From improving the lives of patients to enjoying a low-stress lifestyle, see why Patrice loves being a locum tenens nurse practitioner – and why she chooses Cross Country! 

<p>
 At Cross Country Locums, we are privileged to work with outstanding physicians 
 and advanced practice providers devoted to providing the best in patient care 
 across the nation. We’re here to celebrate these providers and pass 
 along their insights to inspire others interested in the field.
</p>
<p> For National Locum Tenens Week, we’re spotlighting one of our current LT 
  providers, Dr. Gregory T. In this blog, he shares about his motivation for 
  becoming a Physician, his advice for new doctors just starting out, what he 
  enjoys about locums, and more.
</p>

<h3> Why did you become an Emergency Medicine Physician?</h3>
<p>In the beginning of my medical school training, I was actually torn between 
  emergency medicine, cardiology/GI, and general surgery. I was leaning more 
  towards emergency medicine just because of my background. Growing up in a 
  small rural farming town, I worked in a local emergency room as an ER tech 
  and did quite a lot of volunteer work. While in undergrad training, 
  I traveled all over the world with a medical mission agency providing 
  emergency care to remote places in Uganda and Peru. Working along side 
  ER physicians for extended periods of time, I was able to experience not 
  just the specialty but the level of compassion it takes to become an 
  emergency physician. When you get to work with some of the best doctors 
  in the world, it is an experience unlike any other.  In the emergency room, 
  we are a group of individuals in the midst of organized chaos trained to 
  save a life. Whatever comes through the front door, whether it be a cough, 
  a gunshot, a stabbing, a cardiac arrest, we are equipped to handle that. 
</p>

<h3> What advice would you give someone starting out in your field/profession?</h3>
<p>Throughout your emergency medicine residency training there will be quite a 
  few periods of time where you will feel lost, overwhelmed, not know where to go, 
  feel like you just live at that hospital, don’t worry it will pass. We have all 
  been there. Getting up at 4:00 AM to drive to the first day of a trauma surgery 
  rotation, not knowing where to go, where to park, or even finding out you have 
  10 patients yourself. You know nothing about these patients that have been in 
  the trauma ICU for months and everyone knows everything about them, but you. 
  Oh, and by the way, you have 1 hour to learn everything about all of them, 
  down to the most recent bowel movement they just had. You finish at 8:00 PM 
  that night after doing multiple procedures, multiple notes, responding to 
  multiple traumas with your team, speaking with multiple specialists, and you 
  sit quietly in your car and drive away, knowing by the time you get home you 
  only have 7 hours till you have to get up again, only this time it is a 24-hour 
  shift. We train like this so that when we start out as attendings we are truly 
  equipped to handle whatever comes through that door. Months after starting my 
  job as a first year attending, the radio call went off about 20-year-old female 
  patient, CPR in progress from Ball State University. If you recognize the story 
  yet, it made national headlines garnishing over 20 million views worldwide, 
  when the patient told her story publicly on live television after being dead 
  for 40 minutes secondary to a massive PE, and as a physician deciding to 
  push tPA as a last ditch effort to save her life. Fast forward a few months, 
  she danced out of the hospital, and went on to graduate. This is reason why 
  we train hard, this is the reason for the long days, this is why as emergency 
  medicine physicians we went into the specialty, for the chance to save a life 
  like this. My advice for those starting out, take a deep breath, lean on your 
  training, do not be afraid to ask for help, we have all been there and we all 
  want to train the next generation of health care heroes. You got this!!! 
</p>

<h3> Why did you choose to work locums?</h3>
<p>I work full time with Indiana University and the United States Air Force but 
  chose to additionally work locums for Riverview Hospital. For me, it was the 
  freedom of my schedule, working when I want, where I want, with a recruiter 
  that is with me every step of the way ready to answer any questions. 
  My recruiter is experienced and worked with me to find opportunities that 
  suited my strength, skills, schedule, and geographic preferences. 
</p>

<h3> What do you like about CCL?</h3>
<p>Cross Country Locums believes that as providers we should not have to trade 
  the opportunity, we want for the service we deserve, so they deliver both. 
  I get paid weekly, can freely change my schedule, and have a constant line 
  of communication with my recruiter. In this specialty, communication is 
  everything, and with Cross Country Locums, it is hard to top that. 
</p>

<h3> What do you like about working at the facilities CCL has placed you with?</h3>
<p> I am on staff at multiple locations and love it. The staff is excited to have me. 
  They love that I bring a different perspective working for both the Air Force 
  and full-time at a trauma center. My schedule is fairly intense, but it gives 
  me a unique perspective and vast experience as I work simultaneously in a trauma 
  center, non-trauma center, rural ER, in the Air Force rather it be on base or in 
  the air, in addition to stand alone ER/UC. 
</p>

<h3>Locums Opportunities</h3>
<p> If you’re ready to embark on a rewarding locums adventure and reach patients 
  who need you most, explore our <a href="https://www.crosscountry.com/locums" target="_blank"> 
  locum tenens opportunities</a> today!
</p>




Meet Dr. Gregory T., Emergency Medicine Physician