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The best states in the US to work and have fun as a locum tenens doc

September 25, 2020 by LocumTenensGuy

Vlad Dzhashi, MD

One of the perks of working locum tenens is to experience new places and meet new people. It’s the beauty of the job – you get to travel to different states, get exposed to variety of work environments, and explore the surroundings.

The United States is such a gorgeous and diverse place. Why not enjoy the beauty of it while you are traveling on the job?

It’s a no brainer: You make more money than you normally would at a permanent job, while also experiencing new and exciting places.

Today, I want to share with you my “bucket list” of fun locations YOU should consider visiting around the country.

I am listing the places where you can easily find locum tenens gigs AND have fun and adventures at the same time.

Let’s roll!

Winter Getaways:

Even though I am based in Seattle, let’s face it, the winters here are depressing!

The weather is not as cold or snowy as the Midwest, and the temperatures rarely get below freezing, but the foggy, rainy and gloomy skies get old very fast!

No wonder Seattleites drink lots of coffee! My theory is that Seattle has such a vibrant coffee scene just due to the fact that it’s hard to wake up to these kinds of winters.

So naturally, a perfect getaway in the winter is for me to find a locum tenens job somewhere sunny and warm, like…

Hawaii

Volcano Hiking

Yes, you read that right – you can actually hike an active volcano in Hawaii. Keep in mind that it is just not erupting as you are hiking!

There are many great trails around Mauna Kea on the Big Island and Mount Haleakala on Maui. In Hawaii, there are exactly two seasons: “kau” (summer), and “hoolio” (winter), and not many people realize that winter hiking is great fun.

Volcanoes National Park in the Big Island is a playground for hiking enthusiasts. Try Kilauea Iki Trail, which starts in the rain forest on the crater’s rim. Then hit Devastation Trail, where on a clear day you can view the summits of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea.

The National Park Service also has some great suggestions for where to hike during the winter months.

Whale watching

Another great activity is whale watching. During the months of January through March, whales will frolic in the open Pacific waters during their annual migration, and it is a sight to see! Book ahead for a whale watching tour, as they may fill up quickly.

Surfing

Check out the surfing contests, or go surfing yourself! Hawaii is known the world over for its epic surfing. During the winter, the swells only get bigger, making it a prime time of year for this most adventurous of water sports.

The waves can reach record-breaking and even dangerous heights. So it is an obvious choice for world-class surfers to show off their skills. Between November and December every year, Sunset Beach is the location of one of the planet’s largest surfing competitions.

The Vans Triple Crown of Surfing. Head out early and grab your spot on the sand for a day of incredible surf watching.

California

Whether you enjoy spending your down time in a city, or out in nature, California is the place to be

SF and LA

San Francisco is a big city in a tiny area, making it very walkable and a great place to hang your hat while doing your locum tenens.

It is refreshing to simply explore the city on foot. And while you’re at it, hop on a cable car for an authentic San Francisco experience! Everywhere, there is great shopping and great food.

Los Angeles is a sprawling madhouse of a city, and here you will find both culture and relaxing beaches. Santa Monica Beach & Pier is the perfect antidote to getting the kinks out after work.

Visit the pier, with its great shops and food options, then walk down to the beach and watch the sun set. After dark, hop on the famous roller coaster, when the whole thing lights up and you get a fantastic sensory experience.

Beaches

The Golden State also has an endless number of perfect beaches to choose from. But I will attempt to highlight the best here.

You can’t get much more relaxing than Malibu. Dive into the Californian lifestyle and spend some time at El Matador State Beach.

Here the beautiful landscape will take your breath away. Enjoy great ocean views high atop rugged cliffs. Explore the sea caves, and then gawk at magnificent sunsets.

Florida

Despite being a warm state all year round, the state of Florida is very diverse in its landscape. It just depends on what your interests are!

Coastline

Florida has endless miles of coastline, and the northern beaches of Daytona and Coco Beach are a great way to spend your downtime. Not only are the beaches warm and inviting, but their boardwalk areas offer tons of shopping and great bars and restaurants.

Miami

Further south, Miami is another great spot, with its wonderful shopping and cultural attractions. Miami is a mecca for Cuban culture, with its enticing art deco architecture and beautiful people. And who doesn’t love salsa music and great street art everywhere?

Of course, there is Miami Beach, with its clear blue waters, exciting nightlife and boardwalk area. If you do it right, you will need a few days just to explore this area!

Key West

Finally, Key West is a great way to spend some down time and get a true taste of the Caribbean island life. From Key Largo all the way down to Key West, the vibrant waters of the Gulf of Mexico will captivate you as you island hop with a tropical drink in your hand.

