Current Travel PT Opportunities

I recently spoke with Lindsay Evans of Anders Group, and we discussed the state of the Travel Therapy market. As you all know, the market is not as strong as it typically is in non-COVID times. However, opportunities still exist.

We also discuss how to make yourself a stronger job candidate – in COVID times, or anytime.

I hope you enjoy. (15 min)

Two Competent Physical Therapists Talking Shop

Oh man, where do I begin.

Scoot and I are buds from the travel PT days in Aspen. We talk often, it usually digresses in some PT shop talk.

We got on Zoom and talked for over two and a half hours recently. I was able to trim it down to about a 30 min recording. We think we’re hilarious. We think we have good ideas about PT. Give us a try – I think you’ll be entertained and maybe informed too.

If you’re into cable, we’re better than anything on there… and maybe half of Netflix. Play us in the background while you do dishes or something, but try us out. If you like it, we’ll do more in shorter format.

Interview a Travel PT Recruiter with Anders Group

Last month, at APTA CSM, I got together with Stacy and Melissa, two recruiters from Anders Group to discuss travel PT. The premise of the conversation was getting into some of the “next level” topics that recruiters and travelers never get to discuss together.

At just under 40 minutes long it’s a good listen for your next run, commute, or road trip. Either stream it right now or hit the three dots on the right to download it for later. Happy listening!!!

I’m very happy with the conversation we had and hope all the things we discussed will help you find the assignments you want!

Many thanks to Stacey, Melissa, and Anders Group for taking the time out of a VERY busy conference to chat.

A Year of Firsts

2018 was my first full year living a settled life – not as a travel PT.

It has definitely been a transition – a transition that I might not be fully appreciating until now. Friends often ask, “Do you miss traveling?” I answer quickly, “Yes”. But, as I reflect, I realize all the things that have gone on in the last year. A lot of the things that I accomplished could only happen once I was done with the travel lifestyle. I loved my life traveling for work between ski slopes and beaches, but this year has been pretty special.

Violet charging around in the backyard of our family cabin in the foothills of Pikes Peak

This is the first year since 2004 that I have lived in one domicile for an entire year. Kate and I bought a house out here in Colorado almost two years ago. After months of DIY jobs and decorating, we are finally feeling a sense of home. Previous to this, we had briefly worked as permanent PTs before our 10-year stint as travelers. Before that, we had each traveled state-to-state for clinicals our final 6 months of PT school. …and prior to that, lived in a potpourri of apartments scattered across the segment of Boston inhabited by Northeastern University students.

I finally lived in Colorado long enough to get acclimated to the altitude. Many say it takes 2 weeks to get acclimated, I insist it takes more like 6 months to truly feel strong. I had grown up outside of Boston, but visited a family cabin in Colorado at 8,000 ft for just a week or two most summers. On most trips, someone got altitude sickness. Whether it be me, a family member, or a friend I had brought along, someone would puke intensely for about 24 hours, and then be fine for the rest of the trip. Now knowing what I know about altitude sickness, we might have approached acclimation a little more seriously.

This sign put up near an aid station about halfway up Pikes Peak made me laugh out loud. A bunch of rescue workers and volunteers were camping out around that part of the mountain… with a helicopter, just in case.

When I was a kid, my family trips to the cabin were usually during the last couple weeks of summer before heading back to school. We were often at the cabin during my birthday which is the same week as the running of the Pikes Peak Marathon. On most trips to the cabin, my family would drive up the “Pikes Peak Highway” to the 14,110 ft summit of “America’s Mountain”. On more than one occasion, we were at the top during the marathon to watch runners tag the 13 mile mark of the race, barely pause, and head back down. We all thought those guys were a bunch a psychos – who would want to do that? At some point along the way, I decided that I too was a psycho who wanted to do it – probably intense nostalgia and just a bit of hypoxia influencing that desire.

This year, I got to check the Pikes Peak Marathon off my bucket list. I was extremely excited and motivated during the whole process of training and through the marathon’s completion. The race went great! I took a relaxed approach and spent time getting food and water at each checkpoint. After resting a few minutes at the top to shoot some pictures, take in fuel, and have a small internal celebration, I soon realized many people were blowing past me to head back down to the finish line. I quickly rejoined the psychos for the 13 mile plunge back to the bottom. I am so happy to have had that experience. I don’t think I’ll do it again… but who knows.

Half way done. Feeling great taking pictures at 14,110 ft while this guy in the purple shirt and lady in the blue jacket both casually pass me and head back down.

