5 ways to keep your practice fully staffed when summer vacations hit

Summer might be the season of beach selfies and backyard barbecues, but for practice administrators it can feel more like a high-stakes game of schedule Tetris. Once the school year wraps and airlines slash fares, clinicians and front-office staff race to lock in paid time off; sometimes weeks before Memorial Day.

Those overlapping requests can empty exam rooms, slow patient throughput and erode revenue just as demand climbs for sports physicals, travel immunizations and “I’ll-finally-get-that-checkup” appointments.

Americans are already on the move: AAA projects a record 45.1 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home over Memorial Day weekend 2025, signalling another blockbuster summer season and ratcheting up the pressure to keep every shift covered. Add lingering staffing shortages and a single unplanned absence can send the whole day off the rails. Still, summer doesn’t have to sabotage patient care or team morale, the following tips can keep the schedule full even when half the crew is catching waves.