Dr. Roxanne Richards graduated from The Ohio
State University College of Medicine and went on to
complete her residency at the University of Virginia.
She was a visiting scholar at the Robert Graham
Center in Washington, D.C. in 2012. She is currently
serving as a Family Medicine physician in Nome,
Alaska. Before that, Dr. Richards led the opening of
a new family medicine clinic for a large hospital
system in the medically underserved area of St.
Mary’s county, Maryland.
When you are in residency, you are only told
about one career path: become employed by
a hospital/physician group or go into academia.
There are no diversions from this path
from most physicians because
no one tells you other
options exist.
After a couple years of employment, I was almost
ready to give up on medicine. I was burned out
and really unhappy. I ended up taking six months
off just to figure out what I wanted to do. During
this time, a physician friend told me about locum
tenens work and encouraged me to try it.
The first opportunity I was offered by LocumTenens.com
was a six-week long stint in rural Alaska working through
Indian Health Services. I felt unsure about the commitment
and the location, but decided to try it.
Once I arrived and started working, I knew this was what I
needed. Locum tenens work has helped me remember
why I chose medicine, which is to help patients. This is
what I signed up for, not all the bureaucratic duties that
come along with a full-time job. Here in Alaska, I can just
focus on helping patients.
I work in the Alaskan bush. You have to take a plane to get
there as there are no connected roads. I serve a mainly native
population. The beauty of working in this facility is I have a
wide scope of practice, which I never had before. The
remoteness makes it a necessity that you have to take care
of the whole patient.
My favorite part of the job is when I travel to
remote villages to visit their clinics. Physicians are
only able to make it to the villages a few times per
year, so the local access for villagers is limited.
Sometimes the weather prevents travel to and
from these remote villages. The villagers rely on
local “community health aides” when physicians
aren’t there.
Last year I visited Shaktoolik, a village of about 250 people.
A small boy befriended me while I was there and took me
fishing in my downtime. He followed me around on his
bike all over town.
He showed me some of the local landmarks,
including the building remains in Old Town, which
had to be relocated in 1967 due to shore erosion
and worsening storms.
The people in this village have to hunt, fish and gather
food to survive the harsh winter. On this visit, people
brought me fresh salmon and blackberries they had
gathered to thank me.
They showered me with love and affection and were truly
grateful for me being there. Their generosity goes far beyond
these gifts. I am forever changed after working with these
villagers. Seeing their pride in their landing and its ability to
provide for them is awe-inspiring.
My advice to residents would be to explore your options.
Perm jobs are always available, but locum tenens work allows
you to try out different settings and areas before you are
locked into a contract. It’s a privilege to just plug in to an
already-running practice with existing patient panels.
You also have the opportunity to reinvent yourself from place
to place, and try different styles. It’s great to help you figure
out what you really want before you put down roots. Plus,
you can see some incredible places and meet some great
people who truly appreciate you.
Dr. Richards is one of thousands of physicians and advanced
practitioners enjoying adventures while helping patients
receive much-needed healthcare.
Contact us today!