What Is Locum Tenens? Role, Jobs & Salary Range Explained

Let’s start with some interesting stats gathered from several CHG Healthcare reports:

• 82% of healthcare facilities use locum tenens to fill staffing gaps​
• Projected 7% growth in the locum tenens market in 2024​
• 40% of physicians cite supplemental income, and 30% cite attractive salary as the main reasons for working locum tenens​
• 7% of U.S. physicians, approximately 52,000, currently work locum tenens​
• 79% of locum tenens physicians plan to continue locum work​

But with all of this, is locum tenens right for you?

Considering signing on as a locum tenens physician? This guide will help you to determine if it’s the right choice for you, including what you stand to gain or lose.

What is Locum Tenens?

The Latin phrase “locum tenens” refers to temporary work or short-term work done as a “placeholder” for someone else.

Locum tenens physicians are independent contractors, but not all independent contractors are locum tenens. The term “locum tenens” is usually reserved for physicians and members of the clergy who are filling in to do the work in someone else’s absence.

What does it mean to be a locum tenens physician or independent contractor?

Independent contractors are essentially self-employed. Locum tenens physicians have to pay their taxes and pay for their benefits. The hospital or healthcare group you work with will not provide the benefits that they provide traditional employees.

Locum tenens physicians can (and do) work in every capacity in medicine. You’ll find them in large hospital systems, small healthcare groups, and even in private practices.

The opportunities often arise when another doctor is on sabbatical, on maternity leave, or when a hospital is understaffed.

Reasons for Working Locum Tenens

Here are five top reasons physicians work locum tenens:

• Work-Life Balance: Many physicians choose locum tenens to gain control over their schedules, allowing flexibility and time for personal pursuits
• Supplemental Income: Nearly 40% of physicians are motivated by the chance to earn extra income, with younger doctors especially using it to pay down debt
• Autonomy and Flexibility: The freedom to choose assignments offers physicians a greater sense of professional control and variety in their work environments
• Burnout Relief: Locum tenens helps combat burnout by allowing physicians to work intermittently, offering breaks between assignments and less administrative stress
• Career Exploration: Newer physicians and those exploring specialty changes find locum tenens ideal for gaining diverse clinical experiences and evaluating different healthcare settings

Misconceptions About Temp Assignments

Temporary medical assignments, like locum tenens, are often misunderstood. Here are some common misconceptions and the reality behind each:

1. Only for Young or Retiring Physicians

Many assume locum tenens is a stepping stone for new graduates or a bridge to retirement.

In reality, physicians of all career stages choose locums for flexibility, income opportunities, and professional variety. Mid-career physicians often turn to it to reduce burnout or explore new specialties.

2. Lacks Job Security and Stability

Some believe temp assignments mean constant instability. However, many locum tenens positions offer long-term contracts or steady, recurring work, especially in specialties facing high demand.

Physicians can work as consistently as they choose, with options for ongoing contracts.

3. Only Rural or Low-Quality Facilities Use Locums

There’s a misconception that locum tenens physicians only serve rural, underserved, or lower-quality facilities. In fact, locums work in a diverse array of settings, including top hospitals, urban centers, and even specialty clinics.

Locum positions are vital across many regions and healthcare systems.

4. Limited Professional Growth and Development

Temporary roles are often seen as career-stalling. However, locum tenens provide exposure to diverse patient populations and practice styles, which can enhance clinical skills and adaptability. Many physicians find locums to broaden their expertise and network.

5. Not a Long-Term Career Option

Some think locum tenens is only a short-term fix, but many physicians make entire careers out of locum work. For those prioritizing autonomy, it can be a sustainable, long-term choice that fits their desired work-life balance.

Which Physicians Practice Locum Tenens?

Locum tenens is an attractive option for many physicians, especially young doctors and physician assistants. Physicians just out of residency often work locum tenens as a way to experience various jobs that may exist. It’s also a lifestyle that suits PAs who still get hands-on experiences in a variety of fields.

Yet older, advanced practitioners work in this way as well. It’s a great opportunity for doctors who are looking to wind down their careers or work less as they near retirement.

Doctors in the middle of their careers also work locum tenens jobs as a way to get experience in various locations or environments before deciding to take on a new, permanent position.

Other physicians work locum tenens as a way to make extra income. In some cases, they’re temporary physicians, moonlighting (working a second or third job) in order to supplement their income or pay off student loans.

The Pros and Cons of Locum Tenens

Locum tenens opportunities are everywhere — but is that the right choice for you? Here are some of the pros and cons of working as an independent contractor in this capacity.

You Need to Have Your Own Health Insurance

Independent contractors do not receive benefits packages as traditional employees do. And that includes health insurance. So, is that a pro or a con? Depending on how you look at it, it can be either.

The worst part about not having health insurance through your employer is that you’ll have to seek it out (and pay for it) yourself. Your employer will not subsidize your premiums. You will be fully responsible for paying your monthly premiums on your own, as well as any co-payments and other fees.

An employer-sponsored health insurance plan can cost as little as a few dollars per week. Having your own health insurance plan, however, can cost several hundred dollars in premiums each month.

Yet, there is an upside to having your own health insurance.

For starters, you can choose any plan that you want. You will not be limited to the plan that your employer provides. You’ll have the flexibility to select any plan from any insurance provider that offers coverage in your state.

And, when you leave the position, you won’t have to worry about switching to new insurance (whose network may not include your preferred physicians). You can carry your health insurance plan with you from job to job, regardless of where you work in the United States.

Monthly premiums for an individual health insurance plan will cost you. But if your medical expenses (including the cost of monthly premiums) exceed 7.5% of your AGI, you can deduct the excess when you file your taxes.

Need to find your own private health insurance? You can choose a plan through the Healthcare.gov marketplace, through an individual broker in your state, or through the National Association for the Self-Employed.

