Since the pandemic, the healthcare industry has faced additional challenges such as a physician shortage and an aging population. Locum tenens doctors are stepping up to fill staffing gaps, temporarily replacing other clinicians at healthcare facilities. The career field is rising, as more practitioners choose this rewarding, flexible path. Here, we will explore how locum tenens is shaping the healthcare sector and how it will continue to do so in the future.
What Is Locum Tenens?
Locum tenens is one of many global healthcare job opportunities that allow professionals to work in settings and locations that suit their availability and preferences. These arrangements can be short- or long-term, ranging from several days to a few years.
Many locum tenens doctors transition to permanent positions, but some fill in for others to earn supplemental income. Locum tenens can be done by any clinician, including nurse practitioners, doctors, physician assistants, anesthesiologists, and psychologists. Professionals often turn to locum tenens assignments because of the flexibility, competitive compensation, and satisfaction they provide.
Why Locum Tenens Careers Are Becoming More Popular
As facilities and practitioners acknowledge the model’s benefits, locum tenens career options are becoming more common. In 2019, 48,000 clinicians served in this capacity, making up nearly seven percent of the country’s medical workforce, and most take their initial assignments within ten years of finishing medical school. Contributing factors include:
A lack of staff. The United States faces a serious physician shortage, especially in rural and underserved areas. The shortfall has created a demand for locum tenens practitioners, who fill staffing gaps and give patients the care they need.
The pandemic.COVID-19 created new opportunities and challenges for healthcare professionals, accelerating the spread of locum tenens. The pandemic increased the need for medical staffers, who can support and relieve their overworked and overwhelmed colleagues.
Age-related preferences. The preferences and demographics of the country’s healthcare workers are changing, as more young people enter the field and older people retire. Younger healthcare workers value autonomy, flexibility, and work-life balance, which they can get from locum tenens assignments.
Locum Tenens in the Future: Growth Will Go On
The rising popularity of locum tenens has current and future implications for the global healthcare industry and the facilities, patients, and clinicians involved, such as:
Care quality. Locum tenens improves care quality by giving patients access to experienced, qualified doctors who offer continuity of care, reduce delays, and prevent mistakes.
Cost efficiency. Locum tenens reduces healthcare spending by cutting training and retention costs, especially in positions that are challenging to fill.
Advancement. Locum tenens fosters innovation by allowing clinicians to exchange ideas, strategies, and feedback. As information is exchanged, physician performance and patient outcomes improve.
A better quality of life. Locum tenens assignments allow clinicians to control their schedules and achieve a better work-life balance that leaves them with more time to spend with family.
Career prospects for locum tenens clinicians are bright, as growth is expected to continue for several years. According to a recent survey, almost 13% of doctors are actively looking for temporary positions, which is a significant increase from past figures. The increasing popularity of locum tenens indicates that it will play a crucial role in future medical care, as more of the country’s healthcare facilities and professionals adopt this innovative approach.
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