America's Most In-Demand Locum Tenens Physician Specialties: A Closer Look

Locum tenens physicians are in demand, pretty much across the board. According to our 2017 Survey of Temporary Physician Staffing Trends, a whopping 94% of healthcare facility managers "reported using locum tenens physicians sometime during the last 12 months," which was up from 91% in 2014 and from 74% in 2012.

"This is the highest number of healthcare facilities using locum tenens providers that Staff Care has recorded in any of its surveys," the authors noted.

And, while some locum tenens physician specialties are more in demand than others -- primary care, which includes family medicine, pediatrics, and internists (all found below), always leads the pack -- so prominent has the use of locum physicians become that most specialties are in demand in some capacity, in some part of the United States.

So, if you're a physician interested in new career opportunities, but you're not sure how your specialty fits into the world of locums work, read on for a brief rundown of some of our most in-demand specialties, along with links to more detailed articles. Don't see your specialty represented here? Chances are good that you'll still find it on our main physician specialties page, or in our full database of locums jobs.

To mark National Cervical Health Awareness Month and Birth Defects Prevention Month back in January 2017, we explored the trends and locum job prospects of obstetrician/gynecologists (OB/GYN) nationwide, noting that, as "one out of every 10 ob/gyn physicians chooses to relocate to a different setting each year," demand for these locum practitioners is on the rise. Search all locum ob/gyn jobs here.

A projected 48% increase in demand for oncologists by 2020 combined with an "anticipated 14% increase in the number of oncologists over that same time period" is fueling all-new levels of demand for these important professionals. And oncologists looking to work locum tenens assignments across the United States are enjoying new levels of opportunity. You can View all our open locum oncology jobs here.

Psychiatrists and mental health professionals are our second most in-demand locums physician specialty. Our experts attribute this demand to "an aging psychiatrist population, a small percentage of medical school graduates choosing psychiatry residency programs (4%), and mental healthcare models that operate 'like a bus station,' stressing patient volume over the value of care." Learn more about working psychiatric locum jobs here.

As Staff Care’s Survey of Temporary Physician Staffing Trends points out, 22% of positions we staffed in 2014 were for hospitalists, making hospital medicine the third most-in-demand physician specialty. “Hospitalist programs continue to proliferate," with hospitalists accounting "for 13% of all Staff Care days requested in 2014, up from 12% the previous year.” Learn more about locum hospitalist jobs here.

“Emergency medicine is one of the fastest-growing specialties in terms of demand for locums jobs,” says Staff Care Divisional Vice President Bob Wolf told The Locums Link Blog. And according to our Survey of Temporary Physician Staffing Trends, 13% of hospitals used locum doctors to fill emergency physician jobs in 2014, up from 9.7% in 2012. You can read our EM spotlight here, or view our most in-demand locum EM jobs here.

As Staff Care's 2017 Survey of Temporary Physician Staffing Trends points out, the relocation rates for America's cardiologists are more than 10%, meaning that doctors specializing in cardiology are exercising their power to seek out more favorable employment opportunities across the United States. You can read the spotlight here, or check out more info about locum jobs here.

Demand for locum tenens dentists nationwide is strong, particularly in rural areas. Several years ago, Staff Care received "virtually no requests for locum tenens dentists," our experts note. Today, we receive "thousands of such requests from state-supported and private dental practices nationwide, with dentistry accounting for 5% of temporary days requested in 2016." Get more info on locum dentistry work here.

In this video, Dr. Rama Rao describes how locum tenens workers are sometimes called upon to go above and beyond their traditional roles in the healthcare workplace to truly make a difference. "Once you enter a hospital facility, you can always make a difference ... even though you're there perhaps for just a temporary amount of time." Get more details on family practice locums to work here.

Demand for anesthesiologists is escalating in recent years. Staff Care's 2015 Survey of Temporary Physician Staffing Trends ranked this physician specialty sixth on the list of 2014's most-utilized locum tenens professionals, with almost one in every 10 facilities having reported staffing a locums anesthesiologist in the past year. Learn more about locums work here.

"More locum tenens assignments for radiation oncologists are opening up as centers look to cut down on patient wait times for radiation therapy in an effort to be more competitive and improve quality of care," our experts pointed out several years ago -- a fact that still holds true today, as we continue to recruit rad/onc physicians for exclusive locum jobs nationwide. View all locum radiation oncologist jobs here.

Whether you prefer hospital-based employment or working within a clinic, private practice, or partnership, you're likely to find locum tenens career opportunities a lucrative source of additional income, as well as a great way to build experience in other settings to better advance your career prospects. Get more info about locum dermatology jobs here.

Because internal medicine subspecialists "can be in short supply," our experts note, "healthcare facilities may require locum tenens providers to fill gaps until permanent physicians can be found." Indeed, internists are among our most-requested locum tenens physician specialty. Get more info about working locum internal med. jobs here.

Along with family and internal medicine, pediatricians are among the most highly-staffed locum physicians in the United States. And because of the nation's ongoing shortage of primary care physicians, career opportunities for pediatric physicians are abundant across the United States, and in facilities of all shapes and sizes. Get more info about locum pediatric jobs here.

Lung cancer and COPD are two of the deadliest conditions in the United States, representing hundreds of thousands of deaths each year. Increasing awareness of these conditions, and a growing need for specialists, is helping drive demand for locum tenens physicians specializing in pulmonary care. View all of our available locum pulmonary jobs here.

There's a nationwide demand for locum tenens neurosurgeons. If you're a practicing neurosurgeon seeking a new career path, we encourage you to view the great locum tenens neurosurgery jobs available throughout the United States from Staff Care. Our locum tenens assignments include a host of great benefits including malpractice insurance and travel allowances. Check out available locums neurosurgery jobs here.

Interested in experiencing the benefits of locum tenens work firsthand? We're currently recruiting most physician specialties for full- and part-time locums assignments nationwide! We invite you to contact us for details or search all available locum jobs now.

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