I feel like staying in one place and stopping traveling finally let me make some headway professionally. I knew this would be a part of stopping travel, and it’s one small solace in losing several months near the coast each year. When I left my patients every 3-6 months, it was hard to find any sense of professional momentum. Now, working in one place for almost 2 years, I finally feel like I have some personal connection with my patients. I have people who come back every time they have an injury. I have malingerers who are constantly hurt and seem to never leave. I have doctors who expect me to be there for their patients. Most importantly, there is continuity – I get to see all patient cases to their end, and that has helped me grow tremendously as a clinician.

I still frequently joke about going back to travel, if only to make my co-workers uncomfortable, but let’s be honest, I have a house, I have a life here, and I have a kid – I am stuck!

Which brings about the greatest and best addition to my life – this has been my first full year with a kid. I can’t describe the happiness our daughter has brought. It’s a wild experience. At 1.5 years old, I’ve already been strapping her into skis in the backyard. She enjoys it for about 2 minutes, which is probably enough skiing when you’re one year old. People around here typically get their kids on the mountain in this first year – but I’m not so sure we need to be so aggressive about it. It will probably happen just before her 2nd Birthday, but only if the timing is right, and if it’s fun.

The whole fam damily.

I just remembered one other great thing from this year: my Boston Red Sox winning the World Series…. again! The Red Sox winning the World Series this year was the cherry on top of an already incredible year. Just had to mention that. GO SOX!

That’s it for now, but another year of adventures and firsts is just beginning. The whole family will head to CSM in Washington DC to kick off the year, and we’ve been brainstorming other potential air and road trips for the summer. Other APTA conferences have me busy zipping out of Colorado for 2-3 days at a time throughout the year. Hang on, it’s going to be a wild ride, and I’ll keep you updated as we go. Happy New Year!

THE BEST Travel PT Job

I get questions like this all the time: Where should I go on a travel PT assignment? How do I find a good travel PT assignment? Is working in this particular health care setting the best I can do?

The answer: I don’t know what is best for you!!!! These are personal decisions that rely on the balance of many different factors. The right assignment for you may be very different than what somebody else wants. To be successful in travel therapy, you need to be flexible where you can, but you also need to know what is important to you and pursue it. I’d like to explore a few of the factors that will play into you choosing the assignment that is (hopefully) the best one for you.

Location

Location has ALWAYS been my top priority traveling. Where you should go as a traveling therapist is a very personal decision. For instance, in the winter, I want to be where it is cold, snowing, and I can ski. I recognize that many other people want to be somewhere warm in the winter instead – our wants and preferences will vary wildly. If you have a very specific city or town in mind to travel to, you might need to be much more flexible in other details of your job search. If you don’t have any specific places in mind at all when you start to travel then you already have some good flexibility to your options.

…or mountains AND ocean… jobs available now in Sitka, AK. Click the picture for more info.

If you’re unsure where to go I recommend thinking about the types of things you would like to have around you when you arrive at your assignment:

  • Coast, Mountains, or Open Spaces
  • Hot or Cold
  • Rural or Urban

If you can easily pick a favorite in each of those categories, you are well on your way to finding a location that will make you happy. Some logistical issues that may help you further narrow down where to look for a job are the speed of a certain state for getting a license (perhaps fastest through the PT compact) and availability of travel jobs in a given area – your recruiter can help guide you in either of these criteria.

Traveling as a couple, my wife and I typically picked a city we wanted to live in and would give our recruiters an amount of time we were willing to commute to find two jobs within a reasonable radius of our homebase. More often than not a community hospital or home care agency would have two travel PT jobs available at the same time, but that’s something that can be very dependent on the region.

Clinical Setting

This is another very personal decision, but the more flexible you can be on setting, the better chances you’ll have of checking the boxes on all of your other priorities…. but is there such thing as being too flexible?

So often, I talk to new grads who have leapt straight into traveling. Many of these new grads are looking for outpatient jobs, but often told that SNF jobs are their only option. If you have no experience as a therapist, then you have very little bargaining power to explore anything but the options that are first presented to you. So, I advocate for two things – get at least a little experience before you travel and put up a bit of  fight before accepting a setting you absolutely do not want to work in – hold out, be patient, and be flexible about where you might travel to to get a setting you desire.

On the other hand, one of the things I love most about traveling is the variety of practice settings I have been exposed to. There is so much in PT that I never would have experienced if I hadn’t gone into travel. There is a balance to be reached between pursuing the setting you want and being open to other settings that you are willing to work in. Yes, please strive to be in the setting you most want to be in, but also work to acquire the experience and expertise you need to pursue those jobs. Also, be open to accepting jobs in other settings that might expand your clinical experience and allow you to grow with more diverse clinical skills.

