Dr. Valliani said he grew up wanting to be an engineer. But life has its own plan. He says he displayed exceptional aptitude in biology (math, not so much). So, he decided to lean into his strengths and pursue the natural career path: medicine. His journey eventually guided him to become a locum tenens hospitalist with Interim Physicians.
Beginning 7,000 Miles Away
In Egypt, Dr. Valliani’s home country, he said medical school was much more accelerated in comparison to the United States.
He attended just one year of pre-med and five years of medical school at Alexandria University in Egypt. Then, he immediately began his internship with two-month rotations in every single specialty area—obstetrics, pediatrics, cardiology, and so on.
After spending a few years undecided on which specialty to pursue full-time, Dr. Valliani says he opted to round out his education in the United States. In 1988, he attended the University of Alabama and secured his master’s degree in public health before passing his exams, beginning residency, and eventually making the decision to practice Internal Medicine.
A Career in Private Practice
Once he completed residency in the late 90s, Dr. Valliani joined a practice with a cardiologist who steadily let him absorb the existing caseload, he says. Once the cardiologist retired, Dr. Valliani took over the practice entirely.
He worked for 18 years in private practice, but like many physicians, Dr. Valliani was experiencing severe burnout. He noticed that his days were far less patient-focused in favor of menial administrative duties that he didn’t enjoy. “I was always on the phone,” he lamented.
“Since I covered my own practice, I’d see about 20 patients a day, and then I was on my pager 24/7. I couldn’t return any calls until after hours, and because I did my own in-patient service, if my patients were admitted to the hospital, I’d go see them there. So, I split my time part-time private practice and part-time hospitalist. But I was working all the time.”
In 2015, Dr. Valliani made the decision to close his practice and return to Egypt for a reprieve. But it only took him about six months before he was feeling the call back to medicine, and his “retirement” changed entirely.
Entertaining Semi-Retirement
Although Dr. Valliani explored hiring locum tenens providers to help him in his own private practice, he says for him they were too expensive.
But while he was in Egypt, Dr. Valliani received an interesting proposition via email: Would he like to practice locum tenens with an agency? He weighed the pros and cons, eventually deciding to work nine months of the year as a part-time hospitalist. And he hasn’t looked back since.
“Locums is amazing because once I’m done, I’m done. There aren’t any pagers, and I don’t have to work after hours. I hold licenses and take assignments across Texas and Missouri, but the best part is that I’m able to go home to visit my family in Egypt whenever I want. I couldn’t do when I had my own practice.”
Dr. Valliani hasn’t done a lot of traveling in the last few years, but he has big plans for the rest of 2023. In fact, he purchased an apartment in Egypt just five minutes from the beach near where he grew up. So, when he’s not on a locums assignment, he’ll be relaxing by the Mediterranean Sea!
Finding the Right Locums Partner
Over the last seven years, Dr. Valliani has practiced locum tenens with a few different agencies. But in 2021, he received a call from his Interim Physicians recruiter, Tina Lenihan.
“Tina is one of the best people I’ve ever worked with,” he says. “She quickly learned exactly what I’m looking for in a practice environment, and she’s placed me at two facilities where I’ve continued to accept several repeat assignments.”
One of them is in a rural area of Missouri. Many doctors who are placed there aren’t used to small towns, which leads to high attrition. But Dr. Valliani enjoys it and continues filling shifts whenever they need him.
“Locums has been such a breath of fresh air,” he explains. “I get to know the patients very well, and I have the time to chat and joke with them. I’ve been able to prioritize patient care again and I value that so much.”
Although Dr. Valliani encourages locums as a practice alternative, he stresses that it is best to have the right agency in your corner.
“Tina immediately texts me when she sees a job I’d like. Then she follows up and arranges the whole thing from start to finish. I don’t have to lift a finger! She has my schedule and coordinates with Interim’s travel department with all my preferences in mind.”
Physicians have enough to worry about—working with a locum tenens agency removes the brunt of the paperwork and red tape from practicing in different states.
“Interim is on top of everything from credentialing to licensing – all I have to do is sign off. The hard work is all done for me,” he continues. “That’s why I always recommend Interim to my colleagues. I’ve even been at a hospital and bumped into other locums physicians who also work with Interim. We’re all happy even though we have different recruiters and that speaks volumes about the team.”
