new grad physical therapist Archives

We are excited to bring you a guest post from our friend and former traveling physical therapist, Jeff Camara, about his journey and career development. He started off as a new grad Travel PT, and then has advanced his career from becoming a Clinic Director, to partial owner of the company, to leading an entire division within the company. We hope that his story will be inspirational to you about where you can take your career and how travel therapy might fit into your plans.

When I took my first travel physical therapy contract as a new grad PT, I was looking for professional flexibility, new experiences, and a chance to grow. I didn’t expect it would be the first step on a path that would eventually lead me to clinic leadership, partnership, and even a position as Chief Operating Officer (COO) for a new division in the company. Here’s how it all started.

Taking the Leap with Travel Therapy

My journey began right after graduation with a six-month Travel PT contract for an outpatient clinic that quickly felt like a great fit. I loved the team and the work culture so much that I extended my contract another six months. When the company offered me a permanent position, I was flattered, but not yet ready to settle down. There were still other places to explore, skills to build, and experiences to gain.

After some time spent pursuing other opportunities, the company invited me back for a short contract to cover for a Clinic Director who was out on maternity leave. This experience gave me a taste of leadership. The clinic needed structure and direction, so I found myself stepping into an unofficial leadership role. The clinic’s performance improved, and after just three months, they offered me a permanent Clinic Director position. This time, I was ready to accept.

Growing Through Leadership in the Midst of Change

Accepting this role was a pivotal moment. The COVID-19 pandemic had begun to limit travel therapy options, and taking on the Clinic Director position offered stability during an uncertain time. It also presented a unique challenge: this clinic had been underperforming for years, and I saw this as my chance to turn things around.

Over the next year, we grew the team from two PTs to five, transforming the clinic into a top performer and establishing it as the gold standard within the company. We even became the training hub for all new hires, sharing our model and approach so that other clinics could replicate our success.

Pursuing Higher Education to Enhance Leadership

While I was proud of what we had accomplished, I wanted to continue growing as a leader. I decided to pursue an online MBA at Louisiana Tech. Balancing work and coursework was intense, but I managed to complete the 2-year program in just over a year. With this new knowledge, I felt ready to approach the company with ideas for the future.

This conversation led to an opportunity I hadn’t expected: a partnership with the company and part ownership of 18 clinics, plus the role of Chief Operating Officer in a new division. This was an amazing next step in my career development, and to think, it all started with me being a travel therapist at the company.

Bridging the Gap for Travelers

In my latest role with the company, I worked to help launch a concierge, out-of-network service to deliver physical therapy directly to people’s homes, workplaces, and other locations that fit their schedules and needs. In taking this next step and building my own career, it also created an opportunity for therapists to take more control of their time, money, and passion.

This is where TJC Concierge comes in—a true game-changer for physical therapists specializing in orthopedics, sports therapy, or other niche areas like pediatrics, TMJ, vertigo, and more. With a strong infrastructure already in place, we are one of the few private companies in the country offering two accredited residency programs—Orthopedic and Sports. All 12 of our current providers have completed these residency programs, and for them, the next step is transitioning to TJC Concierge, where they gain the freedom to take control of their careers outside the constraints of busy, in-network schedules. This model allows PTs to escape the grind of traditional clinics, providing them with the flexibility to work on their terms—while earning higher pay. Isn’t that what most travelers are looking for? What’s your plan once your travel therapy adventure ends?

What excites me most is the opportunity we have to make the residency program accessible to traveling therapists. Currently, our residencies are designed to help therapists reach their highest potential by earning the credentials and knowledge of an OCS (Orthopedic Clinical Specialist) or SCS (Sports Clinical Specialist). Now, I’m working on a way to make these residencies available to travelers, even while they’re on the road. This will allow them to earn their OCS or SCS, and eventually transition into our concierge model if desired, or pursue other opportunities as the next step for their careers. It’s an ambitious goal, but one that will hopefully expand beyond our location in Virginia and reach therapists across the country.

Looking Back and Forward

Five years ago, travel therapy gave me the flexibility, experience, and confidence to take risks. It exposed me to diverse environments, helped me refine my skills, and ultimately provided me with the tools to step into leadership roles. What I’ve learned along the way is that travel therapy can be more than just an adventure or a temporary job—it can serve as the foundation for a fulfilling and dynamic career.

The journey has been nothing short of transformative. Each new challenge has given me an opportunity to grow, both personally and professionally, in ways I never imagined. From that very first travel therapy contract to my current role, every step has shaped the path I’m on today.

For any PTs considering travel therapy, or those wondering where it might lead, remember this: the opportunities are endless. With the right mindset, the experiences and connections gained from travel therapy can unlock a future filled with growth, leadership, and success. And who knows, maybe you’ll even find yourself pursuing your passion with TJC Concierge in the future!

