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6 Signs It’s Time to Consider Locum Tenens (instead of a complete career change)
What would make you contemplate leaving your career? Burnout? Inordinate amount of administrative duties? Other professional or business opportunities? Research indicates circumstances such as these have pushed a percentage of doctors to at least consider a career change, including possibilities outside of medicine, or transitioning to retirement sooner than planned. If you find yourself weighing your options, there’s another choice to think about: locum tenens. The career alternative enables physicians and advanced practitioners to capitalize on your years of experience in a manner that foregoes many of the factors known to contribute to burnout and a possible exodus from the healthcare field.
How can you tell if you’re ready to follow a locum tenens path? Ask yourself these questions, then read on to see how locum tenens offers an avenue to refresh your professional mindset and find renewed career satisfaction.
Do you feel a need to experience a different setting?
Showing up at the same hospital, clinic, or private practice office day after day for most of your career offers pros and cons. On the plus side, you know what to expect. Then again, has the familiarity driven you to want a change of scenery? Locum tenens jobs do exactly that. Each new contract can assign you to a different facility in a different community and/or state, if that’s what you want.
If you’re not ready to leave your current employment, but still wish to indulge your curiosity about how other facilities operate, speak with an All Star Healthcare Solutions consultant about moonlighting with locums.
If you are considering relocating your practice, your family, and your home to a new city, locum tenens lets you test out sites before signing on any dotted line. Plus, our Direct Hire consultants can structure a job search to prioritize facility type, size, or location if you want to initiate that process while working short-term contracts.
Do you wish to increase your earnings?
According to a Forbes column, physicians spend decades repaying educational loans, even up to around age 50 in some cases. Additionally, the cost of running a private practice continues to climb, which has prompted some clinicians to reevaluate their job status. A locum tenens practice offers you another income source. If paying down student loans or other financial burdens would enable you to feel more engaged with your career, use periodic locum tenens jobs to supplement your earnings. Also, locums professionals are covered by All Star’s malpractice insurance policy while on assignment, which helps abate some costs associated with practicing.
Do you want to change the focus of your practice?
Year after year, physicians point to non-clinical duties as sources of burnout and dissatisfaction. If your role has veered too far into the administrative or managerial lane, locum tenens redirects your focus back to patient care. Facilities typically do not require locums providers, who are on site temporarily, to participate in management meetings, for instance. That freedom makes room in your shift to do what you value most in your profession: treat patients in need.
Do you want more control over your schedule?
Whether it’s flexibility week to week, fewer hours on call during the month, or more chances to take breaks from working, locum tenens accommodates a variety of schedule preferences. You have a say over when you accept assignments and for how long. If you want contracts without call duty, inform your All Star consultant. Prefer to work only a few days per week or only weekends? Tell your consultant. These details help us find locum tenens jobs that match your desired calendar configuration.
Do you want to be mentored or to mentor others?
Research shows mentoring produces positive outcomes on providers’ physical and psychological health. If you seek to acquire new skills, different approaches, or train on technology, locums offers on-the-job learning opportunities without having to take a formal sabbatical. Our blog, “5 Steps to Finding Mentors Through Locum Tenens Opportunities” outlines a strategy to tap into professional guidance from peers while on assignment. Locum tenens contracts also offer moments to extend your own reach by advising other providers you meet. Professional exchanges can inject a renewed sense of accomplishment and pride in your profession.
Do you want to explore?
As discussed here, locum tenens supports a variety ways to explore career and personal changes without leaving healthcare. Learn more about the career alternative by calling All Star Healthcare Solutions today at 800-928-0229 or contact us online.
