A rise in healthcare staffing shortages has developed a huge demand for locum tenens in recent times. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) report, the United States is expected to see a shortage of up to 122,000 by the year 2032.
Hence, care facilities need extra staff to support their already existing staff or fill in for a care provider on leave.
This is where becoming a locum tenens proves to be a great option for providers seeking more balance and flexibility over their work schedule, pay rates, as well as family time.
However, many providers are currently not comfortable with locum opportunities due to persistent myths about the locum tenens’ way of life. This article aims to debunk six myths that will help you decide whether a locum opportunity is appropriate for you.
Low pay is one of the biggest myths that likely drive away locum tenens opportunities. Locum tenens are considered independent contractors who get hourly pay. They are typically paid more compared to permanent positions despite seeing many patients or performing many procedures.
Moreover, rates are determined by specialty and not by the duration of experience in practice.
Primary care physicians are the most in-demand locum opportunity where you get paid at a rate of $600-$800 every day. The minimum average salary of a physician assistant locum tenens was $120,975. Hence, remember that locum physicians pay only for their own benefits.
Compared to non-locum tenens providers, you have more time with patients although you are not in a permanent position. These locum providers do not have to do administrative duties like redundant paperwork, meetings, etc. As you don’t have to do these additional duties, you can spend more time with patients
Locum assignments are exempt from the usual load of administrative duties such as meetings or redundant paperwork. Because of your lack of extra duties, you’ll be able to spend more quality time with patients without any hassle.
Physicians are interested in locum tenens opportunities specifically because of their control over scheduling. Locum tenens can have a flexible consistent schedule that fits their routine lifestyle. They can travel to new places and meet new people while getting extra income. All these factors are achievable within a predictable schedule that they can plan.
You are working at a healthcare facility as a locum tenens to fill a staffing need. Hence, the staff will be welcoming you with open arms. However, be proactive about your expectations. Be prepared for your locum assignment in advance by discussing with your recruiter about work culture, job expectations, and any other factors that might bother you.
Recruiters don’t associate temporary assignments with full-time job opportunities. However, the majority of locum tenens providers usually opt for locum tenens who can work 40 hours per week. If you are not getting full-time work, the reason could be that you choose the part-time option due to another job. It’s ultimately you who will decide the amount of work.
Many providers think that shifting from assignment to assignment will make their CV look less appealing. However, that’s not true. Mostly, it’s the resumes of locum tenens that seem to attract potential employers. By pursuing multiple locum assignments, you would have practiced in various clinical settings. Hence, you can bring innovative ideas to a new care facility. Having a history of successful locum assignments makes you versatile and adaptable with a top-level professional commitment.
Locum tenens opportunities prove to be an effective and economical solution to providing high-quality care. Consider your experience under your belt and explore a new career path that may prove more flexible, exciting, and fulfilling.
The healthcare sector is growing swiftly, and telemedicine is at the forefront of this growth. For locum professionals, this transformation presents an exceptional opportunity. In the past, people had to relocate for short-term assignments, but today they can perform the same job from a home office with a secure internet connection.
Telemedicine isn’t the future. It’s the present. And for locum physicians, it’s changing the manner you work, connect, and provide care.
Usually, locum tenens work was very flexible, though it could interrupt a person’s routine in other ways. Clinicians were tasked with going to many locations, getting accustomed to new ways of working, and dealing with different levels of help in each facility. Telemedicine changes that equation entirely.
Today, you have the ability to give excellent care to patients anywhere in the country without traveling. Now, you can overlook prolonged car rides, daily hotel stays, extensive travels, and instead manage your schedule, finances, and time with utmost flexibility.
Care facilities are undergoing grave staffing shortages. As demand increases, so does the requirement for accessible care. Telemedicine service has stepped in to fill that gap, and locum physicians are uniquely suitable to succeed in this model.
1. Practice from Anywhere, Serve Everywhere
Consider the possibility of working from your living room but still helping people living far away. Since telehealth allows remote communication, you can serve patients from different places. Instead, you can:
2. Expand Your Reach, Not Your Commute
Thanks to telemedicine, you are able to treat more people than before. When you choose virtual care, you are getting the full benefits of medical care.
