Rural medicine commute

[scrapy]

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Is it realistic to be in a rural practice, live in a moderately large - large city, and commute to the practice for about an hour each day? I know one GI who does this in the Southeast, but has anyone else seen this? I’d imagine salary would be a large factor in making this choice.

 

[doc05]

Is it realistic to be in a rural practice, live in a moderately large - large city, and commute to the practice for about an hour each day? I know one GI who does this in the Southeast, but has anyone else seen this? I’d imagine salary would be a large factor in making this choice.

Maybe. It depends on a lot of variables, including location and specialty. Do you have specific concerns?

 

[Catalystik]

Is it realistic to be in a rural practice, live in a moderately large - large city, and commute to the practice for about an hour each day? I know one GI who does this in the Southeast, but has anyone else seen this? I’d imagine salary would be a large factor in making this choice.

So (depending on the type of practice) would the need to live in proximity to the hospital where you'd get called to see emergencies and inpatients, who sometimes need to be seen in the middle of the night.

 

[965978]

So (depending on the type of practice) would the need to live in proximity to the hospital where you'd get called to see emergencies and inpatients, who sometimes need to be seen in the middle of the night.

IMO one of the biggest incentives for working in healthcare is that hospitals and clinics are everywhere so it's quite easy to find a nice house or neighborhood within a 3-5 mile radius of where you work.

Or even across the street!

 

[allantois]

There are some ED physicians who fly to work in a rural hospital but live elsewhere

 

[puahate]

There are some ED physicians who fly to work in a rural hospital but live elsewhere

Can you elaborate on this?

 

[allantois]

Can you elaborate on this?

I had a friend whose dad was an ED doc. I think he worked 7 days on 7 days off; he worked somewhere rural in a different state and would fly for work and stay there for a week, then fly back home

 

[puahate]

I had a friend whose dad was an ED doc. I think he worked 7 days on 7 days off; he worked somewhere rural in a different state and would fly for work and stay there for a week, then fly back home

Did the hospital pay for the flight?

 

[allantois]

Did the hospital pay for the flight?

No, but I imagine working in a rural area paid for itself

 

[atomi]

Is it realistic to be in a rural practice, live in a moderately large - large city, and commute to the practice for about an hour each day? I know one GI who does this in the Southeast, but has anyone else seen this? I’d imagine salary would be a large factor in making this choice.

There was a doc in Virginia that would commute to the Eastern shore via his personal helicopter. I remember reading about it 15 years or so ago in a local magazine.

 

[wholeheartedly]

Our local rural ED is staffed by locums like this. They come for a week or twothen go back to their home state. Since they are locums housing is provided and I'd guess we pay travel too.

 

[riverrunner]

In our big western state many docs have a primary residence and practice in the city, and then run several clinic days per month in a couple of mountain town 2-3 hours away. Most have a family cabin/condo to stay in, and rent clinic space as needed. Patients who need procedures drive to the city for those. Diagnosis, pre-op, and follow-ups happen close to where they live. Specialities that seem to do this include ENTs, Orthodontists, Cardio, Orthopods, Derm. Our mountain towns offer year-round recreation; for those physician families who love the outdoors, this is a win for both the communities they serve, and the families who love to spend time in these towns but don't want to live there.

 

[getdown]

Can you elaborate on this?

There are plenty of locums gigs out there that people can do. Often times these gigs are in rural places that are understaffed and need people for either short stints or to cover empty slots. Most of the time they're in fields like Anesthesia and ER where there's no need for continuity of care or need for clinics. A warm body just comes in and does the work and leaves. Probably not realistic for surgical fields, IM, FM, psych ... maybe hospitalist medicine. There are some upsides and downsides and the perks can be vary from gig to gig.

Goods:
1. you get to travel and see different places
2. they cover housing, travel, tail malpractice coverage
3. they often pay pretty well too
4. flexible schedule for you as you can work for a bit and then decide you want to take a month off before hitting up your next gig.
5. good way to supplement your income if you do shift work and have time.

Bads:
1. there's a reason these places can't fill their spots. They either have a malignant administration, they pay poorly, location is horrible.
2. inconsistent income stream since you're always looking for another gig
3. hard on the family if you have a family
4. you're always traveling
5. stigma. The general sense is that people who do these gigs are often the bottom of the barrel. There's a reason that they cant find or stay employed with one group (i.e. lotta red flags) hence are forced to do these traveling gigs. So if you're a brand new grad and you do this for a bit then decide to apply to a more traditional group, they might wonder what's wrong with you that you can't find a stable gig right off the bat. Not always true but it was what I was told when I was considering doing this for a bit.

 

[puahate]

There are plenty of locums gigs out there that people can do. Often times these gigs are in rural places that are understaffed and need people for either short stints or to cover empty slots. Most of the time they're in fields like Anesthesia and ER where there's no need for continuity of care or need for clinics. A warm body just comes in and does the work and leaves. Probably not realistic for surgical fields, IM, FM, psych ... maybe hospitalist medicine. There are some upsides and downsides and the perks can be vary from gig to gig.

Goods:
1. you get to travel and see different places
2. they cover housing, travel, tail malpractice coverage
3. they often pay pretty well too
4. flexible schedule for you as you can work for a bit and then decide you want to take a month off before hitting up your next gig.
5. good way to supplement your income if you do shift work and have time.

Bads:
1. there's a reason these places can't fill their spots. They either have a malignant administration, they pay poorly, location is horrible.
2. inconsistent income stream since you're always looking for another gig
3. hard on the family if you have a family
4. you're always traveling
5. stigma. The general sense is that people who do these gigs are often the bottom of the barrel. There's a reason that they cant find or stay employed with one group (i.e. lotta red flags) hence are forced to do these traveling gigs. So if you're a brand new grad and you do this for a bit then decide to apply to a more traditional group, they might wonder what's wrong with you that you can't find a stable gig right off the bat. Not always true but it was what I was told when I was considering doing this for a bit.

Intresting. So glad there are so many options in medicine.