People’s first reaction to my informing them that I will be moving to Deadwood, South Dakota for 6 months is pretty similar:
“Why?”
My response, “Why not?!”
Becoming a Locum Physician
But first, let us back up a bit and review how I got here. It was probably at some point in my intern year of residency [that’s the 1st year of residency] that I heard about Locum physicians. I was immediately intrigued, “You mean to tell me there is a job as a physician out there where I can travel all over for a couple of months at a time?!”. Where do I sign the contract!? This was my attitude towards it even before I learned about all the great perks that come with the job. Here is a quick rundown of how Locums work:
- Reach out to locum companies to get in touch with one of their recruiters.
- Recruiter sends you job assignments that are currently open while you work on getting credentialed with the company.
- Sort through the job offers and see what interests you, your level of competency, and the number of hours you want to work.
- The company writes up a presentation of you and sends it to the healthcare client.
- Clients look through the applicants and choose who they want to interview.
- Interview with the client and hopefully both parties like what they hear.
- Get the job offer and subsequent confirmation.
- The travel and housing department find you your flight and a hotel/house/apartment to put you up in for the length of the assignment.
- Fly to the assignment, pick up your company paid rental car, drive to your company paid housing, and show up at your assignment for orientation.
- Get paid hourly!
I was sold once I found out how it worked and was not even in the slightest bit interested in looking around for a 3-year contract job like most of my co-residents. The concept reminded me a bit of how modeling agencies work (a chapter from my past).
Where do I want to go?
I knew from the start that I wanted to use this opportunity as a locum physician to see the United States and meet and care for its people from all different regions. As an avid traveler that usually would leave the country if she had some time and money, this was a great way to work and travel. Also, during a global pandemic, traveling the world really isn’t an option right now.
The map below is a good visual of the different regions of the U.S. I’d like to work in and experience.
I grew up in Wisconsin and did my residency in Ohio. It was time to venture out of the Midwest.
Time to secure the contract
So, during the last couple of months of my residency, my recruiters were sending me options and I would be looking through emails and fielding calls throughout the day looking for the job I wanted. Things moved fast. There would be a job in Wyoming that sounded amazing but would be filled the next day. A job in Hawaii but they didn’t want a fresh grad. I was looking at options in Kansas, Arizona, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Maine. My recruiters sent my info to multiple ones.
At some point in July 2020, I was ready to lock something down considering I was graduating in a month. The options at that point in time were South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Maine. Wisconsin was out fairly quickly because I was trying to leave the midwest, not stay in it during the -40 degree winters. Both Maine and SD had fairly equal chances in my book. South Dakota moved quicker.
I had the phone interview which went well. The client wanted me and I was ready to confirm the job. However, the start date was then largely dependent on how quickly I would be able to obtain my South Dakota medical license. Consequently, I had about 1.5 months off after graduating before arriving in South Dakota on October 6th, 2020.
Howdy South Dakota!
I’ve been here almost two weeks now. My apartment is cozy and located in Spearfish, a 20-minute drive from the clinic in Deadwood. I’m driving an SUV which at first seemed superfluous considering it was t-shirt weather outside when I arrived at the airport and I try to be as mindful of the environment as I can. My request for an SUV was validated today however by the fact that within a matter of hours, we had several inches of snow on the streets. The trip to the post office this morning definitely wouldn’t have gone as smoothly without the 4W drive on my SUV.
The SUV is really a bit of a moral dilemma for me. At the end of the day, safety first and the weather/terrain here require it. There is a reason why almost every car I see here is some form of SUV. We were not able to find an adequate apartment closer to the clinic. I avoid unnecessary drives and walk to the grocery store, library, Walgreens, etc. to get my steps in and leave the SUV parked on the lot. It’ll be a bit of a love-hate relationship but it will prove very useful over the winter.
Reconnecting with Mother Nature
Before the downpour of snow, it was beautiful and sunny weather here. I used last weekend to go on a few hikes in Spearfish Canyon. It feels so good to be surrounded by nature again. There are so many trails to chose from in the area.
I’ll stop at this point and leave you with some pictures from my hike last weekend. As I get to know the clinic/hospital some more and get oriented, I will share what the actual locum physician experience is like here.
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