Don’t Rule Out the Rural Emergency Rooms

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     Are you money motivated? If you are, a rural emergency room may be a perfect option for making excellent money outside of a busy, stressful, high volume, trauma center. Too many times I hear physicians say it’s all about the money, and that “if you can’t pay me $250 per hour or more, I am not interested.” Keep an open mind. Don’t get me wrong, these rates can be achieved, but be ready to step into an emergency department that hasn’t slept in years. In many cases, if a physician is going to be out of their home on an assignment for 4 or 5 days, it is quite possible working in a lower volume, less acute, rural facility may actually pay a little more in that time frame. For example, for a five day assignment in a low volume emergency room, you could make over $1,500 more than a 5 day assignment in a higher volume facility. How you ask—a lower volume emergency room (maybe seeing 7,000 visits annually) will usually allow physicians to run 24 hour shifts. So in a 5 day assignment, a physician could work 24 hours on, 24 hours off, and so on for a total of 72 hours worked and 48 hours off. On the other hand, a higher volume facility will only allow physicians to work 12 hours at a time, so in five days, the physician would only be working about 60 hours total. Although the lower volume facility may be paying less per hour, physicians can work more hours which equates to more money total for the assignment than fewer hours worked for higher pay. Also, working in a lower volume facility gives you the chance to breath. You have the ability not only to supplement your income but you would have time to sleep, study for continuing education tests, and so much more all while getting paid. So next time you get a call from a Medestar recruiter offering a locums position paying a lot lower than you expect, be sure to keep an open mind-it may mean more money for you in the end.
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Nick Rogers is Director of Recruiting at Medestar.
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