Locum Career Information

Locums are physicians and healthcare professionals who take up temporary contracts and assignments in hospitals and medical practices. The term ‘locum’ comes from the Latin phrase locum tenens which means “placeholder.” Locum positions are created to cover permanent staff on leave, or to alleviate staff shortages in hospitals and medical clinics.

Locum Roles

In healthcare, locums are physicians and healthcare professionals who take up temporary contracts and assignments in hospitals and medical practices. The term ‘locum’ comes from the Latin phrase locum tenens which means “placeholder.” Locum positions are created to cover permanent staff on leave, or to to alleviate staff shortages in hospitals and clinics. In Australia, locum work is particularly important in rural and remote areas. In the past, Senior Doctors would often choose locum employment as a way of ‘easing into retirement.’ However, nowadays, doctors of all ages and stages of their career are choosing to work in locum employment and find it provides many benefits including:

  • flexibility and work-life balance.
  • financial incentives.
  • variety and travel.
  • access to skill development and specialisation.
  • exposure to different clinical and healthcare settings and situations.

Junior Doctor Jobs

After completing their medical degree, Junior Doctors undertake up to 3 ‘postgraduate years’ of prevocational medical training, including an internship and residency. Pre-vocational training consists of ‘terms’ or ‘rotations’ in public or private hospitals, general practice, or sometimes community health settings, in both rural and metropolitan areas.

During this time, Junior Doctors are exposed to a broad range of clinical situations and develop hands on experience and skills. They work across emergency, surgery and other medical specialties. They learn from senior colleagues and build an understanding of the specialisations/vocational training they want to pursue in the future. Junior Doctors register with the Medical Board of Australia after completing their internship (PGY 1-2), and then complete a further year of clinical training to become Registrars.

VIEW JUNIOR DOCTOR LOCUM JOBS