May 2000 • Volume 6 • Number 5
Advantages abound in locum tenens work
BY SHERI PORTER
Locum tenens work, long a niche for doctors edging toward retirement, is snatching doctors fresh from residency or in the prime of their careers.
What's the draw? Try a break from managed care, time to explore options, medical mission opportunities and a family-friendly schedule.
Harsh conditions at the South Pole don't keep family physician Robert Thompson, D.O., M.S., from enjoying his locum tenens stay.Robert Thompson, D.O., M.S., 41, of Harrisburg, Pa., has spent the past several years as a full-time, independent locum tenens practitioner. "Never say never, but it would take a very special offer to pull me away from my current practice and lifestyle," he says.
Last October, Thompson landed at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole research station to replace an ailing female physician. He's the only doctor available to scientists and support staff for a year.
Thompson's post-residency fellowship in family practice and obstetrics/gynecology plus extensive emergency medicine experience give him excellent qualifications as he builds a résumé of more than 40 locum tenens jobs.
He has developed a five-page practice profile form to help him evaluate prospective assignments, and he always weighs in with predecessors on prospective jobs.
"I am following a business plan I made in residency to do independent locum tenens work, which I saw as the last bastion of physician autonomy in the burgeoning managed health care environment," Thompson says.
Networking with other physicians helps independent locum tenens physicians track good jobs. That's how Patricia Witte, M.D., 31, of Madison, Wis., snagged her first assignments after residency. She's served in two Alaskan towns and two urgent care clinics in the more familiar terrain of Wisconsin.
"I'm only planning on doing locum tenens for about five years, and then I would like to settle down," Witte says. In short, she's checking out people and places and enjoying the travel and flexibility along the way.
Witte suggests setting up a home base "because you can't fit everything you own in a suitcase." She advises meeting with an accountant to avoid tax surprises.
Look before you leap into locum tenens
- Ask yourself, "Am I flexible and adaptable?"
- Consider starting out with a reputable placement service.
- Network for leads.
- Negotiate your contract.
- Contact your predecessor.
- Set up a home base to stash your stuff.
- Consult an accountant.
Further down the career spectrum is Robert Bradley, M.D., 53, of Windsor, Colo. After 21 years in a small family practice, he was ready for a six-month break. An earlier taste of short-term mission work and an interest in native cultures lured him to Morningside Island, an aboriginal reserve off North Queensland, Australia.
"You do it for adventure, for relief, for cultural experience, travel -- just as a break from routine," Bradley says.
A representative from Global Medical Staffing Ltd., which offers international placements, contacted Bradley about the assignment. GMS President Bob Stringham says 50 percent of requests he receives are for family physicians because of their broad medical base.
The advantages of locum tenens assignments go far beyond exploring exotic places. Gary Morsch, M.D., 48, of Olathe, Kan., was exhausted juggling his busy family practice and his humanitarian aid organization, Heart to Heart International. Several years ago, he left his practice to set up and participate in a locum tenens hybrid called Physicians Who Care Inc.
Morsch recruits physicians to work part-time, long-term schedules. Doctors work in groups of four to fill shortages in rural communities in Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. Each team member works one week a month in the assigned community and commits to a one-year term.
Physicians Who Care gives the traditional locum tenens model a twist, achieving two things: Physi-cians free up three weeks a month for their families and volunteer work, and underserved communities welcome continuity of care.
FP Report is published by the AAFP News Department.
Copyright © 2000 by American Academy of Family Physicians.
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