Awakened Anesthetist

Want a New Job? A Deep Dive with LocumTenens.com

• Season 4 • Episode 71

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Are you a CAA looking for a new job? Discover how Certified Anesthesiologist Assistants (CAAs) can revolutionize their careers with the growing number of locums opportunities. I sit down again with Sabrina Strange from LocumTenens.com to break down the exact process to land your dream job.

In this episode we discuss:

  • common fears surrounding locums work
  • the paperwork involved: state CAA licenses and hospital credentialing 
  • the money, including pay rates and travel arrangements
  • how to make your first day go smoothly


LocumTenens.com has recently updated their platform to make it more accessible than ever for CAAs eager to explore the locums market. For anyone considering a dynamic career path with unmatched flexibility, this episode is packed with valuable insights and encouragement to explore the burgeoning CAA locums market.

Listen to my first interview with LocumTenens.com ep. 63

Interested in working locums? Receive 3 free resources to help you get started.

Check out CAA locums opportunities at LocumTenens.com


You can now text me! Questions/Suggestions

Support Aaliyah Walker, an OB patient whose care deeply impacted our 2025 AAAA President, Nicole Moore. Learn how you can aid Aaliyah’s recovery and amplify her impact.


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Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Awakened Anesthetist podcast, the first podcast to highlight the CAA experience. I'm your host, Mary Jean, and I've been a certified anesthesiologist assistant for close to two decades. Throughout my journey and struggles I've searched for guidance that includes my unique perspective as a CAA, At one of my lowest one. I encourage you to stick around and experience the power of being in a community filled with voices who sound like yours, sharing experiences you never believed possible. I know you will find yourself here at the Awakened Anesthetist podcast. Welcome in, Think. I first would love to have you introduce yourself again, Sabrina, and what your position is at. Locumtenantscom.

Speaker 2:

Hi, I'm Sabrina Strange.

Speaker 1:

I am a production manager for the anesthesia team on the recruiting who works at locumtenantscom and their team was looking to reach out to CAAs and found Awaken Anestis podcast and you guys had asked to collaborate and to bring more information about what it means to work locums to the CAA community and we have actually recorded an initial episode. It's in season four, so this season, if you're listening in real time, episode 63. Let me make sure, because now my brain's saying it's 65. Yeah, so it's in season four, episode 63. It's called Revolutionizing CAA Careers Exploring Locum's Work with LocumTenantscom and that's a conversation between Sabrina and I and we really lay the groundwork on what working locums means just generally for anyone and then also why the locums market has sort of been blown open to CAAs, especially through LocumTenantscom and their recent interest in placing CAAs more broadly and their recent interest in placing CAAs more broadly, as we just lay a lot of the language, the lingo that you're gonna want to be familiar with if you're interested in working locums. So I really recommend going back and to listen to episode 63 before you listen to this one.

Speaker 1:

This one we're gonna get into a little bit more of the nitty gritty. I've asked Sabrina to sort of walk through a mock scenario with me and to go through some of the big questions in my mind on what I would need to know and what the process would look and feel like. And so that's what this episode's going to be is to really give sort of a demystified look at the entire locums process and let's maybe lay out what mock scenario we want to go over. I have a couple ideas, but is there any sort of normal way that a CAA approaches locumtenantscom and wants to work locums?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think the most common scenario would be that someone signs up on our job board, so they go to locumtenantscom, they're scrolling through the jobs and they click that button that says I'm interested. And that's when I get an email notification saying hey, reach out to Mary Jean, she's interested about this specific job in Indianapolis, Gotcha.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so we'll, let's just go on that and maybe I can just play myself because, honestly, I contacted locumtenantscom years ago when I was in my own job transitions and looking to go from full-time to part-time and thought possibly working locums was the answer and I was thinking locums might be the bridge to working in different ways, working different shifts. I was working in a very narrow box in terms of what my employer would let me work in terms of hours and schedule. And, let's say, I have that mindset and I go to locumtenantscom and I'm looking on the job board and I find a job the next state over. That's interesting to me. Can you just walk me through what happens when I put my information in for that job, let's say in Colorado?