3. Build a More Varied Career
Using a simulated environment, you can encounter various care procedures, modern platforms, and what patients require. As you go on, these experiences can make you more skilled and attractive to employers. Not having the same cases all the time helps prevent the professional exhaustion that usually comes with traditional locum work.
1. Understand Licensing Requirements
Nowadays, patients search for ‘telemedicine service near me’ in order to consult physicians virtually. Each state has its own rules for telehealth, and in most cases, you must have a license in the patient’s location. Luckily, some strategies can help make the process less difficult:
Working with a staffing agency means that you don't have to worry about paperwork and credentialing
2. Get Comfortable with the Tech
You don’t have to know everything about computers, but you do need to feel secure using technology. Before starting your first assignment, you should ensure you are trained and prepared on all you need to know.
3. Focus on Virtual Bedside Manner
In the end, taking care of patients is mostly about connecting. You should communicate in a different way when working remotely.
Trust and love are still important, even when the interaction is on a screen.
Telemedicine helps in locating professionals and finding ways to succeed, change, and work as they please. If you wish to increase your income, avoid exhaustion, or get a better balance in your life, telemedicine offers you a great solution.
Perform a Google search by typing ‘telemedicine near me’. At ProLocums, applicants can take part in top telemedicine assignments. We help with licensing, training, and finding the right candidates for you so you can concentrate on what you are good at. delivering excellent care.
Want to take part in the advances of the healthcare industry? Get in touch with ProLocums now to find remote locum positions that are a good fit for your needs and aims.
05/20/2025
Absolutely! Here’s how. Doctors who work in locum positions possess high levels of specialization because they can work in multiple medical fields through their varied work opportunities. The locum physician industry features specific positions for medical professionals who are OB/GYNs, radiologists, or cardiologists. Locum doctors select full-time roles because they enjoy the flexibility and higher compensation levels as well as the diversity of roles available to them.
ProLocums collaborates with professional-specific providers each day to assist them in their locum physician job search. The specific breakdown of how specialization operates within locum practices can be explored through the following details.
The locum positions extend beyond general practice clinical work. All medical specialties currently experience a growing need for locum workers. The development of medical expertise by doctors leads to positive outcomes for them in this situation. The locum jobs online opportunity exists for both high-risk neurology specialists and emergency medicine practitioners who want to use their expertise.
Top specialties in demand include
High demand exists in locum practice because of workforce deficits alongside rising patient numbers and the requirement for short-term medical staffing solutions, primarily in rural medical areas without sufficient physician presence.
Medical practitioners remain the leading community of locum professionals, but the employment sector continues to expand. Various healthcare occupations currently provide temporary roles with similar working characteristics to locum positions.
The workforce of advanced practice providers incorporates NPs together with PAs who fill positions in different healthcare settings, including primary care, urgent care, and specialties.
Nurses (RNs & LPNs) are in high demand for temporary roles across the country.
The field of locum work includes various allied professionals such as pharmacists, along with physical therapists, lab scientists, and radiologic technologists.
On-demand dental professionals consisting of specialists and dentists have priority placement requirements in specific geographical areas where physician staffing remains challenging.
Healthcare professionals seeking both flexibility in work and meaningful employment will find a good match through locum jobs online.
The practice of locum has evolved into a permanent locum physician job choice for multiple doctors in healthcare fields. More physicians now opt for locum-only practice because they receive the following advantages:
Locum offers physicians complete freedom to determine their working hours along with their locations and work frequency. Similarly, they get higher pay, often better than permanent roles, especially for high-demand specialties. They will experience less burnout due to reduced administrative burden while focusing more on patient care.
Healthcare professionals who choose locum roles have the chance to see different medical systems at urban hospitals and rural clinics. This lifestyle appeals to early-career doctors exploring different settings. Physicians who have stopped working full-time can utilize such opportunities to work as they please. Similarly, they can enjoy adventurous trips, thereby maintaining work-life balance. Specialists choose this path for obtaining elevated salary prospects together with expanded professional variety options.
Locum and specialization complement each other in powerful ways:
1. Precision Matching
The databases and matching systems at locum agencies help identify facilities requiring specialists according to your recorded skills. Your opportunities to work at your full licensing scope will increase when selected through locum services.
2. Filling Critical Gaps
Hospitals depend on locum specialists to handle vacancies, which become especially important in areas where permanent staff cannot be hired easily. The depth of your skills ensures continuous patient treatment remains strong during critical healthcare moments.