Pay

Last, and least, pay. Yes, you can make lots of money in traveling therapy. But if you go into traveling for only the pay, you won’t last very long. I’m not saying to cast aside all thoughts of pay. It is very important that you are paid well for being highly educated and having the flexibility in your life to pick up and move for work. If two otherwise equal options present themselves, by all means, take the one that pays more! But don’t set pay ahead of all other factors, I believe you’ll eventually come to regret chasing the money in the absence of person and professional satisfaction.

You have to find that balance between your pay and the other factors that can make or break an assignment. If you’re not happy, you won’t last long in travel – the best travelers go into traveling therapy to live a better life. If you are doing it only to pay off loans or make as much of you can, you will burn out quickly and head back to a settled life in order to gain satisfaction in other life-areas you have neglected.

Finding both happiness and success in traveling requires a balance of several factors. Sit down, write down your priorities, and figure out where you are willing to be more flexible. Finding the balance that uniquely suits you is what will help you succeed, find joy in your work, and allow you to continue traveling.

Travel PT Assignment Red Flags – With the Vagabonding DPT

In this piece, The Vagabonding DPT and HoboHealth are teaming up for the 3rd time to present to you the major red flags we look for when choosing a staffing agency or when choosing to accept a specific travel assignment. These red flags shouldn’t be treated as absolute no-no’s for taking an assignment or using specific recruiters, but they should make you pause and think, “Is this what I want in an assignment?” If you run across these red flags, your antenna should perk up and you should be asking yourself if it is the right situation for you.

Red Flags for Recruiters

We may use recruiter and agency interchangeably. The recruiter is your main point of contact who also represents the agency. So, if you are working with a recruiter that starts checking the boxes on several of these red flags, move along. There is enough options for agencies that you shouldn’t be working for one that employs any recruiters with shady practices.

  • One of the most egregious red flags is if your recruiter ever tells you that you can only work with them and not for any other agency. “If you don’t commit to me, I can’t give you my full attention either,” is usually how this is presented. The thing is, that is EXACTLY the role of a recruiter: To give you their full attention, to work as hard as they can to find the best job for you. If a recruiter can’t find you a job, they don’t make money. A good recruiter should be going above and beyond to win you over. YOU, the therapist, are the commodity. YOU hold the power, not the recruiter.
  • When searching for a job, your recruiter should stay in touch with you often and actively search for jobs. Many agencies are passive in their job searches – they sit and wait for jobs to be posted to them through subscriptions to staffing databases. If your recruiter isn’t in touch with you often and communicative about the process of finding you a job, they may be solely relying on these databases. There are recruiters and agencies out there who will do the footwork of getting on a phone and calling around to clinics to look for jobs that match your priorities. You should feel like your recruiter wants to find you a job that meets your needs.
  • As we’ve mentioned, constant communication with your recruiter is essential for your success as a traveling therapist. An excellent recruiter will disclose all aspects of your contract including the cancellation clause.  All contracts include a cancellation clause in which the facility reserves the right to cancel your contract in the event that they hire a full-time therapist or therapist assistant to take over your position. This clause will typically give the traveling therapist either a 2 or 4-week notice prior to terminating the contract.  Many new travelers may not even know about this until their contract gets cancelled. If it isn’t obvious in the contract, ask questions of your recruiter. While having a contract cancelled isn’t extraordinarily common, it does occasionally happen and you should know what the process is in case it happens to you.
  • Some red flags may take a couple assignments with an agency to reveal themselves. If you find yourself in a situation where a company is refusing to pay referral bonuses you earned by referring colleagues, or if situations develop where previous pay is being reclaimed for questionable reasons – it’s probably time to start looking for a new agency. When things of a financial nature begin to creep up that don’t seem completely above-board, it is usually a good indicator of where the agency’s priorities are – in their own bottom-line, not the wellbeing of their travelers.

Red Flags for Facilities

The phone interview is typically your only chance to interview a facility. These red flags below come from questions you can ask on the interview to reveal what you really want to know about a facility. The interview isn’t just your chance to convince a facility that you are right for them, it’s also your chance to learn if the clinic is right for you! Ask the right questions on your interview, search for these red flags, and you may never have a bad assignment.

