Should I travel as a new grad?

Yes? No? I don’t know?

It All depends on you and your goals. Let’s take a look.

So you’re graduating from PT (OT, SLP) school, debating travel as a new grad and aren’t sure what to do.

There are several things to consider when making your decision, including both your confidence in your abilities, as well as personal factors. Below we list several topics to help get you thinking and assist in making the “right decision”.

Here are a few questions we believe you should ask yourself when considering travel as a new grad. (Some of these will be from a PT standpoint, because well.. we are PTs, but I would suspect that it is the same for OT and Speech)

Our first day of PT school. Little blurry, but all we have!

Do you need or want mentorship?

The majority of new grad therapists will exit school with the same skill set. Some better in ortho, some neuro, and those oddballs who love cardiopulm (like my wife). Either way, we all have our strengths and weaknesses. What will vary greatly is confidence in our skillset.

We all know the classmate who is ready to practice day one. They got this! They don’t mind asking questions later and don’t lack confidence in their skills. If this describes you, then likely you are ready to travel day one.

For those of you who may not be as confident when talking to patients, or, while very knowledgable clinically, you may be nervous in the actual day to day patient care that occurs, you might benefit from a permanent job initially. Part of this has to do with mentorship and the ability to have someone you can ask questions to and learn from.

Both Kari and I were confident in our abilities, however, we liked to ask a lot of questions, and wanted to work at clinics that allowed us to bounce ideas off our coworkers, especially for those hard, complex, cases. We wanted clinics that allowed us time to build up a caseload and the opportunity to shadow other PTs, while continuing to gain confidence as a practitioner. All valuable things that we wouldn’t change.

That’s not to say you can’t have mentorship while traveling. But, approximately 50-75% of our travel jobs (more Tyler’s than Kari’s) have been without any other PT on staff. This can be challenging for a new grad who wants direct supervision, confirmation from another PT that they’re on the right track and to help them through the complicated patient scenarios. You also will likely be given a full, if not close to full, caseload week 1. Usually expected to hit the ground running! If you choose to travel, these are both great question to ask in your interview (mentorship and expected caseload).

While each assignment may not have a “mentor”, I have had co-workers who have provided guidance on documentation systems, non PT specific patient care, and many other aspects of care that are not dependent on being a physical therapist. So while you may not get the same type of mentorship as a perm job, there are still opportunities to learn and grow in different ways.

Are you comfortable being the only PT/OT/Speech at a clinic?

This goes along with the ending to the last question. To keep it brief, YES! At some locations you will be the only OT, PT, or Speech Therapist. You may or may not have an assistant, and while you get documentation guidance and other general patient questions answered, there have been places where my progressing a patient is solely up to me. I am doing research on topics or diseases that I know very little about and evaluating patients using my knowledge to the best of my abilities. It can be challenging, and a little extra work, but completely possible as a new grad.

Probably the toughest part are those complex medical cases, or when you don’t work with a certain population often (example being a stroke patient), but all of a sudden a new CVA shows up at your SNF. Fortunately, I have found everything typically goes smoothly, but it’s something to consider as a new grad. The other 25%-50% of jobs I have accepted have had some type of mentorship or other travelers (or perm staff) who are more than happy to assist. Kari’s, on the other hand, have been primarily at facilities with other PTs on staff allowing for significant mentorship, in fact she extended at an assignment for that very reason! Each assignment will vary but this is another good question to ask during the interview process.

How well do you adapt to change?

Lets face it, as a traveler, your life is constantly changing. Your personal skills matter, your adaptability matters, your flexibility matters. You are most likely on point when it comes to theoretical knowledge and figuring out a problem, but also consider when traveling across states the many different attitudes, health status of patients, varying co-morbidities, treatment approach, and general lifestyles will differ from yours and differ from state to state. Your personal skillset in engaging with patients and staff, your ability to adapt to a different way of life and your social skills with multiple demographics all matter.

Not only do patient demographics change, but you will constantly be meeting new co-workers, working for a new boss, learning different documentation systems, varying the types of equipment available for treatment, and possibly working in a range of patient settings. The new staff may or may not have the same treatment approach as you (this is not a bad thing, just different from what you’re used to). It comes down to confidence in your skills, and your ability to adapt to new situations, new people and new personalities. If you are open and able to adapt to change, you will do just fine! I typically don’t enjoy change, but have improved significantly at adapting to new locations and new people.

If I can do it, you can too!

If you’re in school right now, remember to do something fun aside from just studying!

What are you seeking as a therapist?

This is a big question.

What are you looking for?
Do you want to pursue a fellowship/residency?
Do you want to have one on one mentorship that is consistent?
Do you want to find the fast track to paying off loans and become debt free?.
Do you want to travel to new locations and vacation often?
Do you want to attend in person continuing education courses?
Is family time important?

I mean the list can go on and on, but let me explain. While it is completely possible to become an outstanding therapist in your field while traveling, I would be lying if I didn’t say it can be more difficult. While difficult, I would argue that I have gained equally, if not more experience as a therapist through traveling. Every 13-26 weeks I meet new therapists, work with new patients, new equipment, new treatment models, new settings, new assistants, and new rehab directors. Not to mention different states.

It proves challenging to devote time to studying and perfecting skills with frequent moving, but the constant “in-motion” aspect of being a traveler has pushed me to adapt and learn quickly. There are aspects of my personal and professional skillset that have improved specifically from being a traveler.

Other things to considered when deciding to become a traveler as a new grad include; paying off massive student loans (which yes, has proved quicker for us as travelers through proper budgeting) and working/living in new locations verse just vacationing for short periods. It is a trade off, but these are personal choices we have thought greatly about.

Do you enjoy taking continuing education courses in person? This is something we both love to do and took advantage of when we were permanent employees. This has become very difficult since starting travel. You don’t always know where you’ll be for certain parts of the year and you don’t always know to ask for days off when negotiating a contract. If a course comes up, you may be able to work something out with your boss and attend, however, this is not always the case leaving the majority of our continuing education to online courses.

As for family, it can be challenging when you take assignments across several state lines and you don’t get to visit during the holidays. We try to make up for missing family time by inviting them along on our drives from one location to the next. And of course, they are always welcome/encouraged to come and visit us at all of our destinations.

This has allowed our family to visit new places and it doesn’t hurt that we can usually squeeze them into whatever short term housing we have at the time. Our family has been able to experience driving the Alaskan Highway, exploring ice caves, glaciers and the northern lights while vacationing for a couple weeks in Alaska, a road trip through the South West, visited historical sites such as the Alamo in Texas, stood on the stage at the Grand Ole Opry and joined us for multiple other stops along the way.

While we are away from family more often, we have found that we cherish the time and experiences with them more than ever before!

Recapping: To travel as a new grad or not?

My wife and I did not travel as new grads, we had the opportunity but were skeptical; were we ready to take that leap? We didn’t yet know anyone who traveled, didn’t read any blogs, really didn’t know where to start. We also wanted some mentorship right out of school; had job offers in our preferred settings and wanted to take advantage of opportunities to build our skillset alongside seasoned therapists. Not to mention, we graduated in June 2016, took boards in July 2016, and had a wedding planned for October 2016, so it wasn’t the best time for us to begin a travel career.

Looking back, I wouldn’t change our career path. I felt more comfortable traveling after working full time for 15 months. I do believe however, it is absolutely feasible to travel as a new grad. JUST KNOW YOUR WHY! And you have to understand what the pros and cons are of taking a perm job vs travel.

I hope this provides some critical thinking for anyone considering travel therapy, and if you have any questions please feel free to contact us.

Traveling As A New Grad