1. Why did you decide to do travel OT as a new grad? Travel OT wasn't something I considered or even want to do when I first started school as an OT ( I know most people have a dream to do travel). I was living at home with my mom in the last year of grad school as we had gone remote due to the pandemic and then the last semester of the program was our fieldwork/clinicals. Some other life events happened and I knew that I didn't want to stay in the state of NJ and did not want to stay living at home to help pay off loans. I knew the job market in NJ/ NY was pretty saturated in general even pre ..read more

Over the past six years, I’ve worked with multiple recruiters and multiple staffing agencies. I’ve had the privilege of working with some incredible recruiters! Unfortunately, I’ve also had my fair share of bad recruiter experiences. As a new grad or experienced clinician looking to travel for the first time, here’s what to look out for! 1) Response time – How long does it take a recruiter to get back to you after you email them, send a text, or leave them a voicemail? Obviously, it isn’t fair to expect them to always be available to you instantaneously, but they should be relatively easy to ..read more

In 2017, I began creating resources for new graduates looking to pursue travel therapy. After talking to numerous new graduates who found themselves in sticky situations once on assignment, it became clear that high quality mentorship programs are lacking in our industry. If your professors are anything like mine, you have probably been told to wait to pursue travel therapy for at least a year due to lack of mentorship. I was fortunate to have incredible mentorship in my first year of traveling as a new graduate, but after countless conversations with other new graduates, this is not the stand ..read more

This winter, I had the opportunity to work in an overflow COVID hospital just outside of Washington D.C. All the patients in the facility were COVVID positive and needed acute care. This was one of the hardest, but also most rewarding contracts I have completed in my time as a traveling therapist. The entire staff were contract therapists, and the rehab team was fantastic. It was incredible to know that two travelers (A PT and an OT) were leading the whole brigade! Erica, the lead OT, was a true inspiration to work alongside. Her passion and enthusiasm to step up to the plate during a pandemi ..read more

Kayla began traveling as a new graduate Occupational Therapist and has had an amazing journey so far. With a focus on professional growth and development, Kayla has already achieved so much in less than a year of traveling! Here is her story! My first assignment was in Chowchilla, CA at a Skilled Nursing Facility. Being a new grad, in COVID-19, a year out from fieldwork and the only evaluating therapist in the building, it was extremely intimidating, yet I learned so much about myself and about being an OT. For 9 weeks, I was the only OT in a building, a new grad, and tbh, it definitely opened ..read more

As a new graduate or therapist with limited experience, it can be difficult to break into new settings. Even if you had a clinical rotation in the setting, it may not be enough to secure a travel assignment in that setting. I remember experiencing this over five years ago when I began my journey as a new grad travel PT. Like many aspiring travelers, I wanted to work in the outpatient and acute care settings in bigger cities with lots of things to see and do. As you may have noticed, these jobs exist, but they can be competitive. I was lucky to have my first assignment in Cleveland in an outpat ..read more

Five and a half years into my travel therapy career and housing is still the most difficult and aggravating part of the whole process. At this point in time, physical therapy is physical therapy. Sure, I must learn my way around a new facility in addition to their policies and procedures. That all will come in a few days. But first, I have to get there. And I need live somewhere. Please someone rent me an apartment for 3 months! When it comes to short-term housing, I thought I had done it all apart from the RV life. I have stayed in regular hotels without kitchens to extended stay hotels. I’v ..read more

What does a telerehab caseload look like? This was a question I had and a question I get asked often now. After four months, I can tell you that it truly depends. If you are only licensed in one state, you may only have a few patients depending on the state. If you have several licenses, you can maintain a moderate sized caseload. In my first week, I was about to learn just how busy telehealth could be, especially in a pandemic where several outpatient clinics were closed. In my first two days alone, I had 7 to 8 new evaluations each day. By the end of the second full day, I was beginning to f ..read more

Luckily my first day as a telerehab therapist wasn’t nearly as overwhelming as any first day on a new assignment. It was the Friday at the end of my orientation & training. Originally, I was supposed to see two new patients for initial evaluations that I would then schedule onto my caseload. For my telerehab company, we oversee our own schedules, therefore, we schedule all the follow-up appointments once the initial evaluation is complete. Thankfully, my supervisor pre-reviewed the first two cases that were added to my caseload and decided to remove one. The first patient scheduled that af ..read more

Part One: Getting Started in Telerehab Like many Physical Therapists, I never imagined that I would be treating patients remotely via video conferencing technology. While I have utilized telehealth services in the past as a traveler, I just did not envision it crossing my professional career path. As a traveler, telehealth for things that have come up on assignment has been great. You are in a new area and do not have a primary care physician established. Why not logon from the comfort of your phone or tablet to have a basic medical assessment? Obviously, it’s not appropriate for everything, b ..read more