Bon Voyage
The PT profession is always an adventure for traveling physical therapists

By Stefanie Carter

For most PTs, travel for work means the commute to the clinic and maybe occasional conferences throughout the year. However, there is a small group of therapists that travel to different facilities across their county, state or even the country and work temporary assignments while gaining both professional and personal experience along the way.

On The Road

Not long after Stuardo Samayoa, DPT, MTC graduated from the University of St. Augustine, a classmate told him about his experiences with travel physical therapy. Dr. Samayoa, a native of Guatemala, did not have "any place to call home" at the time and thought travel PT might be a good opportunity for him explore the country.

Four years later, Dr. Samayoa continues to travel as a PT with MDI Medical and is currently on assignment in Seattle, WA. He has been there for 4 months and has one more month to go on his current assignment. Dr. Samayoa’s traveling physical therapy career has taken him from coast-to-coast visiting places like Cape Coral, FL, Point Pleasant, WV, Greensboro, NC, Champagne-Urbana IL, Longview, TX, Benson, AZ, Phoenix, AZ and, now, Seattle, WA.

Often the "on-boarding" process for travelers going to new states involves new licensing for PTs. "If the traveler needs a license we assist them with getting that license and talk with the licensing board to follow up on it," explained Monica Schnitzer, Rehab Therapy Recruiting Manager with MDI who works with Dr. Samayoa. "Some states are very easy to get licensed in and some states take months."

Schnitzer offered California as an example, which has taken up to 4 months for PT licenses. "So, typically, if we have a traveler who wants to go to California we will plan ahead and apply for that license one or two assignments prior to the therapist’s target start date. Most travelers that choose travel for a career will hold 5-6 different state licenses," she said.

Scheduling, however is pretty consistent. Schnitzer agrees that the majority of therapists MDI places around the country work a normal 40-hour week. Occasionally, flexible scheduling is an option or, in some cases, a client may request weekends or rotating schedules, but generally the PT is aware of such requests when she accepts an assignment. "[The scheduling] works out great for the traveler because they get to really enjoy their weekends and explore the area," Schnitzer said.

Dr. Samayoa agreed, "Right now in Washington I am on [a four-day, ten-hour schedule] so I have a three-day weekend. Most of the time I’ll just get on my motorcycle or in my truck and go to all different places around the state or in neighboring states. I’ll go to different festivals or just enjoy the scenery they have to offer," he said.

Travel PT Profiling

Schnitzer says that the lifestyles represented by traveling PTs really "run the gamut." "We’ve had travelers with young children and we help them to find day care. We also have travelers on staff whose spouses travel with them. These spouses are either retired or work virtually," she said.

Another travel PT phenomenon is the traveling teams that seem to develop. "We have a husband and wife team, a team that’s dating, one that’s engaged and a couple teams that are just friends who like to travel together. So anytime they come up for a new assignment, we’ll find them an assignment in the same facility or something nearby," said Schnitzer.

Professional experience is also a component as many clients are expecting more from their travelers than they may from regular staff. "Most of our clients are looking for a year or more of experience. If the caseload is highly specific, they’ll look for experience with that specific patient population," said Schnitzer. "Our SNF clients are a little bit more flexible. They’re looking for someonewith a love of geriatrics but they may be more flexible to consider new grads."

Continuing Education

Professionally, a significant part of the experience as a travel PT is the learning and teaching a therapist has the opportunity to do on each assignment. "Being in different places in the U.S. has given me the ability to read people a lot faster. Each state has its own culture and I can ease into the environment," said Dr. Samayoa. "I’ve perfected some of my skills in acute care and orthopedics by being mentored by other clinical managers or physical therapists. I’ve been lucky enough to work with many, many therapists and each one has their own special skills in the profession."

Informal training that takes place on-the-job is not the only education a travel PT receives. Because most travel PTs are licensed in multiple states, continuing education is a responsibility they must tend to regularly.

While maintaining CE credits may seem to be a real challenge, Dr. Samayoa has found his skill set has been expanded significantly. Through talking with colleagues while on assignment, Dr. Samayoa has been able to partake in what he considers the cream of the crop courses. "There are so many PTs that have taken courses all around the country and I’ve been able to see the good and bad things about everything they’ve taken," he explained.

On the other hand, Schnitzer added that it is not simply learning that travelers get to do, but teaching as well. "We do a lot of placement in metropolitan areas but also in rural areas. We will get [a travel PT] in there who has a lot of travel experience and they’ll bring some great ideas into the community. That’s part of what makes this so worthwhile," she said.

Individual Experience

Each travel PT will get something different out of their traveling experience.

Some therapists, according to Schnitzer, will travel early on in their careers to see different parts of the country and determine where they want to put down roots. While MDI has an 83 percent retention rate, Schnitzer said, the remaining usually go permanent with a client. "Sometimes they find exactly what they want to do or they know the region they want to be in and they decide to take on a couple of travel assignments until they find something they fall in love with," she said.

Having that kind of control over one’s career is one of the biggest selling points about a travel career. "The thing I like most about being a traveling PT is the freedom," explained Dr. Samayoa. "Professionally, it gives me the ability to practice more and more with different therapists and patient populations. They can place you pretty much anywhere you want and they actually fit you pretty well with the setting you want to be in."

Although Dr. Samayoa plans to settle down at some point, for right now he is enjoying his traveling career. "I like to travel. I am single and I get to know different people and make new friends. It just gives me the freedom to do my own thing," he said. "I can go home whenever I need to go home. I can make my own vacations and plan ahead for different things I want to do. For example, right now I am planning to take some time off from work to go home [to Guatemala]."

ABOUT MDI

MDI is a professional consulting and staffing firm with three divisions – IT Services, Finance and Accounting, and Medical Staffing. The firm specializes in project services and professional staff augmentation, and each division meets its clients needs by providing talented resources supported by best practices. MDI's IT Services Division delivers project governance and technical staffing services, the Finance and Accounting division provides senior-level professionals providing F&A services, and MDI Medical specializes in allied travel staffing for rehabilitation and imaging professionals. Founded in 1988, MDI has recorded 18 consecutive years of profitable growth, expecting revenues of $65 million in 2006. MDI now employs over 600 people nationally out of offices in Atlanta, GA (HQ); Birmingham, AL; Columbus, GA; Dallas, TX; Greenville, SC; and Phoenix, AZ.

For more information:
Contact Brad Mencher
Vice President, MDI
404-416-7949