After spending so many years at university, and then tackling a multitude of departments at various hospital placements over the busy and fulfilling years of your medical career, it can be hard to hang up your stethoscope when you begin to near retirement age. Just because you have stopped counting the candles on your birthday cake doesn’t mean that your passion for medicine has dwindled, or that your love for treating patients has died out. In fact when you decide to retire from a full time post, an increasingly popular option is for veteran medics to take up locum work instead because of the numerous benefits it affords.
Here are the top reasons why you should consider enjoying locum work as you approach your golden years…
1) Keep your hand in clinical skills – One of the reasons that medicine is such an exciting career path is because it is constantly developing and changing for the better. Innovative research creates medical advances and new treatments, whilst technological updates brings digital aspects fascinatingly to the fore. Just because you want to take a step back from a hectic workload doesn’t mean you aren’t still interested in these changes, so by engaging in locum work, you are able to keep abreast of all new medical news as well as maintain your honed clinical skills. Locum work is ideal for doctors who want to reduce their working hours but not fully retire.
2) Travel – Number one priority for many retirees is the opportunity to travel and visit new cities, or maybe just see family members more. Locum work is well suited to this as extensive travel is one of the main bonuses, giving doctors the chance to head all over the UK to fill vacancies. With staffing shortages across the entire country, you can have your pick of the hospitals, deciding which regions and areas you wish to explore without putting yourself out of pocket as you will be earning as well as sight seeing in your down time. You could even choose assignments that take you nearer to children or grandchildren so you can schedule in family time as well as ward shifts.
3) Extra income – The UK’s ageing population means that people are living longer than ever before, so this means pensions and savings are having to last longer too. Locum work could provide the perfect solution by giving you the chance to scale back your hours so you can still slow down but also giving you enough work to bulk up your savings and fluff up your nest egg. Locum doctors are often paid a higher rate of pay than permanent position doctors, so you can expect a competitive rate of pay, and since both ad-hoc and longer placements are in abundance, you’ll have no problems picking up extra work to suit your time frames.
4) Flexibility – Probably the biggest advantage to taking on locum shifts is the level of flexibility it can give you. You literally have full control over your complete workload and schedule, devising your rota to suit you and cater to your needs and requirements. If you fancy working the odd day here and there, you can pencil that in easily. The same if you want an extended holiday – you can just tell your recruitment consultant you aren’t available. Your career is more firmly then ever in your hands and allows you to make time for the things you want to achieve in retirement whilst maintaining a career you enjoy and lining your pockets.
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