Written by Jeff Camara, PT, DPT, MBA

Jeff is originally from the New England region, having lived in Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the College of Charleston before completing his Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree at American International College. Jeff began his career as a traveling physical therapist, with his first contract at The Jackson Clinics in Virginia, where he currently resides. He later pursued an MBA from Louisiana Tech University and continues to blend his passion for physical therapy with his business acumen.

Contact info: https://qr.link/chr9a8

Thank you, Jeff, for a very informative and inspirational post! For those who are considering getting started with travel therapy to continue advancing your own career, please reach out to us at Travel Therapy Mentor with questions or for help getting started!

A common question we get is whether or not you’re able to receive mentorship as a travel therapist. This most often comes from new grad therapists or students considering travel therapy right out of school. Occasionally, this question also comes from an experienced therapist who wants to take a travel therapy contract in a brand new setting, but who is fearful he/she won’t be able to succeed without some guidance.

As with just about all things therapy related, the answer is “it depends.” It depends on the particular travel assignment that you choose as well as on what you mean by mentorship, as we’ve found that this can often mean different things to different managers and therapists.

Choosing the Right Travel Assignment for Mentorship

Every job as a travel therapist can be completely different, so if mentorship is important to you, then this is something you’ll have to prioritize when searching for the right travel therapy assignment. You’ll work alongside your travel therapy recruiter to identify facilities that may offer mentorship. Then, you’ll need to ask questions during your phone interview with the facility to determine what type, if any, mentorship is available.

Whitney and I found out the hard way during our very first travel therapy assignments that not all of them will be a supportive environment with mentorship for new grads.

Our Experience with New Grad Travel Therapy Mentorship

Whitney and I both started travel physical therapy right away as new grads in 2015. When we started, we both had about the same level of clinical skills and the same level of knowledge about travel therapy. We started working travel PT jobs as our very first jobs as clinicians, and we took jobs less than 30 minutes from each other. Based on this, you might guess that our experiences as new grad travelers were pretty similar. That was not the case at all. Whitney had a very difficult first travel assignment with a lot of hardship throughout the 13 weeks, whereas mine was wonderful. The interesting thing about this was that before we started the jobs, we both thought that her job would be great and that I would struggle at mine.

Much of this is because we were naïve new travel therapists that didn’t know how important the facility interview is, and therefore we didn’t ask the right questions. By, essentially, luck of the draw, she got a travel contract that wasn’t supportive or helpful at all, whereas mine had a lot of support.

At her contract, after a 30 minute orientation on the first day, she was expected to jump right into to seeing a full day of patients at the large retirement community, which included several different buildings for skilled nursing, long term care, assisted living, and independent living. The facility was new to her, the patients were new to her, and she was unfamiliar with the documentation system, yet the regional manager still expected her to achieve 90% productivity in her first week. That’s completely unreasonable for a new grad, or really for anyone starting their first week in a new place. To make matters worse, she was told there would be another PT on staff there to help her and answer questions, but it turned out that she was actually filling in for the PT who was out on medical leave, so she was on her own.

On the other hand, my contract which was at a small rural hospital, knew that I didn’t have any acute care experience, and the manager was very accommodating and wanted to help me succeed in the new setting. She let me shadow a current PT there for an entire week before I ever saw my first patient. After that, I had a week long ramp up to a full caseload. I wasn’t on my own with a full caseload until the third week, which gave me plenty of time to get aquatinted with the facility and the documentation system. I didn’t have many issues, and if I did, there was always another PT there willing to help and answer my questions.

What Can be Expected on an Average Travel Contract?

Since these first assignments, we’ve learned a lot about what can be expected when starting a new travel job. The truth is that there’s a wide range of what’s normal in terms of travel therapy mentorship. Both of our first jobs were outliers on different ends of the spectrum.

It’s not often that a travel therapist is thrown right into a full caseload on day one like Whitney was, and it’s fairly easy to avoid those jobs with a thorough interview. Being at a facility with unrealistic expectations is no fun, and we advise therapists to avoid those places at all costs. However, it’s also not common to get a full two weeks of orientation, shadowing, and ramp up like I received.

Most travel jobs are somewhere in the middle, and it’s very important to use the phone interview with the facility to determine if the support provided is adequate for your needs as a new travel therapist. Picking the right contract, especially for your first one, is vital in having a good experience as a travel therapist.

Do Travel Therapists Really get Less Mentorship?

To be honest, Whitney and I were both nervous to start out as new grad travel therapists. We’d heard some good things about travel therapy and knew we wanted to see more of the country and to earn more money, but we’d also heard a lot of negative stories from professors and clinical instructors.

