Locum Tenens Primary Care Physician (Family Medicine, Internal Medicine) Recruiters
Healthcare Headhunters recruits healthcare professionals for employers. No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
This is what we do all day: recruit healthcare professionals.
A locum primary care physician must match your patient ages, visit mix, and follow-up duties, not just your open clinic dates.
No postings. No stacks of resumes. No chasing. You interview a short list.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
Need someone now? Call 305-306-4829.
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What happens next
- We review your role, responsibilities and location.
- Ivan or a senior team member will reach out soon.
- You meet a focused shortlist when qualified candidates fit the agreed search.
- Fees.
- No upfront fee. Pay only if you hire, under the signed agreement.
- Exclusivity.
- Set out in the signed client agreement.
- Confidentiality.
- We agree the brief before outreach. This is not a promise of absolute anonymity.
- No hire.
- No hire means no fee on standard searches.
What does an open seat cost you every week?
An open role costs you more than the recruiting fee. Someone covers the work, waits for care, or stops a service. We ask what is falling behind and who is carrying it. Use your own figures to compare the cost of waiting with the cost of hiring.
The seat is costing you every week.
Overtime, diverted patients, a stretched team and a schedule held together by favors.
The posting brought the wrong people.
Applicants arrive, but the person who has done this exact work is employed and not looking.
You are the one chasing.
Screening calls, no-shows and follow-ups land on the desk of someone with a facility to run.
What does this hire really come down to?
Healthcare Headhunters helps you assess family medicine and internal medicine physicians for temporary primary care coverage. Before sourcing, we ask which visits need coverage, who handles results after departure, and how your clinic supports unfamiliar physicians. Those answers define a workable assignment rather than a calendar gap.
Ask which ages the physician currently treats and which office procedures they perform regularly. An adult-only assignment may suit either background. A clinic serving children needs evidence of recent pediatric practice, not an assumption based on specialty alone.
Temporary coverage creates handoffs before the first appointment and after the last. If a physician orders tests near the assignment’s end, your clinic needs a named recipient for outstanding results. We ask candidates how they document unresolved issues, communicate with covering colleagues, and distinguish completed visits from unfinished follow-up.
We arrange locum tenens, travel and contract coverage on request.
What do we check before you see anyone?
License and credentials: Which state licenses do you hold, and are there restrictions or pending matters to explain? We screen license status, training, and work history. Your organization completes credentialing, confirms applicable privileges, and conducts its clinical assessment before practice begins.
- Patient scope: What ages and conditions made up your recent outpatient panel? A useful answer distinguishes adult chronic disease visits, preventive appointments, pediatric care where relevant, and same-day concerns. We compare that experience with the patients you actually plan to schedule.
- Visit pacing: How did you manage a session when an appointment needed more time than expected? Look for communication with clinic staff, clear documentation, and an explanation of rescheduling or escalation. A claimed willingness to see any volume does not establish fit.
- Results and messages: How did you handle laboratory results, refill requests, and patient messages during your last temporary assignment? Strong answers identify ownership, escalation routes, and the handoff process. Ask whether inbox duties extended beyond booked visits and how unfinished items were transferred.
- Records and onboarding: What did you need before your first clinic session in an unfamiliar record system? Useful evidence includes learning order entry, medication reconciliation, documentation templates, referral routing, and local contact paths. Ask how the physician reported access problems without leaving tasks unassigned.
- Scope boundaries: Which procedures, controlled-substance duties, or urgent presentations would need additional discussion before you accepted? We ask for specific limits and recent experience. Your clinical leaders decide whether those boundaries fit the assignment and establish local escalation instructions.
Where do we find them, and why would they move?
Potential source pools include outpatient family medicine practices, adult internal medicine clinics, community health centers, and physicians with established temporary outpatient assignments. Recent outpatient work matters more than a broad specialty label. We ask about panel composition, visit types, and responsibility for results between appointments.
A physician may consider temporary work between permanent roles, after reducing a regular schedule, or while seeking different practice arrangements. We explore availability rather than assume flexibility. Existing commitments, travel preferences, and willingness to return for additional dates can affect whether a candidate fits your coverage plan.
Which mistakes stall the search?
A common mistake is booking dates before defining inbox ownership. State who receives results and messages during coverage and after departure, including orders placed on the final clinic day. Another is treating board certification as proof of every service offered. Check the physician’s actual practice scope and any certification your organization expects for this assignment.
