Why More Medical Professionals are Working Freelance in 2022

The pandemic brought with it huge changes to the way we work, and with those changes came new career opportunities. This is true across industries, even the medical industry. While there will always be the need for in-person work, the rise of digital healthcare services and the need to restructure and improve the number of healthcare professionals across roles has never been more apparent.

These needs have translated into unique opportunities for medical professionals. Working as a travel medical professional, or as a locum, means filling in temporarily to cover sick employees, or to help prop up a surgery or hospital during a busy period.

There are so many reasons why more medical professionals are becoming locums. Today, you can successfully become a travel nurse, or a locum pharmacist, and enjoy these many great benefits:

Higher Daily Rate

When you are only covering a shift or short period you will usually earn more per day than your salaried counterparts. While one job on its own isn’t enough to help you out-earn those on a salary, if you can fill your schedule with regular work, this is a great, simple way to earn a much higher salary than you are used to.

When it comes to daily rate, there is one very important thing to keep in mind. While the daily rate will usually be higher than standard, you will need to negotiate your worth. The good news is that every new job is the chance to renegotiate, so you can continuously improve your salary expectations and boost your career.

You Are in Charge of Your Schedule

You are not at the behest of any employer when it comes to your schedule. If you know you’ll need a week off to go on vacation, you can simply not take on work during that week. If you are sick, don’t accept work. When you oversee your schedule, you can take on work only when it’s convenient to you.

This means that if you need extra money, you can even go the opposite way and work more than you normally would.

You Become a Networking Champion

Every professional needs to network, and freelancers or, in this case, locums are the best at it. You will have showcased your professionalism and experience to teams and employers throughout your city or county. Not only does this help bump you up to the top of the list of their preferred locums, but it also means more unique opportunities may come your way.

You Enjoy a Better Work/Life Balance

Work/life balance is more than just making sure you spend more time at home. It means that you enjoy work and life equally. A lot of the time when someone is experiencing a terrible work/life balance, it’s because of a bad manager. If you work somewhere and hate the atmosphere and those in charge, you never have to work there again. Similarly, if you love working somewhere you can often set alerts so that you can get all the shifts available and become semi-regular.