  • During your interview with the facility, you must ask about productivity expectations.  Skilled Nursing Facilities are notorious for unrealistic productivity expectations of 95%.  This means that they expect you to have direct patient care for 7 hours and 55 minutes leaving you less than 5 minutes each day for chart review, documentation, team meetings, progress notes, re-certifications, discharge summaries, etc. Home care companies can also vary wildly in their expectations, it makes a huge difference whether you are expected to see 5 or 7 patients daily and whether different types of visits (i.e. Start of Care visits that can take multiple hours) are credited on your productivity as more than one visit.
  • Ask the facility if they’re caught up on documentation.  At times, SNF’s with staffing issues may have PTAs or COTAs running the facility and have a PT or OT off-site, which means that they may be behind in clinical documentation.  If they are behind, you may be placed in a position in which they will ask you to update documentation for a time period before you were hired. This is a RED flag. Don’t ever risk your license.
  • Listen intently to the flow of your conversation with the person interviewing you. Is it curt? Do they ask you about your experience, skills, or interests? We’ve both had interviews, which were brief with little insight to the work culture and dynamic. Our patients thrive when we are immersed in a collaborative environment that supports us as clinicians. Don’t be afraid to directly ask, “what is the work culture like?”
  • If you’re interviewed by a regional director who does not work onsite, ask to speak with someone who does. If they say no or try to dodge this, then that should be a red flag.  You want to speak to someone who can attest to the daily challenges of that facility. A regional manager, who lives in a different state, will not be able to provide you a realistic picture of those challenges. You will have a direct clinical manager, this person should be available for a conversation.
  • Ask why the facility is short-staffed. Is it location? Is a therapist on sick leave or maternity leave? Have they recently expanded? It’s important to know what kind of staffing need you are filling for a couple reasons. If you would like the potential to extend your contract longer than the initial 3 months, it’s more likely to happen if the staffing need is ongoing rather than only for an employee’s temporary leave of absence. Chronic staffing needs occur for a variety of reasons. Some reasons for long-term staffing needs are completely reasonable, like being in a location far from any PT schools – these clinics often have staffing needs. Another reason that a clinic may have ongoing staffing needs is because they are, frankly, a lousy place to work. Asking more questions about the clinic’s staffing needs may help you discern between clinics with staffing needs for good reasons and clinics with staffing needs for bad reasons.
  • If you are working in a stand alone clinic, ask who the owner is. In all other situations, it’s at least practical to know who your direct supervisor is. This seems like an innocuous question until it isn’t. James once didn’t ask this question and the owner and clinic supervisor was an unlicensed Chiropractor from South Africa. Ask this question, if the answers get weird, it is worth asking more questions.
  • Find out who you’ll be working with. How many therapists and of what type? How many therapist assistants? How many other kinds of care extenders (ATCs, Massage Therapists, Techs/Aides)? An abundance of Assistants is a big red flag and a good indicator that as the therapist you will be spending more time doing evals and discharges than actually carrying out treatment. These questions can also help paint a picture in your mind of what a day in this facility looks like.

If you try to suss-out these red flags with your recruiters and during interviews, and if you are willing to walk away when the red flags stack up, you are likely to have a successful, enjoyable travel career. Failing to ask the right questions and have a meaningful dialogue on the interview can set you up for a frustrating time as a clinician and traveler. Good luck out there!   

If you’re a traveling therapist and have any additional advice feel free to comment below.  

April Fajardo, The Vagabonding DPT can be found on her blog at https://thevagabondingdpt.org/

4 Island Travel PT Assignments

As winter comes to a close, you might be wishing you were on an island somewhere…. if you’re a travel PT, you may have that option on your next assignment. Here’s (more than) 4 opportunities that could have you living on an island soon. Lots of links included to articles from when I worked on and visited several of these islands.

Kate hiking down from the 10,000 ft summit of Haleakala on Maui to camp in the base of the volcanic crater many hours and miles later that night in 2014.

Hawaii

Let’s not bury the lead. Hawaii is a tropical paradise within the borders of United States. All the advantages of really getting off-the-grid without any of the hassles or insecurities of international travel. Within Hawaii, there is a wide spectrum of opportunities – from uber-urban living to the very rural – a little different flavor for whatever your taste is.

Oahu is the main island and generally a good place for anyone unfamiliar with Hawaii to start. Oahu is home to about 1 million people, many of whom live and work in Honolulu, a major city and international hub. Honolulu offers all the perks and culture of a big city with the world famous surf beaches of the North Shore a short 30 minute drive away. Traffic can be brutal on Oahu, so plan commute between home and a potential job appropriately

Maui and Kauai each have occasional assignments available and tend to be a happy-medium for the traveler seeking a mix of social life and rural island-living. Both islands have thriving communities and also places you can quickly get off the beaten path. Each island has grown a bit in recent years, but also have huge swaths of land preserved for their beauty and recreation. On Maui, much of that land is within Haleakala National Park. Haleakala is a 10,000 ft volcano with astronomy observatories on top and it’s flanks running straight into the ocean. On Kauai, few views on Earth rival those of the Napali Coastline – a stretch of steep cliffs and secluded beaches spanning the coastline between where the two ends of the road circling the island end. I really believe you can’t go wrong with any opportunities that arise on Maui or Kauai.

