Do you work in the healthcare field and love to travel? Is your job as a healthcare professional not allowing you the time off to travel the way you’d like? What if I told you you could travel the U.S., get PAID to do so, AND take time off between contracts? Keep reading for travel healthcare professions that allow you to travel so you can begin your career as a nomad!
What are Travel Healthcare Professionals?
Travel healthcare professionals are those willing to travel to different hospitals across the U.S. to temporarily assist in filling staff shortages. Those hospitals may be experiencing strikes, maternity leaves, retirements, or a number of other causes of short staffing.
A travel healthcare professional is expected to fill those empty roles and perform as a staff member of that facility for the duration of their contract.
How Long are Contracts?
The typical travel contract is 13 weeks.
You may see contracts as short as 1 week (strike contracts) or as long as 6 months- 1 year (not as common).
**Contract extensions may be offered near the end of your contract. Discuss extension length with your recruiter!
Expectations of a Travel Healthcare Professional
Travel healthcare professionals are expected to quickly learn the hospital’s policies and procedures and, within a week, adequately perform their given role with minimal supervision.
As a traveler, you are expected to be competent in your specialty and able to adapt quickly to new environments.
After all, that’s the responsibility of a traveler- to fill staffing positions quickly and effectively while prioritizing patient care.
Who can Travel?
There’s a misconception surrounding travel healthcare professionals. Many people think only nurses can travel. That couldn’t be further from the truth. There are over 50 professions that can travel in the healthcare world!
Below is a short list of the healthcare professionals that have the opportunity to travel!
Travel Healthcare Professions
**This list is NOT all inclusive!
- Nursing
- RN
- CNA
- Medical Assistant
- Physician
- Physician Assistant
- Pharmacist
- Pharmacy Tech
- Cardiopulmonary
- EEG Tech
- EKG Tech
- Perfusionist
- Laboratory
- Medical Technologist (Hi! That’s me! 🙋🏼♀️)
- Medical Technician
- Clinical Laboratory Scientist
- Histotechnologist
- Phlebotomist
- Pathology Assistant
- Therapy
- Occupational Therapist
- Physical Therapist
- Respiratory Therapist
- Radiology
- MRI Tech
- Radiology Tech
- CT Tech
- Dietician
How Much Experience is Needed to Travel?
It’s recommended that whatever your profession, you have at least 2 years of experience in your particular specialty.
For example, a PICU nurse trying to travel should have 2 years of PICU experience before starting their travel career.
In my case, I’m a medical laboratory scientist, but to travel as a MICROBIOLOGIST, I worked in a micro specific role for 2.5 years before traveling.
Where to Begin?
Becoming a travel healthcare professional is easier than you think. Once you have the experience under your belt, the next step is to find a travel agency and a recruiter.
Be sure you choose an agency that’s Joint Commission accredited!
The Joint Commission is an agency setting and reinforcing the standard for quality care and patient safety.
As a healthcare professional, you should strive to be employed by organizations with quality of patient care as their utmost priority!
How to Find a Travel Agency
The simple answer is Google.
There are many blog posts, YouTube videos, and articles written on “the best travel agencies”, so do your research and choose the agency that seems like the best fit for you!
Different agencies are contracted with different hospitals, so it may be a good idea to work with multiple agencies, I do!
I work with 4 different agencies to broaden my chances of scoring the perfect contract in the perfect location!
I have recruiters with Fusion Medical Staffing, Aureus Medical, Aya Healthcare, and Cross Country.
**Send me a message if you’re an allied professional (therapy, laboratory, imaging, tech, cardiopulmonary) and I can get you in touch with one of my recruiters!
Next Steps
If you’ve made it this far, check out these posts for additional information on starting your travel career!
20+ Healthcare Professions that Allow you to Travel
The Best Sites for Finding Travel Nurse Housing
Travel Nurse Housing: The Basics
What to Expect Once You’ve Been Submitted to a Travel Contract
Questions to Ask Your Recruiter Before Submitting to Travel Contracts
How to Become a Travel Med Tech
Final Thoughts
If you’re a healthcare professional wanting to travel, PLEASE check one of the sites listed above to see if your profession is offered! If you don’t see it on the site, I recommend still getting in contact with a recruiter- they may have positions available for you!
Travel med teching is one of the best decisions I have ever made for myself, and I implore you to take the leap to solo travel. Even if it’s scary, it’s so worth it!
Thank you SO much for reading! I hope you took something away from this post and are one step closer to starting your travel career! Drop any and all questions below, and don’t forget to subscribe to be notified when new posts go live!
