If you’re a resident who’s about to complete your training program requirements or a new medical graduate from your residency program, you have countless career paths to consider as you begin to move into the healthcare world.
Should you utilize the National Resident Matching Program or other resources to find a fellowship? Perhaps pursue a full-time position or seek out a a job offer from your program directors?
Whichever courses of action you may be mulling over, we urge you to add locum tenens work into your pool of options.
For many U.S. medical students, depending on state laws and rules set by their institutions, residents can usually pursue medical moonlighting jobs once they’ve completed the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 3, and their medical license has been received.
Moonlighting, or working a secondary job in addition to a primary job is fairly common for physicians. According to the 2022 Physician Report by Medical Economics, the average physician who had a secondary income stream earned over $50, 000 annually.
International Medical Graduates
For International Medical Graduates (IMGs), there’s one extra requirement before the USMLE can be completed, and the opportunity to moonlight becomes possible.
Before beginning a graduate medical education program in the U.S., international medical graduates who received a basic medical degree from an international medical school not recognized by a U.S. accreditation council must first be certified by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG). Once their ECFMG certification is granted, IMGs can then proceed to apply for residency in the U.S., take Step 3 of the USMLE, and become eligible for moonlighting.
International Medical Graduates make up almost one-quarter of the total U.S. Graduate Medical Education (GME) training pool, according to a 2018 report in the National Library of Medicine. That’s why it’s important to include IMGs’ possible pathway to locums in the conversation.
If you attended foreign medical school, you may need to help us get your school transcripts, but our team of dedicated licensing and credentialing experts is here to help.
Residency Pros:
According to the Education Data Initiative, the 73% of medical school graduates are in debt, and the average amount of student debt that medical graduates owe is $250,995. On an average resident salary of about $54,000 to $58,000, you probably won’t get much of a start on paying it off until after you’ve completed your medical training in full, and have obtained formal medical employment.
Fortunately, there’s a way to supplement the salary you are earning in residency, and maybe even get a jumpstart on paying off your student debt by earning extra income as a resident with a moonlighting job. Medical moonlighting is extracurricular medical work that is not a part of your residency or fellowship program, and is therefore paid separately, in addition to the salary you are paid by your institution.
Moonlighting jobs for residents can do more than just pay off debt- they also help residents proactively add real-world work experience outside training onto their CVs, which makes it easier to find employment post-graduation. Even having one moonlighting gig under your belt helps, but since locum jobs allow residents to try multiple different opportunities, they allow you to learn what kind of job you like best while diversifying your skills.
Because of the flexible schedules and shift hours of locum tenens assignments, they are the most popular avenue for residents interested in moonlighting. Residents can find locum opportunities that fit into their busy schedules, and use short-term assignments as a trial period to test whether locum work may be a viable career choice for them post-graduation.
Residency Pros for Physicians, Nurses, and Dentists
Physician residency programs are required for many physician jobs. Completing residency allows MDs to gain jobs with high enough salaries that they can pay off their medical debt. If you’re looking for resident physician moonlighting jobs, you can speak with a Barton recruiter about what works best for you!
Nursing residency programs allow nursing students to gain confidence, mentorship, and clinical knowledge. One nursing residency program even aims to decrease turnover by 20% or higher by increasing the satisfaction and wellbeing of their workforce.
A dental residency can be beneficial for students who have not previously been able to gain exposure to many procedures, and can allow them to gain valuable experience. It can also help students gain access to a specialty program if they graduate from a residency that is that specialty procedure focused.
Resident Cons:
While moonlighting is a great way to earn some extra income and start building up experience, for many residents and fellows, adding extra work on top of their academic schedule sounds too overwhelming. This may be the reason why all residency programs bind students to duty-hour restrictions limiting them to 80 hours per week, and why some institutions prohibit moonlighting altogether.
Those residents who are determined to moonlight and whose programs allow them the opportunity to do so, can initially struggle to find and obtain their first few locum assignments. If a hiring manager is willing to consider a resident to fill an opening, it will be noted on its file. Your recruiter will specifically seek out these positions and notify you about them, however, they are generally few and far between, and when you do find one, competition can be fierce.
Residency Cons for Physicians, Nurses, and Dentists
To work as a physician, you’ll need 3-7 years of residency training. Though most MD jobs will require residency, there are still jobs for MDs without residency training available, such as working as an anesthesiology technician, an EMT or physician assistant.
Nursing residencies are typically not required, and they take time to complete. After spending so long getting through medical school, many nursing students may not want to spend more time working their way through residency.
During a dental residency, you would likely earn a significantly lower salary than working in a private practice. In a quieter dental residency, you may run the risk of sitting around and not learning. Dental residencies are also not necessary to find employment in most states.
Residency for New Graduates Pros:
The honest truth is, it’s not easy to land a job straight out of residency or fellowship, and the extensive interviews, background checks, and credentialing can be a bit much. But finding locum tenens jobs through a staffing agency like Barton takes the job searching off your shoulders while your personal recruiter does the heavy lifting. All you have to do is provide your information and preferences, and we do the rest!
The silent majority of the American workforce dreams of having a career that pays them to travel. Locums offer new graduates the opportunity to explore every corner of the country while earning comparably higher salaries to their permanently employed counterparts. Dedicated licensing and travel teams handle communications with medical boards and sort out housing accommodations to put you on the path of least resistance.
Residency for New Graduates Cons:
On the other side of the locum coin you will find that even though your locum tenens agency takes most of the burdens of job searching off your plate, that most travel jobs still prefer or require a candidate with a certain amount of relevant experience. Though locum opportunities that are open to newly graduated applicants are more common than those open to residents, the lack of guaranteed reliability on a steady paycheck causes hesitance for many new grads.
Ready to jumpstart your medical career with invaluable locum experience? Check out our job board to find your dream locum tenens job!
Editor’s Note: This blog was originally published by Karina Kagramanov on September 22, 2022, and was updated by Liliana French in May 2024.