Mother nature hard at work creating more land on the Big Island through the eruption of Kilauea volcano and lava running into the ocean in 2016.

The Big Island, which is actually named “Hawaii”, has it all. The Big Island is about 70 miles across and boasts 13,000 foot peaks, an active volcano, some of the best scuba diving in the world, and a thriving biking/running/swimming community that hosts the Ironman World Championships each year in October. Kona on the dry West coast of the island, and Hilo on the Eastern wet side of the island are the two major towns – each have a pretty steady stream of revolving travel assignments available.

When finding a travel PT assignment in Hawaii, luck and timing play big roles. Sometimes, very few jobs are posted, while at other times, you’ll find many jobs. Waiting just a few weeks typically resolves any drought of jobs, but be cautioned that Hawaii assignments draw a lot of applicants, so bring your A-game to the interview. Also worth noting that pay in Hawaii can be low… but you’re working in Hawaii, so….

Martha’s Vineyard

On the beach below the Gay Head cliffs on Martha’s Vineyard in 2015.

Martha’s Vineyard, off the coast of Cape Cod in Massachusetts offers the true island-living experience. In the summertime, people are intent on fishing, beaching, and… outdoor showers? I believe that nowhere in the world is as passionate about outdoor showers than the people of Martha’s Vineyard. When assessing function and patient goals on my home health assignment on Martha’s Vineyard, it was not rare to have a primary goal for a patient to return to their outdoor shower. When Kate and I lived in a camper there, we caught the fever – although we had a shower in our camper, the campground opened a row of 6 outdoor showers, and we indulged daily, rarely, if ever, using the indoor shower.

Martha’s Vineyard Hospital and the Martha’s Vineyard office of VNA of Cape Cod often have openings because affordable housing is near-impossible on the Vineyard. Many of their permanent employees travel 45 minutes by boat everyday from The Cape for work. If you can figure out housing on The Vineyahd, you’ll have a great time. Also worth mentioning, the Cottage Hospital on Nantucket, a couple hours by boat from Martha’s Vineyard, also regularly seeks travelers.

St. Thomas

The US Virgin Islands are part of FSBPT. Like any state, you can apply for a license in the Virgin Islands. St. Thomas is the main island and has historically had good availability for jobs. The Virgin Islands are definitely for the more adventurous traveler, or, perhaps, for the traveler who wants a tropical experience, but doesn’t care for the long distance to Hawaii. Most people on St. Thomas speak English, but Creole or Spanish may be primary language of some patients. I have read about concerns of safety, but travelers who have worked there tell me that if you are smart about your surroundings and company, then it is safe…. and highly enjoyable – basically like any major US city.

Hurricanes Irma and Maria may have changed the travel experience on St. Thomas. Largely overshadowed by the destruction in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands got hit hard as well – in fact, the roof ripped right off the hospital in St. Thomas during Irma. As best I can tell sitting at my computer in Colorado, it appears there is still an ongoing need for travel PTs in St. Thomas – it also appears there are many volunteer opportunities to continue helping with hurricane recovery. It’s worth mentioning that Puerto Rico is also under the umbrella of FSBPT, so you might consider volunteer work in Puerto Rico as well.

Alaskan Islands

With more coastline than the entire rest of the US, there are many way-off-the-grid island opportunities in Alaska, but here are a few standouts.

Looking across the town of Sitka at Mt Edgecumbe, a dormant volcano. Also, I remember Sitka having a great brewery!

Kodiak Island currently has travel PT needs. Kodiak is 100 miles long and has a population under 14,000 making it a true outdoorsman’s paradise. Kodiak is best known for the Kodiak Brown Bears, which alongside polar bears are the largest bears in the world. Kodiak has ample fishing, hiking, hunting, and anything else you can imagine outdoors. Though, it is not for the faint of heart – no one is around to bail you out if you get yourself in trouble out in the wilderness. But for the therapist looking for a truly rugged off-the-grid experience, Kodiak could be a dream assignment.

Sitka, on Baranof Island, was the capital of Alaska back when the state was a part of Russia. On our way back from working in Anchorage, Kate and I stopped off to visit a PT friend there and quickly fell in love with the community. Sitka is a vibrant town with architecture reminiscent of it’s Russian past. Our friend took us down to a park to watch for whales, and sure enough, we quickly saw a pod of Orcas swimming by in the bay. Sitka has excellent access to the outdoors both in the mountains and on the ocean. Compared to most of the rest of Alaska, Sitka is relatively Southern and therefor more temperate.