3. Expanding Your Experience
Locating your practice in diverse settings allows specialists to encounter multiple healthcare environments, clinical approaches, medical systems, and patient demographics. Early-stage medical practitioners can boost their careers by working as locums, while professionals at any stage can use locum work for clinical refreshment.
Doctors usually select locum because it provides them with control over their personal lives. Doctors who choose locum can accomplish their goals of finding improved work-life balance and career development as well as exploring new opportunities.
ProLocums exists to assist your professional development. The recruiting team at our company connects medical professionals with roles matching their field through high-demand positions. Our company enables all locums to simplify their lifestyle because we provide premier compensation alongside certification aid with flexible positions and travel benefits.
Ready for your adventure era? Contact our ProLocums staff or view current openings through our website. The right opportunity is waiting.
04/17/2025
The time has come for physicians to investigate different opportunities either during medical residency or after multiple years of practice. Locum jobs provide physicians with the opportunity for flexibility, diverse experiences, and better work-life balance, consequently drawing medical professionals to seek these benefits.
The Latin word ‘Locum tenens’ refers to the term "to hold the place of". It describes the temporary physician practice model addressing healthcare facility physician shortages caused by vacancy gaps or staff absenteeism or higher care needs. Each locum care provider employs independent contractor status through staffing agencies such as ProLocums without changing the healthcare facilities for their work.
Through locum positions, medical practitioners can find numerous possibilities that span between different specialties as well as regions and healthcare environments. Through locum physicians gain the flexibility to design their professional journey by pursuing jobs in various geographical areas and work schedules which include both full-time positions elsewhere and part-time jobs in nearby locations or supplemental work along their existing employment. Locum assignments remain available to residents and fellows although permitted and allow them to gain experience alongside additional compensation.
Results between locum roles and permanent roles include unique sets of advantages and difficulties. Flexible employment through locum positions allows doctors to decide their places of work and their working schedules yet permanent roles grant long-term stability through established locum job roles and regular work hours. Expanded mentorship connections along with health care site variety become available through locum roles but permanent positions provide better opportunities for long-term career development within one healthcare organization. The temporary nature of locum positions produces increased pay because healthcare facilities urgently look for staff while permanent employment provides dependable salaries through structured compensation packages.
Staffing agencies handle travel expenses together with housing costs for their locum physicians yet permanent positions sometimes cover moving costs although the commitments often extend several years. Locum assignments provide stretched breaks after assignments but employers must contribute to employee rest periods through their official policies in permanent positions. The main draw of locum work involves minimal administrative tasks that lead to more patient contact but permanent jobs impose organizational obligations which restrict direct patient care.
Your short-term locum positions contracted work offers both exploratory time in new locations and potential continuations that let you assess a new area as a future residency. Permanent positions force individuals to make a long-term job commitment yet this commitment may become troubling if the job situation proves unsuitable. Locum physicians are responsible for securing their own health insurance and retirement plans because permanent employees receive this coverage through their employer. Introducing a new option in healthcare staff solutions because locum staffing agencies deliver malpractice insurance to their workers while permanent roles from various employers might have different malpractice insurance coverage.
The evolution of medicine proves that no career position exists permanently thus your professional development should adjust accordingly. The locum system works excellently as a professional transition solution during various stages of life.
Your initial career stages present uncertainty regarding practice settings so locum position starts as a solution. Experiences in various practice settings will help you develop your career goals.
The extra income generated from locum physician jobs helps healthcare professionals settle their student loans while saving funds for major expenses. The locum physician job model provides exceptional payment packages to its medical professionals.
Locum physician serves as an ideal career transition tool during times of permanent locum job search before starting a new challenge or when life necessitates change. Through locum practice, you maintain clinical work while deciding what lies ahead.
You want to retire partially without complete cessation from work. Through locum physician practice, you can handle medical responsibilities on flexible hours while traveling for patient care duties.
Through locum practice, you acquire the ability to plan your medical career according to your preferences. With ProLocums in place, you can choose flexible career opportunities that span short-term and long-term timescales across many locations in the United States along with professional assistance through each step of the process.
The time has come to start benefitting from working as a locum physician. Existing applicants at ProLocums can launch their medical career path through current job openings.
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