Locums for a Small World Blog

6 reasons we appreciate our locums doctors (in GIFs!)

Posted by Kari Redfield

At Global Medical, we appreciate our locums doctors for many reasons, but most of all because they are truly amazing people who also happen to be excellent physicians. Our physicians continue to wow us!

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Why these 4 doctors love working international locum tenens

Posted by Kari Redfield

Some doctors describe international locums as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, others grab the kids and take them on a series of international jet-setting adventures, and still others embrace it as their new lifestyle. However doctors can fit it in, all of them call their international assignments amazing adventures.

Here’s what four physicians love most about international locums.

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Locums in Guam: Doctor goes on adventure of a lifetime

Posted by Kari Redfield

Dr. Cheri McCue has always loved traveling. Still, she didn’t expect to one day get on a plane and end up living in Guam for several months.

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The 10 best podcasts and blogs for locums doctors

Posted by Kari Redfield


Podcasts are easy to listen to almost anywhere — while commuting, while exercising, or even while doing household chores. The best podcasts are funny, inspiring, and knowledge-filled. With so many podcasts available, as well as so many great blogs, it can be hard to find the most beneficial and enjoyable ones, so we sorted through them for you. Here are some of the best podcasts and blogs specifically for doctors and locums docs.

Medical care

1. Reach MD
This podcast, available on the website or through mobile apps for iPhone and Android, is a great way to keep up on clinical research and practice techniques. It offers several themed series, including one dedicated to locum tenens with episodes like this one from an international locums insider covering some of his clinical research conducted while on assignment in New Zealand.

Reach MD includes numerous other ongoing series, including Grand Rounds Nation with outstanding talks from top academic centers. Another series is Primary Care Today, with clinical experts highlighting the latest trends in primary care practice.

2. Kevin MD
Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is a great way to keep up with the pulse of the industry as told in blogs by thousands of physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, policy experts, and patients. It covers numerous aspects of the healthcare industry — including policy, meds, tech, and private practice — and is easy to browse on a smartphone.

Physicians’ financial matters

3. White Coat Investor
The White Coat Investor delivers information specifically for physicians to better manage their finances, from how to pay off student loans to how to invest strategically. You can listen to the podcasts on ITunesOvercastAcast, Stitcher or Google Play. The blog itself provides tons of information about better money management from doctors for doctors.

4. Physician Side Gigs
This blog site explores ways for physicians to make extra income, gain the tax benefits that non-W2 endeavors provide, and help physicians think about ways to make passive income instead of always trading time for dollars. Read blog posts and join the Facebook group to hear how other physicians are making extra income.

5. Passive Income MD 
Practicing anesthesiologist Dr. Peter Kim created Passive Income MD to serve as a personal documentation of his journey to find ways to achieve passive income, with the goal to be able to spend more time with loved ones. Get how-tos and ideas, learned from his and others’ failed experiments, and hear from other fellow doctors.

6. Physician Philosopher
The Physician Philosopher blog by an anesthesiologist in academia focuses on helping doctors attain financial independence by focusing on doing the 20 percent right with money and wealth in order to get 80 percent worth of results. The goal: to obtain a life well lived. In addition to how-tos, it includes numerous blog interviews with physicians posted on the site (that you can listen to through your smartphone) who have made smart decisions to build wealth.

7. Physician on FIRE
FIRE stands for: financial independence; retire early. A doctor who built enough wealth by age 39 to retire (but who remains in the medical field out of passion) runs the site. The entire website with all of its blog content, calculators, and other resources all revolve around helping physicians attain financial independence, whether the goal is to retire early to pursue other passions, cut back on work, or to build wealth and use money more strategically.

The physician lifestyle

8.Locumstory.com
Locumstory.com is for physicians, PAs, and NPs interested in or already involved in locums tenens and provides numerous stories and resources for physicians still deciding if locums fits their career and their life. Get valuable information from blog stories, videos, physicians stories, quizzes, PDF downloads, and other resources about everything from what you need to know about taxes as a locum tenens doctor to what it’s like to practice in various places around the world or in the U.S.

9. The Happy Doctor Podcast
This podcast shares ways physicians and medical students are finding happiness, purpose, and inspiration for providing health care. The stories, tips, and knowledge reconnect students and physicians to a love of medicine in a simple, personalized, and practical way — and are easy to listen to while commuting, exercising, or taking a break. Listen through the website, iTunes, or Stitcher.

10. Physician Grind
On the Physician Grind podcast, doctors and other healthcare providers discuss the beautiful, bad, and ugly in medicine — through true, remarkable stories. Each episode focuses on one in-depth story and lasts around five minutes. Listen through the website. The stories are truly entertaining.

Happy reading and listening!

Have we included your favorite bloggers and podcasts for doctors? Let us know in the comments below.

Thinking about a locum tenens career? Click the button below to browse our current openings, or give us a call at 866.858.6269.
Search our current physician opportunities

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Q&A: Taking a yearlong locums assignment in New Zealand

Posted by Kari Redfield



There’s a lot to consider before packing up and moving overseas for a year. In the Q&A below, child & adolescent psychiatrist Dr. Jason Lambrese shares how he made a one-year locums assignment in New Zealand work for him and his husband as well as how happy he is that he could make this experience of a lifetime happen.

