Read time: 3 minutes
Most of the doctors and nurses who have reached out to me lately have the same problem:
- They don’t know what they want.
- They don’t know what is important to them.
- They aren’t sure if locum tenens is right for them because they haven’t thought hard about it, for long enough.
Instead many of them are just chasing the blossoming locum contract market in hopes of big money or cush practices.
Most jobs out there are ‘fine’
The majority of clinicians I work with aren’t sure if it’s even “worth it” to make a change.
They usually find their work to be ‘fine’ even though they are underpaid, overworked, or both.
But because they have been working through the healthcare pipeline for so long, they have become accustomed to working more or for less than they should be.
Some of them can be shown that there are other options out there – options with a better healthcare team, pay, or hours. (Red pill)
Others should stay in the insulated world of medicine and continue to have the security they crave. (Blue pill)
But the problem is that locum contract opportunities are exploding around them and the Blue pill clinicians are finding themselves sucked in.
Analysis by paralysis
A per diem anesthesiologist (Alice) asked me about how to approach an issue with a group they wanted to work with.
Apparently this group wouldn’t talk hours or pay with Alice until they visited the practice in person.
So she wanted to know how I might approach the issue of pay and what she could say/email/text to get a pay rate quote before driving out to the practice.
Before giving an answer to the question of “how do I get them to talk money with me?”, I asked more about the job and it didn’t seem like that great of a position:
- the practice was a roughly 90 minutes drive from Alice’s home
- she had directly asked about pay rates and they turned the question back to her: she told them she needed $350/hr and they replied that was “much higher” than they were willing to pay
- she currently works per diem (w2) and makes ~$250/hr
- she took her current per diem position because, at the time, she was desperate for a job
- the practice was appealing to her only because she had intimate knowledge that it was a very “cush” practice with low-acuity patients and no call/weekends to cover
- they weren’t willing to move forward unless she spent the day with them (she would not be performing any clinical duties) to see “if they were a good fit for each other”
I then asked her more about what she wanted in the wide world of locum contracting and she told me her priorities were:
- no travel – she needed to be near family for the next 2 years
- more pay – she feels like she has been getting underpaid at her per diem position (she is)
This scenario left me with 2 thoughts, both of which I expressed candidly to Alice:
1) This practice sounds… less than ideal.
It’s a back-breaking commute to drive 3 hours each day for 8 hours of work to a practice that will, at best, pay her $50/hour more than her per diem position.
She might as well keep the per diem position and work 2 more hours each shift: that way she would make more money (an extra $250*2 hours vs $50*8 hours) and be home 1 hour sooner (her existing commute to the per diem job is 15 minutes).
Furthermore, they refuse to talk money even though she has already interviewed over the phone and zoom. While at the same time rejecting her ask and offering no counter.
2) The idea of contract work… might not be for her.
She is avoiding other locum positions in the area while being fixated on this specific practice because it is “cush.”
Alice is wary of working through an agency, but is finding it difficult to work directly with the group.
She refuses to consider “travel” assignments that would require her to sleep in a hotel, even though she could get paid more which would in turn allow her to work less overall and spend more time with her parents.
She wants some strong level of job security and as most of you already know, locum contracting is anything but secure.
*Dirty Harry was right
Alice has to make up her mind about what is important to her.
Even though she has been thinking about this position for over a year, it might not be right for her.
In fact, contracting might not be worth it to her – she might do better with expanding her per diem hours or working part-time instead.
But what she can’t do is continue to put all her eggs in one basket.
She can’t fixate on a practice that isn’t willing to communicate with her from the outset, especially in this market where she could do much better closer to home.
You must “know thyself” and determine your level of risk tolerance.
Do your soul searching early because locum tenens isn’t for everyone.
Whenever you’re ready, here are 2 ways I can help:
1) Let’s talk through what choosing your own path through medicine looks like. Over the phone, confidential, free:
https://calendly.com/tonyvullo/20min
2) Free Guides and Resources to Help You Reclaim Your Time and Autonomy:
