Locums for a Small World Blog

Why locum in Colorado? It's no great mystery.

Posted by Saralynn White

The Colorado Rocky Mountain high. If you’re into skiing, hiking, biking, birding, hunting, campingyou name itthere’s no better place to connect with your inner 'mountain man' than in this beautiful state. The Rockies (and what lies beyond them) simply offer too much to keep any outdoor fanatic away.

The air is thinner here. More than 54 mountain peaks reach 14,000 feet, but it’s not all uphill. Come down from the snowcapped summits and you’ll discover places like Boulder and Golden, Rainbow Curve and Roaring River. Slip a little further off the beaten path and you’ll find a place that’ll make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

Welcome to Estes Park, a village surrounded by nationally protected lands. Listen the whisper of aspen leaves. Take in the breathtaking scenery. Oh, and enjoy your stay at the Stanley Hotel.

A throwback to opulent times, the Georgian-style hotel sparked the attention of Easterners heading to the frontier over a century ago. The Stanley’s guest ledger boasts names like Teddy Roosevelt, the “Unsinkable” Molly Brown and Emperor Akihito of Japan. In 1976, the hotel hosted Stephen King and the rest, as they say, is history.

After spending one night in the now-famous room #217 (featured prominently in the 1977 movie), King was inspired to pen his page-turner, The Shining. Skim its pages, then buy a ticket to the hotel's Ghost Tour and you’ll be you questioning just how much of King’s book is fiction.

The Stanley sits on a sprawling 160 acres that boasts a golf course, concert hall, spa and more. Unlike the “Overlook Hotel” depicted in the onscreen adaptation of King’s thriller, the Stanley is open year round and has been restored to the incredible grandeur deserving of its place on the National Register of Historic Places.

All play and no work? Jack’s no dull boy here. Step outside and soaring crags are on the A-list for rock and ice climbers; mountain biking and horseback trails forge into the forests and meadows; and snowshoeing and ski trails crisscross the landscape. Leave your binoculars in the room, too. Wildlife watching here is as simple as looking over your shoulder. Elk, big-horn sheep, and foxes roam freely, foraging in the open meadows and dense thickets. On occasion, Elk herds mosey through town and snarl local traffic.

Colorado’s signature, fluffy snow is on the ground now. Locals are gearing up for another winter in the Rockies. And as luck would have it, locum tenens opportunities are aplenty here.  

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For your next locum adventure, look to the skies

Posted by Saralynn White


It may take a bit to acclimatize to the altitude in Colorado, but once your locum feet are firmly on terra firma, look up. It's a bird...it's a plane...it's 450 avian species who all call Colorado home. In fact, that renowned Rocky Mountain high has a lot to do with the sport of birding.

Now, don't go "tsk-ing" your tongue. Birders are no longer khaki or tweed-wearing geeks or binocular-toting Miss Jane Hathaways; they come from every walk of life and there are over 50 million of them in the United States alone. Some birders travel the world to add another "lifer" to their list. Others sit quietly in the woods, certain that one day a black-capped chickadee will look them straight in the eye. Still others take locum assignments in Colorado.

That's right, countless locum doctors are also birders (you could say they travel with binoculars and an MD), and as they take to the rivers and trails of Colorado, they also take to the "sights": falcons sharing the sky with droves of tiny white-throated swifts; owls snoozing inside hollow trees; and prairie chickens strutting across vast stretches of golden short grass.

Slip on your environmentally friendly CrocsTM and wander Colorado's Kingbird Trail, nestled among the Black Forest of Ponderosa Pines that tower proudly over the region. This eponymous trail is home to the flying "tyrants" - their genus name and a richly deserved moniker (Kingbirds are known to guard their breeding territories aggressively, often chasing away much larger birds). They're also known to wait on an exposed perch for food or trespassers, though birders need not be concerned - unless they forget their wide-brimmed hats!

This land of birds is also home to some of the most beautiful grasslands along the fruited plain, where the buffalo roam and the deer and the antelope play. Spend some time in the high country above the tree line and you'll sight rosy-finches, grouse and woodpeckers. You'll also discover golden eagles, mountain plovers, belted kingfishers, jays and bluebirds.

Scenery freak? Get on over to America's Mountain, the great Pikes Peak, where the landscapes change as often as the weather. Spruce-fir forests, sagebrush hills and short grass prairies are home to green-tailed and spotted towhee, woodpeckers, hummingbirds and pygmy owls. Other notable wildlife includes bighorn sheep, pika (a small, chinchilla-like animal), mule deer and bobcats - the latter of which we advise you to avoid whenever possible.

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