Tag: new grad travel therapist

Travel Therapy as a New Grad in 2023

~ Travel Therapy Mentor ~ Leave a comment

Is travel therapy as a new grad a good idea in 2023?

In the summer we get lots of questions about whether it’s a good time to travel as a new grad. This is because most students graduate in May and take their board exams in either April or July, then plan to start their careers sometime between May-September.

PTs, OTs, and SLPs considering starting their careers as travel therapists has gotten a lot more popular since we began traveling as new grad physical therapists in 2015. There are a variety of reasons for this, including more exposure to the concept from social media. But, in my opinion, the biggest reason is increasing tuition costs, and subsequently higher student loan debt. With salaries for permanent therapy jobs remaining very stagnant, many therapists are very disillusioned with the debt to income ratio they face upon graduation.

Since almost everyone understands that you can earn significantly more money as a travel therapist, taking travel therapy assignments is enticing for those wanting to pay down their loans quickly or just invest money for their future. Some new grad therapists who are willing to hustle as travelers are able to make multiple six figures in their first year out of school.

The travel therapy job market can swing wildly from year to year, which can make a big impact on the feasibility of traveling as a new grad therapist. So, each summer is a good time to revisit this topic.

Is Traveling as a New Grad a Good Idea?

Before we get into the travel therapy job market and the outlook for travel therapy as a new grad in 2023, let’s address the elephant in the room. Is this actually a good idea for new grads?

Nearly every student considering travel therapy as a new grad is told by professors and/or clinical instructors that it’s a bad idea. This was certainly what we heard when we were physical therapy students. The interesting thing about this is that the majority of those opinions come from therapists who never actually traveled themselves. They’re usually just relaying horror stories that they’ve heard over the years about bad travel contracts. While there are certainly bad contracts out there, it’s easier than ever to avoid those contracts with all of the information available now.

With thorough interviews and asking the right questions, we’ve been able to largely avoid bad contracts in our years of traveling. After traveling as new grads ourselves and mentoring thousands of other new grad travelers, we’ve learned that the truth is that the vast majority of new grad travelers have a great experience, with there being many more pros than cons.

I recently wrote an article for the MedBridge blog discussing the three major reasons that new grads should consider travel therapy, which I encourage you to check out if you’re on the fence about pursuing this path.

With all of that being said, pursuing travel therapy right out of school certainly isn’t for every new grad. You need to be confident in your evaluation and treatment skills, and adaptable to new and changing situations. If you are uncertain or don’t feel comfortable in your final clinical internships, then there’s no harm in working for a year or two in a permanent position prior to embarking on your travel therapy journey.

If you’re on the fence about it, then this article should help you determine if travel as a new grad is right for you.

Pursuing Travel Therapy as a New Grad in 2023

The travel therapy job market has been pretty strong for the past two years, for both new grads and experienced therapists. Many therapists left the field completely in 2020 due to a sudden drop in caseloads, with many being laid off or fired from their jobs, and they then decided to retire or pursue other career options. Once patient census returned to normal levels, this left the healthcare industry with staffing shortages. The shortage of healthcare workers, combined with increasing demand in all settings as the population ages, has meant a huge increase in need for therapists.

We saw record numbers of travel therapy jobs at the end of 2021 and into 2022, which gave travel therapists lots of room to negotiate due to the supply/demand imbalance. It became common to see much higher pay packages during this timeframe than in prior years. At the end of 2022 into the first half of 2023, things began to stabilize, with slightly fewer jobs and slightly lower pay, but still elevated compared to the norm. All in all, the travel therapy job market remains strong with lots of open jobs for travel therapists and high pay packages.

To hear the full scoop on the current travel therapy job market, watch our most recent Travel Therapy Job Market Update from July 2023.

Because the travel therapy job market is currently very strong, this summer is a great time to start traveling as a new grad! Facilities are eager to fill open positions, and many will be willing to train and/or mentor new grads as they get started in their careers.

Differences Across Disciplines for Traveling as a New Grad

It’s important to note that the demand for travel positions is not the same across all disciplines. Currently, the demand is the highest for physical therapists, followed by speech language pathologists, occupational therapists, physical therapist assistants, and last being occupational therapy assistants.

With this in mind, it means that the disciplines which have lower demand will have higher competition among candidates for travel therapy jobs. This makes it particularly challenging for new grad therapists to out-compete experienced clinicians for travel jobs in these lower-demand specialties.

PTAs & COTAs

This is particularly the case for PTAs and COTAs who have the lowest availability of travel jobs. This makes it a lot more challenging for new grad PTAs and COTAs to find consistent work as travelers, resulting in unwanted and unpaid time off. It also means they may potentially be put into bad clinical environments, because they are desperate to accept any job that will take them.

Because of this, we encourage new graduate PTAs and COTAs to gain experience at a permanent job for at least 6-12 months, if not longer, before pursuing travel therapy. This will allow them to gain valuable experience and boost their resumes, making them more competitive for travel therapy positions. It will also allow them to build up some savings in case of gaps between travel jobs or unexpected cancellations because a travel job becomes filled with a perm candidate.

