Tag: traveling speech therapy

Finding Community and Building Relationships as a Healthcare Traveler: The MedVenture Story

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We often get questions from prospective healthcare travelers wondering if it’s a good idea to go into travel healthcare solo. While many solo healthcare professionals do pursue travel, it can sometimes be hard to make connections, build friendships, and find a sense of community. Even those who travel with a partner or a pet may feel isolated when taking travel contracts around the country, leaving their normal support systems and communities behind. We are excited to share a resource with you from our friends at MedVenture App about how their platform is helping to bring healthcare travelers together all across the country!

Twenty years ago, working as a traveling healthcare professional was a lot more challenging. Back then, there weren’t blogs, apps, or social media outlets to help educate you about the industry or connect you with other like-minded travelers. Traditionally, you may just learn about the industry through recruiters or a handful of other people you knew who may have traveled in the past. When you took a job far from home, you would just hope to meet other travelers while working at your facility, or try to make other connections locally with people who weren’t in travel healthcare. Fast forward to today’s digital age, the accessibility to abundant educational resources and finding everlasting relationships and community is easier now, more than ever, especially with resources like the MedVenture App. 

Origins of MedVenture App

MedVenture App was founded in 2019 by Emily Cheng and Ryan Cogdill, both traveling nurses with over eleven years of combined experience in the industry. Emily initially had the idea for an internet based community network in 2018 during her second travel nursing assignment in the Bay Area of California. At the time, she experienced an overwhelming sense of isolation and loneliness and wondered why there wasn’t a platform to bridge this gap.

After some research, she concluded that a mobile application would be the best approach to solve this problem. In the Fall of 2019, she attended TravCon, the biggest annual conference for healthcare travelers, and was so inspired by the traveler community that she decided to fully pursue this project. Ryan was her first customer discovery call to confirm the validity of the idea. With over seven years of travel experience himself, he asked where she was in the process, how he could be of help, and what her goals were with this platform. By the end of the conversation, they decided to become business partners, and MedVenture App was born shortly after. 

What Is MedVenture App? 

MedVenture App is a free social and community mobile app exclusively for all traveling healthcare professionals. The mission is to unite and empower all traveling healthcare professionals through community, education, and resources.

There are five main functions on the app:

  1. Meet People & MedVenture Date: Connect with other travelers using geolocation and interests. On a 100 mile radius from your set location, the MedVenture algorithm will show other travelers around you. You can view their name, age, profession, home state, specialty, photos, and more. You can also see if they’re a solo traveler, traveling with a partner, traveling with a pet, and even if they are interested in using the app for dating. You can then choose to message them to chat, become friends, ask questions, plan a get together, or send them a heart to show you are romantically interested.
  2. Meetups & Events: Find local meetups and events hosted by travelers, sponsored companies, or local businesses. Interested in going on a hike, but don’t want to go alone? Post the hike under the Meetups/Events tab so other travelers can join! Any traveler can and is encouraged to host meetups to create community no matter where they are on assignment. MedVenture also hosts events around the nation, such as their annual “Friendsgivings.” In 2022, hundreds of travelers gathered across 20+ major cities to share Thanksgiving meals at MedVenture Friendsgivings!.
  3. Discussion Board: Share and discover recommendations for fun things to do, where to eat/drink, and best housing in your new city! Have a general question? Post it on the discussion board and the community will be sure to answer it. 
  4. Facility Reviews: Think Yelp meets Airbnb, but for Medical Facilities. Read reviews from past travelers so you know what you’re walking into, and rate a facility where you’ve traveled to empower travelers with your experience. With this feature, every traveler has the option to stay anonymous so that your identity is never compromised for your honesty and transparency.
  5. Traveler Resources: These are MedVenture vetted, niche specific services and products that benefit the traveling community. This is where you can find resources such as health insurance, swag, tax prep, and mentorship/education programs like the Travel Therapy Mentor Course.

In two short years since launching in 2021, the MedVenture community is now almost 16,000 traveling healthcare professionals strong, across all 50 states and US territories. There have been over 700 Meetups hosted and over 1450 facility reviews on the app.

