Three Reasons Doctors Should Try Locum Tenens Today
Defeat Physician Burnout and Find Adventure
Physician burnout is real, and it is spectacular. Believe me, I know. As a practicing anesthesiologist, I realized back in 2019 that work didn’t feel the same. Rather than being a mission, work became, well, work. The seemingly endless overnight call, squabbles with competitive coworkers, and unpredictable days started wearing me down.
Having a family made it worse. Working on a weekend wasn’t such a big deal when it was just me at home. But once the kids were in the picture, I felt guilty and sad each time I missed their trips to the park and Sunday adventures.
My healthcare salvation came from an unexpected place: Locum Tenens.
We sold the house, packed our stuff, and left my stable W2 job. Over Thanksgiving, we moved to Los Angeles, and I jumped into the world of medical freelancing. Although you don’t need to move to LA (I don’t even live there anymore), here’s why you should consider leaving your medical or surgical day job to become a locum tenens doc.
It’s fun!
To paraphrase George Clooney in his great movie Up In the Air, doctors are not swans. We’re not meant to be in one practice setting our whole careers. Our decades of experience and training mean we have the skills to work across the country in diverse practice settings. Why should all our education and hard work tie us down to one facility for our whole working lives?
I’m telling you, it’s a lot more fun to see the sights and move around. Change jobs, work in new cities, explore another state. Heck, you can even live and work in another country with locum tenens! Go ahead and live a little. See what life is like in the Rocky Mountains near Denver, enjoy the sunny shores of Miami, or experience the hustle and bustle of Chicago. The world is open to you — and Locum Tenens will pave (pay!) the way.
Defeat physician burnout.
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If you’re anything like me circa 2019, you’re over it. Call, administrative overreach, overwhelming paperwork with the EMR, and emails steal the joy from clinical practice. You don’t have time for your family and kids. You haven’t seen the inside of a gym in weeks. Sleep is a rare luxury. Is this any way to live?
But, I beg you — don’t be quick to give up on medicine.
Rather, change up the game. Give something else a try. With locum tenens, you can still care for patients while enjoying a more predictable schedule. You’ll likely make more money. You have control over your call burden and shift length. And you’re free from your current job’s toxicity and personnel drama. Not bad, eh?
You’ll be a better doctor.
It’s easy to fall into a rut. I know because it happened to me. You get stale and crusty when you work in the same place for a long time. Everything needs to be done a certain way. Only one type of catheter works. You need a particular chair. It is easy to become rigid and inflexible.
Break out of your comfort zone. When you go somewhere new, you’ll inevitably confront novel techniques, pathways, and equipment. You’ll be forced to learn new approaches to old problems. And you’ll be a better clinician. By experiencing the medical world through a new lens with new colleagues and circumstances, you’ll see what techniques work and which you should cast aside. Personal experience is the best teacher, and you’ll be better off for it.
Change can be scary. We’re used to what we’re used to, and it can be discomforting bust old practices. But that’s just what we need. Free yourself from the shackles of backstabbing colleagues, oppressive call, and mindless routines. Give yourself the gift of adventure, novelty, and more time for what matters most. Try locum tenens.
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If you want to read more about how doctors and nurses can rediscover joy and defeat burnout, grab your copy of The Physician Wellness Project from Amazon.
Gregory Charlop, MD, is a consultant, speaker, and private practice anesthesiologist based in Atlanta.
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