VISTA Archived Blogs

2007 was a big year for me, in many ways. Tossed in among the momentous and the mundane was my decision to train for the Wisconsin Ironman, which was in September. In retrospect, there couldn’t have been a more perfect way to stay focused on what it really takes to get what you want and need out of life. So I offer some 20/20 hindsight as you contemplate a small career transition, a professional 360, or the launch of a bold new personal venture—be it into locum tenens or beyond.

 

I attended the December 14^th nationwide satellite screening of Living in Emergency, Stories of Doctors Without Borders, and the panel discussion that followed, and have to say, I was quite pleased with the result of the documentary. I've seen and experienced personally how reality can sometimes become twisted to a writer's/producer's/director's own biases or emotions in order to have more mass appeal. Fortunately, it didn't happen with this film. What I saw was exactly what we live in the field, and exactly the way we live it. The panel discussion helped to reaffirm those realities. Don’t miss the opportunity to see it if it screens in a theater near you and watch for the announcement in February of Academy Award^® nominations for best documentary to see if it makes the cut!

At VISTA we help physicians apply for licenses in anticipation of locum tenens assignments, and for new permanent positions through our Physician Licensing Resources Division. One of our medical directors has had up to 19 active state medical licenses at one time, so don’t let the prospect intimidate you. Concentrate on the steps that follow, and VISTA will make the process as simple as possible.

After my internship, I was a Navy flight surgeon for three years. Then I took a Navy residency at Bethesda Naval Hospital and practiced for several years at the Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, VA. I left active duty in 1969 to become chairman of the radiology department at University Hospital in Jacksonville, FL, where I worked with a five-person group for many years. Eventually the group fell victim to political dealings that lead to our break up.

You know, a practice break up is a lot like a divorce. You feel guilty. You have to split up friends and redefine loyalties. But like a divorce, things usually end up much better.

Instead of getting into another permanent radiology job, I decided to try locum tenens. It wasn’t as well known back then—I’ve worked locums assignments for 20 years! But it did more for me than I ever expected.

You don’t always realize how much you are giving up to run a practice—how much time you are spending away from home, how many hours you have to work to cover your overhead. Locum tenens radiology jobs get you back to what you enjoy—pure medicine. Your hours are set and you know what to expect up front from each job. Your professional liability insurance, travel, housing, and rental car are paid for, so what you earn is essentially free and clear. About the only thing you pay for is meals and calling home.

As a locum tenens traveler, it really pays to take the time to sign up for and use frequent flyer, preferred guest, and all those other programs that give you perks in return for your loyalty. It’s easy, it’s generally free, you can usually do it on-line, and you only have to keep track of the numbers long enough to get them to your friendly VISTA Staffing Solutions travel agent. We will add them to your travel profile, which includes your preferences, special needs, and such, and enter them whenever you book travel and housing for a locum tenens assignment.

The WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho) Rural Health Research Center recently released a report on The Future of Family Medicine and Implications for Rural Primary Care Physician Supply.  The study, written by Roger Rosenblatt, MD, MPH, and colleagues at the University of Washington School of Medicine, examines trends in specialty choice among new physicians, the rural primary care physician shortage, and the changing dynamics of rural health care delivery. It includes a list of initiatives and policy efforts that will help ease the shortage of primary care physicians in rural areas, and that list includes providing locum tenens support to protect rural physicians from burnout and isolation.