As Match Day approaches, thousands of future physicians are anxiously waiting to find out the next stage of their career path. But no matter what program you match with, remember: you always have options.
Whether you didn’t get the match you were hoping for, or you’re looking for a position to fill a gap between your training completion and your new program start date, locum tenens provides significant benefits for physicians in the early stages of their career.
Gain Experience (and Cover any Gaps on your Resume)
Even if you land on your perfect match, the timing doesn’t always work out perfectly. If you find yourself with an awkward gap between your training program completion and the beginning of your fellowship, locum tenens can help.
Any gaps on your CV longer than one or two months may be a flag for future employers, but by taking short-term locums assignments, you can gain solid experience while minimizing any gaps on your resume. It also helps prepare you for your fellowship by building your professional experience and increasing your clinical numbers.
Try Out Different Locations and Practice Settings
One of the greatest benefits of locum tenens for early career physicians is the opportunity it gives you to try out new environments. Not only could you travel to many different regions of the country––you get to experience different practice settings, too.
Locum tenens gives you a breadth of experience that most physicians don’t get until well into their career. Experiencing a wider variety of practice settings early in your career can help you get a better understanding of your own preferences: whether you like small or large hospitals, or whether you prefer urban or rural settings. Working many different assignments can help you narrow down the specialty that interests you most, and the kind of environments you want to work in once you finish your fellowship.
Locums also broadens your experience in general by giving you the opportunity to learn from different medical teams. Every hospital and medical team has a unique approach, so practicing with a variety of teams can expand your skill-set and make you a more effective physician in the long run.
Earn Additional Income to Pay Off Student Loans Faster
Locums assignments tend to pay at higher rates, even for early career physicians, because they are covering gaps that hospitals are willing to pay a premium to fill. Because locums physicians are independent contractors, the rates are also higher to compensate for the lack of benefits that would be covered by a full-time position.
That makes locums a great option for physicians who are looking to earn extra income. If you have a period of time before your fellowship begins, locums can help you maintain clinical experience through short-term assignments. If your fellowship program allows supplemental work, locums can also help you earn additional income to put toward your student loans.
You don’t have to wait until your mid-career to start saving toward your financial goals. Whether you’re looking to pay off student loans faster, build your savings, or just give yourself a little bit more breathing room in meeting your daily expenses, locums can help you meet your goals.
Build Your Professional Network
One of the best aspects of locum tenens is that it allows you to build your professional network by working with physicians across the country. Learning from so many physicians can give you an edge when it comes time to graduate from your fellowship and look for a full-time position.
Those relationships are also helpful for building your references. Every hospital has different requirements, but most hospitals want to hear from your program director and at least two or three attendings or supervisors as references. That makes building relationships within your specialty crucial––and locums is a great way to broaden your professional network in a comparatively short amount of time.
Your locums agency can also be an important part of that professional network: creating a good relationship with your locums consultant means that you have someone in your corner that has a strong sense of industry trends, who is ready to jump in and help if you find yourself with an unexpected gap between jobs, or you’re ready for a new career direction.
No matter what Match Day brings, locum tenens is there to help you navigate the next steps of your career. Whether you need assignments to cover the time until you begin your fellowship, or you didn’t match with your dream program and are looking for temporary work until you can try again, locum tenens can help you figure out what’s next.
As long as you have completed your residency training, you should be eligible to practice locum tenens––in some cases, residents in their last six months of training may also be eligible. But it’s important to check with your specific programs to see what their guidelines are. Some programs allow their physicians to work locums assignments, while others don’t, so we recommend speaking with your advisor or program director to find out whether locums might be a good option for you.
