Locum tenens, Latin for “to hold a place”, refers to physicians working temporary assignments to fill in where needed. This practice has evolved from a niche pre-retirement option into a mainstream career choice for doctors of all ages.
In fact, over 50,000 U.S. physicians (roughly 7% of the physician workforce) practice medicine through locum tenens roles. Hospitals and clinics nationwide rely on these providers. About 90% of U.S. healthcare facilities use locum tenens physicians each year to cover staffing gaps.
Why are so many physicians gravitating toward locum tenens? Simply put, the benefits of locum tenens work are extensive. From flexible scheduling and travel opportunities to higher earning potential and reduced burnout, locum tenens offers a unique career path that can be both professionally and personally rewarding.
1. Flexibility and Control Over Your Schedule
Locum tenens offers unparalleled scheduling freedom, allowing you to design a work calendar that aligns with your life.
Key Benefits:
- Customized Schedule: Choose when, where, and how frequently you work, breaking free from rigid hospital schedules.
- Extended Breaks: Work intensively for short periods and enjoy extended time off, ideal for travel or family commitments.
- Personalized Lifestyle: Ideal for new parents, avid travelers, or those seeking significant time off between assignments.
This flexibility empowers physicians to be fully present for family events, vacations, and personal time, reducing stress and enhancing overall life satisfaction.
Popular Approaches:
- Taking month-long breaks to recharge or pursue personal interests.
- Selecting occasional weekend assignments to maintain a lighter workload.
- Alternating intensive shifts with substantial leisure periods.
By reclaiming control of your time, locum tenens ensures that your career serves your personal goals and lifestyle.
2. Improved Work-Life Balance and Reduced Burnout
Locum tenens significantly reduces burnout by offering a refreshing change from traditional, high-stress medical roles.
How Locum Tenens Combats Burnout:
- Controlled Workload: Choose assignments that match your desired pace and intensity.
- Change of Environment: Temporary assignments in new locations can reinvigorate your passion for medicine.
- Built-in Downtime: Schedule deliberate breaks between contracts to rest and recharge, minimizing chronic stress.
Physicians often find they don’t need to leave medicine; they simply benefit from a change of pace or scenery.
Avoid Common Stressors:
- Eliminate office politics and administrative burdens typically faced in permanent positions.
- Avoid obligations like staff meetings, committee participation, and managerial duties beyond clinical work.
- Fully disconnect during your time off without residual stress from work obligations.
The result is a healthier, more sustainable career marked by higher job satisfaction and a more fulfilling personal life.
3. Lucrative Earning Potential and Financial Freedom
Locum tenens positions often offer high hourly or daily rates, exceeding equivalent permanent roles. Hospitals pay premium rates to fill short-term needs, significantly boosting earning potential.
Financial Advantages:
- Agencies typically cover major expenses (malpractice insurance, licensing, travel, housing).
- Higher hourly wages compensate for the absence of employer-provided benefits.
This financial model allows doctors to:
- Supplement income with occasional weekend shifts.
- Fully control their financial goals and workload.
As an independent contractor, you manage your pre-tax finances, retirement planning, and health insurance choices, enabling greater financial freedom. Whether your goal is debt repayment, savings growth, or increased disposable income, locum tenens provides a financially rewarding path.
(Interested in logistics and pay details? See our locum tenens guide for more information.)
4. Flexible Travel Opportunities
If you’ve got a sense of adventure, locum tenens can turn your medical career into a travel lifestyle. These assignments are available across the U.S. – and even internationally – letting you choose locations you’ve always wanted to experience.
- Nationwide Assignments: Positions available across the U.S. and occasionally internationally.
- Diverse Locations: Work in rural clinics, bustling urban hospitals, scenic coastal towns, or mountainous regions.
- Seasonal Assignments: Strategically choose locations based on your preferred climate, such as summers in the Northeast and winters in warmer states like Florida or Arizona.
- Cost Coverage: Travel-related expenses (airfare, accommodation, rental cars) are typically reimbursed.
- Local Exploration: Use your off-days to explore local attractions and experiences without additional costs.
Beyond the sightseeing, you’ll gain exposure to different patient populations and healthcare systems, which adds depth to your clinical experience and your résumé.
Prefer staying local? That’s an option too. You control how far you travel and which locations you accept. The freedom to choose is what makes locums so appealing – it’s your medical career, on your terms.
Locum tenens provides unmatched flexibility, transforming your medical career into an exciting adventure tailored to your interests.
