Traveling Physical Therapy Brings a Smile
Sunday, August 9th, 2009
First, before we discuss the joys of being a travel therapist, let’s talk about what that is exactly. A traveling therapist is someone who registers with a company that specializes in placing people into a job that is in need of a qualified therapist, but does not have qualified candidates locally. The therapist can accept or reject jobs of their choosing. When they accept a job it usually last around 13 weeks.
Travel pt jobs (physical therapist) come with a lot of advantages for the therapist and their family. First, the opportunity to travel is one of the main benefits of the job. This can be a great way for the therapist, and is some cases the therapist family, to see the nation for a very low cost to the therapist and their family.
Another benefit of being a travel therapist is the chance to see many world class facilities in the medical field. In addition to seeing those facilities, there is the chance to work in them. This gives the therapist valuable work experience to improve their skills and expand their knowledge in the field.
A common mis-belief about the industry is that there is a lack of insurance in a travel pt job. This simply is not the case. Insurance is one of the major benefits of becoming a travel therapist. Medical insurance is offered along with life insurance and long term disability insurance. These are all part of the insurance packages typically offered. Hopefully, this bit of information can help everyone understand that travel therapy jobs are very competitive with other forms of therapy jobs when it comes to insurance benefits.
There are ways to make extra cash without any extra work. Just signing up for a job, in some cases, can bring a sign on bonus to the physical therapist. Also, selected jobs offer a completion bonus for completing a job (staying for the whole time requested). Another way to make extra cash is through referral bonuses’. These are offered to therapist for referring other therapist to the company.
Traveling therapists typically also have meals and other incidentals reimbursed or are given an allowance for this. This can really make it much easier to save the money that they are making and help them get ahead or catch up, by greatly reducing their living expenses.
Another advantage for a traveling therapist is the ability to have education paid for. Some programs will reimburse as much as $1000/Year for continuing education. This can help to increase the knowledge and skill of the physical therapist as well as help them to save even more money.
There are lots of benefits to traveling physical therapist jobs, as we have discussed. One the biggest benefits enjoyed by the therapist, is the long term stability that can be gained. Travel therapists have the ability to build their resume by adding a great list of experiences to their resumes in a shorter amount of time than anyone else. This makes them stand out to future employers, in any job that they apply for, giving them an advantage on long term stability.