If you are willing to make a longer-term commitment (starting at 2 years) in Alaska, there are opportunities to make substantially more money in the form of student-loan repayment. These opportunities are available both in private and government facilities through a government program called SHARP. When working for large health systems in Alaska, there can also be opportunities to take small planes out to remote bush towns reachable only by sea and air. PTs fly in to provide rehab to the residents for a couple days at a time. While I don’t think a typical 13  traveler in Alaska is likely to be sent out to the bush, it might become more possible to make these trips after extending a contract for a longer period.

Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau Alaska, 2012…. not technically on an island, but you can only get there by boat or plane.

There are many more islands all over the country where you can find work as a traveling therapist. Jobs exist off of Texas, in the Northwest corner of Washington state, off the far Northeast coast of Maine, and down in the Florida Keys. If you look, you will find the island that suits you fancy. Happy travels, and good luck turning those island dreams into your real life.

 

Open Letter to the PT Compact Commission

The Physical Therapy Compact is marching forward which is good news for a lot of PTs and PTAs currently practicing in compact states. But, by my interpretation, the currently proposed rules which will be voted on next weekend leave a lot of therapists who could utilize the compact out in the cold. Basically, therapists who call any compact state their permanent home will have access to compact privileges, but therapists hoping to access the compact whose permanent address is not in a compact state, or who have no permanent address at all, will not be able to take advantage of the PT licensure compact.

Here is a ink to all current info on the compact including the proposed rules and info on compact commission meetings: http://www.fsbpt.org/FreeResources/PhysicalTherapyLicensureCompact.aspx

Enough of an intro – Below, you will find the letter I have written to the PT Compact Commission about my concerns regarding the new rules and my ongoing concerns about the suspension of Colorado from the compact.

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The most current PT Compact map from FSBPT.org. At the start of the new legislative cycle this winter, more states should be introducing the compact.

To Whom It May Concern,

I write from a point of frustration today, but hope that my comments can be productive to the process of developing a compact system that is available and useful to as many Physical Therapists and Assistants as possible.
First, just a brief background on me to help you understand my view points and my frustrations. My wife and I worked as traveling Physical Therapists for 10 years, over that time we held licenses in 7 states each (8 states total). Our permanent address changed frequently due to a variety of reasons including us each coming from different states individually, our parents living in different states, and a flow of life over 10 years that caused our permanent address to change independently of our federal “tax home” address which also changed several times. During my early years of traveling, I was based in Massachusetts, that later changed to Florida, Maine, and Colorado. For several of those early years traveling, I was the lone PT sitting on FSBPT’s Exam Administration Committee. Because of those experiences within with FSBPT, in 2012, I felt at liberty to write a few emails to FSBPT about developing some sort of national licensure registry – later that year, FSBPT leadership had its first conversations (that I am aware of) about pursuing what would eventually become the licensure compact. Earlier this year, my wife and I, now with newborn, settled permanently in Colorado where I made the case to my local APTA leaders to pursue the licensure compact and later testified before state legislators in support of adopting the compact. Over the past several years, I have offered to contribute to the compact development process through FSBPT and also through APTA where I have served in a number of leadership positions through Sections and Chapters, but I was never offered any real opportunities to take part in the compact development. To this point, I have not found the process transparent or easily accessible, so a phone call or a couple emails may be all it takes to explain commission processes and ease my concerns which are listed below.

1. My biggest and most predictable concern is regarding the suspension of Colorado. My information regarding the suspension came to me through asking questions to people who were closer to the initial compact commission meeting and reading the meeting minutes – it seems the initial decision to suspend Colorado came following an executive session and did not consist of much open, transparent conversation. In the months since, I have tried to understand the suspension and am still left not understanding why Colorado would be suspended due to requiring additional consumer protections. I have read the compact commission statement posted on FSBPT many times and fail to see a comprehensive explanation or even an explanation that makes sense. It seems the stance of the commission is that Colorado should change its laws that govern all medical and health professions rather than the commission changing its rules to be more accepting of the variances in regulation it will undoubtedly run into as more jurisdictions become members. In my reading of the draft rules, I expected to find something that would resolve the Colorado suspension, but found nothing that would seem to indicate the commission is trying to reintegrate Colorado into the compact. In the past several months, I have been asked by many traveling PTs and Colorado PTs about the suspension, I have assured them that with time the commission will and must come to its senses and find a way to reintegrate Colorado into the compact. My faith that the commission would want to modify its rules to allow as many states into the compact as possible is being challenged now as months and months pass by. It seems that additional background check requirements would fall right in line with other variances that are explicitly allowed – differences in CEU requirements, differences in state fees, juris prudence exams – why not additional consumer protections? If the commission cannot resolve this small issue, then surely the dream of a majority of states being compact members will not become reality. Again, I have tried to access meaningful information regarding Colorado’s suspension, but it is simply not available – I would truly be happy with a more comprehensive and explanatory statement from the commission on Colorado’s suspension, provided that the rationale behind it actually makes sense.

