Why Locums?

For me, the reason to work locums can be distilled into one word: flexibility. Originally, I started working locums because I wanted to have sections of time where I worked and sections where I could travel and not give work a single thought. It turned out to be a pretty great idea because six years later, I’m still here with the same formula.

 For some people, a locum’s position is a job to have on the side or a way to try a new specialty. For me, it’s a career choice. By working as a locum’s PA, I’m able to schedule my work in larger blocks, then have longer stretches of time to pursue my passion for travel. I’ve been able to see far more of the world than if I had the rigid schedule of most healthcare jobs. The flexibility of locums, especially with Sequoyah Staffing, has given me an amazing quality of life and the ability to trek around the globe in a way that wouldn’t be possible otherwise.

 I make it work by trying to schedule 10-14 workdays each month in a solid block or possibly two weeklong blocks. Every period of off-time, I have the option to take 1–2-week trips, whether it’s camping in the Carolinas, going diving in the Bahamas, or hiking up a volcano in Guatemala. At the same time, I will not schedule work for 1 or 2 months out of the year, in order to take more extended excursions (motorcycling across Vietnam or Mexico, for example). Despite these gaps, I often make a yearly income as good or better than my peers in more conventional positions due to the competitive compensation that can be found in locums’ jobs.

 For any passion that takes up large chunks of time, where the weekend just isn’t enough, locums is a great solution. When flexibility in life is paramount, locums’ jobs are the way to go.

By: Josiah Horneman, PA-C; Specialized in Emergency Medicine.Photo caption: Josiah in Iceland in 2022