Teamwork makes the… something something
Welcome to Locums CME, Locumpedia’s bi-weekly roundup of news designed to help physicians and APPs maximize the locum lifestyle.
Our lead story: Experts are saying that the future of healthcare is all about collaboration, and the trends that defined 2024 for locum tenens providers are expected to continue in 2025 and beyond. Physicians, NPs, and PAs remain in high demand, with psychiatry, neurology, family medicine, and cardiology among the fastest-growing specialties. On the technology front, artificial intelligence is being harnessed to streamline diagnostics, treatments, and admin tasks (but nothing can truly replace skilled providers). When it comes to sourcing talent, locum tenens continues to be a game-changer, giving clinicians career flexibility while helping facilities maintain quality patient care.
Also in this edition of Locums CME: Why locum revenue growth is slowing but still outpacing other healthcare staffing segments, how the IMLC expansion unlocks more job opportunities, and why younger physicians are increasingly choosing locums to avoid burnout.
Continue your locums education with Locums CME 48 below.
Collaboration Drives Healthcare Growth: AI, Rising Demand, and Locums Opportunities Shape the Future of Care
January 6, 2025 | Medicus
The term of the year might be “medical team,” as key growth trends indicate we’ll see continuing strength in physicians and APPs working together to meet demand, supported by AI integration into everything from administration to diagnosis.
The Demand for Physicians, NPs, and PAs Remains High
Doctors and APPs are critical to meeting the intensifying needs of an aging population, combatting the rising rates of chronic illnesses, and supporting patients requiring mental health services. The fastest-growing physician specialties are psychiatry, neurology, family medicine, cardiology, anesthesiology, and radiology.
NP job numbers are expected to grow by nearly 50% and PA numbers by almost 30% over the next eight years. Their expertise and scope complement those of physicians and often address provider shortages as medical teams meet the evolving complexity of patient care.
Technology Expands Its Support Role
AI is already an indispensable tool for physicians and APPs, and it is important to understand its uses and limitations with:
- Diagnostics
- Treatment plans
- Administrative tasks
- Patient monitoring
Locum tenens offers significant opportunities for physicians, NPs, and PAs of all specialties. As coverage gaps widen and patient needs diversify, locum roles offer providers the chance to put their expertise to use in much-needed ways while achieving a healthy work-life balance and exploring various locations around the country.
Your Locums Prescription
Locum Growth Eases into 2025
January 14, 2025 | Staffing Industry Analysts
After a period of explosive double-digit growth, locum revenue is projected to slow to around 5% this year, according to Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA). With the healthcare staffing industry continuing to see softer-than-anticipated demand, even this modest growth in locums is noteworthy.
Within locums, the demand for APPs is anything but timid. Staffing revenue of locums APPs grew nearly 25% year over year in the first half of 2024. Changes in regulations, policies, and perspectives have enabled APPs to handle more cases historically managed by physicians, providing greater access to care, especially in communities most affected by physician shortages.
SIA’s most recent Locum Tenens Market Growth Assessment outlines three key drivers of the ongoing demand for locums.
- Addressing aging and chronic medical conditions: Nearly one-fifth of the American population is older than 65, and with aging comes more complex health issues, care plans, and treatment. Long-term, multifaceted conditions such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease are increasingly common. The growing demand for care, often in more complex cases, results in more unfilled staff positions for physicians and APPs.
- Planning for workforce changes: The physician population is also aging. For example, more than 92% of pulmonary disease specialists are 55 or older, as are more than 70% of those in preventative medicine and pathology. Nearly two-thirds of cardiovascular doctors and thoracic surgeons are also in the older demographic. Healthcare leaders looking to staff these departments with younger providers may turn to locums to address gaps while filling permanent roles.
- Improving physician well-being: Facilities also understand the risk of losing physicians younger than 45 who experience higher rates of burnout and have lower well-being scores than older physicians. In addition to directly mitigating burnout with support such as reduced administrative duties and increased therapy options, healthcare leaders are including locums in their staffing strategy to help ease the workload of permanent staff.
For physicians and APPs alike, this is an ideal time to explore locum tenens as a full-time or part-time opportunity. Working on short assignments, locums lend their expertise where it is most needed and help to ensure continuity of patient care.
Where Do You Want to Work Next? See the Possibilities Your Current License Can Open with IMLC
January 15, 2025 | Floyd Lee Locums
The Interstate Medical Licensure Compact (IMLC) is an agreement beneficial to physicians seeking new and renewed licenses in multiple states. Since its enactment in 2017, 38 states, including the District of Columbia and Guam, have agreed to participate in the IMLC. In late December, Florida was the largest to sign on, allowing those licensed there to explore locums more easily.
IMLC Benefits
- The application licensing process is user-friendly. The agreement maintains each state’s licensing requirements but streamlines the process for providers into one application.
- Paperwork delays are eliminated. Obtaining a new license can take only a few weeks. Licenses may also be renewed through the IMLC.
- Career opportunities increase. This simplified and faster licensing process means physicians have greater flexibility in their work location, patient base, and career prospects.
