Will we address the compact state licensure process in this post?

There are currently many changes happening regarding licensure as a physical therapist due to the PT compact. While this is new and exciting, currently several other disciplines do not have compact privileges and not all states are in the PT compact. To keep this post general regarding licensure and working as a traveler, we will focus on obtaining licensure without the compact. In future posts we plan to address more specifically for physical therapists and the compact status.

How many licenses do I need?

While some beginning travelers may have 2-3 licenses or more, most new therapists will likely have their primary state of residence and no others. So lets start there.

I’m interested in travel and haven’t had an assignment yet, where do I start?

Sometimes it can be confusing. Like visiting the Sign Post Forest in Watson Lake, Yukon Territory.

You’re working as a permanent employee or graduating from grad school and want to start traveling. You plan to start your new adventure! That’s the exiting part. Now what? Where do you begin if you want to leave the state? Do you need a couple licenses? 2? Or maybe 10? After traveling over 2 years, we have worked in 6 different states and have 10 licenses….but, we started with 2!

There are many ways to go about beginning travel therapy, but here is our general recommendation when starting out and obtaining multiple licenses

Starting with the basics. Obtaining new licenses!

You really have two ways to obtain new licenses…

Option 1:

The old fashioned way (we use this method for approximately 40% of our licenses)

Look up the state licensing board online

Figure out what they want

Apply.

So simple. But there may be fingerprints, (that costs), you will likely have to send proof of current licensure in any state you are already licensed (yes every state, and that costs too), and depending on the state they may have more or less requirements. It can be time consuming, but there really isn’t a limit to obtaining as many licenses as you want. Other than the cost to you. Also, please save these receipts because most travel companies will reimburse you for the cost.

But what is option 2?

Option 2:

Your travel company pays for and obtains the license on your behalf.

Yes you will still have some paperwork to fill out and complete other requirements, but it is much easier, the company will likely do almost all of the contacting with the board and send your documents in for you. This does depend on your company (some do not do as much as others), but most of the companies we enjoy working with take good care of us when it comes to obtaining new licenses. (please note, if a company pays for the license, they expect you to take a contract in that state with that company, otherwise you will be paying for that license)

Now that we have a good understanding of how to get a license, what about suggestions of how many and when to obtain new ones?

This is going to depend on several factors including how much money you want to spend initially, how long you plan to remain as a traveler and what type of traveler you plan to be. Some like to stay near home, maybe only west coast or east cost. Others (like us) literally go from Alaska, to Louisiana and then back to CA. Our general thought is to start with at least 3, if you’re wanting to see multiple states, and build from there.

Why 3?

Well obviously not one, or else you wouldn’t be traveling in any other states. Two gives you a few more options, but three really opens the door for you as a new traveling therapist and gives you multiple states and locations within those states to start looking for new placements. This does several things for you as a traveler.

1) You have more options available to you, but you need to be strategic about what states you pick. An example being our Idaho license. We applied for it purely because we wanted to visit Idaho. Top on our list. However, in 2 years of traveling, we haven’t found one travel pair job there. Single jobs come up more often. So be strategic about picking your states, recruiters can help, and have a few licenses to open your opportunities.

2) You might find that one state has more SNF available at the time of your search, while the other has ortho and maybe you really want ortho?

3) Job in state number two is in a rural city and in state 3 is in a metro area and you have options!

All hypothetical, but you get where I’m going with this. You want options so you get to choose where you are going verse feeling stuck in one location limited by licensure.

Once you begin your travel career, then you can start building up additional licenses. Again, this is just our recommendation, but we feel pretty strongly that more than two is needed if you want to travel to multiple states with greater freedom.

So how does our experience compare?

Somewhere on the Alaskan Highway. Felt good to be nowhere…

Before addressing a few other topics regarding state licensure, I want to give you our travel example so you have a better idea or how it can work getting new licenses.

We were working in CA as permanent employees, and when we decided to travel, we knew 6 months ahead of time that our first contract would be in Alaska. Therefore we applied for our Alaska license ourselves and the companies reimbursed us when the contract was signed.

Working in Alaska for 7 months, we still didn’t apply for a single license which ultimately did hinder us for our second travel assignment. We waited until last minute, so our only option was return to CA or head to Louisiana. That was the only state with two jobs close to each other, and with time for licensure.

We obviously took the adventure and went to LA, however licenses were a little slow and we still had a gap in work, approx 2 weeks off once we arrived.

While in LA, we decided it was time to return to CA after a year of living away from family. We took a local job and visited siblings and parents.

Obviously you’re thinking, “wow, they didn’t even follow their own 3 license rule!” We know! We just didn’t know then! We made it slightly harder than it needed to be early on in our career, hence the blog, and trying to help you.

Since returning to CA, we continued to travel, but applied for several licenses in states we were dying to visit (i.e. Oregon, Idaho, and AZ) meanwhile accepting jobs in other states along the way and allowing our travel companies to assist.

but can’t I sign a contract and then get my license?

Short answer, YES. And we have! To keep this simple, this is very possible and we have done it, more than once. However, here are a couple things to keep in mind

Some states do not wait for licensure
Some positions will only accept applicants who are already licensed
This is more difficult traveling as a pair because you’re trying to organize two start dates, jobs, and licensure
Sometimes licenses can arrive late and possibly push your start date back by a week (one more week without pay)
And you possibly lose out on those ASAP start date jobs.
Again, this is all preference and you learn as you go. Either way, if you are open to new locations and settings, you will more than likely be able to find a job.

summary

It doesn’t matter if you are a new grad, or a seasoned therapist, if you are new to travel therapy, obtaining a few (approx 3) licenses when beginning travel would be recommended. It will open up your options, allow greater degree of choices for job, location, and pay, and ultimately extend your travel career. Once traveling, we recommend a mix of having companies assist, and you pursuing licenses of states that you truly want. We also recommend discussing with your recruiter which licenses take longer, and if those are states you wish to visit, maybe start that process on your own so you have it in time for your next assignment.

Hope this helps in beginning your travel career, seeing new places, experiencing new adventures.

Good luck, and please contact us with any questions!

Visiting Nantucket while working on Cape Cod, MA

State Licensure For The New Traveler