You Know You are a Healthcare Traveler When….

You Know You’re a Healthcare Traveler When:

• When somebody ask you “where are you from?” they better get ready for a five-minute story because it is as never as simple as saying 1 place.

• You have told yourself that you can do anything for 13 weeks.

• You have counted down the days until the end of a contract

• You are a pro at car Tetris

• You have private health insurance or have signed up for COBRA at least once

• Your travel pictures are the envy of your friends and family online

• It is impossible to get your friends together at one place or time because they live all over the country

• Your voicemail is full of messages from recruiters about “an amazing job opportunity”

• You have a collection of employee name badges from buildings across the country

• You do not know how to write your resume since you have worked in at least 15 buildings in the past 4 years

• “Tax home” has meaning to you

• You know the pain of filing multi state taxes

• You own an RV (or have seriously considered buying one)

• You have taken a contract for at least one of the following reasons: the money, the weather or because you needed a job and it was there.

• You have mastered the phone interview

• You know multiple EMR’s and have strong opinions about them. When you hear “Meditech” you hope it is not the DOS version and you probably have a stance on RehabOptima versus Casamba.

• You are a pro at drug testing. You probably have had multiple tests in the last year.

• You suffer through multiple TB tests every year. (My highest was 4 in a year).

• By the time you learn your zip code and way to work without GPS it is time to move

• Mail is a headache

• Every possession that you care about can fit in your car

• You have mastered finding an apartment on AirBnB or Craigslist.

• You are sick and tired of your family and friends asking when you are going to settle down.

• Putting 25K+ miles on your car in 1 year is no big deal

• You have suffered through the “travelers abuse” of getting a high caseload or the “bad” patients. However, that has likely helped to sharpen your skills and made you a better clinician.

• You do not want to start working with another agency purely because the new hire/on boarding process is a nightmare

• You do not understand how your peers can work with only two weeks of vacation a year.

• Your birthday never gets on the calendar to celebrate at work, but it is okay because every 3 months your co-workers throw you a going away party/potluck.

• Despite the ups and downs you cannot imagine your life any other way