Why did we create LatitudeNW?
As a new locum business in Portland, Oregon, we'd like to take a moment to introduce ourselves. We're a partnership of 3 chiropractors who saw a need and an opportunity to provide a valuable service to other healthcare providers in the greater Portland area. We arrived at this decision serendipitously - partly by intent, partly by accident - and are confident that what we offer can benefit not just individual clinics, but the chiropractic community as a whole.
As any good start-up should do, we're taking the advice of Simon Sinek to Start With Why. When there are already a handful of chiropractors offering vacation relief in Portland, why create another business to do the same? When clinics are independent and unique, why bring someone else in to treat patients? When it's hard enough for new graduates to find a clinic to work in, why create another option?
We'll answer all of these questions over time in future blog posts, but we want to start with more personal reasons for starting Latitude Northwest. Meet the co-founders of LatitudeNW and why they created a locum tenens agency.
Nathan
From the time I started chiropractic, I had trouble deciding how I wanted to practice. I had hundreds of ideas in my head and just as many passions and interests - rehab, sports medicine, radiology, integrative care, house calls, even wilderness medicine! Despite my clinical internship and preceptorship in a VA Hospital I didn't get to experience all the varieties of practice that I had wanted to, and the decision was unresolved once I graduated. I began considering the option of working as a locum tenens during my last year of clinic while talking with a fellow classmate. I had vaguely heard of the notion before then, but it sounded like a fall-back option. My classmate shared that it was her plan to work as a locum traveling between a few states while finishing her masters program. It was her deliberate choice! I dwelled on it further and had discovered doctors like Tim Stetcher who had been doing it since graduation. It didn't take long to realize that locum tenens was a viable decision and that it would allow me to further experience the variety of practice options available to me – almost like an ad hoc residency.
Q
The why for me is very simple. Support new graduates. I have had many colleagues and friends share stories of stress and sadness from taking a position in which they work too much, for little pay, and treat in a way that is not their own. This creates a scenario in which every one loses. New graduates end up being greatly under paid despite accruing increasing student loan debt. Doctors invest their time and energy to hire someone who ultimately is unhappy and leaves within the first year. New graduates need a way to finance their new life and seedling of a clinic. Clinicians need a way to accurately screen out and field test candidates for their clinic. Locum placement solves the needs of everyone involved and protects the field as a whole.
Whitney
I originally came into locum work as an alternative option to being someones associate, where I could have a more flexible schedule to work on building my own practice, as well as make a better income than the associateships being offered in my area. I saw it as an opportunity for much more control over my schedule and career path, and it has given me so much more than that. Right away I noticed a huge need for locum services for chiropractic clinics. Time and time again I heard the same proclamations “I have not been on a vacation in years” or “my family and I never get away!” Not to mention the unexpected curveball thrown when doctors get sick or injured and need time away, or the reality of female doctors needing to take maternity leave when deciding to have children. These life events become difficult obstacles to overcome when you are a doctor and have patients depending on you for their care. With every clinic I covered came rapidly gained insight and experience. When thrown into a new work environment where multiple people are depending on you to keep things running smoothly, you have no choice but to grow in confidence. My first year out of chiropractic school I have experienced so much more than I would have if I had only been working for one clinic, and I have learned a great deal about how to be a better clinician.
So to why I wanted to be involved with creating Latitude Northwest: I see this service as being crucial to the personal health of healthcare providers. Chiropractors need to have the freedom and opportunity to take care of themselves personally, and part of that is by living a high quality life outside of their practice, in order to provide their patients with exceptional care. I want to be a able encourage physicians to take time away from their practice, by providing a trusted team of covering doctors. At the same time, I want to create more opportunities for other chiropractors who are interested in having more control over their income, schedules, and growth. To me this is a win-win situation for everybody!