What drew you to New Zealand?
“I did six years of residency and fellowship, and the idea of taking an international locum tenens assignment as kind of a gap year between my fellowship and a more permanent job was really appealing. It was something a lot of people talked about. Everyone seemed to know a doctor who had done it.”

So, you went to New Zealand after your fellowship and before taking a permanent position?
“Yes. I saw it sort of like this fun year in between, and the timing was right. We were ready to leave Boston anyway, so we had sold our condo and packed.”

How hard was it to navigate the visa, credentialing, and licensing process?
“GMS took care of all of those logistics and other ones too. That was huge. That’s the benefit of going through a locum tenens company versus trying to get a job overseas on your own. I couldn’t have navigated the immigration website. With moving across the world, there are so many things you have to deal with and think about, but GMS took care of so much of it.”

Learn more about how Global Medical Staffing takes care of visas, licensing and credentialing.



What were some of the highlights of your year in New Zealand?
“The people are so nice. The place is beautiful. There’s so much stuff to do. There’s such a variety of landscapes and activities. We did so much travel using my six weeks of PTO, and I love that I didn’t have to work the weekends, and we could travel then too. We could put the real life stuff on hold because there really wasn’t much real life stuff to do out there except work and pay a few bills. I had that freedom to adventure and to explore.”

What was the biggest challenge?
“Being so far away from home. We didn’t get any visitors over the year because people need a lot of time, money, and stamina to make the flight. We thought about getting a two-bedroom apartment because everyone was so excited. I’m glad we didn’t because the spare room never would’ve gotten used. Timing calls to communicate back home was also tough.”

What was it like practicing medicine in a country with universal health care?
“I liked the work and being in a community clinic and that we were serving a more marginalized population. I feel like I was doing more good than maybe I would have otherwise and that specialized skills are used more effectively.”


What did you like the most?
“The people were great, and the place was beautiful! Learning a new way to practice medicine was fascinating. That experience of being in a whole new place and a whole new system — I needed that change.”

What would you say to other doctors considering international locum tenens?
“Go! For many of us, it might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

See also:

Learn more about international locums from doctors who have gone.
How to rent out your home while on international locums.
How locums docs get paid.

Want to start your own international locum tenens adventure? Check out our current opportunities by clicking the button below, or give us a call at 1.800.760.3174. We're always here to answer questions.
Search international jobs

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Physicians from Global Medical Staffing make a difference in Haiti

Posted by Kari Redfield


This past November, Dr. Maria Chansky went on her fourth medical mission, this time to Haiti. The Haiti mission was made possible through a generous grant from the Making a Difference Foundation in partnership with International Medical Relief, enabling five physicians and several support staff members to travel to and within Haiti for eight days, giving of their time and skills to those most in need of medical and dental care.

Every day, the team set up at a different site in order to treat as many people as possible.

“We had to figure out how to use the site effectively, had to figure out where the dentists were going to be, where the primary care providers were going to be, where the patient education was going to be, where the pharmacy was going to be,” says Dr. Chansky. “Really, we had to work together to organize, lay things out, and move benches and equipment.”

Dr. Chansky says the whole team stepped up wonderfully, making the logistics and delivery of care a smooth process that benefited a lot of Haitians.

Life in Haiti
Even though Dr. Chanksy has seen other places devastated by natural disasters, one thing that struck her about Haiti was how destroyed parts of it still are from the 2010 earthquake.

“There are almost like two Haitis,” says Dr. Chansky. “There’s the group of people in Haiti who still have places to live and still have work, but then there are people whose neighborhoods were completely destroyed by the earthquake — and they’re living in refugee camps, and their neighborhoods haven’t been rebuilt. It’s been eight years and they still have nothing. It seems like the people who were really devastated by the earthquake, their situation hasn’t really changed or improved much, which is heartbreaking.”

Dr. Chansky adds: “The incredibly huge line of patients who were waiting to be seen spoke to the importance of what we were doing.”

Putting medical skills to good use
Dr. Chansky says that she is drawn to these missions in order to give back to those most in need.

“I like working with the disenfranchised populations, learning about them, seeing what life is like in different places, and serving people who need my services. I really enjoy working with people and getting to know them and doing something that hopefully makes a difference in their life,” she explains. “From a purely selfish point of view, I get to travel to places that perhaps I wouldn’t go to otherwise and meet people who I wouldn’t otherwise meet, and I really enjoy that.”

This desire to help those who most need medical care is part of why Dr. Chansky has worked as a locum tenens physician at various times throughout her 21-year career. She worked three years in New Zealand, plus a couple years of full-time locum tenens in the continental U.S.

“The clinics that are hiring locums are the clinics that are probably in the greatest need, and so I’m filling the role and providing a service,” she explains.

She also likes locums because she enjoys traveling and meeting people. The third thing she likes about locum tenens is the flexibility.

“I have a lot of flexibility as far as where I am and when, so if my husband’s parents or my parents had some kind of emergency I could get locums work close to them,” Dr. Chansky explains.

