On The Road Part 1

 

Travel PT - it's the sparkle in every PT student's eye!

It's the one job you've heard about in PT school - that might actually pay you enough to help you start putting a dent in those student loans.

(Speaking of Loan Repayment, check out this Blog where I share our story of how we paid off our student loans in 9 years - Travel PT was a contributing factor).

Anyway, back to traveling!  The fun and exciting stuff to think about!

I (and my husband) first heard about travel PT during our first year of PT school.  Immediately, it sparked our interest.  The idea of traveling across the US, doing a job we both enjoyed, and making (more) money sounded Ah-mazing!

But, for us, we wanted some experience and good mentorship under our belts before we set out on our adventure.  We both got jobs at the community hospital affiliated with our PT school and remained at those jobs for 3 years.

But 3 years at that job was enough (though the mentorship was phenomenal).  It was time for something new and different.

So we decided it was time to start Travel PT.  

And we wanted to start on the West Coast!

Where Do You Start?

We contacted 2 different Travel companies and did what we needed to obtain our California PT licenses.  

Now, finding temporary contract PT jobs for 1 person can be difficult.  But, 2 placements is even harder!

When deciding on placements you basically have to consider 2 things - Location and Setting.

• Location - where do you want to go (state, city, region)?
  
  
• Setting - what setting do you want to work in (outpatient, Acute Care, SNF, Rehab)?

Generally, only one of those desires can be satisfied.  

So you can work in the setting you want, but might have to be in the Middle of Nowhere, USA.  Or, you can work in the most desirable city in the country, but might have to work in the worst facility imaginable.

You have to weigh your options.

For us, we knew we wanted to start in Northern California (San Fransisco area).  We preferred location to setting.  So we had both companies searching for placements for us.  One company had better luck than the other and we had a few interviews set up.

The Interview Process

Now, when you think of an interview, you think: a manager asking me about my strengths and weaknesses, how I want to grow as a PT, asking me what I can offer the company, etc.

Not so much when it comes to Travel PT Job interviews....

When interviewing for a Travel PT position, YOU are the one interviewing the facility.  

In most situations, the facility is just looking for someone (anyone!) to fill a temporary position.  

So you need to know the right questions to ask the facility to make sure the facility is the right fit for you - even though it is temporary.  Questions like:

• What is the expected productivity? Percentage or number of patients per day?
• What am I expected to do as a PT at this facility?
• How many full time therapy staff are at this facility?
• How many other PTs work at this facility?
• Am I expected to only do Evals or can I do treatments as well?
• What will my schedule be?  Hours, days of the week?

Our First Contract

Luckily the Travel Company was able to find 2 temporary contract positions open at the same SNF in a town outside of Berkeley, CA.  So we had our interviews.  

We were told that there were other full time staff at the facility, we would be expected to complete typical PT Evals and Treatments for the SNF setting, the productivity was 95%, and we would be guaranteed 40 hours per week.  

We signed the contract, loaded up our Prius (with our 2 year old Beagle) and began our cross-country road trip from NC to CA the day after Christmas in 2010.  SOO exciting!

We spent 6 days driving across I-40, stopping in Nashville, Oklahoma City, Albuquerque, Flagstaff (with a delay due to an Interstate closure from a snowstorm), Los Angeles, then pulled into Berkeley, CA 1 hour before New Year's Day.

Finding Housing

At that time, Travel Companies gave you 2 options for housing.  They would find the housing for you or you could find your own housing arrangements and the company would give you a Living Stipend each week.  

The obvious choice was the Living Stipend, because it was way more money than what you could find for housing. 

Problem is, finding (pet friendly) temporary housing....across the country....only using the internet. 

We wanted a place that was within walking distance to all.the.things Berkeley had to offer.

We found a 1 bedroom apartment that worked.

Except for the paper thin walls.

And no one really told us how creepy Berkeley was, outside of campus.  Neither of us felt safe walking our dog or walking anywhere really, especially at night.  

But, whatever, we are traveling, making some good money, and seeing the US!  

And it's only temporary...

Our First Day

We pulled into the parking lot that had a total of about 10 spots.  We parked, walked in, and found the PT department.  

Then waited about 30 minutes until the Rehab Director arrived.  

She introduced us to the staff - which consisted of no Physical Therapists, only full time PTAs.  The OTs and COTAs were also temporary contract staff.  RED FLAG #1

We spent the rest of the day doing facility orientation - watching videos, learning their procedures, blah, blah, blah.

Oh!  We were also told that we couldn't park in the parking lot (cause there weren't enough spots), but if we parked on the street in front of the building that our car would likely get broken into.....

Day 2

We arrived on time, then waited an hour for the Rehab Director to arrive.  We couldn't do anything until she got there - because she created the therapist's schedules each day.

*The thing with temporary contracts, is that there can be little to no mentoring or orientation to the department.  You are expected to hit the ground running and quickly.*

As she gave us our schedules, she told us that we would be doing all of the wound care for the facility.  RED FLAG #2

Wait, what???

We were not told that during the interview!  And neither of us knew enough about Wound Care to treat patients appropriately or effectively.

So we told the Rehab Director how we felt.  That we weren't comfortable doing it.

Fast forward through the rest of the first week:

• We got our schedules (when the DOR got to work)
• Treated our patients 
• I was able to connect with a patient to the point that I was able to get him to stand and take steps in the parallel bars for the first time in like 5 years
• My husband had to spend 90 minutes with a patient who did 100 push ups daily and walked (independently) across the street to the hospital for his dialysis treatments......
• Were constantly asked why we were NOT meeting the 95% productivity
• And saw piles and piles of unethical (and some illegal billing) behavior from all of the therapy staff

It was unnerving.  

BUT, we had signed a 13 week contract.  We were going to stick out, but ONLY by working and providing therapy that was legal and ethical.

Week 2

Monday of Week 2, we went to work, worked with our patients, and finished the day.  

Upon walking to the car, my husband got a call from the recruiter at the Travel Company.  

She informed us that the facility had canceled our contract....

I was thankful and relieved.

My husband about shit his pants.

I was happy that we never had to go in that building again and surround ourselves with such terrible practices.  

My husband said "What are we going to do?  We just drove across the country and now have no jobs!"

The company then worked really hard to find us 2 more contracts.  They looked in all of the major cities in California.

In The Meantime

So we spent the next 3 weeks exploring Berkeley and San Fransisco.  We did a LOT of hiking!

Eventually, the contract company found us 2 more jobs.  

I will continue our Travel PT Story in Part 2 (don't worry, it gets better)....