After 11 years in medical recruitment, you probably think you’ve seen it all when it comes to the locum market. The high peaks and low troughs come and go in an almost predictable way, however 2020 is unlike anything we’ve ever seen before – the locum doctor market is similarly unprecedented.

Why is this so? There are so many different ways to answer that question, here are just a few of the main ones:

• Getting your foot in the door:
  A ‘job rich’ market has been present for the past 4 – 6 weeks, or since the ‘2nd wave’ really hit Victoria, and had ripple effects with NSW as well. As predicted, GP/ED roles throughout NSW and QLD in particular opened up from September – November, many of which had been snavelled up long ago by repeat locums who have since had to cancel due to travel restrictions. Across the other side of the country, highly sought after (but difficult to acquire) locums jobs in places like Broome, Kununurra and the newly built Karratha Health Campus have had ongoing availability for locums open up. There has never been a better time to ‘get your foot in the door’ in areas that you’ve always been interested in.



• ‘Local only’ locums:
  The news isn’t all bad for our clients, with many of their shortages now being filled by local, or intrastate based locums. The majority of our amazing doctors prefer to locum interstate for obvious reasons, but with many now forced to locum closer to home, this has had numerous benefits. Lower travel costs, less paperwork due to doctors already being credentialed, and in many cases shorter blocks needing to be filled as permanent doctors unfortunately postpone those longer overseas breaks
   
• Last minute opportunities:
  More than ever, last minute opportunities are coming up on an almost daily basis. With uncertainty around borders opening, flight cancellations and COVID breaches, we are seeing an alarming number of roles starting within 1-3 weeks’ time. With this often comes higher daily rates, but also those locations and adventures you may have been waiting for! So keep an eye on our mail outs, website and text alerts for the constantly changing job opportunities!

Reach out today and let us find the locum role to suit you