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So once you click I'm interested on our job board on that job in Colorado, you're going to have a recruiter reach out to you. So our recruiters are based on state territories, so the person who's in charge of Colorado is going to reach out and try and uncover kind of what it is that you're truly looking for. So even if you don't know and you tell them you know, I've got some vacation coverage I'm thinking about something in the long term.

Speaker 2:

In the back of that recruiter's mind they're sitting there thinking, okay, mary Jean could work a few weeks in the beginning and maybe a few more down the road when she's comfortable, and they're kind of running through that list of clients that match what you're looking for. So maybe you applied to a specific job, but they're kind of running through that list in their brain of the clients they work with and saying, wait, this might not actually be the best job, but I have this other position over here that fits what you're looking for and they're going to ask a lot of questions. It's going to feel like 20 questions sometimes. We do our best to make it not feel like that, but it does. Sometimes it not feel like that, but it does sometimes Just kind of uncover that to help you figure out which position is the best one for you.

Speaker 1:

Okay, I get that. I just think there is a lot of fear sometimes that when you reach out and make a request, that you're sort of tying yourself in to going through the full process. Can you speak to CAAs who are new to this process, or new to even imagining that they could be working locums, but they're scared to reach out because they don't want to, like, overcommit themselves or, you know, end up saying yes to something that they weren't quite ready for?

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. I think that's a common fear for anyone at any level, starting locums. So when you apply online, you're tied to nothing at that point, not even to the recruiter you're talking to. There's a huge chance. You've applied to Colorado. You're talking to Tyler Zelnio and we realize maybe you don't want to be in Colorado, maybe you actually fit better at these jobs in Indiana. You're going to swap over to the recruiter for Indiana and at that point, if you do decide you're interested in a position, you're going to give explicit consent to that recruiter. Now they're going to make sure you understand all the details and that you're comfortable and you might receive some pressure.

Speaker 2:

I'll be honest to apply for a position because we know our clients. We know which ones are making quick decisions so that if you are interested, you need to move now versus the clients that you know they've got this ongoing search. You can take a few weeks and think about it. We'll be honest with you on that. And even once you've said yes, I would like to present my information to this job through locumtenancecom. There's no, you know, commitment there. You can take an interview. You can talk to the client and decide this isn't a fit for me and say I'm not interested anymore and walk away. Now I do.

Speaker 1:

I don't know how in-depth you want to go with this, mary Jean, but Go and I will see, I'll give us all the detail and then we'll tailor it back. Yeah, Okay.

Speaker 2:

So one I think important thing to know about working locum tenens and this is through any agency is that we all work on NALTO regulations and the facilities that we work with also run through NALTO regulations. So if you have presented with us to a facility, you have a two-year kind of commitment to work through locumtenenscom if you're going to work with, you know, at that specific site or facility. Really, okay, there are some exceptions but for the most part all agencies and all facilities follow these regulations and guidelines. So you do kind of have that level of commitment but no actual, you know, forceful thing saying if you interview for this job and the facility wants you that you have to take it, you're welcome to walk away at any point.

Speaker 1:

Okay. But also that is maybe more applicable to CAAs, because in the last episode I got all excited because you were like oh, locumtenantscom can help a CAA break into a new hospital, break into a new hospital. But what you're saying now is that if locumtenantscom places me, I would have to work for locumtenantscom at that new hospital for at least two years before I were to get hired full-time by the hospital.

Speaker 2:

No, I could see where that got confusing. Okay, so no, the two years to work locums. So if you wanted to work locums to test out a facility for three months, make sure it's a good fit for you, and then you wanted to go permanent with them. They have a place in every one of our contracts. Talking about how that works, Okay, you can go permanent placement at any time.

Speaker 2:

There is a fee, just like working with a permanent agency or permanent placement agency, but that's for the facility side to pay if they're interested in bringing you on permanently. So it's not something we negotiate if we need to. So if you decide I love this facility in Colorado facility wants to bring you on long term, but then maybe they're not willing to pay that permanent placement fee, that's something we advocate on your behalf and kind of step in and figure out how to make this work for you. But there's no time limit that you have to work locums. We suggest 90 days. That's our preference. It gives you a good idea. If you actually like the facility, okay, but there's nothing tying you to saying I've worked there two weeks, I decided I love it. I want to go perm.