There were no resources for travel therapists online back then, so we had no way to know how to choose the right travel companies and recruiters, which was also a big impediment to our success.

We thought about taking a permanent job to get mentorship and experience before traveling, but we were really eager to start exploring. Many permanent jobs in our area advertised mentorship to new grads but were vague as to what that really entailed. As we later found out, in most cases mentorship didn’t really mean much at those jobs.

After a couple weeks at my first travel contract, I talked to many of my PT school classmates to hear how their first jobs were going. They all took permanent jobs, so I was very interested to see how their experience would differ from mine. To my surprise, I actually got more mentorship at my first travel contract than all but one of them did at their permanent jobs. It turned out that most of the clinics that were offering mentorship really just meant that they would get a week ramp up period to a full caseload and have another PT in the facility to answer questions. So much for the “mentorship” I thought I was missing out on as a travel therapist!

As we’ve gotten further into our careers, we’ve learned that our area wasn’t an anomaly. While there are some facilities that offer a dedicated mentorship program, most facilities that advertise mentorship for new grads really just mean an orientation, a ramp up to a full caseload, and another therapist in the facility to ask questions if needed. This is exactly what most new grad travel therapists get as well, so the difference between permanent job and travel job mentorship is often minimal.

Different Types of Mentorship as a Travel Therapist

In addition to the mentorship that travel therapists receive being similar to that of permanent therapists in many cases, I believe that travel therapists receive a different type of mentorship that is more valuable.

In my first two years as a travel therapist, I worked alongside several dozen different therapists at different facilities all over the country. I learned from all of these therapists and got a broad view of the different treatment styles and therapy perspectives out there, which made me a more well rounded clinician. Had I worked at the same permanent job for those two years, I would have had a much more limited perspective.

I also got to learn what I liked and didn’t like about the policies and procedures at the various different facilities. Some were run extremely well, whereas others needed a lot of work. That taught me what I would want to look for in a future permanent position to have the best possible work-life balance.

On top of the above, I also got to thoroughly try out a variety of different settings and learn from each about the various stages of healing and rehab. This gave me a much better view of the patient as a whole and the progression from acute care to outpatient therapy. Trying out different settings also made me realize that although I loved outpatient, a future permanent job in a different setting might be better for me long term. I probably would have never given any other settings a try if I had taken a permanent job right out of school, and I wouldn’t have known what I was missing.

Mentorship and growth as a clinician comes in all shapes and sizes. With all things considered, I think what the average travel therapist receives is more valuable than what the average permanent therapist receives.

Types of Mentorship to Ask About as a Traveler

When it comes time to search for travel therapy jobs, you’ll want to keep in mind the different forms of mentorship you can receive and be sure to ask about these.

As we’ve already discussed, the most common type of mentorship will be another clinician on staff who can help you and whom you can ask questions. Be sure to ask if there will be a clinician of your same discipline on site, full time, at the same facility with you. Also be sure to ask about training/orientation and ramp up time as well, especially if the job is in a setting that is unfamiliar to you.

In addition to on site mentorship, you can also ask your recruiter if there is a mentor available by phone through the travel company. Often they will have clinical staff (sometimes called a clinical liaison) who works for the travel company and can help you in any tricky situations at your travel therapy contract. They may also be able to connect you with a mentor who is an experienced travel therapist who you can talk to and get advice from.

Is Travel Therapy Right for You?

If you’re considering travel therapy and are concerned about the mentorship aspect, I hope that this article sheds some light on what’s available. If you’re relatively confident in your skills as a clinician and pick a good first few contracts based on your phone interviews, then you’ll be in good shape.

On the other hand, if you aren’t confident and feel that you need more in depth help starting your career, then searching out a permanent job with a more structured mentorship program might be a good idea. While most mentorship programs at permanent jobs are minimal, we have seen some over the years that are very thorough and helpful for new grads that need to build skills and confidence.

If you plan to start as a new grad travel therapist like we did, it’s vital to be prepared and as informed as possible about the process to avoid a first contract like Whitney had. A great place to start your learning is our free travel therapy 101 series. It covers the basics and has links to more in depth learning on important topics. If you want a step by step guide to becoming a successful and financially savvy travel therapist, then our course is ideal for you. If you need help getting connected with great recruiters who are very supportive, fill out our recruiter recommendation form so we can get you in touch! Feel free to message us with any questions. Best of luck in your travel therapy journey!

Written by Jared Casazza, PT, DPT – Jared has been a traveling physical therapist since 2015. He has become an expert in the field of travel healthcare through his experience, research, and networking over nearly a decade.