2. In my reading of the draft rules, I came to a separate, but not unrelated concern regarding the definition of “home state”. As a long-term traveling PT, I may have a perspective that has not been adequately represented to the commission. Traveling PTs often do not have a permanent address, or they have an address that changes often. The definition of “home state” (Rule 1.1, I) and Rule 3.5, B, 2 seem to exclude any PT or PTA from the compact that does not have a permanent residence in a member state or does not have a permanent residence at all. It seems to me that this is EXACTLY the licensees you would want the compact to be open to. The traveling therapist community are the therapists who would most benefit from the compact. They also are undoubtedly the ones cluttering the desks of licensure staffs across the country. In my mind, “home state” should be defined by whichever state a licensee enters the compact through. To be clear, I should be able to live in a non-compact state, hold a valid license in any compact state, and have access to compact privileges. The current language does not allow this, I beg the commission to reconsider with my added view point – traveling PTs are exactly who would use the compact and exactly who clinics in member states want to be attracting to fill their needs. Just last week, while presenting at APTA’s National Student Conclave about careers in travel PT to several hundred students, I commented that compact states would become popular destinations for travelers and that there would high competition for the jobs in those states – with the currently proposed rules, this would not be the case. The current definition of home state means that only therapists originating from compact member states would be able to access compact privileges. Many of the member states that are largely rural will continue to experience difficulties in in filling open PT job positions, and all state licensure staffs will continue to be overburdened by the volume of work they are doing for travelers who could potentially have compact privileges if the “home state” definition were different.

3. Finally, my last point is a brief one, and perhaps one that just needs some clarification or explanation to me. Rule 5.1, C excludes anyone on the board of directors of APTA or any one of its sections, chapters, or councils to not be eligible to be a delegate to the commission. I’m frankly not sure what an APTA council is – is that any committee within APTA? It seems this rule excludes a large portion of Physical Therapists and Assistants who have any interest in policy making from participating in shaping and refining the commission. This is not a handful of PT leaders, but hundreds. Again, I may just need an explanation on this, but it is concerning to me that all leaders in our profession would be excluded from commission leadership.

There is one theme and commonality between each of my concerns, and it is about inclusion of as many therapists as possible in the compact system. So far, what I am seeing is a system that waits for states and individual therapists to comply with commission rules to be included in the compact, rather than a commission that seeks to include as many states and therapists as possible. For the compact to be a truly useful entity, it needs to be available to states to join and available to as many well qualified therapists as possible. I hope the commission will genuinely consider my view points and suggestions. And, again, I am happy to help and contribute to the process, I would love to offer more perspectives of the traveling therapist’s experience in licensure.

Sincerely and Respectfully,

Dr. James Spencer, PT, DPT
Orthopaedic Clinical Specialist
www.HoboHealth.com

Does Travel Therapy Really Pay Better?

People ask all the time if it’s really true that working as a traveling therapist pays better than working as a permanent employee. The easy answer is “yes,” as a traveler you make much more money hourly than as a permanent employee. But I have often wondered if the costs of moving frequently, unpaid time off, and more expensive temporary housing eat so far into the net gain that we come out about even. After additional costs, I think travel therapists likely end up taking home about the same as permanent therapists, but let’s do a little math and see if we can reach a semi-scientific answer. As I begin to write this blog, I have no idea what the answer is going to be – this will be fun.

We’re going to have to make some assumptions to get a rough estimate of what a traveling therapist takes home each year – there are a lot of factors that can drive the take-home up or down significantly. I will make assumptions based on what I would consider a typical year in a traveler’s life:

  • Let’s assume 3 contracts in one year. This allows for either one longer 6 month contract or one contract extension during the year. Also, most people can’t keep up consecutive 13-week contracts for more than a couple years, it gets tiring.
  • I know some people jump right from one assignment to the next with little, if any break. I tended to take 3 or 4 weeks between contracts to visit family, take road trips, or go on vacation – that’s probably more leisurely than most. If you have trouble finding a contract, you may find yourself out of work a little longer than expected. Let’s go with 2 weeks between contracts, this is more time than some will take, but it allows some wiggle room for travel and job-finding.
  • Let’s assume we’ll take the housing stipend and find housing for cheaper than the agency would give it to us – it’s the smart and frugal thing to do.
  • We’re going to have to agree on “typical” pay for a traveling therapist, this is tough because geography and setting cause great differences in pay everywhere. With pay in desirable destinations being as low as $1450/wk and a really good paying jobs being up around $1850 or higher, I think the middleground and a typical travel contract pays about $1650/week. This number is after taxes and with that housing stipend that we have decided to take.

