It's a gate, not a bonus
Most locum assignments require board certification to credential at all. It does not generally command a premium in general practice categories — hospitalist medicine, emergency medicine, family medicine — because everyone in the pool has it. Losing certification, or letting it lapse, removes you from the pool entirely.
Treat it as maintenance of access, and budget accordingly: exam fees, MOC activities, and the CME hours each cycle demands.
Where the premium actually lives
- Subspecialty scarcity. Interventional cardiology, neonatology, pediatric subspecialties, and surgical subspecialties pay well above the base specialty because the credentialed pool is small.
- Scope you can cover alone. Certifications that let a facility close a coverage hole without a second physician are worth real money.
- Procedural privileges. Endoscopy, cath lab, and OB coverage change the rate more than the certificate itself.
- Geography. The same certification is worth substantially more in rural and critical access settings.
MOC, practically
Track your cycle in your own calendar, not the board's reminder emails. A lapse discovered during credentialing costs you the assignment, not just the fee. Agencies verify certification status at submission and again before start.
Time-limited vs lifetime certificates
Physicians holding older lifetime certificates are certified for credentialing purposes, but some facilities and payers now ask for participation in continuous certification anyway. Ask early if a specific facility requires it.
Sources
No external source has been supplied for this guide. Figures are described in plain language rather than stated as numbers until a citable source is published here. Verify anything decision-critical against the primary authority named in the text.