5. Diverse Clinical Experience and Skill Development
Locum tenens significantly enhances professional growth by immersing you in various clinical settings:
- Broad Skill Development: Each assignment offers new skills and medical practices, fostering versatility.
- Varied Healthcare Environments: Transition between community hospitals and large teaching facilities, each with unique protocols and patient demographics.
- Hands-On Learning: Gain practical experience with diverse procedures, treatments, and technologies not typically encountered in a single practice.
This variety sharpens your skills, broadens your knowledge, and keeps you learning. You might go from a small community hospital one month to a large academic center the next.
You also get better at:
- Adapting quickly to new teams and systems
- Navigating different EMRs
- Communicating with diverse groups of patients and staff
Locums is especially beneficial for early-career physicians, offering a crash course in real-world medicine. But seasoned doctors benefit too – avoiding burnout and keeping their practice fresh.
6. Career Exploration Without Long-Term Commitment
Not every physician knows exactly what kind of job, setting, or location is the right fit, and that’s where locum tenens shines. It gives you room to explore, without being locked into something long-term.
Try before you commit.
Locum assignments function like real-world test drives. You can experience a rural ER one month and a city-based clinic the next. No guesswork, just actual experience.
- New to practice? Take a few short-term gigs after residency to figure out what environment works best before signing a multi-year deal.
- Thinking about a switch? Explore a different specialty focus, shift from inpatient to outpatient care, or test out leadership roles without burning bridges.
Low risk. High clarity.
You’re not stuck if something isn’t a good fit. When an assignment ends, you simply move on. On the flip side, if you love a facility, it may lead to a full-time offer (with both sides already knowing it’s a good match).
Fills the gap without stalling your career.
In between jobs? Waiting for a license to clear in another state? Locums gives you a way to keep working, earning, and growing without making a permanent move.
- Mid-career flexibility: Many physicians use locums to reset, travel, slow down, or test a new path without sacrificing income.
- Career clarity over time: Each assignment adds data points. Over time, you’ll know exactly what kind of job makes you thrive, because you’ve lived it.
Locum tenens lets you explore the possibilities in medicine, one assignment at a time, on your own terms, with no strings attached.
7. Smooth Transition into Retirement or Part-Time Practice
Locum tenens is ideal for veteran physicians seeking a gradual transition into retirement or semi-retirement.
How It Helps:
- Gradually scale back clinical practice by taking occasional assignments.
- Maintain clinical skills and patient interaction on your terms.
- Avoid full-time administrative responsibilities, enjoying more leisure between assignments.
Whether you’re easing into retirement or returning periodically post-retirement, locum tenens provides income, professional fulfillment, and a smoother transition from full-time practice.
8. Less Administrative Hassle, More Patient Care
Locum tenens frees physicians from administrative burdens typical in permanent positions, allowing greater focus on patient care.
Administrative Relief Includes:
- No hospital politics or managerial duties.
- Minimal paperwork and operational tasks handled by facility staff or agencies.
- Credentialing, licensing, and malpractice insurance managed by your staffing agency.
Enjoy more time practicing medicine, reduced stress, and better quality of patient care, enhancing professional satisfaction.
9. Opportunity to Serve Underserved Communities
Locum tenens provides meaningful opportunities to practice medicine in underserved or rural communities.
Impact and Benefits:
- Fill critical healthcare gaps, dramatically improving patient access.
- Engage in meaningful service that revitalizes professional purpose.
- Develop broader cultural competencies and empathy by working with diverse populations.
For physicians passionate about service and humanitarian efforts, locum tenens offers the chance to make a genuine difference while enriching personal and professional experiences.
10. Freedom to Pursue Other Passions
Locum tenens offers the unique flexibility to pursue personal passions and interests alongside your medical career. With the ability to structure your schedule around your life rather than your life around your job, you can dedicate time to hobbies, family, travel, or continuing education.
Ways Physicians Use This Freedom:
- Taking extended breaks to travel, write, or pursue creative projects.
- Allocating time for family, further education, or personal development.
- Scheduling assignments around significant life events or personal goals.
This balance not only boosts personal satisfaction but also helps reduce stress and burnout, ultimately making you a more fulfilled and effective physician.
Locum tenens offers unmatched flexibility, competitive earnings, and diverse clinical experiences, making it an increasingly popular career path among physicians. Whether you’re starting your career, facing mid-career burnout, or nearing retirement, locum tenens can meet your professional and personal needs.
Partnering with an experienced staffing agency like Wapiti Medical Staffing ensures seamless assignment placements, allowing you to focus fully on patient care. Embracing locum tenens can unlock a fulfilling and balanced medical career, on your terms.