RDB Posted June 6, 2011 Report Share Posted June 6, 2011 Speaking with a friend who's currently in IM, he mentioned that there are some rather lucrative FM locums in rural areas in Ontario for contracts of 1-2 weeks. Doing the math, it seems really attractive given that there's greater scope of practice in rural areas. So why aren't more people doing permanent locums with alternating off weeks? It seems ideal that one can work 1-2 weeks on/off, have amazing experiences, great scope of practice, see Canada as it really is and quite a bit of flexibility with family provided it's properly arranged? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigM Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 I'm not far enough along the meds journey to know the real reasons for this, but here's a few potential ones: - Patient turnover. One of the reasons why people choose FM is the long-term relationships with patients. You lose this if you are always moving - Always practicing on someone else's turf. If you're only there for a week you need to deal with their system - Constant pressure from physician recruiters. Areas offering the short locum are likely those that are the most understaffed - Moving constantly. Difficult with family life. In medicine you make pretty good cash regardless of where you end up. For some people moving around the country and seeing everything is appealing but for a lot of people, once you're done residency you want to start building the rest of your life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darla Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 Some docs do choose to do locums exclusively in their practice for the reasons the OP has stated. They are nomadic and happy that way. One in particular I know loves the satisfaction she gets from helping communities in need of a physician and tends to practice only in very underserviced areas (when I met her in rural eastern Ontario, she was only there because she wanted to be home for Christmas). These tend to be people with very adaptive personalities and ability to thrive in uncertain environments for the reason stated by BigM. Most docs I know that have locumed do it until an offer shows up that they just can't say no to. For some family docs, it's a right of passage until they choose their practice. It's a great way to feel out possibilities. Unless I land my dream job right after residency, I plan to locum for a year (give or take), though who knows what I'll think in 2 years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erk Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 How does payment usually work on locums compared to permanent position FMs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hking03 Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 How does payment usually work on locums compared to permanent position FMs? I was under the impression that it was typically fee for service less overhead (generally 30%) that you pay the doctor who you are covering for. Meaning, you bill for what you do and then pay the doc 30% of what you billed to cover his/her overhead and possibly make a couple bucks off of your work (depending upon what his/her overhead actually is). However, I'm sure there are many different ways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darla Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 How does payment usually work on locums compared to permanent position FMs? It depends on the locum. It can be the same rate of pay as the doc you are covering for the locum or may include an incentive paid for by the community or the government is the area is particularly desperate. For the most part though, you aren't paying overhead which can be very appealing. No straight answer, sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hking03 Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 It depends on the locum. It can be the same rate of pay as the doc you are covering for the locum or may include an incentive paid for by the community or the government is the area is particularly desperate. For the most part though, you aren't paying overhead which can be very appealing. No straight answer, sorry. I guess I was wrong... I thought you paid the overhead... at least the locums I had seen suggested that was the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDB Posted June 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 Darla, would you say that it is viable to work something like 1-2 weeks on and then 1-2 weeks off or are locum contracts generally longer than this? having blocks of time off would be rather flexible imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darla Posted June 8, 2011 Report Share Posted June 8, 2011 Darla, would you say that it is viable to work something like 1-2 weeks on and then 1-2 weeks off or are locum contracts generally longer than this? having blocks of time off would be rather flexible imo. The locums that I've seen have been 4 wks - 6mo, but again, I think these depend on the site. Have a look in the back of the CMAJ or the CFPC journal to get an idea of what they offer. hking, you're not necessarily wrong, some locums may very well reduce your take home by overhead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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