Locum tenens psychiatrists provide temporary services at a wide variety of healthcare facilities, helping staff vacant positions until a permanent practitioner can be hired or helping fill in any gaps in everyday care.

While the specific details will differ from assignment to assignment, locum tenens psychiatry jobs revolve around providing patient care and may include: 

• Handling the mental health assessment of new patients
• Following up on the existing plans for counseling or other treatment services for existing patients

To thrive as a locum tenens psychiatrist, you’ll need to be:

• Willing to travel 
• Comfortable working in a variety of clinical settings
• Flexible
• Adaptable
• Able to integrate into new healthcare environments quickly
• Comfortable working with patients from diverse backgrounds and cultures

To become a locum tenens psychiatrist, you must: 

• Have your undergrad degree
• Have completed med school
• Have completed a residency program
• Be licensed in the state where you wish to work

The answer to this question is a resounding yes! The need for psychiatry services is greater than ever before.

Consider these statistics:

• The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) reports that the U.S. has had a longstanding shortage of psychiatrists with no relief in sight. They’ve also disclosed that over half of the counties in the country don’t have any psychiatrists available to serve patients.
• The U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) created a factsheet of behavioral health workforce projections and predicted that psychiatrists available to service adults would be dropping 27% by 2030.

This quite obviously demonstrates the need for locum tenens psychiatrists.

The average locum tenens psychiatrist salary is $107/hour or $223,187 annually. This number will vary depending on your location, specialty, and the facility you work in. 

The top 10 cities in the United States that offer the highest annual locum tenens psychiatrist salary include: 

1. New Hartford Center, CT – $392,463
2. Potomac Heights, MD – $369,031
3. Minkler, CA – $354,868
4. Great Neck Gardens, NY – $351,973
5. Roslyn Estates, NY – $342,478
6. Kensington, NY – $336,834
7. Tariffville, CT – $336,001
8. San Buenaventura, CA – $326,584
9. Harbor Isle, NY – $322,849
10. Collings Lakes, NJ – $321,851

A typical locum tenens psychiatrist position may be part-time or full-time and is usually three months long. However, assignments can range from just a few weeks to up to 6 months or more.

Practitioners may be stepping in to cover:

• Maternity leave
• Holidays
• Vacation time
• Extended illness
• Unusually high patent loads

Psychiatrist locum tenens can find positions throughout the United States. They may be called on to work with a variety of populations and settings, including: 

• Adult inpatient
• Outpatient
• Veteran facilities
• Indian Health Services
• Child and adolescent
• Geriatric
• Correctional sites
• Addiction
• Forensic

Besides being a position that is in high demand, a job as a locum tenens psychiatrist offers a wide variety of appealing benefits that include things such as:

When you’re a locum tenens psychiatrist, you’ll enjoy the flexibility of working virtually anywhere in the country. In addition to choosing nearly any city or region, locum tenens psychiatrists have the freedom to practice in the setting of their choice, including private practice, hospitals, correctional facilities, and schools, just to name a few. 

Since the demand for mental health professionals is now higher than ever, as a locum tenens psychiatrist you’ll also enjoy premium pay. Depending on your background, credentials, and expertise, you can trust there’s a locum tenens job to match both your professional qualifications and personal preferences.

You won’t be bored when you choose to become a locum tenens psychiatrist. From just a few weeks to several months or more, you will be able to choose from a wide variety of locum tenens psychiatrist positions that fit perfectly within your unique schedule and desired lifestyle. 

Locum tenens psychiatrist assignments also offer plenty of options when it comes to day-to-day working options. For instance, you may have the option of working in multiple capacities and seeing patients through telehealth while also providing onsite services. This change of pace might be just what you need to renew your passion for this great profession.

Have you wanted to explore the country? Do you love hitting the slopes every January? Have you always dreamed of bumming it on the beach all summer? Have you fantasized about living in a big city? 

By becoming a locum tenens psychiatrist, you can have it all! Since you have the power to set your own work schedule, you have the freedom to take as much or as little time off as you want to explore and enjoy the region you are working in.

Let’s face it. While mental health can be an extremely rewarding profession, it can also be profoundly draining. The flexibility of locum tenens psychiatrist assignments offers practitioners much-needed relief from the tiring, often inflexible work hours (not to mention bureaucratic stress) that can lead to burnout. As a locum tenens psychiatrist, you can choose a work schedule that makes it easier to spend time enjoying the people and activities you love.

Whether you are longing to spend an extended visit with family, are tired of missing your kid’s ball games, want to get back to a hobby you love, or just want to enjoy some much-needed (and well-deserved) time off, life as a locum tenens psychiatrist may be just what you’ve been hoping for.

Not all staffing agencies are created the same. 

When you choose to travel with Trusted Locum Staffing you’ll get a dedicated team that offers comprehensive, high-touch support throughout your journey. Every detail is meticulously managed and our white-glove service delivers the highest quality assignments, specifically tailored to your needs. 

We also provide a range of top benefits to ensure your success and satisfaction, including making it as easy as possible to get started. We’ll handle everything from credentialing to setting up travel arrangements to arranging your placements,

We’re here to walk you through the psychiatrist locum tenens process by answering your questions, offering clear explanations, and providing unwavering support so you don’t have to start from square one. 

The Trusted Locum Staffing team will ensure you understand each step so you’re comfortable and well-prepared for your first assignment.

At Trusted Locum Staffing, we’re redefining the healthcare staffing industry — harnessing the power of people and technology to create exceptional experiences for everyone involved. 

With 15 years of experience under our belts, our team has cultivated a reputation for excellence by leveraging our extensive expertise and strong internal culture. Our experience and values drive us to exceed expectations and build lasting relationships in the healthcare community.

Focus on doing what you do best — providing exceptional patient care — and let the professionals at Trusted Locum Staffing handle the details. 

Begin the exciting adventure of a locum tenens psychiatrist with Trusted Locum Staffing today.