Speaker 1:

We're going to help you figure out how to do that. That was not too much detail. That was exactly the amount of detail I like to have, and why I personally listen to podcasts is like I want to hear these very detailed questions answered so that I can go in with eyes wide open. So perfect, sabrina. I love that. Here's another.

Speaker 1:

One of my big questions or concerns is that my understanding of locums is that there's sort of these three main things that you have to know about your own work schedule and what you want out of a job, meaning you need to know what schedule you want to work like tens eights, overnights, um. You know day shift only, so you need to know the schedule you want. You have to know your rate, so how much you want to get paid, and you need to know the location of where you want to work. You know that's sort of what you come to the job board with that information and it seems that not always is there a perfect fit that you'll find on the job board, but maybe there's a job that fits two of your three criteria and then you're talking to a recruiter to sort of figure out how to meet in the middle. Can you talk to us about how much flexibility we need to have in terms of those three expectations schedule, rate and location schedule, rate and location.

Speaker 2:

What I would say is that it's more for us to know which of our clients are flexible. So you can tell me back to Colorado, I love this job. It fits the location, it fits the rate, but maybe not the shifts. We'll be honest with you if we can present you for a different schedule than what's posted on our job board. So when we post on our job board, it's going to be what our client's ideal candidate looks like. Right, this is exactly what they're hoping for.

Speaker 2:

But we always know, or at least have a good idea on, how flexible they are, and sometimes that changes.

Speaker 2:

So you might reach out to me and say I'm only going to do this job if I can work 10-hour shifts and I'll let you know. Hey, you know, they just took on somebody that didn't quite fit what they're looking for and they aren't going to be flexible on another candidate. I'll reach out to you if that candidate leaves or if that doesn't end up working out, whereas if you'd been the first candidate to apply, we would have told you yes, they have total flexibility on this. So I would always take what's on the job board with a grain of salt and ask a recruiter what's going to be flexible and what's not.

Speaker 2:

And sometimes, mary Jean, I'll be honest, I'll tell you I'm going to present you over for 10 hours, and then the client comes back and it's like, hey, no, it's eight hours or nothing, and I'll have to, you know, follow my sword and tell you I thought they were flexible but they weren't. So that does happen and I want that to be something people are aware of. But we're always going to tell you what we think is going to be best to present over to the client Okay, and that's because the hospital is your client, just like we're your client.

Speaker 1:

So you're kind of trying to meet their needs and meet our needs and we're like meeting in the middle is kind of what's happening when a CAA talks to a recruiter.

Speaker 2:

So that recruiter is going to be advocating on your behalf to a recruiter Correct, so that recruiter is going to be advocating on your behalf, whereas I have a sales counterpart that's doing the same thing for the facility and saying, hey, Sabrina, we can't present this person because they're not going to have flexibility anymore. So there is that kind of hidden third person that you're not seeing behind the scenes unless I'm out at the office, and then you're probably going to be talking to them because they're handling it for me.

Speaker 1:

I gotcha, god, this is so good. I love hearing all of this behind the scenes. I love that you're so open about it too, like it just really makes it feel safer, because, of course, this is like a huge decision, this is some people's full-time income and it just feels like you're. You know they talk about the golden handcuffs of a full-time job that you know our society has held that up as like what the most safety is, and so anything other than that you know our society has held that up as like what the most safety is, and so anything other than that even going part time, especially in the CAA market, is rare and also feels maybe not as safe. And then locums feels like another step into sort of the unknown or not as safe. So I just love the clarity you're providing. I'm getting excited for people who are listening the clarity you're providing. I'm getting excited for people who are listening.

