working seasonally as a doctor- locum tenens?

[beyondhuman]

So basically I'd like to take maybe 5 years of my life and travel the world, start a small business, etc. basically do all that junk people dream of doing but never have time for.

Does anybody with more experience with locum work know if it is possible to use it to work part of the year and travel part of the year for an extended period?

Also how would this effect my career? after doing this would I be an unhireable pariah or would the locum work be sufficient to get back in the game?

I wonder because from what I have seen locum docs (EM&IM) get $120+ an hour so if I work 6 months a year at 40 hours a week I can have $120k and half the year off...in theory.

I did a search and didn't see anything on feasibility of this particular distribution of part-time work.

Thanks for your thoughts.

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[Mako555]

a high volume of work makes a good doctor. when you cut your experience in half, you are denying your patients the best doctor that you can be. everyone who sees your resume will know that you are not dedicated to your profession. in this profession, dedication is a big deal. its not like you're working as a trader (for example), where no one gives a crap as long as you're making money.

 

[SoulinNeed]

Yeah, it's great work if you're flexible and willing to travel a bit. You won't be a pariah, but I should mention that it's probably best to do it in primary care, as you will have the most opportunities, then.

 

[circulus vitios]

a high volume of work makes a good doctor. when you cut your experience in half, you are denying your patients the best doctor that you can be. everyone who sees your resume will know that you are not dedicated to your profession. in this profession, dedication is a big deal. its not like you're working as a trader (for example), where no one gives a crap as long as you're making money.

Thanks for the career advice, pre-med. Tell us more about your experience as a practicing pre-med physician.

 

[Mako555]

Thanks for the career advice, pre-med. Tell us more about your experience as a practicing pre-med physician.

this is the premed forum, *******. did i say anything that was wrong? notice i did not say whether or not he would be able to get a job, because I don't know. everything i said is an obvious truth.

 

[deleted480308]

That escalated quickly

 

[chopes31]

That escalated quickly

It's that time of day, the morning was so chill too 🙁

 

[Mako555]

haha. yeah, that's the 2nd time that has happened to me in like the last week so i just jumped right on it. i don't get it. this is the pre-med forum...

 

[ericksonj15]

.

 

[TheWeeIceMan]

a high volume of work makes a good doctor. when you cut your experience in half, you are denying your patients the best doctor that you can be. everyone who sees your resume will know that you are not dedicated to your profession. in this profession, dedication is a big deal. its not like you're working as a trader (for example), where no one gives a crap as long as you're making money.

This is pretty insulting to locum tenens docs.

 

[DocToBe1998]

Edit

 

[Yoseph101]

a high volume of work makes a good doctor. when you cut your experience in half, you are denying your patients the best doctor that you can be. everyone who sees your resume will know that you are not dedicated to your profession. in this profession, dedication is a big deal. its not like you're working as a trader (for example), where no one gives a crap as long as you're making money.

On what experience do you base these assertions?

 

[HirsuteAnthony]

Considering that docs regularly get recruited for locums jobs (in rural/semi-rural areas) without even looking for them, I'd say you'd easily be able to live the way you're envisioning.

In other words, there are MANY areas where hospitals can't be picky about the doctors they hire. If you have board-certification/eligibility you get the job. They would not care about something as insignificant as you only having worked on a seasonal basis.

 

[CDI]

a high volume of work makes a good doctor. when you cut your experience in half, you are denying your patients the best doctor that you can be. everyone who sees your resume will know that you are not dedicated to your profession. in this profession, dedication is a big deal. its not like you're working as a trader (for example), where no one gives a crap as long as you're making money.

Let's edumacate the pre-med...

Has nothing to do with how much one chooses to work. It's about trusting another doctor with the care of your patients.

As a real life example. I have a family member who takes plenty of breaks (vacations) from his private practice. Pays a locum (IM) $60-65/hr to cover the practice. The guy doesn't work that much otherwise, but he's great when he does. Why does he get hired? He's well known in the area and was a resident of my relative. Connections and reputation...quality > quantity.

High volume does not make a great doctor. That's pre-med talk, bro. I've worked in an ER overseas where we had to see hundreds of pts every hour, and an OP clinic where we'd see ~50 in just a morning session. I worked fast as hell, doesn't mean I could thrive in a proper private practice setting. I wasn't giving my pts the full care they deserved. So yes, what you said was in fact wrong.

