For most medical professionals who sell their private practice, what comes next is a whirlwind of vacations, rest, and time spent pursuing hobbies they couldn’t otherwise take on while they were knee deep in work.
Pediatric dentist Dr. Keith R., however, is an exception to the norm. After he sold his Louisville, Kentucky practice in June 2023 after 40 years, he knew one thing was certain: “I’m not done,” he remembered thinking to himself.
“I wanted to do maybe four to six [volunteer] medical mission trips a year, and then I thought, ‘That’s not very much, how am I going to keep up my capabilities?’” he said.
The answer? Become a locum tenens provider with Barton Associates and take temporary dental assignments at short staffed medical facilities across the United States between volunteer trips.
“In my experiences with Barton … I work hard all day and at the end of the day I’m exhausted, but I’m smiling big time because I feel like I have a purpose and this gives me something to do,” Keith said. “I’ve worked hard for it, but I feel like I’ve been given a talent and a gift, so it’s like, ‘Why should I stop now?’”
Barton assignments help Keith keep his dentistry skills sharp—and combined with the medical mission trips he takes in between assignments, Keith feels like he’s able to continue doing what he loves on his own terms.
“After the Barton assignments every day, I’m intellectually challenged, I’m technically challenged, and I’m behaviorally challenged,” he said. “And at the end of the day, I am exhausted—I’m ready to go home and go to bed—but I got a big old smile on my face.”
Building a Love for Volunteering
In 2012, Keith was working at his private practice when his son—then a student at Lipscomb University, Keith’s alma mater—invited him on a mission trip because the group needed a volunteer dentist.
On this trip, Keith got the opportunity to help needy people along with his son, instilling within him a passion for giving back to the underprivileged. Keith’s son soon graduated, but Keith continued to go on mission trips with the group year after year.
Two years ago, Keith was approached by Global Dental Relief, a nonprofit which sends volunteers to care for the dental health of children in Kenya, Cambodia, Nepal, Mexico, Guatemala, India, and parts of Appalachia. But he also does other volunteer work with his local church, having most recently taken a trip to Guatemala.
“These people are so grateful for you showing up,” Keith said. “When you’re doing mission trips like this, you’re not just taking our teeth, it’s not just a convenience. It’s life or death for some of these people because if they get infected it could kill them. So the gratefulness is amazing there.”
During these trips, Keith feels ready to take care of anything that comes his way because he’s kept his capabilities up to par by working locum tenens assignments, but the benefits also go both ways. On his most recent trip, Keith said he took out 100 teeth in four days.
“When I get back, extractions are a piece of cake,” he said. “The medical mission trips help me to stay sharp with my surgical skills, because since 2012 when I’ve gone [on these trips], I do more extractions in a week than I do in a whole year at my private practice.”
It’s not cheap to go on trips like this, Keith said—after all, he is a volunteer, so a lot of the overhead costs of traveling can add up. That’s where taking locum tenens assignments and making some extra cash can come in handy.
“I get the best of both worlds,” Keith said.
Becoming a Locum Tenens Dentist with Barton Associates
Keith R.’s path to becoming a locum tenens dentist is an unconventional one. After he had sold his private practice and decided to take on more medical mission trips, he was the one to cold call Barton Associates for locum tenens opportunities—not the other way around.
Keith was put in touch with Nina Benson, one of Barton’s recruiters, and they hit it off immediately.
“I’d like to say we’re pretty much best friends,” Keith said.
On his most recent locum tenens assignment, Keith worked at a pediatric dentistry clinic in Virginia. He was only supposed to work there for three months, but was asked to extend his stay to help for an extra month because a dentist was hospitalized.
At this assignment, Keith said he felt like he was able to focus completely on providing care for the patients instead of having to worry about the business aspect of the dental practice since he was just there to fill in and help where needed.
Keith just signed a contract for another locum tenens assignment at a clinic in Illinois, which he plans to start in early January.
The Importance of Recruiter Relationships
Keith jokes that Nina Benson is his “handler,” but in some ways, that’s an apt description for the work Nina does to make sure Keith is all set up to take his locum tenens assignments.
Take his upcoming locum tenens assignment in Illinois, for instance. For this assignment, Keith needed a Illinois medical license, but because he didn’t have one, he worked with Barton’s licensing and credentialing team to fast track the process of obtaining one.
“The Barton Associates [credentialing team member] was texting and calling me while I was in Guatemala, and I was texting and calling Nina saying, ‘Nina, I’m in the jungle, I can’t do this, can you take care of this?’ And she did,” Keith recalled. “So when we talked yesterday for the first time in a week, she said everything was a go.”
Keith says that the personal relationship he’s built with Nina has been indispensable during his locum tenens journey. He praised Nina’s memory and said he knows she cares about his travel and work preferences, and praised her ability to remember personal things like his sons’ birthdays.
“She’s very personable, really sharp, and her memory is amazing,” Keith said. “I said, ‘You know more about me than I do.’ She said, ‘I think you’re right.’”
Why Become a Locum Tenens Provider?
Not only does locum tenens allow Keith to volunteer on medical mission trips, it also allows him to continue his work as a dentist without having to worry about running a business.
“I’m not having to check the bank balance online every day to find out if I can cover payroll or if I can cover these bills, I just kind of show up,” he said.
Ultimately, Keith said he looks at locum tenens assignments as a challenge—an important aspect of life that he doesn’t want to lose in retirement.
“There’s always challenges, but I leave at the end of the day and I feel tired but it’s a newfound joy and a newfound excitement,” he said.
