Locum Tenens, VISTA Staffing Solutions

• Contact a Recruiter

Under the direction of the VISTA Medical Directors, we are compiling resources to help physicians who have left the clinical world and now want to return to active practice. We believe bringing talented physicians back into the workforce is critical as both the physician shortage and the demand for care intensify

Two-year (sort of) rule

As a general rule, a physician who has not been in clinical practice for two years must go through some form of testing or retraining to quality for licensure and professional liability insurance.

Determine requirements for recertification in your specialty

We recommend that you contact the American Board in your medical specialty to get a clear understanding of their requirements for re-entry. Make sure to specify that this is a non-remedial situation. The website www.abms.org has links to all major medical specialty boards. Start here as well if you are considering making a transition from one medical specialty to another.

Keep your licenses current

If at all possible, keep up with your CME and keep your licenses current. Reinstating lapsed licenses adds a whole layer of complexity to the process.

Or find out requirements to reactive licenses

Don't despair if you have inactivated your licenses. Contact your state medical board and, again, get a clear understanding of the requirements for reactivating a license in a non-remedial situation.

Assess your network

Once you understand the requirements and are confident that you can meet them, assess your professional network. Contact the group or facility you were last affiliated with to discuss a preceptorship or proctoring arrangement.

Next, consider the program where you completed your residency or a program in the area in which you currently live. Contact the program director to discuss retraining programs or mini-fellowship opportunities. To search for programs and program directors, visit http://www0.ama-assn.org/vapp/freida/srch/ .

We also recommend that you contact your state or county medical society to find out what programs they offer for non-remedial re-entry.

Programs

We are in the process of researching several national programs across the country aimed at physician retraining and re-entry. Although we can’t yet endorse these programs, we encourage you to check them out if appropriate.

Opportunities for Training/Re-training

• California (San Diego)
  UC-San Diego School of Medicine
  PACE Program
  (619) 543-6670
  upace@ucsd.edu
  
  
• Colorado (Denver)
  Center for Personalized Education for Physicians (CPEP)
  (303) 577-3232
  cpep@cpepdoc.org
  
  
• Oregon (Portland)
  Oregon Health Sciences University
  Inter-institutional Physician Retraining Program
  Kendra Feybert
  (503) 494-6552
• Pennsylvania (Philadelphia)
  Drexel Physician Re-entry
  Cynthia Johnson, Assistant Dean
  (215) 762-2580
  Cynthia.johnson@drexelmed.edu
  
  
• Wisconsin (Madison)
  University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
  Cathy Means
  (608) 263-6637
  cjmeans@ocpd.wisc.edu
  
  
• Texas (Fort Worth)
  JPS Network Retraining Program
  Lidia Hora
  Department of Family Medicine
  (817) 927-3594
  LHora@jpshealth.org

Finding work

We genuinely hope that VISTA can be a resource for you and other physicians who want to come back into the workforce. We are interviewing clients to test their comfort level with the idea and to understand their requirements as well. One thing we know for sure is that board certification is very important. Clients rely on it to ensure your continued competence and, as a matter of fact, require almost all locum tenens physicians to be board certified or board eligible these days.

There is really no hard and fast minimum standard for retraining time and effort. Each retraining program we have investigated is individualized and addresses a physician's specific situation. Please feel free to call us to discuss your options and how we can be of assistance. Call 800-366-1884 and ask to speak to a recruiter in your medical specialty, or: