In late 2021, I decided to take the leap and start my career as a travel med tech. Throughout school, I thought this was an awesome concept, but I didn’t think it was something with which I would realistically follow through. What business did I have, a nobody girl from a nowhere town, moving to a large, unfamiliar city alone? I sat on this decision for months, enduring MANY stressful nights and a lot of back-and-forth. But ultimately, I decided to take the leap and commit. What did I have to lose? So, the next day, I put in my two weeks notice so I couldn’t back out. And in January of 2022, I found myself with 2 suitcases, a backpack, and a one way ticket to Chicago- a city I’d never been. How exciting!
To preface this post, I didn’t just quit my job on a whim. I researched A LOT about the world of travel healthcare. I’m talking months of reading other traveler’s blogs, watching YouTube videos, reading reviews for different travel companies, and researching the best cities to live and when to live there. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much information out there specific to med techs. This career isn’t well known, and doesn’t get much attention- that’s okay; we med techs prefer it that way. So for the most part, I was just figuring it out as I went. Hopefully this post can help guide any aspiring travel med techs who don’t know where to start!
**Did you know?
If you’re a healthcare professional, you can most likely have a travel career as well? Here are a few examples of professions that allow you to travel (this list is not comprehensive).
- RN
- Med Tech
- Physical Therapist
- Speech Language Pathologist
- CT Tech
- Rad Tech
- CNA
- Respiratory Therapist
- Occupational Therapist
#1 First Things First
Experience. Before you can start traveling you need some experience under your belt. Most hospitals and facilities looking for a traveler are looking for someone to fill a void in their staff ASAP. Therefore, they don’t want to have to spend a lot of time training you, especially from scratch. When you start traveling, you should be confident enough in your lab skills to handle being thrown to the wolves, so to speak. You should understand the science behind what you’re performing, general QC, and an overall understanding of the department you’ll be working in. Yes, they’ll train you until you’re competent, but the sooner you can stand on your own two feet, the better. I believe the recommended amount of experience is 2+ years, but you MAY be able to get away with 1.5 years (this is something to ask your recruiter). I personally had 2.5 years- specifically in Microbiology.
#2 Find a Company/Recruiter
I found the travel agencies I use through Google and from Youtube videos and blogs. I researched multiple companies, what they offered, different reviews, and other’s experiences. Keep in mind that your experience may be different than someone else’s based on the recruiter you get assigned. I’ve worked with 10/10 amazing recruiters, as well as a few that I had to “break-up with” (as it’s commonly said in the travel healthcare world). Acknowledge other’s reviews, but don’t let them decide things for you!
#3 Pre-employment
By this point, you should have a recruiter, and they should make the pre-employment step- as tedious and boring as it is- fairly seamless for you. You’ll have to provide all the same pre-employment housekeeping information you would before starting a staff job- employment history, references, etc. Following that, your recruiter will want to know what you’re looking for in a contract. They’ll ask for your preferred location(s), shift(s), pay package, etc to filter out the contracts that wouldn’t interest you. There’s a HUGE misconception surrounding getting assigned contracts, and no, recruiters don’t tell you where to go or assign you to certain contracts; you have all of the power!
#4 Start Submitting to Contracts
After you’ve provided your preferences, it’s time to start getting submitted to contracts! Your recruiter will notify you when a contract comes up that matches your preferences, and you can yea-or-nay the submission; again, you have all of the power. If you do choose to submit, it becomes a waiting game to hear back from the facility. Congratulations! You are officially looking for your very first travel contract!
All in all, the process is actually quite straightforward and easy, especially if you get a helpful recruiter! Hopefully this makes the transition from staff to travel seem a little less daunting, and a little more attainable. I strongly encourage you to take the leap into an exciting new chapter of your life and career- I’m so glad I did. Good luck!
Don’t miss out! Sign up for our newsletter down below to get notified when new posts go live!
