Reminder

 Locum work, also called relief work, has always been a thing in both the human and veterinary medicine fields. Oddly, it seems like it's mostly nurses from the human side who do locum work, while it is DVMs who travel around in vet med. When the world turned upside down during COVID-19, locum work really took off to the point where it has become a solid career option for some veterinarians. 

Some assignments can last for months, such as covering maternity leave for a regular employee, while others consist of an occasional overnight or weekend shift. Some practitioners use locum work to travel widely, while others stick closer to home. There are companies who will find locum assignments for you (for a fee usually), or you can arrange them yourself through personal connections. 

Locum work can pay really well. DVMs covering overnights at an emergency clinic can earn over $1500 for a 12-hour shift. That's a car or student loan payment or money saved for a trip. You can be paid as a regular W-2 employee or as a 1099 contractor, which is a bit more complicated for tax reporting. You have to arrange DEA licenses for each location that you work at. And if you travel, you'll need a license to practice in each state. All of that is just bookkeeping. Quite manageable. 

Locum work isn't for everyone. It takes a certain personality and ability to walk into a strange clinic with pre-existing technical protocols and interpersonal drama and get right to work treating patients. To add to the stress, a DVM, locum or otherwise, is expected to be a team leader. It doesn't matter if you don't know where the bathroom is. A relief practitioner needs to both check their ego and take the lead. 

I've started picking up Saturday shifts at a local clinic. I only do one shift per month, and sometimes skip a month. The clinic is corporate, meaning it is owned by a much larger company, so I was hired as an hourly employee with W-2 wage and tax reporting. 

Why would I do this when I have a perfectly good job? There are lots of reasons! For starters, when I pick up a Saturday shift, one of the regular vets gets to spend that day with their family. Burn out is a problem in vet med. I'm helping out my colleagues.

While that sounds terribly noble, there is also a selfish reason that I'm doing it. I get to put my hands on living animals. I get to practice medicine. I absolutely thrive as a veterinary pathologist and am good at it, but working a Saturday in the clinic reminds me why I spent all that time and money getting the DVM degree. 

Because of the many bad habits I've picked up from being a pathologist, I told this clinic that I would absolutely not do surgeries, dentals, or even laceration or wound repair. I would only take wellness clients. I would be okay with giving vaccines, but no other sharp things should be put in my hand, ever. And they are fine with that! 

I see between 14 and 18 clients per shift, which is a lot. Each time I do a relief shift, my hands and brain remember physical exam skills that I learned in school but haven't had a chance to use since I graduated. Sure, we do physical exams before a necropsy but we are evaluating very different things about the animal in front of us.

 The owners I work with are in a different place too. They are bringing their pets in for wellness exams, vaccines, parasite preventatives, nail trims. Simple stuff. Basic health care. For the most part, they are relaxed and calm. It's a different world.  

There's another reason I'm doing this. I've already started to think about retirement from my current job. I'm still a couple of years out but now is the time to start planning. By keeping my skills up and my connections solid, I can step from my current job into part-time relief work without a break. I am grateful that I have that option.