By Christine Whitmarsh, RN, BSN
My father’s side of the family is from the beautiful “Green Mountain” state of Vermont. Growing up in New England, I can personally attest to the beauty of this state, especially for Locum Tenens jobs, traveling locum physicians, and other traveling care providers who might be considering an assignment there. Vermont has spectacular mountain scenery, fall foliage and winter skiing for the locum tenens travel physician’s down time.
For those travel doctors who are, here are some quick state stats:
-Predominant speaking languages in Vermont are French, French Canadian and English.
-The top economic sectors are government, real estate, rental and leasing with health care ($2.1 million of the state’s GNP) making an impressive showing in the top five sectors.
-Fletcher Allen Health Care system is second highest state employer
-One significant public health problem in Vermont is binge drinking
-Vermont’s top cities are Burlington and Rutland
Along with those top cities and towns, Vermont has an abundance of rural areas in need of primary care providers. Shortages have also been reported in the cities of Brattleboro and Rutland. The state spends $4.8 billion every year on health care and employs approximately 1800 physicians. However, there are only 150 primary care physicians, the area where travel physicians are needed the most. Specialty areas in need of physicians include orthopedic, urology and ophthalmology in Vermont. Primary care physicians earn at least $100,000 or more per year. Locum tenens travel doctors typically earn a more generous compensation than staff physicians.
The state is doing their best to fill physician staffing shortages by whatever means necessary. One of those strategies is by employing foreign born physicians. But language and cultural barriers in this state are preventing that from being a completely seamless, effective solution. Locum travel physicians with all levels of experience and backgrounds, especially those wishing to work in primary care, are encouraged to contact a Locum Tenens recruiter about assignments in Vermont.
Sources: VermontBiz.com, Wikipedia
Christine Whitmarsh is a Registered Nurse with a BSN from the University of Rhode Island. She is a freelance health journalist and medical writer and a contributor to Travel Nurse Source and Allied Travel Careers.
