another thread.

"it took a while to get started but I've been doing them for a couple weeks. It's mind-numbingly boring and you have to deal with bored old people who want someone to listen to their medical concerns, but otherwise relatively easy especially as you can do them from your house when it's virtual (usually during business and evening hours). You can set your schedule based on availability. In person pays $100/exam, virtual only pays $85/exam. AFAIK due to COVID concerns they're only doing virtual now, but that can change. Most exams can be done in an hour or less (that's what you're scheduled for). The company is called Signify Health. I applied on their website, but didn't initially get a response so I applied again on a doc recruiter site and got contacted that day (it still took over 2 months for me to get started with the company)."

Cons: lots of cancellations. When I was scheduled to do about 5 exams a day the rate was about 20-40% (sometimes higher) Being virtual is less painful as you're home and can do what you want, but you don't get paid if you don't do the exam. Reasons vary from simply not being able to reach the patient on the phone to the patient being unable to navigate the technology to do a video visit (required for the assessments).
Also, the company is pretty stupid. They had scheduled me for two days but still hadn't sent me the I-pod to do them with. I e-mailed them at some point that week and that's when they finally sent me the I-pod but with fedex delays all those appointments were cancelled because no one made sure I had the equipment prior to scheduling my appointments.

It's not something I would ever do long term but for a transition job it can work.

Has anybody done locum jobs after just an intern year and then getting your license. I see some jobs listed on locumtenans website that states no BE/BC required and job listed for H&Ps only without any labs/medication ordering needed.

 

[intern_for_life]

I did it for about a month 3-4 days a week for about 5 hours a day. I will probably still do it part time for a little while after starting a new job. Here's a general description from another thread.

"it took a while to get started but I've been doing them for a couple weeks. It's mind-numbingly boring and you have to deal with bored old people who want someone to listen to their medical concerns, but otherwise relatively easy especially as you can do them from your house when it's virtual (usually during business and evening hours). You can set your schedule based on availability. In person pays $100/exam, virtual only pays $85/exam. AFAIK due to COVID concerns they're only doing virtual now, but that can change. Most exams can be done in an hour or less (that's what you're scheduled for). The company is called Signify Health. I applied on their website, but didn't initially get a response so I applied again on a doc recruiter site and got contacted that day (it still took over 2 months for me to get started with the company)."

Cons: lots of cancellations. When I was scheduled to do about 5 exams a day the rate was about 20-40% (sometimes higher) Being virtual is less painful as you're home and can do what you want, but you don't get paid if you don't do the exam. Reasons vary from simply not being able to reach the patient on the phone to the patient being unable to navigate the technology to do a video visit (required for the assessments).
Also, the company is pretty stupid. They had scheduled me for two days but still hadn't sent me the I-pod to do them with. I e-mailed them at some point that week and that's when they finally sent me the I-pod but with fedex delays all those appointments were cancelled because no one made sure I had the equipment prior to scheduling my appointments.

It's not something I would ever do long term but for a transition job it can work.

This sounds like a decent gig for somebody who has a license but can't match into a residency. Just out of curiosity, are you pursuing a residency or did you find sufficient job opportunities with just a medical license? Since you said you wouldn't do it long term, I was curious if you found better long term job prospects.

 

[xffan624]

This sounds like a decent gig for somebody who has a license but can't match into a residency. Just out of curiosity, are you pursuing a residency or did you find sufficient job opportunities with just a medical license? Since you said you wouldn't do it long term, I was curious if you found better long term job prospects.

I finished a PM residency after switching from Pediatrics (ended with 4 years total of residency). I got a federal job but the hiring process is pretty slow so that job was just something to pay the bills in between. Pay isn't great compared to other doctor jobs, but the benefits are nice and it's much less tedious than interviewing old people all day IMO

For the record, most federal doctor jobs require at least 3-4 years of residency but not all require BC.

 

[elanmorin]

I did it for about a month 3-4 days a week for about 5 hours a day. I will probably still do it part time for a little while after starting a new job. Here's a general description from another thread.

"it took a while to get started but I've been doing them for a couple weeks. It's mind-numbingly boring and you have to deal with bored old people who want someone to listen to their medical concerns, but otherwise relatively easy especially as you can do them from your house when it's virtual (usually during business and evening hours). You can set your schedule based on availability. In person pays $100/exam, virtual only pays $85/exam. AFAIK due to COVID concerns they're only doing virtual now, but that can change. Most exams can be done in an hour or less (that's what you're scheduled for). The company is called Signify Health. I applied on their website, but didn't initially get a response so I applied again on a doc recruiter site and got contacted that day (it still took over 2 months for me to get started with the company)."

Cons: lots of cancellations. When I was scheduled to do about 5 exams a day the rate was about 20-40% (sometimes higher) Being virtual is less painful as you're home and can do what you want, but you don't get paid if you don't do the exam. Reasons vary from simply not being able to reach the patient on the phone to the patient being unable to navigate the technology to do a video visit (required for the assessments).
Also, the company is pretty stupid. They had scheduled me for two days but still hadn't sent me the I-pod to do them with. I e-mailed them at some point that week and that's when they finally sent me the I-pod but with fedex delays all those appointments were cancelled because no one made sure I had the equipment prior to scheduling my appointments.

It's not something I would ever do long term but for a transition job it can work.

Is the rate negotiable at all? Do you get reimbursed for the travel? In-person doesn't seem worth it compared to virtual unless the patient really can't do virtual visits.

 

[intern_for_life]

I finished a PM residency after switching from Pediatrics (ended with 4 years total of residency). I got a federal job but the hiring process is pretty slow so that job was just something to pay the bills in between. Pay isn't great compared to other doctor jobs, but the benefits are nice and it's much less tedious than interviewing old people all day IMO

For the record, most federal doctor jobs require at least 3-4 years of residency but not all require BC.

I was also wondering...sounds like you already had finished a residency prior to working there. Do you know if they hire people with just a medical license after intern year and that are not in a residency?

 

[xffan624]

I was also wondering...sounds like you already had finished a residency prior to working there. Do you know if they hire people with just a medical license after intern year and that are not in a residency?

The feds won't. Signify Health will AFAIK. All you need is an independent license.

 

[xffan624]

Is the rate negotiable at all? Do you get reimbursed for the travel? In-person doesn't seem worth it compared to virtual unless the patient really can't do virtual visits.

I have no idea if the rate is negotiable as I didn't try. Probably the only way it would be is if they're trying to incentivize you to do more exams. The travel is supposed to be in your area (i.e. county of residence) so in theory it shouldn't be far. If you're scheduled for at least 5 patients in a day I think you get $40 for per diem rate. You can only do exams in the states you're licensed in but there might be opportunities to travel somewhere for a couple days to do exams if you're licensed in a state different from where you live.

Pre COVID these were all in home visits (as the visit usually includes a physical exam). The virtual thing is new and I think the company gets reimbursed less for them so eventually they will probably try to go back to most in home.