We are physicians, we are exceptionally trained to provide medical care, and we pride ourselves on perfection. We are not trained to be businessmen or lawyers, yet this aspect of our practice impacts so much of our quality of life and day-to-day frustrations. Locum Tenens doctors are no different. Understanding the Locum Tenens contract is one of the most daunting and anxiety inducing aspects of what we do. What exactly are you agreeing to and how can you maximize and protect yourself? Well, it’s time to break down the Locum Tenens contract!
If you’re a physician (or advanced practitioner) considering locum tenens work, one of the first big decisions you’ll face is how you get the job:
Work through a locum tenens staffing agency (the most common route), or
Schedule locums directly with a hospital, clinic, or health system (a “direct locums contract”).
Both can work extremely well—and both can go sideways if you don’t understand the tradeoffs. The right option depends on your specialty, tolerance for admin, travel needs, how quickly you need to start, and how much control you want over contract terms and logistics.
Locum tenens urology can be one of the best ways to gain flexibility, protect income, and design a career around your life instead of the other way around. Urology is also one of the specialties where “coverage” can mean wildly different things—from clinic-only to full-scope hospital call with emergent OR cases, inpatient consults, cystoscopy, stone work, trauma coverage, and even oncology-heavy practice depending on the facility.
Locum tenens isn’t just a temporary staffing solution—it can be a strategic career move for gastroenterologists who want more schedule control, strong earning potential, and the freedom to choose the practice environment that fits best. But GI locums is its own world: procedure-heavy workflows, anesthesia and endoscopy suite logistics, call burden tied to bleeds and biliary disease, inpatient consult volume spikes, and credentialing/privileging that can be more complex than many other specialties.
Locum tenens isn’t just for ER docs and hospitalists anymore. Infectious disease (ID) physicians are increasingly in demand for hospital consult services, antimicrobial stewardship programs, infection prevention support, outpatient HIV/PrEP care, travel medicine, and coverage during recruitment gaps. If you’re an ID doctor considering locums, your success hinges on a few ID-specific realities: consult workflow, call expectations, stewardship responsibilities, inpatient vs outpatient mix, and how facilities define “coverage” for a specialty that often spans the entire hospital.
Locum tenens work can be an incredible way to regain control of your schedule, increase earning potential, and step away from long-term administrative burden. But before you sign your first contract, you need to speak the language.
Locum tenens compensation can look deceptively simple on the surface (“$X/hour”), but the true salary of a locums physician is really a system: how you’re paid (hourly/shift/call), what’s covered (travel, lodging, malpractice), what you don’t get (benefits), and how well you manage taxes, downtime, and retirement.
Congrats! You have completed four years of college, four years of medical school, numerous years of residency and possibly even fellowship, an absolutely amazing accomplishment. What is even more amazing is you have managed your finances, licensing, and loans throughout this time period (not to mention juggling your friends and family responsibilities). Despite time working against us, as physicians we have several options, big paychecks and cognitive resources to quickly overcome this obstacle. So, what are these options and what are the upsides and downsides of being a locum tenens doctor? From the government assisted plans, to loans, to old fashioned hard work, we hope to help you understand your options. We also want explain the 50/25/25 rule, and how it can help you crush your loans!!
Health insurance can be one of the most important decisions you make as a locum tenens doctor, and these days it can be the most complicated. There are multiple aspects to the discussion of health insurance and we are going to take our time with one main issue, where you get your coverage. As a locum tenens doctor, you are running the business called YOU and as CEO, we will show you how to provide health benefits to your one employee!
“Whenever a doctor cannot do good, he must be kept from doing harm” ~Hippocrates
If you’re relocating your medical practice or starting multi-state locum tenens, understanding how to transfer a DEA number between states is critical for staying compliant and avoiding credentialing delays. Many clinicians search “DEA transfer,” “move DEA registration to another state,” or even “transfer DEA license,” but the process usually means updating your DEA registration address when you move—or obtaining separate DEA registrations for each statewhere you prescribe controlled substances. In this guide, we break down the exact steps to change your DEA registration when changing states, what to do if you’ll be practicing in multiple states, how state licensing and controlled substance requirements affect your timeline, and the most common mistakes that slow down hospital credentialing.