Starting your locum journey requires careful planning and preparation. Here are the essential steps to follow:
1. Determine Your Approach:
Decide whether you want to supplement your current job with locum work or make locuming your primary focus. If you choose to supplement, check with your permanent hospital if additional shifts are allowed. Most hospitals are accommodating when it comes to doctors working extra shifts alongside their regular hours.
2. Update Your CV (Mine is seen below):
Ensure that your CV is up to date and reflects your most recent work experience and clinical skills. Keep it concise and limit it to a single A4 page. Include rotations completed, relevant qualifications, and any specialised skills you possess, such as ultrasound cannulation. A well-crafted CV will make a strong impression and increase your chances of securing locum positions.
3. Obtain Strong References:
Most hospitals and organisations will want at least 2 or 3 clinical referees that have actively worked with you in the last 12 months. These referees generally need to be consultants, or the very least senior registrars. Ask these doctors if they can be used as a reference, and make sure they like you. Get an email and phone number from each.
Your references will be the most important aspect when it comes to securing work, so choose them wisely. Their job position is only marginally important, what matters is what they say. It is better to have a young consultant say excellent things about you than the head of a unit who only sort-of knows you.
4. Secure Medical Indemnity Insurance:
While working in the public hospital system generally provides coverage for accidental malpractice, locum work requires you to have your own comprehensive medical indemnity insurance. Many regular providers offer this type of insurance at a reasonable cost dependent on your seniority and speciality. For a locum HMO this should be no more than $200 per year. For a specialist or someone undertaking surgery then this will be much higher. Note that public hospital insurance covers you in all states except Tasmania. If you plan to work in Tasmania, inform your insurer to ensure appropriate coverage.
5. Prepare the Required Paperwork:
This is the most time consuming and horrible part about locum work. Every hospital has specific paperwork that may need to be completed and sent to them once a job has been secured. These are the general documents that you should have scanned to your laptop, ready to use whenever needed:
- Certified copies of your passport, driver’s licence, and visa (if applicable)
- Certified copies of your primary medical degree and other relevant qualifications
- Certified copies of your medical indemnity insurance certificate
- Certified copies of your current AHPRA registration with any restrictions highlighted
- Evidence of Vaccinations, including HIV, Hep B&C, Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Varicella, dTpa, TB screening, COVID vaccination, and flu
- National (or international) police check issued within the past two years
- Working with children check (required for each state you plan to work in)
- Permission to have secondary employment, if applicable (a letter from your full-time hospital granting you permission to work as a locum at other hospitals)
Ensure that all certified documents follow AHPRA’s certification guidelines. To understand how to certify a document use the link below:
https://www.ahpra.gov.au/registration/registration-process/certifying-documents.aspx
To meet certification requirements documents must:
- Be signed by the Authorised Officer
- On documents with more than one page, be initialled on every page and all pages numbered (i.e. page 2 of 5)
- Be annotated on the first page with the statement “I certify that this is a true copy of the original and the photograph is a true likeness of the person presenting the document as sighted by me.”, and
- List the name, date of certification, contact phone number and occupation or profession (including occupation or profession number, if relevant) and have the stamp or seal of the Authorised Officer (if relevant).
Note that if you choose to work with StatDoctor, you only need to complete this documentation once, as the platform securely stores and shares your documents only with the hospitals where you secure shifts. If you decide to work with locum agencies, you will need to provide these documents separately for each agency.
6. Obtain an Australian Business Number (ABN):
Different hospitals have various payment processes, with some adding locums to their PAYG system and others paying locums as independent contractors. To receive payments, you will need to set up your own ABN. This can be done easily and free of charge through the Australian Business Register website. Initially, this step may seem intimidating, but following the prompts will guide you through the process.
https://www.abr.gov.au/business-super-funds-charities/applying-abn
7. Get a Provider Number for each hospital
Across Australia, your prescriber number remains the same no matter where you work. However, a provider number is needed at every hospital (or healthcare facility) you work at. In 2023, a recently developed online health portal allows instant provider numbers to be granted. To access this you first need to make an online account at PRODA.
https://proda.humanservices.gov.au/prodalogin/pages/public/login.jsf?TAM_OP=login&ERROR_CODE=0x00000000&URL=%2Fpia%2Fpages%2Fprivate%2FmyIdentity%2FmyServices.jsf&OLDSESSION=
Follow these steps:
- Create an account
- Use 3 identity documents to verify your identity
– Sidenote, if you are from NZ you can select “foreign visa” as 1 of your 1 identity documents, and just plug in your NZ passport number - Once verified, link “Health Professional Online Service” (HPOS) to your PRODA account
- Once in HPOS, add your current provider number or your AHPRA number to register
- For each new job you accept, apply for a new provider number using the hospital address
After completing the above steps, you will be well-prepared to start your locum work. Be aware that different hospitals may have additional documentation requirements based on their protocols, which will be provided once you secure a locum position.