- A greater diversity of patients are served. This streamlining and the proliferation of telemedicine support physicians looking to work in states with higher underserved populations. More providers can travel to join on-the-ground medical teams or provide telehealth support during emergencies, such as severe weather events.
Requirements for Using the IMLC
- You have a degree from an accredited medical school or one in the International Medical Education Directory.
- You hold a full, unrestricted medical license in a member state.
- You do not have a history of, nor are you under investigation for, criminal activity or disciplinary or controlled substance actions toward your license.
In addition to individual state license fees, the IMLC charges its own application fee. Physicians and APPs using the IMLC remain eligible for any state fee waivers, such as those that some states offer to veterans.
Many physicians are drawn to locum work because of its flexibility in location, facility, and patient population. By obtaining licenses through the IMLC, doctors can say yes to more career opportunities faster.
Finding the Joy in Locums Work
December 3, 2025 | TheraEx Locums
As locum opportunities grow in number and critical importance, they may take your life to the next level in terms of both personal joy and career benefits:
- Expand your horizons through cultural immersion: experiencing local celebrations, tasting foods recommended by new colleagues and neighbors, and visiting museums and landmarks.
- Fast-track building genuine connections with patients by listening actively, being open-minded, and asking questions.
- Enhance your resume by collaborating with diverse teams and learning different methodologies.
- Make the most of your role as a traveling healthcare provider by giving back: use your free time to volunteer in your new community. At the same time, stay connected with those back home—whether it’s friends, fellow physicians, or APPs—by sharing your experiences and what you’ve learned along the way.
Familiarize yourself with your new home before you travel, and open your heart and mind to the adventure that awaits.
OB/GYN Salaries Increase but Not Enough, Say Many Providers
December 16, 2025 | Weatherby Healthcare
OB/GYN salaries are solidly in the middle third of physician compensation, although a new study finds their pay satisfaction is in the bottom third.
The OB/GYN average annual income was just over $350,000 in 2023, up about $15,000 from 2022. For comparison, pathologists, the next-highest-paid specialty, earned on average more than $365,000; general surgeons, the highest paid, made around $425,000.
Only 1% of OB/GYNs have reported that potential earnings were a primary factor in their choice of specialty. Most (nearly 90%) said compensation opportunities did not influence their career choice.
Once on the job, however, OB/GYNs say they are overworked (more than one-fifth list long hours as their primary challenge), concerned about lawsuit threats, and burdened by administrative duties. Coupled with rising student loan debt and regulatory requirements, those pressures and demands have left practicing OB/GYNs feeling underpaid. Nearly 60% believe they are not compensated fairly; that number is close to 50% when all specialties are surveyed.
In response, nearly 40% of OB/GYN physicians work multiple healthcare-related jobs, most falling in the category that includes locum assignments. This aligns with OB/GYN physicians’ top three reasons for staying in the field—patient relationships, satisfaction in successfully diagnosing and treating, and making the world a better place, all of which are also common locum benefits.
Physician Wellness Retreat
Sharing Our Appreciation for Anesthesiologists and CRNAs
January 19–25, 2025 | American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology
January 26–February 1, 2025 | American Association of Anesthesiologists
A warm note of appreciation to everyone in the anesthesiologist field as National CRNA Week wraps up and Physician Anesthesiologists Week settles into full swing.
Established in 2000, National CRNA Week celebrates the nearly 74,000 CRNAs and residents who administer more than 58 million anesthetics each year. The American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology offers a communication toolkit of fact sheets and infographics, posters, media resources, and more that’s available year-round, and you can still share your photos from this year’s celebration—use #CRNAWeek!
Physician Anesthesiologists Week is also focused on celebration, recognizing the crucial work of the country’s 52,000 anesthesiologists. But just as much, it is a time of focused advocacy and public outreach, as physicians and healthcare leadership develop and strengthen efforts that support the field. Physician Anesthesiologists Week runs through Saturday, so don’t hold back on sharing your thoughts and photos, #PhysAnesWk25.
Expectations, Delegation, and Automation Chip Away at Unpaid Pajama Time
December 17, 2025 | AMA
Healthcare leaders putting resources into reducing physicians’ unpaid after-hours work, or “pajama time,” are seeing positive results. After-hours work is down more than two-thirds under one healthcare system. At a separate large clinic, almost all messages are handled by staff members without physician input. Yet patient care has not suffered in either case.
Based on their research, the AMA recommends physicians work with their teams on the following to lessen after-hours work:
- Set patient expectations about who on the care team may respond and how quickly.
- Stay current with note-taking rules and adjust note templates so you’re never tempted to write more than is required.
- Set filters to move thank-you messages to nonurgent folders.
- Set up auto-responses to close message strings while offering self-service options.
Stress Management, not Elimination
January 14, 2025 | KevinMD.com
Robyn Tiger is a radiologist and physician coach who recently joined the KevinMD podcast to share her story of trauma that almost ended her marriage, career, and life. Now, she uses the solutions that worked for her to help other physicians who are dealing with chronic stress.
