“Very few IRs get to work with a ton of colleagues. We go to conferences and network, but day- to-day, there isn’t often someone there beside you to collaborate with, in most practices. But collaboration is really built into the fabric of locum work. It makes life interesting.”
case of an unsuccessful retrograde procedure,” he said.
An uncommon model meets a common need For Dr. Knelson, locum tenens work comes with all the satisfaction of practice, without the hassle of administrative burden.
“It is a huge gift,” he says. “Thank God, some people are very good at running practices and enjoy everything that goes into it. I have done that before, but I never really wanted it. With my current work, I’m essentially a hired gun. I come in, make sure people are doing well, and I’m happy while doing it.”
An unexpected benefi t of locum tenens work is also the number of IRs he has been able to meet, he said.
“Very few IRs get to work with a ton of colleagues. We go to conferences and network, but day-to-day, there isn’t often someone there beside you to collaborate with, in most practices,” he said. “But collaboration is really built into the fabric of locum work. It makes life interesting.”
Although he enjoys the freedom and collaboration involved in locum tenens work, Dr. Knelson does acknowledge it limits opportunities for being involved in longitudinal care. While he has worked at institutions with dedicated IR clinics, he is not part of that service line—and he’s okay with that.
“Most counties in the U.S. do not have a single IR servicing them. Of
the counties that do have an IR, most of them don’t have a clinic,” he said. “It’s a huge privilege and luxury to be able to perform IR at an institution with multiple IR rooms, a clinic and dedicated technicians.”
While having a dedicated practice is a wonderful experience—one he calls akin to “being in heaven”—Dr. Knelson points out that much of the IR work in the U.S. is being done in a very diff erent sort of practice pattern. Those are the facilities who need locums, especially ones with IR skill sets who are comfortable with procedures like abscess drainages, biopsies, central venous access and gastrointestinal bleeds.
Dr. Knelson says he has found this work immensely satisfying, even though it wasn’t something he would ever have considered earlier in his career.
“I sort of fell into locum work, and I’m grateful for it, because it has really extended my career,” he said. “I like the casework. I like meeting patients and taking care of them, and I know I’m not alone in that.”
While Dr. Knelson has worked directly with several locum tenens companies, he says that word of mouth and just listing himself as “open to work” on LinkedIn has yielded plenty of opportunities as well.
“I strongly encourage people to at least consider locum tenens work. Deciding when you will work and on what terms is an eye-opening experience,” he said.
32 IRQ | WINTER 2026
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