A Physician’s Perspective on Finding a Balance with Locum Tenens

Announcer:
This is ReachMD, and you’re listening to Spotlight on Locum Tenens, provided in partnership with Locumstory.com. Here’s your host, Dr. Charles Turck.

Dr. Turck:
Life often forces us to make small changes to our plans on a day-to-day basis, but every now and then, unexpected circumstances force us to make a major change in course in our personal or professional lives. On today’s episode, we’ll be hearing from a physician about how unexpected changes led to her work with locum tenens. Welcome to Spotlight on Locum Tenens on ReachMD. I’m Dr. Charles Turck, and here with me today is Dr. Ana Zamora, pulmonary disease and critical care specialist based in Brandon, Florida. Dr. Zamora, welcome to the program.

Dr. Zamora:
Thank you, Dr. Turck. Thank you for having me.

Dr. Turck:
Dr. Zamora, would you mind sharing a bit about how you came to work with locum tenens?

Dr. Zamora:
Yes, yes, of course. So, my hospital was in a difficult financial situation, to begin with then got COVID-hit and they got bankruptcy. And in the meantime, a lot of physicians, nurse practitioners started looking for jobs or for options. I stayed as long as I could, but there was a point that I could not stay anymore, and I needed to find another place. And this is how I get to work with locum tenens.

Dr. Turck:
Now, what was it that drew you to locum tenens, and about how long did you spend working with them?

Dr. Zamora:
So, it was a very, very difficult time to be mostly unemployed, because as you know, in COVID pandemic, everybody went into hire freeze. All the hospitals were draining money, oozing money, so there was no way I would find a job, or at least not one that was desirable to me. So, one of my friends, he’s a pulmonologist and critical care in Texas, told me about locum tenens, and told me about a specific agency, the Weatherby Agency, and it was just fantastic. I emailed them, they emailed me right away. They called me and then immediately, I was able to connect with Nick Miller, who interviewed me, and kind of tailored for me the perfect job for me. Like I have almost the same hospital that I have here in New Hampshire, and he found one in Georgia, and so that’s how I started.

Dr. Turck:
Dr. Zamora, what else could you tell us about your experience working with locum tenens?

Dr. Zamora:
It was great. The support that I had on the back was the best. The fact like they knew what my needs were, and matched and tailored the hospital that they found in Georgia for me, that was pivotal in order for me to succeed there. So that was number one. Number two, the staff there was just the nicest. It was just two pulmonary doctors working in a 10-bed ICU. One of them got COVID, so can you imagine the other doctor was very overwhelmed, so they were very grateful for the help.

Dr. Turck:
For those just tuning in, you’re listening to Spotlight on Locum Tenens on ReachMD. I’m Dr. Charles Turck, and today I’m speaking with Dr. Ana Zamora about her experience with locum tenens during a gap in employment. So Dr. Zamora, what takeaways from your locum tenens experience did you bring to your permanent position?

Dr. Zamora:
I think the most important for me was taking the leap of faith, like not only the bad things mean it’s gonna be bad. Like it’s okay to take a leap of faith. It’s okay to see what’s going to happen, what is out there. And in this case, you know, around the corner it was amazing. I got to find this hospital where I found peace, where I found joy where I can find a very good source of income. I got my own schedule because if I wanted, I can work four weeks out of the four weeks, or I can just work two out of four weeks. So that gives me a good balance between my personal life and my work life. So, I think that’s something that not everybody knows when you get into medicine. Like you just work, work, work all the time, and you forget that you’re a person too. So, locum tenens gives you that leeway, that you can balance your life.

Dr. Turck:
Well, that’s great, and looking ahead, would you consider working with locum tenens again?

Dr. Zamora:
Yes. Definitely, I will. I know for a fact now that they will match me and pair me with the hospital that will fulfill my needs, and yes, I highly recommend it. Great experience.

Dr. Turck:
And finally, Dr. Zamora, why should other physicians consider locum tenens?

Dr. Zamora:
I think being at locum tenens is the best because you get to work in so many hospitals, and it’s not like now, for example, you take the job, and sometimes they embellish the truth, or maybe something that is very good for your colleague is not going to be very good for your lifestyle. So, by the time you took the job and get there you already leap. You are ready to you enroll your kids in the school, and sometimes when you find out you don’t like it, you are tied up to a contract. And in the case of having locum tenens, you do the opposite. You kind of like try on every single job, and you get the one that you like the most, adjust your needs, and then you say, “You know what? I’m just stop being locums, and I’m just going to take this job.” So, I think that that’s the best.

Dr. Turck:
Well, with those insights in mind, I want to thank Dr. Ana Zamora for sharing her story. Dr. Zamora, it was great having you on the program.

Dr. Zamora:
Thank you, thank you so much, Dr. Turck. It was fun.

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