The Future of MedVenture App

In June of 2023, MedVenture is hosting its first nationwide in-person event, MedVenture Camp! MedVenture Camp will be centered around healing and mental-health wellbeing for all traveling healthcare professionals post-pandemic. The goal is to provide a safe space for travelers and recruiters alike to come together to relax, connect, empower, and educate one another, all while having fun in the great outdoors! You can learn more and register for camp here.

MedVenture founders Em and Ryan will also be attending the world’s largest traveling healthcare conference this September, TravCon, so be sure to stop by their booth and come say hi! Em and Ryan are striving to build the best app possible to support each and every traveling healthcare professional, so this year they will be researching and preparing for their next big integration. The goal at MedVenture App is to help travelers find a greater sense of purpose, community, and connection while living their best traveler lives. As MedVenture continues to grow and nourish this community, they will continue to strive to provide all travelers with a sense of belonging.

For general travel therapy/travel healthcare questions, please feel free to contact us here at Travel Therapy Mentor

Medventure Founders Em and Ryan

Written By: MedVenture App Co-Founders, Emily Cheng, BSN, RN, CCRN-CSC & Ryan Cogdill, BSN, RN 

Emily Cheng is a CVICU traveling nurse born and raised in New York, now based in Seattle, Washington. She has been a travel nurse since 2018 and has done travel nursing in Napa & San Francisco, California; Seattle & Tacoma Washington; Oahu, Hawai’i; Upstate New York; and San Antonio, Texas. When she’s not at the hospital or working on MedVenture, you can find her hiking, backpacking, meditating, journaling, living imperfectly eco-conscious, or enjoying the outdoors in some capacity!

Ryan Cogdill is a PCU traveling nurse from Fresno, California. He has been a traveling nurse since 2014 and has worked in Guam; Maui and Oahu, Hawaii; Austin, Texas; Denver, Colorado; Seattle, Washington; and San Luis Obispo, California. On his days off, you can find him outdoors camping, hiking, or biking.

Being a Solo Travel Therapist

Photo of Morgan hiking with title "Being a Solo Travel Therapist, Guest Post by Morgan Lauchnor TravelTherapyMentor.com"
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While we have always traveled as a pair, most travel therapists actually travel solo! We are excited to share a guest post from Traveling Occupational Therapist Morgan Lauchnor, who travels on her own. We hope her insights will help give you the confidence to pursue this path on your own as well if you think it’s right for you!

When looking into travel therapy, the ability to travel with a spouse, significant other, or with friends sounds like the ideal situation, but often times this isn’t an option for some people. That shouldn’t prevent you from still deciding to try out travel therapy though! In fact, a good majority of travel therapists are solo travelers. Some people, like myself, even wanted to travel solo. Venturing into it on your own might seem daunting and scary, but it can also be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life. The world is way too big and life is too short to wait around for someone to go with you on this opportunity of a lifetime!

Benefits of Traveling Solo

Enhances Independence & Empowerment

Any time you follow your dreams, go after what you want, and face your fears, it’s going to be the most empowering feeling. Solo travel is the definition of freedom, independence, and living life on your own terms.

Builds Self-Confidence

Taking the leap to go into the unknown on your own is brave. There is so much growth that comes from pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, and there’s nothing that pushes you outside your perceived limits quite like traveling solo, because you really have no choice but to handle whatever challenges get thrown your way. You develop a ‘can-do’ attitude and become more relaxed and comfortable figuring things out on your own. And not just in the cities you travel, but any new job assignments you take on.

Gives You Total Freedom

On your own, you have the freedom to choose the states/cities where you want to take assignments. You also get to decide how you spend your weekdays, weekends, and everything in between, without worrying about disappointing or negotiating with other people. In traveler pairs, it often limits options because you have to find places that will accommodate both of you, and they might not want to go/explore the same places that you do.

Boosts Your Problem-Solving Creativity

Traveling rarely goes smoothly or according to plan: cars get flat tires, assignments get cancelled, you get lost (a lot in my case). It’s all a part of the solo adventure and the stories you’ll share of how you got through. The best stories never come from the things that went smoothly, right? And as healthcare professionals, we are creative problem solvers for our patients, so this skill can be carried with us into our practice as well.

