Vlad Dzhashi, MD
Becoming a traveling doctor is a dream for many people!
A lot of physicians and medical students would agree that traveling is one of the best things you can experience in life.
And…it doesn’t even matter if your favorite place is in the US, Europe, or Asia. If you’ve ever caught a “travel bug,” it becomes your passion and your lifestyle.
But…
Here’s a catch 22:
You work and make money = You don’t travel
You travel = You don’t work and don’t make money
If you work a traditional full-time physician job, this is sad but true.
You see, most medical professionals are stuck with a few weeks of vacation per year. This means they can travel only once a year.
This may work for some, but if you want to be a traveling doctor (i.e. a real “nomad”), this is simply NOT enough to satisfy your wanderlust…
And even if you are a 7on/7off hospitalist, you have only seven days off at a time to travel.
The trouble is that any travel outside of the US would mean changing time zones (sometimes 10 or more). So if you travel in seven-day increments, you’ll have to constantly adjust to new clocks.
This sucks!!!
You will NOT enjoy your trips and you won’t be able to visit a lot of really exciting places.
You may be wondering:
Ok, I gotcha, this makes sense. But I DO want to make much more than average salary AND travel a lot…is this even possible?
YOU BET IT IS!
With locum tenens you can create the schedule that fits your lifestyle: YOU decide HOW MUCH vacation time you want and WHEN you want it.
Not only that, your work time makes you MORE money so you’ll have more cash to spend.
Sounds like a perfect COMBO to become a doctor that travels a lot!
In the next few minutes, you’ll learn exactly how YOU can create a one-of-a-kind vagabond lifestyle without giving up on money.
Let’s jump right in.
Traveling doctor's option #1:
Work locums and travel in “clusters.”
Clusters? What the hell is this?
Clusters are “longish” periods of time ranging from a few weeks to a few months.
So…for example, you can alternate between a month of working locums and a month off.
Another example could be working for three months (e.g. a lot of hospitalist gigs are 3-4 months long) and taking a couple of months off after that.
This way you’ll have more than enough time to travel AND recuperate at home before you kick off with your next stretch.
Personally, I’ve been “clustering” my work in the fall and spring and leaving summer time off so that I can travel when my kids have a school breaks.
Of course, how much time off you can “afford” will depend on how much you are trying to make.
The lower your desired amount is, the longer your time off could be, and the easier it is to create your “perfect schedule.”
But!
What if you wanna make “effing money” FIRST and travel the world AFTER hitting it big?
The next option is for you…
Traveling doctor's option #2:
Make lump sum and then travel
If you’ve got ambitious plans AND you want to become a traveling physician and see the world without giving up on them, the following approach works like a charm.
What do I mean by “ambitious plans”?
This could be anything from paying off your mortgage or medical school loans, making a large investment, saving money to start your own business, to simply having $ [name your number] in the bank…
Locum tenens gives you control to do that.
And, if you combine this approach with a frugal lifestyle you’ll end up with lots of cash that you can invest or spend on whatever makes you tick.
The success formula here is rather simple:
- Come up with your after-tax $ amount.
- Decide how fast you can possibly make it.
- Get Board-Certified and receive all the other required certifications
- Calculate how much time you need to make this happen.
- Buckle down and work until you’ve got it!
Of course, don’t forget to get board-certified, get good number of state medical licenses and receive all the other required certifications if you’re fresh from training.
Here’s a good example of one of my buddies who is a hospitalist and a hard-core real-estate investor. He’s used this approach to achieve impressive results.
He would schedule his locum’s shifts based on how much cash he needed to buy his next investment property in California, New York or Florida. After he had saved enough, he took time off to regroup before his next big project.
This approach worked extremely well for my friend: he now owns multiple homes in CA and he visited a lot of fun places all over the world in his time off.
Sounds like a sweet deal to me!
Now, coming up next:
I’m about to show you how you can leverage locum tenens to travel for FREE…
This unique opportunity is available exclusively to the locum tenens docs and it is a great way to visit the most exciting places in America.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can hear you thinking: “There’s no FREE lunch…”
Don’t be a naysayer!
Just read on and you’ll see what I mean…
Locum tenens = free vacation
You see, when you travel to your locum tenens location, your airfare, rental car, and hotel are already paid.
Now…to “convert” your locums trip into a FREE vacation, all you need to do is to leave enough time to check out those local “hot” spots.
For example…
If you’re a hospitalist working 7on/7off or emergency medicine/urgent care doc working block schedule, you can fly in a couple of days early and stay a few days longer after your last shift.
Or…
Instead of returning home during your week off, you can stick around and spend the whole week touring the surroundings.
If you work Monday through Friday on the other hand (e.g. internal medicine doc doing primary care), you can travel on the weekends. To free up even more time for travel, you can negotiate a shorter work week for example Monday through Thursday or even Wednesday)
The point is: there are multiple ways to make it work and become a traveling physician.
And, if you you don’t mind rural areas or underserved areas, you may have even more options!
Thankfully, in the locum tenens “healthcare business,” everything is up for negotiation, including the details of your travel.
Now, you may be thinking…
Ok, Vlad…I’ve got time off, my travel is paid for…but what the hell am I going to do with my time off? How do I actually have FUN?
Don’t you worry, brothers and sisters…
I’ve got you covered!
I am about to show you a way to find countless travel ideas and…
you’ll have an unforgettable experience you’ll remember for the rest of your life.
I bet this will open your eyes!
Bonus: How to spice up your locum tenens life
In the summer of 2018 I was planning my next trip to Napa, California, where I was supposed to do a long stretch of shifts.
While browsing the internet to check the ratings of my hotel, I spotted a “things to do” section. I clicked it and saw a list of DOZENS of travel experiences: tours, trips, outdoor activities, classes, workshops…
At that moment, the LIGHT BULB went off:
Why don’t I treat my locum tenens trip the same way I treat my vacation trip?!
Let me tell ya…this “revelation” MADE A HUGE DIFFERENCE, as my next locum tenens trip turned out to be the best I’ve ever had!
And…I was also mad at myself for missing out on SO MANY adventures for years!!!
Here’s what you need to turn your next trip into a vacation you’ll enjoy 500%:
1 – Go to tripadvisor.com.
2 – Type your location in the search box.
3 – Click on “things to do.”
4 – Choose the kind of fun you want.
Another great source is airbnb.com:
1 – Go to the website and type in your location.
2 – Click on “experiences” or “adventures.”
And the best thing, if you expand your TripAdvisor or Airbnb search to the state level, you can find many more fun things to do in ANY part of the country.
This approach will work perfectly regardless of what your medical specialty is.
Final thoughts:
If traveling is your passion and you are itching to check out the most beautiful and exciting places that exist in the world without giving up on your career, know this…
Locum tenens is the BEST way to travel, see the world, create perfect work-life balance AND make $!
Period.
Nice Job on this writings Vlad!
Thanks, Lukasz!