Gastroenterologists are more needed than ever, as GI cancer rates continue to rise. Yet physician shortages are increasing, with nearly 50 million Americans living more than 25 miles from a gastroenterologist. Here’s what’s behind the gastroenterologist shortage, and how locums can help.
We sat down with Senior Consultant, Grant Geisler, to talk about the leading causes in the gastroenterologist shortage, and how locum tenens can help. Here’s what we found out.
1. The pandemic exacerbated already-existing backlogs and shortages in gastroenterology.
While every specialty was impacted by the pandemic, gastroenterology was severely impacted due to the pause on elective procedures.
“When elective surgeries were shut down across the board during the pandemic, that put everything on hiatus, including screening colonoscopies,” says Geisler. “There was already a major backlog of screening colonoscopies previously, so the pandemic just added to that backlog of cases.”
The hiatus also impacted GIs with their own practices. Many gastroenterologists who were close to retirement age chose to retire early, rather than wait out the pause in their practices.
“The issue at hand was only amplified because many physicians elected to retire early,” says Geisler. “They didn’t want to put up with the pause in their GI practices, because everyone was being diverted to hospital systems.”
2. The supply of gastroenterologists is decreasing as the demand for gastroenterology services is skyrocketing.
There’s never a good time for physician shortages, but rising demand for gastroenterology services makes it a particularly difficult time for the U.S. to be facing a shortage of gastroenterologists. With colon cancer rates on the rise and colon cancer screenings now beginning earlier, gastroenterologists are more needed than ever.
That demand is reflected in the increasing need for locums GIs, which has risen dramatically in recent years.
“Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, every single hospital system in the country was looking for GIs,” said Grant Geisler, Senior Consultant at Hayes Locums. “And that hasn’t really changed. Some practices have regained their footing, while others are still struggling. It’s slowed down to some degree, but I don’t think the need for GIs is going to go anywhere.”
3. The business side gastroenterology has changed, placing additional pressure on physicians.
The increasing level of demand has led to many GIs becoming overwhelmed with responsibilities between their own practices and their on-call responsibilities.
“We work with a lot of GI practices that reach out when their practices are too busy to continue taking on-call responsibilities for their local hospital system. These practices can’t afford to constantly divert their physicians to take care of patients at the hospital. That’s where the demand for GI locums comes in: when a practice wants to remove themselves from on-call responsibilities, while still maintaining a relationship with their hospital system.”
In addition to balancing their own practices with the needs of hospital systems, many GIs are finding themselves facing new business pressures in the form of private equity systems. “Not only do we have these major health care companies, but now we have private equity in the mix, which is also muddying the water,” says Geisler. “In many cases, physicians are finding themselves in situations where they are in a system driven by a business model that they do not see eye to eye with. It can lead to difficult situations where physicians are discontented because they are not able to practice medicine as they had intended.”
These increasing administrative pressures make it more difficult for gastroenterologists to focus on the reason most of them got into medicine: taking care of patients.
“The business of medicine is not something most physicians foresaw themselves getting involved in,” says Geisler. “They came into medicine to help patients who are ill get better. They’re not here to run a business.”
4. Increasing rates of burnout mean more physicians are looking for better work-life balance.
Increased demand, plus the additional business and administrative pressures, has left many gastroenterologists struggling with burnout.
“The physicians who come to us as locums aren’t looking to work less,” says Geisler. “They’re just looking to work a regular schedule where they’re not being overburdened and then, in turn, burnt out through the work that they’re doing. On the flip side of that, they want the ease of being able to pick and choose their own schedule and have time to spend with their family and enjoy their lives. That should be an attainable goal.”
That’s where locums comes in: locum tenens allows physicians to continue practicing medicine, while also improving their work-life balance.
There’s no easy fix to the gastroenterologist shortage, but locums can help.
While there is no one magic button that can solve the gastroenterology shortage, locum tenens is a reliable way for hospitals to address procedural backlogs, and fill urgent staffing gaps.
“We’re seeing demand for locums in very robust areas of the country that you wouldn’t typically associate with a need for locums,” says Geisler. “Major academic hospitals, private healthcare systems: they all need locums.”
It’s also a good opportunity for GIs who are feeling burnt out, but don’t want to quit their practice entirely.
“We used to primarily see physicians who were nearing retirement, and were interested in outpatient work so that they could keep their foot in the pool without fully retiring,” says Geisler. “But in more recent years, there’s been an interest amongst fellows who are coming into the job market who don’t know quite where they want to go. Locums has been a means of test driving facilities without having to fully commit to an individual practice.”
As locums has become more and more common, physicians at every stage of their career are finding that it allows them the freedom to practice medicine, while offering relief from some of the career stressors that threaten to drive physicians away from medicine entirely.
“A lot of what locums offers is freedom from the administrative systems and responsibilities that many physicians had difficulty with, so they can go back to practicing like they had originally intended when they first got into medicine,” says Geisler.
If you’re a gastroenterologist looking for a change of pace, now is a great time to consider locum tenens.
The demand for GI locums is higher than ever, so there is plenty of opportunity out there. A good consultant can help walk you through your options, so you can find the right assignment for you.
“There’s a full spectrum of opportunity out there––from assignments where you might be the lone wolf helping to rebuild the department, to assignments where you are being integrated into a strong team to provide on-call support and relieve permanent physicians of their call responsibilities to make their lives easier,” says Geisler. “Physicians need assistance in navigating those options, to match them with not only the right clinical responsibilities, but the right environment for them. Our team is able to do that at a high level. We have built great relationships, and we’re able to place our physicians with opportunities that are in line with what they’re looking for. They’re able to find a position they’re happy in, that also satisfies the hospital’s needs. It’s a very symbiotic relationship.”
