Page 1 of 1

Traveling as a new grad

Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 9:01 pm
by ehudgin1
Hello,
I stumbled upon your website, and firstly, I would like to say thank you for getting this information out there to us. It is very beneficial. I graduate in May 2014, and I am very interested in starting my career with Traveling PT. As a new graduate do you see me having trouble with getting assignments? Also, what traveling companies do you recommend. Medtravelers is one I have looked into the most. AlliedVIP.com is a good website I think, as it gets your information to 10 or so travel companies for free, and you choose what companies your resume goes to.
I'd like to do more ortho-OP as a career, but feel doing inpatient acute during travel may be easier to find assignments, better pay, and easier transitions.

Any advice on any aspect of it would be appreciated. Thanks

Re: Traveling as a new grad

Posted: Fri Jun 21, 2013 5:56 am
by Hobohealth
Hey, thanks so much for checking out the site and posting up some questions here. This is what the site is all about, giving people a place to get some unbiased info on traveling PT.

First off, I want to make sure you found the getting started with traveling PT page: http://hobohealth.com/wordpress/faq/

Also, here's a link to a similar question on traveling as a new grad from a couple years ago, and there's some links contained beyond that link: http://www.hobohealth.com/phpBB3/viewto ... grad#p4786

The bottom line is, I don't necessarily recommend doing it straight out of school. After graduation, I worked for a private practice I had done a clinical affiliation at for 6 months before traveling. 3 things happened:

1. It was good to get my feet on the ground as a PT and that 6 months really helped me set a baseline for what good PT practice really looks like.

2. I do think it gave me some leverage to get out patient and private practice jobs early in traveling. I had heard out patient jobs were hard to find, but never experienced that. Private practices are very hesitant to temp PTs who have no private practice experience.

3. It was REALLY hard to quit. I totally see how people go into a job for a short while with the idea of traveling later and end up getting stuck.

So, if you are dead-set on traveling right out of school, I know people that have done it successfully, but I don't recommend it. As far as your other questions, I had never heard of alliedVIP, I checked it out and a lot of those companies are companies I have traveled with (good and bad). I don't know that it would really be as convenient as it seems, but I'd love to hear from anyone who has used it. I don't think you'll have trouble getting a job right out of school... but, as I mentioned above, even just a few months in outpatient would help you get outpatient travel assignments like you want.

Whew! Sorry, meant to be a short response, but got on a roll. Hope it's not too much information. Stay in touch!

Anyone else have anything to add?

-James

Re: Traveling as a new grad

Posted: Fri Jun 21, 2013 6:08 am
by Hobohealth
Almost forgot:

Traveling PT is awesome! Whether you do it right out of school, or shortly after, just do it!!!

James

Re: Traveling as a new grad

Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2013 8:27 pm
by Abeigel531
heyyy... I also have similar concerns about traveling as my first job. And am really considering it now, because I have not make some kind of move. I graduated at the end of June and then traveled for a bit before coming back to take the boards the end of october... A professor that I had told me its fine to do right away but to make sure to do it right...So im still trying to get more information from people on maybe what to avoid.. My professor told me to make sure you tell the recruiter that you do not want to take any solo assignments and to make sure there are other physical therapists around(working with a large department)... Maybe this info can help, but I am still looking for more as well..also ask how the assignments are chosen

Re: Traveling as a new grad

Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 7:39 am
by Hobohealth
I think that if you are going to travel as a new grad, you have your head in the right place and are asking the right questions. I definitely had the same concerns when I was starting out as a traveler - how can I be a travel PT, but also make sure I'm being mentored and growing as a professional?

When I started travel, after just 5 months of work, one of my classmates that had started travel PT immediately had ended up as the only PT in an inpatient rehab facility - she was the head PT as a new grad traveler! It was kind of mess, but she was able to shape the "department" into what she wanted - rewrite policies, improve patients outcomes data collection, develop protocols, etc.

On my first assignment I worked for a community hospital with about 5 other therapists a PTA and a couple OTs, I ended up extending my contract a few times and stayed there for 10 months before moving onto the next travel assignment. I grew a lot as a therapist in those 10 months and learned a lot through my co-workers informal mentorship. I think this is probably the kind of assignment you are looking for.

My advice: 1. Be honest and up front with your recruiters about finding a collaborative atmosphere at your first job; 2. When you interview with facilities, this is also your chance to ask them questions - how many other PTs do they have? 3. Take your time finding this first job and make sure it's the right one. I know right after the NPTE, the reaction can be to rush into the first thing that's available, but I think you want to get the first few month right and continue to grow in the right direction.

Hope this helps! And keep us all updated on your progress!

James

Re: Traveling as a new grad

Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 7:44 am
by Hobohealth
I thought of this old blog I wrote, I think it applies well here. If you find yourself not getting the growth you want here's some other ways to supplement your work and stay on track:

http://hobohealth.com/wordpress/2011/04 ... sacrifice/

James