You Enjoy More Freedom

Locum tenens physicians have more flexibility and more freedom than physicians who work as traditional employees.

Why?

Because, as an independent contractor, there are only so many restrictions your employer can place on you.

You’ll have the freedom to do the type of work you want to do and avoid work you don’t enjoy. Also, you can choose to work full- or part-time.

You’ll have more freedom to work when and where you want. You’ll also have the ability to hone your skills and see which direction you want to go further in your career.

Employed physicians are bound to and limited by specific rules and responsibilities.

Once you sign a contract and agree to those terms, you won’t be able to deviate from them. Locum tenens physicians usually have much more flexibility.

You won’t have to worry about setting policy, deciding on regulations, or revising administrative rules. You’ll have the freedom to focus strictly on patient care and practicing medicine.

You Enjoy Better Work-Life Balance

Perhaps the best part of all is the ability to enjoy a better work-life balance. The freedom of working as an independent contractor allows you to create and control the situation that works best for you.

Yet freedom sometimes comes at a price, and some physicians find that more freedom often means less stability.

If you enjoy setting policy and partaking in administrative tasks, you probably won’t get to do that as a locum tenens physician. You’ll need to adapt to the way things are done. You won’t have much (or any) say in changing how the practice or hospital operates.

Locum Tenens Offers the Opportunity to Travel

If you love to travel, working at locum tenens provides a great opportunity to do so.

Locum work exists in hospitals and private practices all around the country. It’s a great way to experience what it’s like to live in a different state or a different region of the country that you’ve never visited before.

Locum allows you to experience new places, check out new cities, and work in different hospitals and practices. It’s also a way to feel different employment settings.

As a locums physician, it’s entirely up to you to take the assignments that you want. You’ll never have to go anywhere that you don’t want to.

How Locum Tenens Work Impacts Your Salary

Physicians in private practice often earn more, but locum tenens work can be pretty lucrative. It all depends on what you do, how much they need you, and where you work.

Locum positions pay based on three main things:

Experience, specialty, and region.

As with all physicians and advanced practice providers, some states pay higher rates than others.

Certain specialties pay more than others. According to Nomad Health, physicians specializing in areas like neurosurgery, radiology, and anesthesiology are paid the highest locum tenens salaries from $550,000 and higher.

Physicians working in oncology and OB/GYNs have mid-range salaries, at about $430-500,000. Psychiatry and pediatric physicians tend to be paid the least, in about the $280-365,000 range.

Your level of experience is almost always commensurate with your salary.

Locum tenens positions exist because there is often a shortage of qualified, licensed physicians. Hospitals and practices in certain areas may find it more difficult to acquire top talent than in other cities. Where you work and how desperately your services are needed will factor into how much you’re paid.

Just keep in mind that these are temporary positions. If your goal is to have a steady stream of income, you’ll need to find another locum position or a full-time job when your current one ends.

How does working locum tenens affect your tax planning? Read: 5 Tax Planning Strategies for Physicians.

How Locum Tenens Work Affects Your Benefits Package

As an independent contractor, you will not receive a comprehensive benefits package. Only full-time employees get those. You won’t get paid sick days or paid vacation days.

You won’t be eligible to partake in employer-sponsored retirement plans or health insurance plans.

But you will have the freedom to make your own decisions about your benefits.

You can contribute to your own IRA retirement account or health insurance provider and choose your own life and disability insurance policies.

You’ll be responsible for paying it all on your own, but you’ll be able to go with the exact plan or policy that you want, and you’ll experience all of the tax benefits that come along with it. With proper planning, you may be able to drop your effective income tax rate by about 10% from what you’d pay as an employee.

Considerations for Locum Tenens Physicians

Accommodations

Keep in mind that many locum tenens opportunities provide you with transportation and lodging while you’re there. And this can get tricky.

Be clear about what type of accommodations you expect. The lodging they offer you may not be up to your standards. If that’s the case, you may want to consider paying the difference and upgrading to a place where you’ll feel more comfortable.

While travel is a huge perk for many physicians, it can also be a drawback for others. The more you have to travel, the less time you’ll have to spend with your family and friends. For some, that can be a huge negative.

One of the best parts about working locum tenens is that you get to make the decisions that are right for you.

If you want to be a full-time traveling physician, you can. But if you don’t want to travel away from home, you don’t have to. Depending on where you live, there might be dozens of locum positions in advanced practices waiting to be filled in your own town.

Hire a Physician Contract Review Specialist

Locum tenens positions will require that you sign a contract.

Healthcare staffing agencies fill most locum positions. The hospital will contact the staffing agency, and their recruiters will contact you for them.

So, in addition to your contract, you may also have to sign an agreement with the agency.

Before signing any contract, it’s important to hire a contract review specialist to review it for you. That is the best way to ensure that the contract is fair and inclusive of all that it needs to contain.

Termination clauses. Credentialing. Pay rates. Details about malpractice insurance.

These are just a few of the most important elements, and they need to be detailed clearly.

Always hire a contract review specialist to protect yourself and check your contract before you sign or make any commitments.

You, Too, Can Thrive

Trying to decide if locum tenens work is right for you?

Just like working as a full-time employee, there are pros and cons.

Remember this: locum positions are temporary. They usually range from two weeks to two months. The best way to know if it’s right for you is to try it and see what you think.

If you love the experience, you’ll know that you’re ready to take on more temporary assignments. And if you’re not thrilled about it, just chalk it up to experience and move on.

It doesn’t have to be a long-term commitment. And that, in itself, may be the biggest benefit of all.

Whether you choose to work locum tenens or as a traditional W-2 employee, Physicians Thrive can review your contract to ensure your bases are covered. Contact us today.

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