Fosters Self-Discovery

Traveling solo is the best way to get to know yourself. Exploring new places and new cultures, outside your comfort zone, figuring things out on your own, you discover just how much you’re capable of.

Challenges of Traveling Solo & How to Overcome Them:

Being Alone/Lonely

One of my first assumptions as a solo traveler was that I would be on my own most of the time, especially since my first assignment was all the way across the country in a state where I knew no one. But once I was out there, I realized there are SO many opportunities to meet people. I ended up being surrounded by friends and mentors, some becoming lifelong friends. I also always try to take advantage of visiting any family/friends nearby who I might not ever get the chance to see otherwise.  

Ways to meet people:

  • Doing things with co-workers outside of work: There might be other travelers at your assignment that will go on adventures with you, or you might get to know the perm workers who are typically great assets to show you around your new city/give you tips on the best spots!
  • Connect through apps and social media: Travel therapy/nursing Facebook groups, following other travelers and travel therapy companies on Instagram, and apps like MedVenture, designed specifically for connecting with other traveling healthcare professionals, are all great ways to find people in your area and also to just have a supportive community to lean on.
  • Get involved with local organizations and community groups.
  • Just get out and explore the area! (This was a lot easier to do before the pandemic, but hopefully now that there’s a vaccine and more things are opening, this will be more of an option again)  

Another thing to consider if you’re worried about feeling lonely is bringing a pet with you on your travels! I got a puppy while on assignment in CA, and she’s now traveled with me to TX and NC as well. It definitely makes things a little more challenging, but I can’t imagine the travel life without her anymore!

Safety

This has never been an issue for me personally, but it’s always something to keep in mind traveling by yourself, especially for female solo travelers. Before committing to a new assignment, research the area to see if it is somewhere you’d feel comfortable living, look into the housing options available to make sure you’d feel safe, and always trust your gut if something feels off. When you’re on assignment, tell people where you’re going, bring mace with you on hikes and while out exploring, and ask the locals of places to go and if there are areas to avoid.

Boredom

Sometimes you might live and work in areas that are rural or with limited things to do. In cases like this, I focus a lot on hobbies and things I wish I had more time for—like CEUs, reading, cooking, planning future travels, blogging, etc. But ultimately, you’re choosing where you want to work, so if you’re someone who needs to be doing things and wants to be around people, consider choosing assignments that are in busier locations.

Costs

Traveling alone can definitely be more costly than traveling as a pair, since you are the sole provider. Housing is usually one of the biggest costs that you incur as a solo traveler. One way you can cut down on housing costs would be to consider living with roommates. Traveling therapist/nursing pages are a great way to reach out to people in the area to see if anyone is interested in splitting housing costs, or ask your supervisor if any of your coworkers have a room for rent or are looking for a roommate. This can also be another great way to meet people and have people to do things with!

Summary

Ultimately, I truly believe that the pros of traveling solo far outweigh the cons. If it’s in your heart to do travel therapy, don’t be afraid to take the leap. There’s a whole community of other travelers out there who are here to support you and help you along the way!

Even if you go for it and it doesn’t work out, you still win. You still had the guts enough to head straight into something that frightened you. That type of bravery will take you places.

About Morgan

I’m a traveling occupational therapist who started right out of school as a new grad. Originally from eastern PA, I got my Bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science from the University of Pittsburgh and went on to get my Masters in Occupational Therapy degree from the University of St. Augustine in St. Augustine, FL in 2019. I was introduced to travel therapy at a job fair there and knew right then that’s what I wanted to do. I completed my fieldwork rotations in Greenville, SC and St. Louis, MO, so I already felt like I was traveling before taking the leap. But once I did start my official travel therapy journey, I road tripped cross-country from PA to OR to begin my first travel assignment in Ashland, OR and have been traveling ever since! I’ve now been on five assignments in OR, CA, TX, and currently NC, and my pup Zoey has traveled with me since CA. We love exploring new cities, getting outside any chance we can, visiting breweries and wineries, and meeting the best people along the way!

If you’d like to connect, the best way to contact me is through social media: Instagram: @zoandmo_onthego or through email at mlauchnor@gmail.com. I am also currently in the process of starting a blog, The ChrOnic WanderlusTer, so keep your eye out for that soon!