Speaker 1:

Okay, let's talk about the dreaded paperwork. Okay, let's keep going with our mock. So this is someone who maybe has found someone a job interesting in Colorado. We have found a match. The CAA has worked with the recruiter and found a job in Colorado that's going to meet their needs in terms of schedule, hourly rate and the location that they're wanting. And now we are faced with two really paperwork processes, if I'm understanding it correct the state licensing, so getting my Colorado CAA license, and then hospital credentialing. Start us on where we need to start talking about for either one of those.

Speaker 2:

So I'm going to start with one that you haven't even thought of and it's a third process. However, it's kind of all one process really. So we actually have an internal credentialing application. So if somebody is new to Locums, we're probably going to be talking to you about this on the first phone call. We want you to fill out this internal credentialing application. If we're presenting you to our clients because we do things like background checks, we get references, some of those beginning things, and then we get to give you that gold star on your presentation that lets our client know hey, we did due diligence, we know a lot about this candidate, and that kind of gives you that like upper hand over a candidate that hasn't credentialed with us internally yet.

Speaker 2:

But we use that internal credentialing application to pre-fill everything else past that. So you upload your CV. We have these fancy little things that read your CV and fill out part of the paperwork for you. You go in and fill out the rest. I'd say it takes about 30 minutes and then on our end, within 48 hours to two weeks, depending on how crazy we are and how quick you are trying to get presented to jobs. We're running those back processes and kind of giving you that gold stamp and then, if you are ready to get that Colorado license, we take everything from that application and pre-fill out the Colorado application for you and take off that weight and burden of that part of the process. And then we send it to you with highlights and say, hey, here's what we don't know. We need your help on these sections. And then we're talking to the Colorado board and helping them do the verifications that they need to do, helping them get the references back that they need.

Speaker 2:

We have an in-house licensing team dedicated to just that. They're great at what they do. They take as much of the burden of that licensing process from you as possible. Sounds lovely. Yes, we try. We can't always take all of the burden, but as much as we can. And then we also have a team dedicated to the internal credentialing process at the different facilities. So we have a privileging team dedicated to just that.

Speaker 2:

A lot of our people are either dedicated to certain states, so they work with the same facilities over and over again, or they're dedicated to our larger facilities we work with because they're crazy processes that they know the ins and outs of, but they're doing the same thing. They're taking that internal credentialing form, pre-filling everything that they can for you, sending it to you for signatures and any additional things needed and then running that process for you. They're talking to the MSO office and then saying, hey, the MSO, let us know that this one little thing is needed. Or hey, your references aren't getting back. Do you mind nudging them for us? But we're handling, I would say, 75% of that process. Wow. Now, of course, there's some facilities that still reach out to you even though we say, hey, reach out to us. So sometimes you have to redirect back to us, but we're always going to do everything that we can, within our own rights, do for you. Wonderful.

Speaker 1:

Okay. So let me add a little bit more clarity, just in terms of the paperwork, because I know this is something that can really overwhelm, or has overwhelmed me, as I've taken new jobs and at one point I was licensed in Florida and did that all myself and it is a major, major undertaking. How long from the time where I say, yes, I want this job in Colorado, the Colorado team and Locum Tens gets me that job and now I have to go through the state and the hospital credentialing process. How long does that take? How many emails are we going back and forth Like what am I looking at in terms of headache?

Speaker 2:

really so? The easy answer is on average, 90 days, okay. However, we all know things don't always go perfectly on average, so that's something your recruiter will be talking with you about. From the time that you present and the time you say yes to this job, you will know if it's a. I mean, we have jobs that you could be credentialed in as quickly as 48 hours, all the way to 120 days, 150 days. The average is 90. So you can pretty much assume that, unless told otherwise, but we're always going to be communicating that with you and the licensing is it depends. Yes, there's no great answer there, especially because CAA licenses aren't uniform across the country. Every state has their own guidelines of what type of license you're getting. We have a pretty little chart that tells us the average for each of those. So, once again, we're going to be telling that to you up front, but it could be anywhere between two weeks to 150 days to get a license.

