Right before I left the USA to begin my 3-month sabbatical in Spain, I was contacted about a locum tenens opportunity in Massachusetts. It was in a hospital owned clinic so that meant the credentialing takes 3 months. I figured that was perfect timing for me since I would have a guaranteed position when I finished my sabbatical. At the same time, I wasn’t exactly sure I wouldn’t extend my sabbatical, but I thought it was a good idea to have options.
Massachusetts was a good location for me for summer months so I could get away from the Florida heat, and enjoy the New England cool weather. The exact location is Springfield, MA which is a 30 min drive from Hartford, CT and 1.5 hour’s drive from Boston. I have some friends in the area I would like to visit in many nearby locations.
The agency would cover and apply for my MA license, since we had plenty of time during the 3 months of credentialing. MA is also a high paying state for NPs. Many locums NPs think they can only make $100/hour in primary care in CA, but there are many other states that pay that including MA.
The interview was done via zoom – which has become a default ever since covid. I miss those days of a brief phone interview. My only hesitation with the job was that they listed the number of patients seen per day per provider was 24. I told them my max was 20 patients per day and they said that was fine since they normally build in admin time to the schedule. Great!
The credentialing ended up being no joke. I had to get several forms notarized (while in Spain which is not as easy as just going to the UPS store). I had to fill out tons of paperwork; provide malpractice insurance copies from 30 jobs; plenty of peer references, etc. I actually wanted to cancel the job when I first got to Spain because I felt overwhelmed by how many people were reaching out to me each day regarding credentialing. I felt like I wasn’t on the “break” I was supposed to me on.
When I reached out to my recruiter to cancel the job, I appreciated his approach. He didn’t yell at me and tell me how messed up that was like I had expected. Instead he told me just to take 1-2 weeks off to myself, and regroup after that. That ended up being the perfect solution because after 1-2 weeks I was ready to move forward with everything.
The credentialing was completed on time, and I started on the day we planned on.