So, at $1650/wk for 48 working weeks, that’s 79,200 after tax – or the equivalent of a $110,000 salary taxed at 28%. Whoa, that’s more than I thought it would work out to, an impressive salary for a staff PT. So these are the base numbers that makes travel look appealing compared to permanent work – now let’s do some subtraction and bring these numbers closer to reality:

  • As a traveler, you’re not going to get paid for sick days and there might be some holidays your facility takes that your agency doesn’t recognize (local, state, and other frivolous holidays). There’s also the common circumstance that your desired start date doesn’t quite line up with the facilities needs, or some extra work days are lost to travel. Maybe you miss a day or two at a continuing ed course or conference. Perhaps, you are waiting for your new state license to come through. Anyways, doing some rough math, let’s say there are 10 other work days in a year that you will miss – 2 weeks. -$3300
  • The actual transportation part of moving can vary wildly in cost. Road trip? Probably. Fly there? Depends. Ship a vehicle? Maybe. Will you need a couple nights in a hotel, or at least campground fees? Food on the road is not usually cheap. The saving grace is that as a traveler, you will get some sort of relocation reimbursement. It’s unlikely to cover all of your costs, but it will cover a good portion. Let’s say the average traveler on the average assignment will spend $250 of their own money on relocation if they travel wisely (getting to 3 assignments this year)  -$750
  • Also included in moving costs are all the things you need in a home when you move: TP, cleaning products, staple foods, condiments, etc. I typically spend about $500 at target at the start of every assignment stocking up on the things I’ll need to live comfortably. -$1500
  • In this scenario, we’re going to take the housing stipend so we can get furnished housing for less than the stipend and keep the extra tax free money. But, the furnished, short-term housing is going to cost us more than we would spend with a typical long-term lease in an unfurnished space. I believe it’s reasonable to say we will spend $400/mo more in short-term, furnished housing. -$4800

$10,350 less for our estimated traveling costs brings us down to $68,850 after taxes, or the equivalent of a $95,625 taxed salary.

I’m honestly surprised that the salary equivalent of what we’ve just calculated as a typical traveling job is so high. We can see from the pseudo-math above that the great boost in pay for travelers is the tax free money. To make the most of the tax free advantage, it is vital that you have an established tax home. Also, I believe this scenario represents someone who is being financially conscious and making attempts to get back to work in a timely manner, find inexpensive housing, and live within his or her means.

There is going to be a lot of variation to these numbers based on whether your assignment pays more or less and a number of personal factors.There are years I took 10 weeks off throughout the course of the year – that affects pay. I’ve heard of people renting cars on assignment, that’s a lot of money (comparable to a second housing rent). You can be frugal with your choice of housing, or you could be frivolous – you could even take the housing provided by the agency rather than the stipend. All of these choices greatly affect how much money you are left with at the end of the year.

Clearly, if you want to make more money through traveling PT, you could find the high paying assignments in the high paying states, live a frugal lifestyle, and rake it in. If you are doing traveling PT for the money as your first priority, do us all a favor and don’t. Travel PT should be about traveling. Enjoy seeing the places you go to work. Take time between assignments to relax and soak in some leisure time. Maybe you do a couple contracts as a traveler to explore different employment options or get a variety of experiences. But don’t do it for the money. The extra money is a nice addition to a lifestyle that you should enjoy for other reasons. Travel to travel, you’ll be a lot happier than slaving away in a terrible facility that will pay anything to anyone because it’s an awful place to work. My recommendation would be the same with permanent jobs. Money should not be the only factor – quality of life, work-life-balance, enjoying your job, being supported by your employer to provide the best care you can to your patients – these are good universal reasons to work anywhere as a therapist.

If you have an interest in doing traveling therapy to see the different ways to practice in a variety of settings and a bunch of different places, get out there and do it! You are in for an unbelievable experience and lifestyle. You’ll meet all kinds of different people, expand your clinical skills, and see some really cool places. As it turns out, while you’re scratching that travel itch, you could make a good chunk of cash while you’re at it.