For a more in depth look at the travel therapy job market for PTAs and COTAs, I would encourage you to read this article from 2020 which discusses the obstacles that PTAs and COTAs have faced in the last few years with staffing. The job market has improved some since 2020 for these disciplines, but this gives a good overview of where the job market has been in the past leading up to now.

PTs, SLPs, and OTs

We do not have these concerns as much for newer graduate PTs, SLPs, and OTs, because the demand for these disciplines is higher, and there will be more opportunities to choose from. This means that the candidates are more likely to have consistent work, and they will also have the opportunity to choose among a lot of job options to find a clinical environment that is a good fit for them as new grads.

I will add that since the demand for OTs is slightly lower than that of PT and SLP, new grad OTs may have to be a bit more flexible on settings and locations when looking at travel therapy jobs. There are currently fewer open positions for travel OTs compared with PT and SLP, so the competition is slightly higher for new grad OTs.

Last, it’s important to note that when we discuss opportunities for “new grad SLPs,” we mean after they have received their CCC’s. Once an SLP has received their full credentials and is an SLP-CCC, the opportunities are numerous, and the new SLP-CCC will have many jobs to choose from. However, when SLPs are in their clinical fellowship year, travel therapy jobs are more limited. There are only certain travel therapy job opportunities that will allow the supervision hours necessary to complete the requirements of the CFY. I would recommend reading this article to further help you decide if traveling during your clinical fellowship year is a good choice or not.

Summary

If you’re considering travel therapy as a new grad in 2023, and you’ve determined that it’s a good option for you based on your own personality as well as the job market prospects for your discipline, then go for it! If you don’t like it, then there will always be permanent jobs to go back to. But, you may end up loving it and traveling for much longer than you anticipated, like we have.

Pursuing travel therapy provides a unique opportunity to explore the country and have new adventures, while setting yourself up for financial success in the future.

Before you jump in, be sure to check out the six ways to ensure success as a new grad travel therapist. Then, when you’re ready to dig deeper into your research, you can check out our free Travel Therapy 101 Series to learn all the essentials to beginning your travel therapy journey!

If you’re ready to get started traveling within the next few months, be sure to fill out our Recruiter Recommendation form so we can help get you connected with the best travel therapy recruiters and companies to help you along your way!

Best of luck to you, and feel free contact us with any questions!

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Jared Casazza

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.

8 Lessons Learned After 6 Years as a Travel Therapist

~ Travel Therapy Mentor ~ 2 Comments

Whitney and I began our careers as Traveling Physical Therapists in 2015 when we were new grads. Since then, we’ve taken over a dozen travel contracts each and mentored thousands of current and prospective travel therapists. We’ve also talked to and interviewed nearly 100 recruiters at over 15 different travel companies while in search for the best travel therapy companies and recruiters.

Over the last 6 years we’ve learned a lot about the travel therapy industry, from both the perspective of the travel therapist and the travel therapy company. In this article I hope to share some of the biggest lessons we’ve learned in order to help you become a more informed travel therapist.

1. It’s Not What You Make, But What You’re Able to Save

The vast majority of new travelers who contact us have decided to travel in order to improve their financial situations. This was also my main motivation for wanting to pursue Travel PT as a new grad. Many therapists assume that I was able to reach financial independence in such a short period of time as a traveler by taking only the highest paying contracts, but this actually isn’t true. Often, the highest paying contracts in the country are also in the highest cost of living areas. Unfortunately, traveling to high cost of living areas, even when the pay is higher, often doesn’t lead to the best outcome financially. I learned early on in my travel therapy career that taking moderately paying contracts in lower cost of living areas where housing and other expenses are more affordable was the way to make the most of my travel contracts to get ahead financially.

If reaching financial independence or improving your financial position is your primary goal with travel therapy, then keep in mind that the amount you’re able to save on each contract after taking into account your expenses is more important than just looking at the weekly take home pay alone.

2. The Recruiter You Choose is More Important than The Travel Company

New travelers are often in search of the best or highest paying travel therapy company, and I was no different. But Whitney and I quickly realized, after talking to recruiters from a few different companies, that each travel company has its pros and cons; but what will impact your experience as a traveler the most are the recruiters you choose to work with, not as much the travel companies themselves. This has only become more clear as we’ve mentored more and more travelers over the years.

For example, a travel company could have great job options, high pay, and great benefits; but if your recruiter there is not on top of communication, you may be late in getting submitted to jobs and never have the opportunity to get the contract you wanted. Since the recruiter is the main, and sometimes only, point of contact with the travel company, a traveler’s perception of a travel company is shaped almost entirely by the recruiter they choose.

Finding the best recruiters for you isn’t always easy though and can require some trial and error. In the past, Whitney and I have occasionally had awful experiences with recruiters that were highly recommended by others, and had great experiences with recruiters who we’d never heard anyone talk about or had heard less favorable things about. Recruiters aren’t one size fits all, and sometimes the personality and communication style of a recruiter that are great for another traveler, won’t fit you at all. Ideally you’ll find a recruiter and company that are both perfect for your wants and needs, but keep in mind that if you find yourself choosing between a great recruiter at a less desirable company and a bad recruiter at a more desirable company, your experience as traveler will almost certainly be more enjoyable working with a recruiter that you mesh well with and that has your best interest in mind.