She says that flexibility also meant that when she was working locums, she could be in a certain place at a certain time of the year to experience something unique to that area — or to take time off for a holiday or family gathering. Locums also allowed her to set her own schedule, decide where she wanted to work, and work fewer hours than a long-term position.

Dr. Chansky says that she encourages other physicians to consider locums if they are looking for more flexibility, travel opportunities, and want to use their medical skills where they are most needed.

She also encourages physicians to sign up for a medical mission to see life through others’ eyes and give back.

Inspired to make a difference through a medical mission? The Making a Difference Foundation partners with world-class nonprofits to provide physicians the opportunity to participate in meaningful medical missions to make a difference around the globe. Visit them to learn more about medical mission opportunities.

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Did you know: You get generous amounts of PTO during international locums

Posted by Kari Redfield

Learn to scuba dive, taste the best food in Tokyo, explore the world’s most famous glowworm caves… It sounds like a trip of the lifetime, doesn’t it? These are how many physicians adventure while on an international locum tenens assignment.

When you take on an assignment in an international location, you not only get immersed in that area’s culture, but you also benefit from their approach to vacation time — which is often very generous. During that PTO, you can explore the beaches right near where you work and live and fly for cheap to other nearby destinations.

Here’s just how much vacation time our physicians typically receive while on assignment: 

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Just the two of us: Finding a recruiter that has your back

Posted by Kari Redfield

Aristotle once said, “Friendship is essentially a partnership.” That can be said of Dr. Ronald Stiller and his physician reps at Global Medical Staffing.

Kipp Robinson, domestic recruiter at Global Medical Staffing, recruited Dr. Stiller by pointing out that Global could pay a lot more than Dr. Stiller’s permanent position, allowing less work and more travel.

“I have two passions in life: medicine and travel,” says Dr. Stiller. “If you put me on a plane and send me somewhere, I’m a pretty happy guy. My ex-wife and I took our kids to China, Australia, Europe, and Cambodia when they were growing up.”

The opportunity came just at the right time in Dr. Stiller’s professional and personal life. He was recently divorced and wanted to travel as much as possible, and Robinson was just the right personality. During that first call, they went on to have a 45-minute conversation. Since then, Robinson and Dr. Stiller have become friends.

“It was purely fortuitous that my call was with Kipp,” Dr. Stiller says. “We hit it off immediately. He’s more than my handler. He became a friend, despite the age and geographical differences.”

Robinson echoes the sentiment: “He’s my 72-year-old friend. I’ve come to him about my professional growth. He’s a father figure because he knows both medicine and hospital administration. He calls things like they are, bringing such honesty to our relationship.”


Choosing the right assignment
Dr. Stiller mostly works a regular shift in Walla Walla, Washington, with some shifts in Spokane, Washington, and occasional shifts elsewhere to help us — and our hospital clients — out.

Dr. Stiller explains why he chose Washington state: “I was born and bred in Boston as an East Coast liberal democrat. I wanted to see something different. I wanted to travel and practice medicine.”

Locums allows exactly that — and more.

The hospitalist shift in Walla Walla, as well as some work in Spokane, felt like a great fit. It was quite different from Dr. Stiller’s East Coast life and his daughter is a medical resident in Seattle, which has allowed him to see her more often.

In addition, Dr. Stiller has always been dedicated to medical missions with Surgical Core International. He’s been all over the world, including Burma, Ethiopia, Bhutan, and Kazakhstan. With his extremely flexible locums schedule, he can continue to go on these trips, where he provides care for those who have received plastic surgery procedures after being born with deformities or having been in accidents.

“Bhutan is in the middle of the Himalayas. It’s exquisite, and a country with limited healthcare resources,” Dr. Stiller explains. “You get even deeper into the culture when do healthcare in a country, and really get to see people dealing with their struggles. For instance, some patients in Bhutan had been mauled by bears, which really put a burden on the family, village, and the person. To be able to be involved in the restoration of that, or a cleft palette, for instance, is rewarding. We get a lot back from the experience.”


Benefits of locums
Dr. Stiller retired from his full-time position the summer after he started with us.

“He’s the poster boy for locums: highly qualified, extremely skilled, and genuine — with excessive training beyond the scope of what he’s doing for us,” Robinson says. “He was the academic attending that taught everyone how to be a doctor, and has been an influential leader for many years at his full-time position, but he’s still humble.”

Dr. Stiller, like most of our domestic physicians, gets paid well, better than a long-term position. For this reason, and because of where he is in his career, Dr. Stiller usually works one seven-days-in-a-row hospitalist shift a month with the rest of the time to travel and pursue other passions.

“He gets to practice medicine where they love him and where they make him feel wanted,” Robinson says. “He’s overqualified as a hospitalist, and there are a couple people living who would not be alive in Walla Walla if Dr. Stiller hadn’t been working. He’s an invaluable member to the team there.”

Dr. Stiller adds, “I have a new family away from home at Walla Walla. I have been able to expand my horizons and meet other people. The locums universe pays well, so lots of doctors do it for the money, but for me, I find that it’s a joyous thing to do.”

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