Though he originally planned to retire at 65 and travel the country with his wife, Dr. Leon Books left his private practice even earlier — at just 52. But he didn’t want to give up medicine.
The family practice physician, who practiced in rural Nebraska for 25 years, says locum tenens allowed him the flexibility — and the income — to enjoy early retirement. Even now, 13 years after beginning his locum tenens career with CompHealth, Dr. Books says he has no plans to retire.
“I’ve worked hard at trying to keep up with medicine, and I enjoy what I’m doing. I certainly at this point wouldn’t want to retire and just sit on the porch in a rocking chair. I still enjoy working with people and practicing medicine,” Dr. Books shares. “I probably don’t work as many hours now as I used to, but certainly still work full-time and still enjoy it. As long as I can enjoy it and do it well, I don’t see any reason why I need to stop.”
Even with more than a decade of locum tenens work under his belt, Dr. Books says the assignments continue to be interesting, no matter where he travels to.
“[It’s] the newness of going into a new place, seeing new patients, meeting new people, whether it be patients or a new medical staff, new nursing staff, a new community,” Dr. Books expresses. “I’ve enjoyed each one of them I’ve worked in, sometimes for different reasons, but it’s just been a fun lifestyle for me these last few years.”
He’s also fulfilled his dream of traveling the country with his wife, working in areas he might never have visited.
“[Assignments will come] literally from coast to coast, in all sorts of different settings, whether it be urgent care, a clinic…even work strictly as a hospitalist, where I do nothing but see patients in the hospital,” Dr. Books shares. “The opportunities have grown dramatically over the years.”
Learn more about Dr. Books’ experience working as a locum tenens provider with CompHealth in this ReachMD radio interview.My Locum Tenens Story: Transitioning from Private Practice to Locum Tenens
February 14th, 2014 2 Min readThough he originally planned to retire at 65 and travel the country with his wife, Dr. Leon Books left his private practice even earlier — at just 52. But he didn’t want to give up medicine.
The family practice physician, who practiced in rural Nebraska for 25 years, says locum tenens allowed him the flexibility — and the income — to enjoy early retirement. Even now, 13 years after beginning his locum tenens career with CompHealth, Dr. Books says he has no plans to retire.
“I’ve worked hard at trying to keep up with medicine, and I enjoy what I’m doing. I certainly at this point wouldn’t want to retire and just sit on the porch in a rocking chair. I still enjoy working with people and practicing medicine,” Dr. Books shares. “I probably don’t work as many hours now as I used to, but certainly still work full-time and still enjoy it. As long as I can enjoy it and do it well, I don’t see any reason why I need to stop.”
Even with more than a decade of locum tenens work under his belt, Dr. Books says the assignments continue to be interesting, no matter where he travels to.
“[It’s] the newness of going into a new place, seeing new patients, meeting new people, whether it be patients or a new medical staff, new nursing staff, a new community,” Dr. Books expresses. “I’ve enjoyed each one of them I’ve worked in, sometimes for different reasons, but it’s just been a fun lifestyle for me these last few years.”
He’s also fulfilled his dream of traveling the country with his wife, working in areas he might never have visited.
“[Assignments will come] literally from coast to coast, in all sorts of different settings, whether it be urgent care, a clinic…even work strictly as a hospitalist, where I do nothing but see patients in the hospital,” Dr. Books shares. “The opportunities have grown dramatically over the years.”
Learn more about Dr. Books’ experience working as a locum tenens provider with CompHealth in this ReachMD radio interview.Author
Lindsay Wilcox
Lindsay Wilcox is a communication professional with experience writing for the healthcare and entertainment industries as well as local government. When she's not circling typos, she's enjoying fish tacos and hanging out with her family.