3. It’s Important to be Very Selective on Which Contracts You Take

When I started traveling, I was focused on working and savings as much as possible early on to reach a point of financial security quickly. This meant trying to take back to back contracts as often as possible and occasionally settling on the facilities that I went to in order to make that happen. While this undoubtedly allowed me to reach my financial goals more quickly, it also caused me more stress and hassle than it was worth. Some travel contracts are absolutely amazing, while others are terrible. The more selective you are on which contracts you take, the better your experience will be as a traveler, and that is often more important than working as much as possible or only taking the highest paying jobs. Knowing what I know now, I’d much rather take a travel job paying $1,600/week take home at a great facility where I’ll enjoy my time, than one paying $2,000/week take home with a stressful work environment with unrealistic productivity expectations.

4. Arranging Short Term Housing Can Be a Hassle

Finding affordable short term housing can be very difficult, especially recently with rent prices seemingly increasing all over the country. Mistakes with housing are also the most common way that travelers lose money. As a traveler it’s very important to avoid locking yourself into a lease any longer than month to month if at all possible, because if your contract happens to get cancelled then you’re in a bad position. It’s also important to watch out for scams where you’re asked to send money prior to ever seeing the property. These scams are becoming increasingly common, and the scammers often prey specifically travel healthcare workers. For therapists who travel with a family or with pets, which further limits housing options, sometimes buying an RV is a very good choice. When looking for housing, make sure to consider all options, and spend some time choosing the best fit for you.

5. You’ll Always Be Nervous When Starting a New Contract

When I started traveling, I can remember being very nervous about my first day at a new facility. I thought that after I did a few contracts and increased my confidence that I’d no longer be nervous. But now, 6 years later, I realize that was naïve. In this regard, my experience taking travel contracts has been similar to public speaking. The more I do it, the easier it becomes, but I still get nervous each time. This is only natural because each contract is brand new and no matter how good you are at asking the right questions in the interview, there’s always going to be some uncertainty prior to starting the job. It’s important to not let that nervousness deter you though! Realize that this is a normal part of the process.

6. Your First Week Likely Won’t be Perfect

No matter how experienced you are as a traveler, the first week at a new job is almost always pretty tough. Even at the best contracts, you’ll have to get used to all new patients, new coworkers, a new clinic setup, and a new documentation system. On top of that you’ll be familiarizing yourself with a brand new area of the country. We often hear from new travelers that they’re overwhelmed after their first few days at their first contract and worried that they made the wrong choice. Whitney and I have had this experience many times ourselves, and almost every time, once we give it some time and get comfortable at the clinic, we end up really enjoying it. So don’t worry if your first week doesn’t go as well as you hoped. Things should get much easier after the first week.

7. Thirteen Weeks Goes By Really Fast

When starting a new contract, 13 weeks can seem like a long time, but inevitably before you know it, you’re looking for your next contract and this contract is almost over. When we started traveling, we’d often get toward the end of a contract only to realize that there was going to be no way to fit in all the things we wanted to do and see in before we left.

To avoid this, in the first week at a new travel assignment, it’s a good idea to get some recommendations from coworkers and patients for things to do and see around the area. Then make a list of the things you really want to do before you leave and a rough plan on which weekends you’ll do each thing. If you don’t plan things out, it’s very easy to get to the end of the contract and have regrets about not doing everything you wanted to because the time goes by faster than you think it will.

8. Travel Therapy Can Really Improve Your Clinical Skills

Many new grads considering travel are worried that they won’t improve their clinical skills as a traveler. In my experience, this has not been the case at all. In my first couple of years as a traveler, I worked with dozens of PTs in many different clinics and made a point to ask questions and learn from each of them. I picked up wisdom, manual techniques, and exercises from a large variety of therapists with different treatment philosophies each place that I went. This was very valuable to me in my practice as I learned not only how I wanted to structure my own evaluations and treatments from great therapists, but also things I wanted to avoid doing as well. If you go into travel therapy with curiosity and a hunger to learn, you can significantly improve your clinical practice from all the therapists you meet along the way.

Summary

When starting out as a new travel therapist, there is a lot to learn. Over the years Whitney and I have learned a ton, and we do our best to share these lessons and experiences with you all in order to improve your travel therapy journey. The more time you can spend becoming educated on all the ins and outs of travel therapy prior to starting, the better your experience will be. If you’re brand new to travel therapy and looking for somewhere to start, our free Travel Therapy 101 Series is a great place to begin!

You can also message us with any questions you have, and get our recommendations for recruiters here!

Written by Jared Casazza, PT, DPT – Jared has been a Travel PT since 2015 and has mentored thousands of current and aspiring travel therapists.

Jared Casazza, PT, DPT, Travel Therapy Mentor