Speaker 1:

Okay, yes, and I just want to clarify even further, because these two processes the state licensing so to receive my CAA, state license is an entirely different person. It's like a it's a state department versus hospital credentialing is you know the five people in HR who are doing hospital credentialing? And they're two very separate things. And you're saying locumintendentscom does everything they can to help us, but you don't control those two agencies.

Speaker 2:

Correct. I wish we did, especially for licenses.

Speaker 1:

Yes, I'm sure, and I'm also thinking that if I'm a CAA and I want to work just a week in Colorado like I'm not ready to take a big commitment, and maybe we've worked together and found a Colorado hospital that's going to allow me to work three of my eight weeks of paid vacation for my traditional job I'm going to have to do this entire process for just those three weeks as well. Right, I need my Colorado state license and I need my hospital credentialing. Correct, correct.

Speaker 2:

Okay, yes, so you're going to need that. The only caveat I'll give you is some hospitals will allow us to apply for temporary privileges, which are going to be a little bit easier to get if you're working shorter term, and some hospitals let us apply for temporary privileges for a three-month assignment and we don't have to apply for full privileges until you've worked more. That depends on the red tape of the hospital itself.

Speaker 1:

Okay, Okay, Thank you. There's so much nitty-gritty here and I wanted to get into another big bucket of questions, comments and concerns that I had in my own brain, and I'm sure other people do, which is okay. So I make this leap I'm leaving my, let's say, full-time job and I'm going to work a three-month locums contract and want to make that my full-time income. Where is my health insurance coming from? What about my 401k match that I was receiving at my traditional job? Those things that are really the golden handcuffs that people talk about that seem to matter a lot. How does locumtenantscom help us transition into this really freelance?

Speaker 2:

method? Yes, this is a question I get often from people first starting to think about locums and luckily, we have done a lot of research for you. We can't provide these things ourselves, so we have a whole section of locumcannonscom, the actual website, dedicated to resources. So the top people that we would recommend that you reach out to about health benefits, tax questions, all compiled in one area for you.

Speaker 1:

Very good. And, yeah, I just think I'm not surprised a lot of people come at you with those questions, because I think that is one of the stumbling blocks where it just feels like, oh, this is too much. I just you know what I mean, I just can't. It's too overwhelming, and it's just piece by piece. You'll have to take it on because it all does ultimately need to be done. Yes, okay, let's keep going.

Speaker 1:

I think a lot of CAAs listening have this experience where you are on the job for the first day Like you're just a traditional W-2 worker, this is your first full-time job, and you show up in, you know, like business casual attire, ready to do whatever you think your first day is, like business casual attire, ready to do whatever you think your first day is. And they're like great, why don't you take your pumps and put little shoe covers and just go in the OR and you're going to get the anesthesia your very first day and we're all like, wait a minute, what? There's nothing, there's no orientation, and I sort of made that joke. I think it's getting better, but I think a lot of CAAs, a lot of healthcare professionals, probably have that experience. How does locumtendantscom knowing that we're going to be completely fish out of water our first day. How do you help that transition? Is there communication on what first day will look like?

Speaker 2:

I am so excited to answer this question because we just launched our first app. So the locumtendantscom app has really made this a better first day situation for all of the clinicians that work with us. So we have a section in the app called your welcome packet. So within that section of our app, it's going to tell you when you need to be to the facility. If we know, like the specifics of where you need to park, who you're meeting, their contact information, any details we have on that first day will be laid out there for you in the app, which is great.

Speaker 2:

We have really worked on refining these first day reporting instructions for clinicians and we keep a draft somewhere that says this facility always says that these are the people you need to reach out to. Here's what we've learned from other clinicians that have had their first day that we should probably tell others about. So as much information as we can provide we do in that section, as well as information, like you mentioned, just your first day. But how are you getting there? What's your flight information, what's your hotel information, what things go wrong? Since we're booking those for you, it's common that you should probably know about all live within our app and then you have contact within the app to our 24 seven customer care line. If something goes wrong your first day and you're like I don't know where to go or what's happening, you can reach out to your recruiter via that app or you can even reach out to that 24 seven line line. Oh, that's awesome.