Just don’t hold that drink while you’re driving!

Arizona

Arizona in the winter months is a really pleasant place to spend your time. Phoenix is a big city, with lots to see, and just outside of town are some really nice outdoor activities.

To experience the overall natural beauty of Arizona, visit the Desert Botanical Gardens. Here you will see plants that accentuate the beauty of the surrounding Sonoran Desert. During November-December, witness the amazing spectacle of hand-lit luminaria bags and twinkle lights that illuminates the desert at night.

Speaking of awesome light displays, try to catch the World Lantern Festival in Phoenix. Following Chinese tradition, this festival is held every year and attracts quite the crowd! The festival also hosts a number of global cultures and cuisines.

Hiking Arizona during winter is the optimal time, since the scorching hot summers make it difficult! Phoenix has a number of great trails, but also get to Sedona for some epic hiking!

Sedona is an artist’s and fitness-lovers retreat, in a laid-back town with incredible scenery.

Skiing

Skiing is so much fun! And…it will keep you active during the winter.

Luckily, the U.S. has some of the best ski resorts in the world. Here are some of the places where you could combine working locum tenens with enormous fun…

UTAH:

Park City, Utah is considered by many to be the best ski destination on the planet. And it couldn’t be easier to get there, as it’s only 40 minutes by car from Salt Lake City Airport!

There are many reasons why this ski town is so popular. First and foremost, it has some of the best powder on Earth. With any luck, you will catch a Monster Dump – when 12 or more inches fall in a 24-hour period. Then watch out, because the skiers will arrive in droves!

And when the ski day is over, visitors and locals alike will descend upon Park City’s walkable and historic Main Street, with its great restaurants, pubs, and vibrant nightlife.

Colorado:

If Park City is the best then skiing in Colorado comes not far behind. Aspen and Vail is in close proximity to the Denver airport.

You may have heard that Vail is the place to see and be seen in Colorado, as lots of celebrities have their ski vacations here. But you’ve come for the skiing, right? So who needs a bunch of celebrities?

Vail, in particular, is a prime ski spot, due to its many trails and unique landscape, forming perfect back bowls, with seven miles of pure powder.

And Aspen, the quirky spirit patron saint of Hunter S. Thompson, offers four mountains for your skiing pleasure. One great thing about Aspen is that it is typically quieter than Vail, so you will rarely encounter lines at the ski lift.

Aspen also boasts the longest ski run in Colorado, at 5 miles! This town also has a great little main street area, with great food and shopping.

Summer Getaways

Summers are the BEST time to work and play in the Pacific Northwest states of Oregon and Washington.

Washington state:

Oregon:

The best time is typically July through September, as June can still be a little cool and cloudy. But once the sun decides to make an appearance, it’s no holds barred and summers here are loaded with plenty of fun outdoor activities.

In the Pacific Northwest, you have the best of both worlds, with big cities full of great food, shopping and culture. Then there are the mountains and the ocean. It’s an outdoor lover’s dream.

Seattle has Pike Place Market, the Space Needle, and the best seafood on the west coast. There are many different neighborhoods to explore, and the views of Puget Sound are amazing!

Portland has a great music scene, great breweries, and more of a small-town feel than Seattle. It also has different neighborhoods to explore and over 600 food carts with food from all over the world!

Hiking and biking is a way of life for Portlanders – it is a bike-friendly city, with many large forested parks to hike in. Forest Park is the best.

It will be hard to choose your outdoor adventure in the Pacific Northwest, because there is just so much to see and do here. In Washington, you can explore the San Juan Islands of Puget sound north of Seattle.

Then there is Olympic National Park, which has the only temperate rainforest in the country.

In Oregon, the coastline has many different small towns and beaches to explore, full of history and great food. And don’t miss a drive through the Columbia River Gorge, just east of Portland. Multnomah Falls is the shining star here.

Alaska

If you land a locum tenens gig in Alaska, you are in for a treat. There is endless backcountry to explore, and the fishing here is world-class. Stunning beauty awaits you in this remote land.

The highlights in Alaska are Denali National Park, Kenai Fjords National Park, and the historic town of Denali. For the adventurous, try ziplining at Icy Strait Point in Hoonah. Or go on a guided glacier hiking excursion.

RV travel:

In between locum tenens gigs, it may be a great idea to rent an RV and just explore.

Why travel with an RV? There are so many reasons!

You can travel throughout the year.
You can work on your assignment for a few months then take off and drive to another one, exploring along the way.
Driving an RV means you take your temporary home with you wherever you may roam! No hotels to check into, and no unpacking and repacking your suitcase!
RV travel gives you freedom to explore wide open spaces, such as National Parks, without having to plan where you need to stop for the night. Just find an RV park or campground, wherever you go.