Tiger says the foundational step is knowing you’re not alone. Stress, she says, controls all actions and reactions. And burnout and mental health issues are pervasive in the physician community.
You can recenter yourself at any moment of overwhelm by focusing on the present. If you are drifting into ruminating on the past or dreading the future, redirect your brain by noticing how your clothes feel against your skin, what you can hear across the office, and what you smell through the open window.
Check out the podcast episode for more tips on building a daily practice that supports mental health.
Doctor’s Notes
Locum Tenens Tax Webinar
February 6, 2025, 2:00–3:00 p.m. Eastern | Barton Associates
Andrew D. Schwartz, CPA, will lead Barton Associates’ seventh annual tax webinar for locums providers. He will discuss and answer audience questions about:
- Common deductible expenses
- Retirement accounts
- Health savings accounts
- Estimated quarterly taxes
- Financial planning
- State tax concepts
All attendees will receive an in-depth tax guide. For both participants and those unable to attend, a webinar recording will be available on Barton’s website and YouTube channel.
Residencies May Change Rural Healthcare—Until Then, Locums Fill a Critical Need
December 19, 2025 | Medscape
The physician shortage plaguing the entire country is particularly terrible in rural locations. For example, nearly 70% of the nation’s health professional shortage areas for primary care are in rural communities. More than 50% of rural counties do not have any hospital obstetric services, and since 2010, 138 rural hospitals have shuttered entirely. Healthcare systems and individual hospitals, schools, and government agencies are all working to correct this imbalance.
Student loan repayment incentives, or even full tuition, are offered to some who agree to practice in a rural community for a certain number of years. However, experts say the long-term, sustainable solution involves change at the systems level, including funding medical education programs that train physicians in the rural areas where they will work.
Training physicians in rural areas has been shown to increase the likelihood they will then practice there. Yet only 2% of residency training occurs in rural areas. More than 75% of primary care residency training is relegated to hospitals, which many rural communities do not have, instead of community-based outpatient care.
In the meantime, locum physicians can help by seeking assignments in remote locations. Being part of a rural team, where they may not have the resources for a full-time specialist, allows locums to work across a broader range of needs.
Employer-covered Health Insurance Is on the Chopping Block for Some
January 1, 2025 | KevinMD.com
Healthcare facilities report struggling to cover increasing premiums while providing quality patient care and offering competitive salaries and benefits. One small practice in Colorado reported a 72% increase in premiums, HSA contributions, and supplemental insurance over three years.
Solutions at the regulatory level may include:
- Slowing or capping premiums
- Reducing or eliminating facility fees
- Improving hospital price transparency regulations
Without reductions in healthcare insurance costs, medical practices may pass the burden on to their employees. Respondents to a 2024 poll by Small Business Majority said they are increasing employee contributions to health plans, moving to insurance with more limited coverage, and cutting other benefits to continue paying for their employee healthcare. Nearly 25% said they have already wholly dropped employer-covered health insurance.
Sponsored Content
Shaping the Future of Cancer Staffing and Treatment
January 9, 2025 | Cancer CarePoint
Oncology staffing is at a turning point due to changes in technology, treatment options, and workforce dynamics, including the crucial role that locums oncologists and APPs play.
Significant Headlines from 2024
- Telehealth is essential for oncology consultations, follow-ups, and ongoing support, especially for rural populations and other underserved communities.
- Oncology clinicians report a higher rate of burnout on average than other specialties.
- Locum staffing expanded, even as the rest of the healthcare staffing market share shrunk for the first time since 2010.
Expectations for 2025 and Beyond
- Care will continue to shift from inpatient to outpatient with advancements in immunotherapy, targeted therapies, and enhanced support systems for managing symptoms and side effects.
- The country could be short as many as 10,000 oncology physicians within five years. This is partly because more patients are surviving their cancer diagnosis. Oncology NPs and PAs, including locums APPs, are expected to fill some gaps.
- AI and predictive analytics will forecast patient volumes and staffing needs with increasing accuracy.
- Telehealth, including virtual multidisciplinary team meetings and virtual patient consultations, makes professional collaboration and patient care more flexible and accessible.
Cancer CarePoint recruiters are available to discuss these emerging trends and support oncology clinicians in pursuing rewarding career opportunities as cancer care and staffing needs evolve.
Earn the Job by Nailing the Interview
November 2024 | OnCall Solutions
OnCall Solutions’ interviewing guide is helpful to physicians and APPs alike. It breaks down the different types of interviews, from initial recruiter call to interview with the manager, and it helpfully focuses on practical tips that apply to any situation:
Before the interview:
- Prepare key documents
- Research the employer
- Summarize your expertise, highlighting achievements
- Craft thoughtful questions
During the interview:
- Showcase your flexibility and adaptability
- Clarify the scope of work and facility protocols
- Communicate clearly and concisely, demonstrating professionalism, confidence, and humility
After the interview:
- Send a thank-you email that expresses appreciation and reiterates your qualifications and interest
OnCall recruiters are available to offer individualized support with preparation and communication. A job applicant is not the lead in every aspect of an interview, but with OnCall’s support, they can ace the parts in their control.
