Survey: 10% of Hospitalists Work as Locum Tenens

October 11, 2011 Leave a Comment

A new national survey of Hospitalists shows one in ten working as locum tenens and doing so, for the most part, in addition to full-time employment.

The findings come from a first-ever survey of Hospitalists regarding their locum tenens work patterns. The survey was conducted for Locum Leaders, a national locum tenens company specializing in hospitalist jobs, in conjunction with Today’s Hospitalist magazine.

The survey found that 10% of respondents worked as locum tenens in the past 12 months. Of those Hospitalist locum tenens, 82% said they were employed full-time and also working as a locum. 11% said they were self-employed?working exclusively as a locum tenens hospitalist, while 7% said they were employed part-time and also working locum tenens assignments.

It is common for locum tenens physicians to be drawn from the ranks of salaried doctors. But employed hospitalists, even more than other specialists, may be more inclined to take on locum work, according to Robert Harrington, MD, SFHM, Chief Medical Officer of Locum Leaders.

“Hospital Medicine shift patterns are the biggest reason,” said Dr. Harrington. “Since most hospitalist programs rely on a 7-on, 7-off schedule, you end up with a large population of doctors who have a lot of time-off. They want to use that time productively and so they come to agencies, like Locum Leaders, for additional work.”

Age and financial goals may also play a role, according to Dr. Harrington. As a relatively new specialty, Hospital Medicine skews toward younger practitioners. Because younger doctors have a larger student debt burden, they are more likely to seek supplemental income sources.

The survey supports Dr. Harrington’s contention. Of the Hospitalists who had worked as a locum within the past year, 77% cited “compensation” as a primary motivation.

Hospital Medicine is the nation’s fastest growing medical specialty, and Hospitalists are the number one locum tenens hiring need at U.S. hospitals. A total of 750 Hospitalists responded to the survey.

Click here to download complete survey results.

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Hospitalist CME Opportunities Abound in ’11

March 11, 2011 Leave a Comment

 Many organizations are offering great ways for hospitalists to earn CME credit, build their skill base and network with peers. Here are a few notable events for hospitalists for 2011:

  • American College of Physician’s Internal Medicine 2011: This is a great meeting () for internal medicine trained hospitalists. This year’s event will be held April 7-9 in sunny San Diego. Be sure to take advantage of the dedicated educational track for hospitalists, featuring over 40 hospital medicine specific sessions.
  • Society of Hospital Medicine’s Hospital Medicine 2011: This is a must-attend event for all hospitalists. It’s the largest single gathering of hospital medicine physicians in the country. Happening May 10-13 in Grapevine, Texas, this meeting offers fantastic opportunities for networking with peers. Participants can choose from over 90 break-out sessions and nine pre-courses, including four that are new for 2011.
  • University of California, San Francisco’s Management of the Hospitalized Patient Meeting:  This event has grown over the years, due to the popularity of the course chairman, Robert Wachter, MD. It brings together UCSF’s top teachers, as well as guest faculty, to highlight recent advances and current controversies in hospital medicine. Courses are designed to promote interactive learning and audience participation, so attendees will get the most out of their experience.
  • Hospitalist Procedure Courses from the National Procedure Institute: Because many hospitalists come from diverse clinical backgrounds, these types of courses are vital to enhance inpatient procedural skills. Procedures such as arterial line placement, catheter insertion and intubation are reviewed in detail. Not only is this a valuable educational experience, it improves marketability for hospitalists desiring locum tenens positions. Check out their website for more details on schedules and locations.
  • Regional Events: There are a number of regional hospital medicine meetings throughout the year, such as the Southern Hospital Medicine Conference. These events provide attendees with nationally recognized speakers, but in a smaller, more intimate setting as compared to larger, national meetings.
  • On the go: For hospitalists who can’t get their CME on location, there are a number of other options.  Hospital Medicine CME self study is available through Harvard Medical School and comes in a variety of formats, such as DVD’s, CD’s and MP3’s, which is perfect for hospitalists who are short on time. QuantiaMD also offers videos on demand for web and mobile viewing. A great reason to go pick yourself up a new smart phone!

For more hospitalist CME know-how, check out this helpful tipsheet from Locum Leaders.

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Hard Days Night: A Look At Hospitalist Shift Work

March 2, 2011 Leave a Comment

Data from a Today’s Hospitalist survey suggest that hospital medicine is hardly a nine to five job. While most doctors report that they want daytime shifts only, survey respondents said they often worked a mix of day and night hours. The breakdown of primary shift patterns reported is found below:

  • Only daytime shifts: 29.4%
  • Only nighttime shifts: 4.7%
  • Mostly daytime shifts with occasional night coverage: 34.8%
  • Scheduled rotation with blocks of day shifts and blocks of nights: 21.3%
  • Other: 9.8%

The survey found that academic hospitalists were most likely to have primarily daytime hours. Age and gender also factor into scheduling. According to the article:  “The more experience hospitalists have, the less likely they are to have nighttime hours as their primary shifts. And women are more likely to work daytime only shifts and less likely to have occasional night coverage.”

Locum tenens hospitalist jobs offer a variety of alternative shift opportunities.

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Hospitalist Programs Go 24-7

November 30, 2010 Leave a Comment

Smaller community hospitals with limited staff may not always have a hospitalist on duty. In a blog post at Today’s Hospitalist, Robert Harrington, MD, explores the timing of expanding in-house programs to nights and weekends. 

Moving to 24 – 7 coverage typically requires additional resources and may mean a fundamental re-structuring of a program, says Harrington, the Chief Medical Officer for Locum Leaders. Reasons to expand may include:

  • pressure from the ED or medical staff to expedite admissions and avoid holding orders;
  • an increasing call burden on hospitalists taking call from home;
  • the need for an in-house physician to provide code coverage or to head a rapid response team; and
  • help for specialists, especially surgeons, with admissions, consults or preop clearances.

His advice?  Plan carefully and consider piloting a program expansion to make the concept easier for the administration to swallow. Rather than hiring additional staff, look for a source of additional staffing such as a locum tenens firm or a community pool of physicians. That can supplement your full-time staff until buy-in occurs.

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Locum Tenens Tips for Hospitalists

May 24, 2010 Leave a Comment

A new article this month in Locum Life magazine offers good advice for first-time or long-time locum tenens physicians who feel the tug of family responsibilities when they travel.  One great idea from the article is to hold a family meeting before your assignment to discuss why your career involves trips away from home. 

Locum Leaders CMO Bob Harrington, MD adds, “it’s best to let your family know where you’re working, your contact information, hours that you’re working, and good and bad times to get in touch with you.” And take particular care to explain to younger children why you need to leave home. “I think it needs to be portrayed in a positive light,”  he advises.

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