As you work different locum tenens jobs throughout the country, why not have a ton of fun along the way?

I want this post to inspire you (and myself) for your next locum tenens adventure. Stop postponing great things, and spring into action NOW!

P.S. I’m turning to you. What destination is on YOUR bucket list?

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Powerful yet simple tips on organizing your Locum Tenens Life (Bonus: list of time-saving resources I use).

August 25, 2020 by LocumTenensGuy

Vlad Dzhashi, MD

If you’re having trouble organizing your locum life (and let’s be honest who hasn’t) then the following post could be a GAME-CHANGER.

But first…you MUST realize that keeping things in order works like magic. When you’re organized you feel better, work better, and not only that, your life works better.

The alternative is to be overwhelmed…’cause we all know that working locum tenens has lots of moving parts: finding new jobs, scheduling, traveling, paperwork, tax planning…you name it! It’s SOOOO easy to feel like you’re drowning and barely able to keep up.

Ultimately, YOU have a choice:

You can be the person who spends twenty minutes looking for his hospital badge, pager and car keys every time you leave for work. Or you can be the person who simply walks out the front door.

ORGANIZING YOUR "LOCUMENTS"

As you progress through your career, you’re going to accumulate more and more “history”: this means documents, documents, and more documents.

So…organizing all this crap is important. This way, it will always be right on hand, and you won’t have to spend hours tearing your house apart trying to find what you need.

Physical storage for documents

First things first, you need to keep hardcopies of all the important docs in one place at your home office.

Here’s how I do it:

- Provider agreements (locum tenens companies’ contracts)
- State licenses
- Malpractice certificates (aka COI’s)
- ACLS, BLS certificates
- Immunization records
- Tax records
- Diploma
- Residency certificate
- CME records
- Board certificate
- DEA registrations

Virtual storage

The next step is to set up a “virtual” backup. This way you can access your documents anytime, anywhere.

Start by getting a scanner and scanning all your important stuff to cloud storage. I bought an All-in-One HP printer: it prints, scans and makes copies. It costs under $100 and it’s an absolute MUST for a functioning home office.

In case you’re wondering about the best place to store your documents, I recommend one of the following: Google Drive, iCloud or Amazon Drive. Most of these services are free for the basic data package.

Personally I use Google Drive to keep electronic copies of all my credentialing documents. I’ve had a good experience with it,as it’s synced with my Gmail account.

You should also create a separate folder on your computer desktop with ALL important documents. This way you can attach them to an email quickly since the majority of communication with agencies and hospitals is via email.

Using cloud-based storage will save you a TON OF TIME when you’re applying for a new license or hospital privileges. You simply download and attach all the requested documents to an email, and can also choose to share them by emailing a link.

Dealing with multiple pagers and badges:

If you work in more than two hospitals, make sure you create a separate badge and pager storage.

The worst thing that can happen is a last moment PANIC before going to the airport when you cannot find your hospital badge.

I bought this nice little basket and store only pagers and hospital badges there. It looks different from all the other storage boxes I’ve got at home and I try to always keep it in the same place.

Also, put a sticky note on each pager with the name of the hospital, as sometimes it’s not easy to figure out which pager you need.

TAX DEDUCTIONS TRACKING

Keeping track of your locum tenens expenses is another “time-pit” I used to waste my time on.

Even though you file taxes only once a year, getting an exact number of HOW MUCH you could deduct takes lots of time.

If you’ve ever filed taxes as an independent contractor, you know what I am talking about: if you’re not organized well, let’s just say that filing taxes is going to be HELL.

One hack I’ve found very useful is to keep a separate debit card account and use it ONLY for locum-tenens-related expenses. This way, you can quickly go over all your transactions using online banking and get the exact dollar amount of your annual expenses to deduct.

Another great helper is www.mint.com. This is free and very easy to use.

Mint connects to your bank account(s), lets you tag different expenses and put them under different categories for a really detailed view. This way you can see where your money went and where it came from, whether these are personal or locum tenens expenses.

EXPENSES RECEIPTS

If you ever get audited by the IRS (spoiler alert: it’s not a fun experience), you want to have proof you’ve actually spent money you claimed you spent.

To track receipts, I take pictures of my receipts and then back these up on a cloud storage.

If you want to get “fancy” you can use an Expensify app. This one is actually also well suited for people who want to track their day-to-day expenses. This app is basically an expense management system.