 

[circulus vitios]

On what experience do you base these assertions?

4 years premed, brah. Get on his level.

 

[Girly X]

That escalated quickly

 

[beyondhuman]

Well...it is true that if you do something more instead of less you will probably be better at it.

But that wasn't at all what I was asking about and I would really like to hear more feedback on that. Specifically any problems with that plan I am not foreseeing. Or experience from people higher up the ladder if maybe some Locum docs wanna toss in their 2 cents...

 

[IslandStyle808]

a high volume of work makes a good doctor. when you cut your experience in half, you are denying your patients the best doctor that you can be. everyone who sees your resume will know that you are not dedicated to your profession. in this profession, dedication is a big deal. its not like you're working as a trader (for example), where no one gives a crap as long as you're making money.

This statement undermines the hard work physicians do in:

-research
-public health
-teaching

 

[tantacles]

this is the premed forum, *******. did i say anything that was wrong? notice i did not say whether or not he would be able to get a job, because I don't know. everything i said is an obvious truth.

Your entire assertion needs revision and is neither an obvious truth nor any kind of truth at all.

 

[wholeheartedly]

There are definitely people that seem to make this work. It seems to be a model used for some people who do global health work as well. Spend part of the year away doing that, then come back and do locums in the US.

I believe there might be some licensure requirements that you might need to consider, probably varies by state, as to how recently and how many hours you've practiced to keep current and maintain your ability stay licensed.

Don't forget to take taxes out of that 120k and consider how much debt you'll have to pay off 😛


I agree with the others, while practice can help you improve most things, being a good physician seems to be more a function of what you're willing to put into it than how many hours you work.

 

[Law2Doc]

So basically I'd like to take maybe 5 years of my life and travel the world, start a small business, etc. basically do all that junk people dream of doing but never have time for.

Does anybody with more experience with locum work know if it is possible to use it to work part of the year and travel part of the year for an extended period?

Also how would this effect my career? after doing this would I be an unhireable pariah or would the locum work be sufficient to get back in the game?

I wonder because from what I have seen locum docs (EM&IM) get $120+ an hour so if I work 6 months a year at 40 hours a week I can have $120k and half the year off...in theory.

I did a search and didn't see anything on feasibility of this particular distribution of part-time work.

Thanks for your thoughts.

This is not very realistic. The only place you would ever hear that this is doable is on A Premed board, where somebody always knows "a guy". First, you can't even think about this kind of stuff until after residency. Meaning 4 years of med school and 3+ years of residency before you can even contemplate this. You may not even want to forego your career and travel at this juncture. Second, it is "career" suicide. You can't hope to improve your career if you are forever just looking for temp gigs. As the world moves to bigger practices and hospital employees rather than individual practices, you are caught on the outside. This can inpact career progression, but also without knowing how the medical landscape is moving could leave you in a bad place when these part time options dry up. Third, as was eluded to, your skills dwindle if you don't use them regularly. That doesn't mean you can't go on vacation, but medicine is a full time job, not something you can dabble in. you will see even in med school and residency rotation, when you are off a service for a few months and then come back, it takes a lot of time before you are back in the swing. Fourth, insurance isn't going to prorate based on only doing a few months of the year. So you essentially are paying double for the time you are working -- and if you aren't a full time employee, you pay this yourself. Also if you aren't a full time employee you pay health insurance and all benefits yourself. Next, there is an issue with continuity if care. The "paying" patients want doctors who can see them on a regular basis. So you are eliminating all potential jobs outside of the urgent care setting. And within a Particular geographic region there may be limited openings at a given time, and time intense credentialing procedures to be allowed to work anywhere new.

Basically if you are not in medicine yet and trying to decide if you can "dabble" in it while primarily focusing on travel and other interests, the answer is no. It's a very bad career path for this. I'm sure there's "a guy" out there who made this work, but that doesn't make it realistic or smart. Pick a different career if you can't be "all in". Most people find squeezing a few hours of hobbies and family time in on top of medicine challenging as is. To try to keep a career going and skills solid while spending half your time on vacation or other ventures won't really work for most.

 

[Girly X]

Cabin Builder is a locum doc on here. She did an SDN article several weeks ago. OP, perhaps you could try sending her a PM for her thoughts as well.