Skipping orientation because coverage is brief. Identify record access, referral contacts, prescription processes, and clinical escalation routes before the physician sees your patients.
How would we run the search for this opening?
Tell us the dates, patient ages, visit mix, location, and expected duties outside appointments. We screen credentials, work history, availability, and assignment fit through concrete questions. Permanent contingency placement is our core service; locum, travel, and contract coverage is available on request.
Define the assignment
Identify your credentialing contact and the clinic colleague responsible for handoffs. Separate essential clinical scope from preferences that can be discussed.
Review relevant evidence
You review candidates against your clinic’s needs and assess clinical suitability. Resolve gaps in pediatric experience, procedures, or inbox responsibility before agreeing to coverage.
Confirm arrangements
Credentialing, licensing and malpractice coverage are confirmed per engagement before anyone starts. Your clinic also assigns onboarding and handoff responsibilities.
National median annual wage. SOC 29-1215, Family Medicine Physicians.
BLS reports Family Medicine Physicians as one occupation. It does not publish a separate estimate for Locum Tenens Primary Care Physician (Family Medicine, Internal Medicine), its setting or its engagement terms.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS, 2025-05, released 2026-05-15. View source. See the full guide.
Open roles
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Can an internal medicine locum cover our pediatric appointments?
Do not infer pediatric scope from general primary care experience. Review patient ages treated recently and your credentialing criteria before assigning those visits. Family medicine and internal medicine are not interchangeable across every patient panel. Credentialing, licensing and malpractice coverage are confirmed per engagement before anyone starts.
Should we include inbox time in the assignment?
Describe results, refills, and messages separately from scheduled visits. Clarify protected time and who takes over unresolved items.
How do we assess office procedure experience?
Name each procedure you expect. Ask when the physician last performed it and have your clinical reviewer assess supporting evidence.
What if our record system is unfamiliar?
Discuss training and access before coverage begins. Confirm that the physician can enter orders and route follow-up tasks correctly.
Can the locum handle same-day visits?
Specify the presentations your clinic accepts and its escalation resources. Ask about comparable recent outpatient work rather than assuming all urgent visits fit.
What should you send us about this role?
Send us the role, where the person will work and what needs to change with this hire. We will ask about the work, not just the title. Share any license or schedule limits that could rule someone out before we begin the search.
Share your coverage dates, patient mix, and follow-up plan so we can discuss a suitable primary care search.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire. We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
What happens next
- We review your role, responsibilities and location.
- Ivan or a senior team member will reach out soon.
- You meet a focused shortlist when qualified candidates fit the agreed search.
- Fees.
- No upfront fee. Pay only if you hire, under the signed agreement.
- Exclusivity.
- Set out in the signed client agreement.
- Confidentiality.
- We agree the brief before outreach. This is not a promise of absolute anonymity.
- No hire.
- No hire means no fee on standard searches.
Which other positions in this family should you consider?
Locum Tenens Radiologist (incl. Teleradiology) · Locum Tenens OB/GYN & OB Hospitalist (Laborist)
What do you get at each step of the search?
Our process for every search: calibrate the seat with you, map the market, research the real people, reach out to each one personally, qualify them in live conversation, then hand you a short list with a written brief on each person and support through the offer.
Search Calibration
You get an agreed brief: the work, reporting line, credentials, schedule, and offer you can make.
Market Mapping
You get a search aimed at relevant backgrounds, including people working now who have not applied.
Professional Contact Intelligence
We check appropriate ways to reach the people identified for your search. You do not have to chase them yourself.
Persistent Personalized Outreach
We explain your actual job and follow up with people who may consider a conversation.
Live Candidate Qualification
You see people we have spoken with about the work, interest, and practical fit, not an unread resume pile.
Candidate Intelligence and Process Support
You get a written brief and support through interviews and offer discussions. You make the hiring decision.
What if a candidate receives a counteroffer?
We ask why the person wants to move and discuss competing decisions before an offer. A counteroffer can still change their choice. Keep the duties and offer clear rather than assuming more money settles every concern. Tell us early if parts of your offer cannot change, so the candidate hears it from us first.
What are the replacement terms?
We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement. Ask us to walk through those terms before you sign, so you know how a replacement would work for your opening and who would start it.
What do we not do in a standard permanent search?
We do not bill standard contingency search by the hour or simply repost your job. Temporary coverage is a separate arrangement. Any retainer or different engagement must be agreed, not assumed. Tell us early if you need coverage while the permanent search runs.