Healthcare Career Blog, Physician Blogs

Locum Tenens ideal for retired physicians looking to rejoin the workforce

Author Healthcare Career Blogger | 10.07.2009 | Category Anesthesiology jobs, CRNA, Colorado Physician Jobs, Emergency jobs, Family Medicine, Healthcare Career Blog, Hospitalist physician, Internal Medicine, Locum Tenens, Medical doctor jobs, OB GYN jobs, OB/GYN physician jobs, Orthopedic Surgery, Physician Career Path, Physician Shortage, Physicians, Pschyriatry Jobs, Retired Physician, Surgery jobs, jobs

Coming out of retirement isn’t easy for anyone. Especially for doctors who haven’t practiced in a while.

Doctors looking to re-enter the workforce after a brief career solstice face a number of challenges. Depending on how many years you’ve been out, you may have to catch up on continuing education credits, learn new technologies and be flexible in your medical setting. Either way, the medical profession beckons your skills, even if just for two to three shifts a week.

What’s the solution for a doctor coming out of retirement?

First thing, says Dennis Urbanski, American Traveler Managing Director, is to find a locum tenens agency experienced in matching older physicians with the medical facilities that need them.

“With the physician shortage the way it is, putting a retired doctor back in the workforce is a godsend.”

Urbanski says locum tenens is ideal both for doctors in search of 20 or 30 hours of practice and for providers looking to supplement quality patient care. Top salaries are available, along with mal practice insurance, housing, paid travel and competitive locum tenens benefits.

Urbanski suggests that older, retired doctors make a realistic assessment of their current skill set prior to calling a locum tenens agency. This helps recruiters determine the most efficient course for re-entry and employment. Typically, physicians out of work for a year or less are easier to employ than those who haven’t practiced for two years and more. This, of course, depends on specialty, said Urbanski.

“Hospitalist jobs, for instance, are ideal for doctors coming out of retirement. For those who possess the needed proficiency in inpatient medicine – and who don’t mind working weekends or night shifts – there are hundreds if not thousands of available jobs.”

Once thing retired doctors must consider prior to re-entering the workforce, say experts, is that things will not be the same as when they left. A doctor may find physician jobs in rural areas easier to get than in big city hospitals and university settings. Conversely, high-need areas of the country, often associated with low-income households, are quicker to employ retired physicians because of needed skills and an increased demand for healthcare.

“There are plenty of jobs out there for doctors, retired or not,” said Urbanski. The challenge is; effectively marketing their skills among locations and medical settings in demand. Hospitalist jobs and primary care jobs are hot right now.”

Last month alone, 20,000 people searched Google for locum tenens and more than 27,000 searched for hospitalist jobs.

Find physician reentry resources

You have updated your Physician CV, now what? Add a great Cover Letter

Author Healthcare Career Blogger | 07.07.2009 | Category Anesthesiology jobs, Emergency jobs, Family Medicine, Hospitalist physician, Internal Medicine, Locum Tenens, Medical Student Loans, OB GYN jobs, OB/GYN physician jobs, Orthopedic Surgery, Physician CV, Physician Career Path, Physicians, Pschyriatry Jobs, Retired Physician, Surgery jobs, jobs

Learn the best practices here

The most difficult thing about writing a physician resume is that there is not just one physician CV template that everyone can follow. Because each physician has different types and levels of experience, every physician CV is going to be completely unique. Sample Curriculum Vitae can help, but unfortunately, there is not one easy equation that every doctor can plug his or her information into. To make your resume the most effective it can be, you need to decide how to write a CV that will best sell your unique experiences, and a good place to start marketing yourself is in the physician resume cover letter.

When putting together a resume package, it’s important to remember that the CV itself is only one part of the package; take full advantage of the opportunities that a cover letter gives you. A physician resume cover letter can seem like just one more intimidating task to worry about as you begin your job search, but it is a great chance for you to introduce yourself more fully and more personally to your audience.

Like your resume, your cover letter should be short and to the point; try to limit your cover letter to one side of a page in 11 or 12-point font. Its tone should be formal and professional, but it should also give you a chance to express yourself more personally than the strict CV format allows, so avoid using “one-size-fits-all” cover letter templates that you might see in books and resume software.

What to Include in the Physician Resume Cover Letter:

• Your first paragraph should be a couple of sentences briefly introducing you and your purpose in writing to this employer.
• Your second paragraph should give enough information about your background and skills to interest a potential employer. Be careful, however, not to get repetitive; your resume will also cover your background. This may be a good place to explain your philosophy about caring for patients or why you entered the medical field in the first place.
• Your third, and final, paragraph should relate directly to the organization to which you are applying. Explain why you are looking to relocate and why this particular hospital, practice, etc. appeals to you. What makes you a good fit?
• Close the letter by thanking your potential employer for his or her time and consideration.

