Roy Miller, MD, was born in 1943 to an Amish family in rural Millersburg, Ohio. Ironically, he was delivered on the floor of his house, without a physician in attendance. "The local doctor just didn't make it in time," he laughs.

Roy Miller, MD

While in Mississippi volunteering with the Mennonite church, he had his first exposure to medicine working as an orderly in a hospital, and was hooked. "I took the GED in Mississippi and was accepted to Malone College in Ohio in 1965," he says. After graduating from the University of Cincinnati Medical School, Dr. Miller joined a private practice in Medina, Ohio, "but there was always a draw for me to go back home to Millersburg," he says. One day he did just that, opening his own practice, where for 25 years he had "a wonderful life."

Dr. Miller set a goal to practice until he was 60 years old, so in June 2003, he closed the doors to his clinic, donated his equipment, and began to cherish family life. Along with his wife, Ruby, he traveled the country and just appreciated not working. He threw himself with gusto into a new hobby: building model airplanes in a workshop behind his home. "But eventually, I felt like I wanted to get back into medicine," he says. "I guess I wasn't ready to throw away all of the knowledge and experience I had gained."

So he contacted several staffing companies and landed his first locum tenens assignment at an Indian reservation in South Dakota. Dr. Miller worked in a clinic treating the Lakota Sioux, the tribe of famed warrior Crazy Horse. "It was a real eye-opener," he says. "The degree of poverty and the disease consortium of alcoholism, obesity, diabetes, and drug addiction were amazing."

Soon after, he got a call about a clinic in Wyoming that had been without a doctor for six weeks. "I have worked there on and off, recruited permanent doctors, and otherwise made sure they have coverage," Dr. Miller notes. "As a result of my Wyoming license, I have now traveled all over the state."

VARYING ASSIGNMENTS

While practicing locum tenens in places like Wyoming and New Mexico has great appeal for Dr. Miller, he doesn't just travel out of state. He also spends time filling in where needed in Ohio—for instance, covering for a vacationing doctor in Akron, or substituting for a physician in Newcomerstown who departed for National Guard duty in El Salvador.

On occasion, Dr. Miller drives his RV to an assignment. When Hurricane Katrina hit, he and several other physicians piled in and headed for Mississippi. "The emotions were unbelievable," he remembers. "The people would come in and tell their story, cry on your shoulder, get their treatment, and move on. We saw patients of all kinds, and I thought I was tough, but when I came home from that experience it really hit me hard."

Dr. Miller also works in countries such as Costa Rica, Mexico, and Honduras, where he helps the indigenous people through a foundation he established. He has built houses, sent children to school, and provided medical instruction as well as medical care to those in need.

Dr. Miller, now traveling with Staff Care, notes both the upside and downside of locum tenens work. "The best thing is being able to help out and give a fellow doctor some freedom," he says. "Being able to contribute to society by providing medical care has great appeal for me. I love to travel and love the exposure to other cultures and communities. The income is pretty good, too. You can make a fair amount in a short time.

"The downside is you don't get to develop long-standing relationships with your patients," Dr. Miller laments. "And there is always a conflict between doing the right thing and being a pleaser."

Many locum tenens physicians are seeking that plum assignment in a major city. Not Dr. Miller. "I wouldn't even consider going to San Francisco, Miami, or Denver," he says. "The only locations I have an interest in are the isolated places. I have a rural orientation, and that's where I like to go."