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5 Benefits of Choosing Locum Tenens After Residency

Finally, years after completing an undergraduate degree, medical school, internship, and residency, you are ready to launch the next stage of your career. So, what will it be? Have you interviewed with a private practice? Are you leaning toward the hospital employee model? Or, having completed residency under the stress of COVID-19, maybe you are pausing a moment to rethink your options.

If you haven’t finalized post-residency plans yet, there is one more alternative to consider: working locum tenens. Here are several reasons why this practice style fits so well at this stage of your career. (Plus, we can prepare you for your All Star journey and provide the “Red Carpet” Service you deserve.)

1. Evaluate practice settings and locations.
By the completion of residency, many providers have settled on a specialty. But that doesn’t automatically define clinical setting of choice, from large trauma centers to solo practice. And even if you’re sure on the type of clinical setting you would like to practice in, maybe the city or location is still in question. Locum tenens contracts enable physicians fresh out of residency to investigate options. Try opportunities in small and large hospitals, large multi-specialty private practices, or community clinics. Compare and contrast the benefits of living in rural, suburban, and urban environments, not to mention different geographical settings, such as the coasts, mountains, desert, Midwest, South, and so on. Locum tenens immerses you into these arrangements, and therefore, provides firsthand information about living and working at a location. You will have a collection of genuine experiences on which to base a decision for the long term.

2. Gain additional training and experience.
While residency is all about furthering your medical knowledge, locum tenens practice can broaden your experience even more by placing you in different facilities, around different patients and providers. Additional training can come from picking up on others’ practice styles, learning new procedures, and observing how regional, environmental, and cultural characteristics influence care. If you have specific contract preferences for any of these or other practice parameters, express them to your All Star Healthcare Solutions consultant.

3. Balance personal and professional needs.
After dedicating a dozen or more years to education and training, the idea of slowing the pace before jumping into a full-time permanent position could be very enticing. Locum tenens affords schedule flexibility to rearrange your priorities. Need a couple of weeks to decompress once in a while? That can be managed. Want time to catch up with family and friends without call or work interruptions? That, too, is a possibility with time off between contracts. Or, look for opportunities that bring you closer to faraway friends and loved ones. You also can book a vacation between temporary positions. For that matter, turn short-term locum tenens jobs into working vacations by agreeing to offers in or near dream destinations, or by sticking around a few more days to explore and sightsee.

4. Enhance earning potential.
According to the Education Data Initiative, the average medical school graduate carries nearly $216,000 in total student loan debt, so naturally, finances weigh heavy on many physicians as they leave residency. Locum tenens opportunities pay market-value rates—sometimes higher—which make them a fiscally viable option as a full-time career choice. Even if you sign up for a permanent position, moonlighting with the occasional temporary contract can boost earnings. Use the extra income to pay down loans, or to fund vacations or large purchases without reducing your regular cashflow.

5. Interview facilities and colleagues.
Sometimes you don’t know how much you will connect with a facility, colleagues, or patients until you’ve been engaged in the situation for a while. Consider it a practical in-depth interview. If you discover a practice setup and city appeal to you as a long-term option, All Star is here to help. As a full-service staffing company, consultants with our Locums and Permanent Divisions partner up to help you make a smooth transition.

Call 800-928-0229 to speak with one of All Star’s dedicated consultants to discuss locum tenens opportunities right out of residency—or at any career stage—or contact us online.