Locum Tenens and Temporary Practice Guide

By MedXL Editorial Team · Updated 2026-08-26 · 6 min read

Locum tenens work, filling a role temporarily while a position is vacant or a colleague is away, has grown from a stopgap into a deliberate career choice for physicians and other clinicians across the United States and Canada. Done well, it offers schedule control, varied experience, and often strong earnings; done carelessly, it produces licensing headaches, contract disputes, and tax surprises. This guide covers how locum work actually operates in both countries and how to protect yourself while benefiting from it.

A locum assignment involves three parties in most cases: you, the facility that needs coverage, and often an agency that connects the two. Assignments range from a single weekend of call coverage to multi-month placements, and common patterns include:

Vacancy coverage while a facility recruits a permanent hire

In this guide

How locum tenens work is structured
Licensing and credentialing: the real constraint
Money: pay, expenses, and taxes
Reading a locum contract
Is locum work right for you now
Working with agencies and finding assignments
Key takeaways