Speaker 1:

Why is the first day in medicine always so chaotic, Like? This is a theme. If you guys are tackling this, then clearly this is not just a CAA experience.

Speaker 2:

It is definitely across the board, for every specialty, every level providers.

Speaker 1:

You would think someone is thinking about this and now you are. So thank you. Okay, you kind of tiptoed into my last question and where I want to spend just a bit of time because I do think when CAAs hear about locums, you think money, like you think, oh, these really high hourly rates and I'll be able to make more money than I can at a traditional job. And you mentioned two things travel, like how are you going to drive to the OR on the first day and flight information if you have to fly to this location, to a new state, which is part of the quote, unquote money, but separate. Where do you want to start with money? Do we want to start with hourly rate and how set in stone it is if we negotiate? Where do you want to start with this sort of big conversation?

Speaker 2:

Let's start with the ugly one. First, the money. That's what people want to know, that hourly rate, yes. So from the moment you're talking about your first job with a recruiter, we're going to want to know what hourly rate you're looking for so that we have an idea and we'll be honest with you if you're being unrealistic. I've definitely told someone before. If you are getting that that you say you are right now an hour, keep that job for as long as you can.

Speaker 2:

I'm not hearing about rates like that in the industry right now, but each of our recruiters is very well versed in the specific hospitals they work with, often as well as their state, and can kind of give you an idea. If you want to be in Colorado, you're going to need to be around X rate. So if you're looking to make more than that, let's talk about other states where we can actually get that, because you're definitely going to see there are certain areas of the country that are going to make more than others and it kind of goes hand in hand with cost of living. Not always necessarily, but you can stand your ground on rate and we'll be as honest as we can with you. We try to be very transparent about rates with providers, especially if this is their first time working locums.

Speaker 2:

And as soon as you know if it isn't right now I can't find you a job in Colorado making that, I'm going to keep your name on a list somewhere and as soon as I have a job in Colorado that can make that, I'm going to be calling Mary Jean hey, finally got a job that's going to make this, but we'll definitely let you know. Hey, we can't present to this client at that rate, or if we think we can, we'll let you know. This is outside of what they're approving right now, but I'm happy to advocate and see if I can get it for you and present at something higher than we're normally presenting at. Okay.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and I think follow-up question is how do I know what my base rate is? And just to add a little bit more context, we're talking in February 2025 and I work PRN at a hospital 20 minutes down the road think it's somewhere around 175 or 180. And so just within you know the city I live there's this difference and that's for PRN, that's not for locum. So how do I who, how do I find out what even is my rate?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so definitely depends on each facility, which is why I would say your recruiters are going to know the average on each facility. They all have their kind of highs and lows of what they're willing to approve and what they aren't. But they're also looking at things like candidates availability. So if you're working PRN, I might not be able to get you as high of a rate as I could for full time Right, there's so many things that are kind of floating out there that make a difference. But I would be honest with your recruiter If you don't know what rate you should be coming in at, we're going to let you know what we're seeing on average so you can at least get that baseline.

Speaker 1:

Got it Okay. And then talk to me about travel and lodging and I assume it's on top of the hourly rate. How is that figured? Is that negotiable? Let's say we're again, we're talking about this Colorado job. In this mock scenario, I live in Missouri, I'm going to have to fly there or drive there how does that work? And I'm going to need some sort of hotel room.

Speaker 2:

Yes. So I would say, if you're thinking about travel and lodging, there's three easy ways to think about it. The most common is going to be that we are covering your travel and lodging and rental car. So we are going to say, upon presentation to this hospital, mary Jean is going to need round trip flights, a rental car and a hotel and we will be booking all of that for you. We'll let you. I mean, if there's options in the area maybe there's a Hilton and a Hyatt, we know that the client will approve both we're going to send it to you and say which would you prefer to be at?

Speaker 2:

We don't always have that luxury, especially since a lot of locums assignments can be in small areas.

