6 Tips for Starting Out as a Locum

March 21, 2017 Guest User

Ever thought of locum work?

Prescript is perfectly placed to help you find the best jobs available across Australia. Here are a few handy hints to help you get your ideal locum job as quickly as possible:

1) Update your CV.

Make sure you send us an up to date copy of your CV including details of your most recent place of work and any relevant experience to the type of locum work that you are looking for.

Don’t have time or don’t know where to start? Prescript are experts at creating professional and relevant CVs and would be happy to help you with this.

2) Prime Your Referees.

Before we can put you forward for a locum position, we will need to obtain at least two, preferably three, references from consultants that you’ve worked with within the past year. If you’ve worked in more than one specialty over the past year, your most recent supervisor and/or supervisors from the specialty that you want to work as a locum in, will be the best to use. Please don’t forget to let your referees know that they’ll be contacted by us for references. In our experience, the best references always come from people who knew that they were going to be used as a referee and knew that we were going to call!

3) Get Your Paperwork In Order.

Paperwork and credentialing requirements vary from hospital to hospital (even within the same health district) and generally you will have to re-submit paperwork to each new hospital that you work at as a locum (yes, even within the same health district!). Some of this paperwork will need to be tackled on a case by case basis but to make your life easier, get hold of the following now as a minimum:

Certified copies of your passport (and visa, if applicable) and driver licence
Certified copy of your primary degree certificate (and fellowship certificate, if you have one)
A copy of your current, unrestricted general or specialist AHPRA registration
Your indemnity insurance certificate
Evidence of vaccination against: HIV; Hepatitis B; Hepatitis C; Measles, Mumps & Rubella; Varicella; dTpa; as well as evidence of any TB screening, if applicable.
A national police check dated within the past 2 years
Any Working With Children Checks (WWCC) that you currently hold (additional checks may be required if you take up a locum assignment in a new state/territory)

Documents can be certified by fellow doctors as well as nurses, dentists, pharmacists, lawyers or a justice of the peace (JP).

4) Get Ready For More Paperwork Coming Your Way!

With every new locum placement comes a new credentialing requirement. Having access to a printer and scanner is invaluable. Prescript is also a big fan of electronic signatures and using your mobile phone as a scanner and we will gladly share our tips and tricks with you to make life easier.

5) Get an Australian Business Number (ABN).

Depending on the hospital that you work at as a locum, you may have the option to invoice as a contractor rather than be paid via the hospital payroll. To do this, you will need your own ABN which is free of charge and can be done online via the Australian Business Register.

6) Check Your Diary.

Look at your schedule and decide when you are going to be available for locum work, taking into account adequate rest days between shifts as well as travel time to/from your locum assignment if it’s interstate. Like the sound of a particular job but not sure of the logistics of how to get there? Prescript can talk you through the best itineraries (as well as suggest things to see and do when you’re not at work!)

The team at Prescript are experts in finding you work where and when you want it, and can help you with every step of the process from submitting your CV to submitting your timesheets.