Helpful Hints for a Successful Physician Cover Letter:

• Use the same quality paper that you used for your CV itself.
• Address the letter to a specific individual. Show that you have done your homework about the company.
• Avoid generalities. Use specific details that show potential employers why you are particularly interested in their place of employment.
• Keep paragraphs short and clear.
• Be professional, but show some personality – remember this is your chance to distinguish yourself from all other applicants.
• Be confident, but not boastful.

Visit our Physician Resources page for more helpful information about the physician job search.

Interested in a Physician Job in a Community Hospital that is Ranked Among the Best in the U.S.?

Author Healthcare Career Blogger | 06.04.2009 | Category CRNA, Education, Healthcare Career Blog, Hospitals, Locum Tenens, Medical doctor jobs, Physicians, Pschyriatry Jobs, Travel Nurses, jobs

The Candidate Direct Healthcare Career Blog brings you this breaking news for professionals seeking opportunities in hospitals nationwide.

Given the severe shortage of physicians jobs and CRNAs, many current position postings for permanent and locum tenens are in often in urban and rural communities in a multitude of healthcare settings.

If you like the idea of working in a community hospital, this article is for you! It’s no coincidence that many of these places are also in choice locations for locum tenens who wish to combine work and leisure and visit places like Fort Lauderdale Florida, Colorado Springs, or Atlanta Georgia.

65 of the Best of the Good Community Hospitals

They have no medical school or residents, but they know what they’re doing, some are even ranked!

The following 10 hospitals are not academic medical centers, nor do they have physicians in training. But they are ranked—some of them in multiple specialties—in the latest edition of U.S. News & World Reports, America’s Best Hospitals.

Top 10 Community Hospitals

The 55 non-teaching hospitals below scored nearly high enough in America’s Best Hospitals to be ranked.

For additional insight on the shortage of CRNA’s see this blog posting, Nurse Anesthetist

Physician jobs that are also in great demand are:

• Emergency Medicine
• Family Medicine
• Internal Medicine
• Hospitalist

Physician Jobs Lead to Substantial Student Loan Repayment Award

Author Healthcare Career Blogger | 31.03.2009 | Category Colorado Physician Jobs, Education, Locum Tenens, Medical doctor jobs, OB GYN jobs, Physician Career Path, Physician Recruitment, Physicians, Pschyriatry Jobs

As the doctor shortage worsens in rural and high-need areas nationwide, states are stepping up incentives to recruit physicians of all types. New York State alone has pledged $22 million to its Doctors Across New York Program and Michigan is working hard to abate a projected physician shortage of 6,000 doctors over the next ten years. Physician recruitment agencies are focused on these areas and fast-tracking physician specialists for permanent and locum tenens jobs.

Why offer payback incentives in a field known for high salaries? The simple fact is, practicing medicine in what the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services refers to as a designated Health Professional Shortage Area – or underserved market – isn’t as lucrative as physician jobs located in larger market areas. So, in exchange for student loan payback incentives, qualifying doctors agree to work in shortage areas for three to five years and dedicate one-third of their practice to treating patients with Medicaid, Medicare or no insurance at all, depending on the requirements of individual state and federal payback programs.

The Colorado Health Foundation’s Physician Loan Repayment Program is currently awarding eligible doctors up to $50,000 a year for a maximum of three years if they serve in a qualified rural or urban Colorado community. Currently, 57 percent of the state’s 64 counties lack enough primary-care physicians to sufficiently serve the population. The program awarded more than $2 million to 18 physicians in 2008. Physician recruitment agencies are ideal sources to find physician jobs and locum tenens opportunities in these areas as well as highly coveted positions located in Metropolitan areas.

Student loan payback incentives have been around for a few years. After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, the state of Louisiana developed the Greater New Orleans Health Service Corps, an organization offering incentives of up to $110,000, including student loan repayment and income guarantees to doctors, dentists and other medical professionals willing to work in post-disaster conditions – a move to lure needed doctors into the ravaged city and to stanch an outmigration of doctors eyeing greener pastures. The federal government provided $15 million to finance the Louisiana program and the state awarded 81 grants to attract physicians for primary care medical doctor jobs, OB GYN jobs, psychiatry jobs, dentists and a handful of nurses and counselors.

For doctors less interested in pay and more inclined to utilize their skills to help what most would consider the underprivileged, states across the country have various programs in place that offer doctors loan repayment in exchange for medical services. Oregon’s Rural Health Services Loan Repayment Program offers to repay 20 to 25 percent of the loan principle for health professionals who agree to work in a rural
hospital, a rural health clinic or pharmacy located in either a federally designated Health Professional Shortage Area or state designated Area of Unmet Health Care.

For doctors not interested in practicing medicine, The National Institute for Health offers health professionals up to $35,000 in student loan repayment for a commitment as a medical researcher. Not such a bad deal, say loan payback proponents.