Speaker 2:

But if we do have that luxury, there's a travel team that's reaching out to you and letting you know. But that's probably the most common is that we're going to be covering it and you're going to know kind of what's getting booked ahead of time and have some say as much as we can Like. If there's two different times to fly out, we're going to send you both of those flights and say let us know which one you want us to book. You're typically going to travel in the night before you start and then the day after an assignment ends, so that I would say that's industry standard after an assignment ends, so that I would say that's industry standard. And one fun thing that I'll just throw in here so if you have that you know Delta loyalty number or the different flight or rental car hotels that have you rack up points we take those numbers for you and plug them into all of the things that we're booking on your behalf, so you're still racking up some free travel down the road, even though we're paying for that flight. Awesome.

Speaker 1:

It's a fine thing no one thinks of. Yes, I don't have any of those, but it sounds like I would if I did.

Speaker 2:

Yes, the second most common thing you're gonna see and this is something you will know as soon as you talk to a recruiter about a job is an all-inclusive rate, meaning you're going to be receiving a higher hourly rate, but you will be in charge of paying for your travel and lodging as well as booking it on your own. Now, not to say that if you were like, hey, sabrina, I know nothing about this area, can you help me? I would absolutely have my travel team reach out and be like here's the hotels that we typically have people at. We're still here to help you, but it all comes out of your pocket to pay for. And then the third option is a travel stipend.

Speaker 2:

So this is something you could request yourself upon presentation, if you prefer. It's on the. I wouldn't say it never happens, but it's more rare that we have a client requesting stipends instead, and that means that you would be receiving $1,400 a week to book your own hotel rental car flight, and sometimes it's that you have a lodging stipend and then we still pay for a flight and rental car. That's the most confusing option. That is something you'll see as well.

Speaker 1:

And that is dependent on the hospital client, meaning that's just the way the hospital structures their deal.

Speaker 2:

Yes, if they prefer it, that's. I don't really know why. We have some clients that prefer it, honestly, but they do. But typically it's something like a clinician would prefer to book something on their own. It just makes their lives easier than they are the ones requesting that. They get that stipend instead, and sometimes it benefits you. If the flight and the hotel are cheaper right now, you might pocket a little bit of extra money and then there's going to be times where you're paying a little bit more out of pocket. Traditionally, I see it for people who are wanting to stay somewhere nicer than the Hilton Hyatt kind of level. We typically book clinicians at, or like a first class flight. They want you to cover you know what would be the typical business part of it. Wait is business. Yeah, coach, we book an economy level flight and they want a first class flight so that this kind of you know covers that portion for them.

Speaker 1:

Gotcha, okay, yeah, bite, so that this kind of you know covers that portion for them. Gotcha, okay, yeah. And because you were talking about hotels and I was thinking well, the people who work locums that I know are staying in more Airbnbs. So they either are working with locumtenscom or their locums provider to, as opposed to the Hilton, get me this Airbnb or they likely have a stipend.

Speaker 2:

Yes, and I think something important to add there if we are presenting you for an assignment, you can let me know. Hey, I would really like a hotel with a kitchen or kind of those nuances. Hey, I'm going to be in Colorado. I would like a four-wheel drive rental car. We can request that as soon as your presentation with the client, so that we know upfront Mary Jean prefers these things. Are you okay with covering these things?

Speaker 1:

Okay, I have a personal question. We've gotten so far into this. Now I'm all like, as I said, I was looking at locums a couple of years ago and now I'm in a PRN position where I control my schedule. And now I'm in a PRN position where I control my schedule. How I guess I'm still, I feel like, maybe jaded that a hospital is not going to want to hire me for just a week or, you know, two weeks every other month or something Like is that, does that happen, or is it they want?

Speaker 2:

people for longer than that. It depends on the hospital itself. People for longer than that. It depends on the hospital itself. We have some hospitals that will bring people on for as little as one day and then some that say, if you can't work at least two weeks a month, we're not open to that conversation. So it really is all over the board on what we see and it's their red tape. Sometimes it's not even the anesthesia department saying this is what it is. Some hospitals have guidelines saying you have to work at least as much for it to be worth it to credential Gotcha.