Its best feature is the ability to take pictures of your receipts, which the app then transcribes and stores. In addition to this, you can track your credit cards, log mileage using GPS and even connect to apps like Uber and Lyft.

TRAVEL

Although this is technically not a “travel” app, Evernote is one of the few apps that I actually use a lot when I travel.

The main use for me is the ability to create checklists. After forgetting my gym clothing and my noise-canceling headphones (they are a big deal to me as they help me sleep better in hotels), I sat down and created a packing list of ALL the things I need when traveling.

Another cool feature I absolutely LOVE in Evernote is called “Web Clipper.” It allows you to save your favorite articles and other web content that you can then access when you are offline. This is very handy and gives you something to read during long plane flights.

MANAGING PASSWORDS

If you’re like most people, then you probably have DOZENS OF PASSWORDS which need to be remembered – this is an unfortunate side effect of the digital age. Keeping track of passwords can be a major headache.

Another mistake I’ve seen people make is using the same password for everything. This is seriously dumb and can cause major problems.

Remembering passwords can also be a big problem if you work in more than ONE hospital or work at the hospital sporadically.

A simple solution is password management apps.

Lastpass is a password manager which encrypts your passwords and stores them online. You can access it from your web browser or phone, which is very useful when you’re at the hospital.

1password is similar to Last Pass and essentially does the exact same thing.

Both apps are super affordable: 1password is $2.99/month, while Last Pass has a limited free version, otherwise starts at $3/month.

Completing timesheets and other PDF docs

TImesheets are annoying, but you are not gonna get any “cheese” unless you fill them out. It’s as simple as that.

I used to print my timesheets out, fill them out, scan them and then send in an email. It was very clunky.

Recently, I’ve discovered a website called DocHub which makes it easy to edit my timesheets and other PDF files.

If you use Gmail, simply click on the PDF attachment that comes in an email, click on “open with” and select DocHub – PDF sign and edit.

If you don’t use Gmail or your timesheet is already saved on your computer, go to the https://dochub.com/ and sign up. You could then upload your PDF and edit it quickly.

One of the features that I absolutely LOVE is the ability to create a nice-looking “hand” signature and add it to any part of your document with two clicks. This saves me lots of time since I don’t have to print out the document, sign it and then scan it.

Getting rid of the stuff: Shredder

Amazon basics shredder is less than $50, and it’s an important home office tool to prevent identity theft. You can get rid of your sensitive information and always have peace of mind.

I also use my shredder to get rid of old credit cards and hospital badges.

BONUS: list of resources I use

That’s it! These are all the things that can make your locums life BETTER.

They are all simple but actionable ways to prevent stress and frustration.

Below, I listed all the time-saving resources I use.

Virtual storage for both documents and photos of receipts

Google Drive

Expense tracking

Mint

Create lists and save my favorite online articles to read offline

Evernote

Password manager

LastPass

Completing and signing timesheets and other PDF docs

DocHub

Printer

HP All in one Deskjet

Shredder

Amazon Basics Shredder

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Let Yourself, Not Your Employer, Choose Your Lifestyle and Income

September 17, 2017 by LocumTenensGuy

Locum tenens is an extremely flexible and lucrative way to practice medicine. You become your own boss and can plan your schedule and lifestyle to fit your own needs. Here are real life examples from hospitalists that I have worked with who chose a locum tenens lifestyle for different reasons:

Flexibility is the main perk of working locum tenens, here’s why:

September 15, 2017 by LocumTenensGuy

Flexibility is the main reason why I’ve been practicing locum tenens since it allows me to create the schedule that fits my lifestyle. It feels great being able to decide for myself if I’m willing to make a nice lump sum in the next several months or to take off and travel. I know I can do it without asking anyone’s permission – this is the greatest thing of all!

latest

Vlad Dzhashi, MD

Winter Getaways:

Hawaii

Volcano Hiking

Whale watching

Surfing

California

SF and LA

Beaches

Florida

Coastline

Miami

Key West

Arizona

Skiing

UTAH:

Colorado:

Summer Getaways

Washington state:

Oregon:

Alaska

RV travel:

P.S. I’m turning to you. What destination is on YOUR bucket list?

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Ultimately, YOU have a choice:

Table of Contents

ORGANIZING YOUR "LOCUMENTS"

Physical storage for documents

Virtual storage

Dealing with multiple pagers and badges:​

TAX DEDUCTIONS TRACKING

EXPENSES RECEIPTS

TRAVEL

MANAGING PASSWORDS

Completing timesheets and other PDF docs

Getting rid of the stuff: Shredder

BONUS: list of resources I use

As featured on

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Dealing with multiple pagers and badges: