Dr. Mackey had spent years in OB/GYN, a specialty shaped by office visits, deliveries, surgeries, and unexpected calls that can all fit into the same day. He still enjoyed the work, but he had started wondering whether there was another way to practice, one that offered more flexibility without taking him away from the patients and pace of OB/GYN.
Locum tenens had been in the back of his mind. He had heard how physicians were using locum tenens to explore new practice settings, gain more control over their schedules, and care for communities in need. Still, he was practicing full-time, and a new opportunity had to feel like the right fit before he was ready to act on it.
When Dr. Mackey connected with his Medicus recruiter, Josh, it felt less like a recruiting call and more like a conversation about what came next. Josh took the time to understand where Dr. Mackey was in his career, what he valued outside of medicine, and what he hoped to achieve professionally. Together, they explored how a locum tenens OB/GYN job could fit seamlessly into the life and career he had already built.
“What made it different was that Josh was listening,” Dr. Mackey explained.
The pieces fell into place. The OB/GYN locum job aligned with his goals, the timing was right, and with Josh's support, Dr. Mackey felt confident taking the next step in his career.
Dr. Mackey’s first locum tenens OB/GYN assignment marked a new chapter in his career. After years in a full-time W-2 role, he discovered a different way to practice medicine, one that offered flexibility without requiring him to step away from the work he loved.
Medicus helped make the transition seamless. His first assignment was close to home, providing a comfortable introduction to locum tenens. Behind the scenes, his dedicated Medicus team managed the licensing, DEA registration, credentialing, and hospital onboarding process, allowing him to focus on patient care from the start.
“Babies choose when babies choose. So, you show up at 8:00, and if that baby's coming at 8:15, you're it,” Dr. Mackey said.
While every hospital has its own workflows and team dynamics, Dr. Mackey quickly found that the core of the job remained the same. He was doing what he had spent years training for: caring for patients, delivering babies, and supporting families through some of life's most important moments.
With the right opportunity and a dedicated team handling the logistics, stepping into locum tenens felt less like a leap and more like a natural next step. For Dr. Mackey, it opened the door to greater flexibility while allowing him to continue practicing OB/GYN on his own terms.
Working locum tenens was never about stepping away from OB/GYN. It was a way to keep doing the work that had drawn him to the specialty in the first place, while creating more flexibility in how he practiced.
OB/GYN has given Dr. Mackey a career shaped by moments patients often remember for the rest of their lives. Deliveries, surgeries, emergency care, and office visits each offer distinct opportunities to help patients through some of their most important health experiences.
“Delivering a baby, doing a hysterectomy, doing emergency surgery, seeing patients in the office, I take healthy patients and address real problems and make their lives better,” Dr. Mackey said.
Through locum tenens OB/GYN, Dr. Mackey has been able to continue that work in communities where coverage is needed. The setting may change from job to job, but the reason he shows up remains the same: to care for patients, solve real problems, and keep practicing the specialty he still enjoys.
Locum tenens did more than change where he practiced. It changed the way his career fit into the rest of his life. After years of working as an OB/GYN, control over his schedule was one of the biggest changes. The difference became clear during his first holiday season working locum tenens.
“My first holiday season in locums, I had Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's off, which was the first time I'd had those three holidays off in 25 years, maybe since college,” Dr. Mackey said.
For a physician who had spent decades working through the demands of a full-time OB/GYN schedule, having that time back mattered. Locum tenens gave Dr. Mackey more control over when he worked, where he went, and how his career fit with the people and priorities outside the hospital.
The flexibility has also changed the way he thinks about travel. Dr. Mackey has friends and family across the country, and locum tenens has allowed him to connect his work with the places and people that matter to him.
“I use now my work and my travel to see friends and family, to do what I love to do and to make a living doing it,” Dr. Mackey said.
Locum tenens has not taken Dr. Mackey away from the work he enjoys. It has given him a different way to keep doing it, with more control over his schedule, more freedom to travel, and more room for life outside of medicine.
When Dr. Mackey first connected with Medicus, he was still working in a full-time permanent OB/GYN role and considering whether locum tenens could be the right next step. Today, he works full-time as a locum tenens, continuing the OB/GYN care he enjoys while having more control over his schedule.
That transition was supported by listening, communication, and trust. He wanted a team that understood his goals, respected his preferences, and helped him find locum tenens jobs that fit both his clinical interests and his life outside of medicine.
From his earliest conversations with Josh, he felt that Medicus was listening. That trust helped him feel confident choosing Medicus as his locum tenens partner.
“It was the right conversation, it was the right tone, and it helped me make a decision to go with Medicus rather than go with another company,” Dr. Mackey said.
With Medicus, Dr. Mackey found support for a new way of practicing OB/GYN. Locum tenens allowed him to continue caring for patients while building a career that left more room for travel, family, and life outside of work. For him, the shift became more than a career option. It became a way to stay connected to the work he loves with greater choice, support, and control over his time.
Interested in working OB/GYN locum tenens with Medicus? View our open OB/GYN locum tenens jobs or complete the short form below to connect with a Medicus recruiter.