Speaker 1:

Yes, as we talked about the very bureaucratic paperwork process. Yes, what else? I feel like we've covered so much aside from like filling out the paperwork for people, but I just really wanted to get into the weeds a little bit on this to just really blow open CAA's understanding of what's possible or, if you're an SAA who's listening, anything else about the process that we've not touched on that you feel like we need to know to make the best decision for our job.

Speaker 2:

I kind of think honestly. I feel like we've gotten into a lot of the nitty gritty of what it really looks like to start. I can't think of anything else, but you know as much as we just had a candid conversation, I would say this is what 90% of my phone calls sound like. So if you are listening and you were like Sabrina didn't cover this, but I'm really curious One I recruit for the state of Hawaii and Utah so you can apply to one of my jobs and talk to me at any time. But I would don't be afraid to ask these questions to a recruiter, even if you really don't think locums is for you and you just have a few quick questions. It's always going to be worth our time to jump on the phone and answer questions with you. So don't ever hesitate to call text email. We do it all 24-7.

Speaker 1:

Wow, awesome. That really is encouraging because I do want CAAs to find what I call their dream life. I want everyone to be able to use their CAA career to live the life that's uniquely meant for them, and being able to have the flexibility that locums allows for just really allows you to think what's possible for me, what do I want to do? Do I want to travel? Where do I want to live? And I'm still stuck on the fact that I could see CAAs who want to work in their home state that we maybe aren't licensed in, and just somehow being able to kind of keep pushing those buttons and those levers because you know they want to work locums and you guys are willing to kind of help push some of that through and, as a CAA, that's really, really important. That matters a lot to us and our profession. So I just I'm really grateful to speak with you, sabrina. It's fun, as always, and, yeah, totally a candid conversation. I feel like we're buddies at this point.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. And, mary Jean, I will be seeing you soon at the Quad A conference, so if anyone listening to wants to come talk to me in person, I will be there and I look forward to getting to meet some CAAs for the first time.

Speaker 1:

Are you coming alone or are you coming with anyone?

Speaker 2:

I will be coming with Riley Patton, who is our Indiana and Illinois recruiter.

Speaker 1:

Awesome, yes, well, I will absolutely be there and, yes, I will stop by so we can see each other in person. Cool, wonderful, all right. Well, thank you again, sabrina, and we will talk soon. Awesome Thanks, mary Jean.

Speaker 1:

I hope you enjoyed this episode and conversation about the locum tenants market with locumtenantscom. If you are interested in pursuing locums or just maybe looking at the locumtenantscom website just to see what's available, I'm going to have some links in the show notes so you can peruse in the privacy of your own home without anyone contacting you. And also, sabrina gave me a link that if you put in your information, in exchange you will get three downloadable resources that will help you make some early decisions in your locum's journey, will help you make some early decisions in your locums journey. I did it myself. Basically, they ask you for your name and email address and then you can click on there whether you want to have a recruiter call you. That's definitely one of the things in this market that can be a bit overwhelming is that once you give your name out and your information, you do tend to receive a lot of recruiter calls. So I like that they give us the option in this link to choose whether a recruiter reached out to us or not.

Speaker 1:

I was just really impressed by Sabrina and this company, and I'm very interested to see how locumtenenscom can help build the CAA profession in terms of getting us into new hospitals, possibly new states or first hospitals in new states. That was all very exciting to me and just goes to show how much momentum the CAA profession has. Right now, at this particular moment, it's such a wonderful time to have found out about the profession. If you are a AA student or a prospective, I really encourage you to look back into some of these other episodes here at Awakened Anesthetist to make the most informed decision for yourself about this career. You can also follow me on Instagram at Awakened Anesthetist.

Speaker 1:

I show behind the scenes and just give you some real life sort of feel on what it is to be a CAA. And the most important thing you could do for the podcast truly is just to directly share this episode right now with a friend, a CAA or another AA student in your life. Tell them why you loved this episode, why you think they'll love this episode, encourage them to take a listen and follow along. All right, let's talk soon, y'all.

People on this episode

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Mary Jeanne Roberts, CAA

Host
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Sabrina Strange

Guest