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!