Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Published Ahead of Print
    • Archive
    • Supplemental Issues
    • Collections - French
    • Collections - English
  • Info for
    • Authors & Reviewers
    • Submit a Manuscript
    • Advertisers
    • Careers & Locums
    • Subscribers
    • Permissions
  • About CFP
    • About CFP
    • About the CFPC
    • Editorial Advisory Board
    • Terms of Use
    • Contact Us
  • Feedback
    • Feedback
    • Rapid Responses
    • Most Read
    • Most Cited
    • Email Alerts
  • Blogs
    • Latest Blogs
    • Blog Guidelines
    • Directives pour les blogues
  • Mainpro+ Credits
    • About Mainpro+
    • Member Login
    • Instructions
  • Other Publications
    • http://www.cfpc.ca/Canadianfamilyphysician/
    • https://www.cfpc.ca/Login/
    • Careers and Locums

User menu

  • My alerts

Search

  • Advanced search
The College of Family Physicians of Canada
  • Other Publications
    • http://www.cfpc.ca/Canadianfamilyphysician/
    • https://www.cfpc.ca/Login/
    • Careers and Locums
  • My alerts
The College of Family Physicians of Canada

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Published Ahead of Print
    • Archive
    • Supplemental Issues
    • Collections - French
    • Collections - English
  • Info for
    • Authors & Reviewers
    • Submit a Manuscript
    • Advertisers
    • Careers & Locums
    • Subscribers
    • Permissions
  • About CFP
    • About CFP
    • About the CFPC
    • Editorial Advisory Board
    • Terms of Use
    • Contact Us
  • Feedback
    • Feedback
    • Rapid Responses
    • Most Read
    • Most Cited
    • Email Alerts
  • Blogs
    • Latest Blogs
    • Blog Guidelines
    • Directives pour les blogues
  • Mainpro+ Credits
    • About Mainpro+
    • Member Login
    • Instructions
  • RSS feeds
  • Follow cfp Template on Twitter
OtherFP Watch

Family physicians and locum tenens

Canadian Family Physician July 2008, 54 (7) 1024;
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • eLetters
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Locum tenens play a vital role in supporting physicians’ practices during times of illness, vacation, continuing medical education, or parental leave. In some communities, locums provide all the care in place of permanent physicians. According to the 2007 National Physician Survey (NPS), 35% of FPs across Canada were not able to use locums in the previous year because none was available. Only 13% of FPs were satisfied with the availability of locum coverage.

Who provides locum services?

  • Nineteen percent of all FPs (8% of whom describe themselves as semiretired).

  • Compared with the total FP population, a greater percentage of locums are the following:

    • - women (42% vs 38%) (P < .001);

    • - aged 35 years or younger (18% vs 9%) or 65 years or older (10% vs 8%) (P < .001);

    • - former residents trained at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver or the University of Calgary in Alberta (P < 0.001);

    • - working in British Columbia, Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador, or the Territories (P < .05);

    • - serving remote patient populations (P < .001); and

    • - receiving 90% or more of their professional income from blended payments (P < .001).

  • Fifty-eight percent of second-year family medicine residents intend to work as locums within the 2 to 3 years after completing residency.

Why do a locum?

There are several reasons FPs choose to do locum tenens:

  • to assess potential future practice locations (10%);

  • the flexibility and ability to set one’s own schedule (18%);

  • financial reasons (18%);

  • clinical variety (19%); and

  • to fill a service need (33%).

How much coverage do locums provide?

  • Twenty-one percent of locums provided up to 2 weeks of locum service in the previous year.

  • Twelve percent provided 6 months or more of locum service in the previous year.

  • Table 1 compares FPs who locum for 6 months or more per year with FPs who locum for fewer than 6 months per year and all FPs.

View this table:
  • View inline
  • View popup
Table 1

Characteristics of FPs who locum for ≥ 6 mo/y compared with those of FPs who locum < 6 mo/y and those of all FPs:There was no significant difference in satisfaction with current professional life between those who locum for ≥ 6 mo/y and those who locum for < 6 mo/y; all other comparisons were statistically significant at P = .05.

The NPS is a collaborative project of the College of Family Physicians of Canada, the Canadian Medical Association, and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Additional results are available at www.nationalphysiciansurvey.ca. If you would like the opportunity to develop and write a future Fast Fact using the NPS results, please contact Sarah Scott, National Physician Survey and Janus Project Coordinator, at 800 387–6197, extension 289, or sks{at}cfpc.ca.

  • Copyright© the College of Family Physicians of Canada
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Canadian Family Physician: 54 (7)
Canadian Family Physician
Vol. 54, Issue 7
1 Jul 2008
  • Table of Contents
  • About the Cover
  • Index by author
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on The College of Family Physicians of Canada.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Family physicians and locum tenens
(Your Name) has sent you a message from The College of Family Physicians of Canada
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the The College of Family Physicians of Canada web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Family physicians and locum tenens
Canadian Family Physician Jul 2008, 54 (7) 1024;

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Respond to this article
Share
Family physicians and locum tenens
Canadian Family Physician Jul 2008, 54 (7) 1024;
Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Who provides locum services?
    • Why do a locum?
    • How much coverage do locums provide?
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • Locum practice by recent family medicine graduates
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

FP Watch

  • Use of nonvitamin dietary supplements with prescription medications
  • Elliptical excision
  • Hospitalist care
Show more FP Watch

Fast Facts

  • Family medicine residents: baseline measurements
  • Providing care for recent immigrants
  • Nutritional counseling in family medicine in 2010
Show more Fast Facts

Similar Articles

Navigate

  • Home
  • Current Issue
  • Archive
  • Collections - English
  • Collections - Française

For Authors

  • Authors and Reviewers
  • Submit a Manuscript
  • Permissions
  • Terms of Use

General Information

  • About CFP
  • About the CFPC
  • Advertisers
  • Careers & Locums
  • Editorial Advisory Board
  • Subscribers

Journal Services

  • Email Alerts
  • Twitter
  • RSS Feeds

Copyright © 2023 by The College of Family Physicians of Canada

Powered by HighWire