My New Jersey Physical Therapist license

S: When I decided I wanted to go to the east coast to work for the summer, I asked both my travel companies to see if they could find me a job. One company, Medical Connections, did not have a licensing department. The other company, MedTravelers, had a licensing department. Medical Connections found me a job in New Jersey, I interviewed for it and got the job. I started the process of applying for the license in May. It is now October and I just got my letter saying I had been approved to get a license and would receive one in 3-4 weeks. Needless to say, I didn't realize it would take this long to get the license. Contrast that with the Connecticut license which took about 3 weeks to get and was paid for by my travel company. Still there are a lot of jobs in New Jersey and it is much closer to New York City. Read on if you want to know the steps to getting a New Jersey license.

O: First, if you have a company that will do it for you , then by all means let them deal with it. Since I was under a time crunch, MedTraveler's licensing department told me they wouldn't even try to get me the license. It would take at least 6 months. So plan ahead for this license.
Here are the steps:

• Contact the New Jersey office of the Attorney General to get your application snail mailed to you. This state doesn't have an online application.
• Fill out the application, pay $125, and mail back with all the required documentation (passport picture ($10 at Walgreens), a photocopy of all your current licenses, your answers on a scantron to the New Jersey open book jurisprudence exam, and an affidavit with the seal of a notary of the public (free at your local bank if you have an account). Make copies of everything and mail all that to New Jersey. I make copies because sometimes the state will say I didn't send things, but I have proof that I did.
  
• On the Internet you will need to have your official transcripts sent from your Physical Therapy school directly to New Jersey. You can do this online through the student clearinghouse or call the registrar's office. This cost me $4.25. I went to LSU in New Orleans and even though Katrina flooded the school, my transcripts were still available online.
• Snail mail verification of all your state licenses to each state you hold a license in and pay for that ($15 for Michigan and $30 for California)
• Once New Jersey is satisfied with your information and you passed the test, they will mail you the information for having a background check done. I was already on assignment in Connecticut when this came in the mail and had to have my husband mail it to me. I had to be fingerprinted ($10 at the local police station) using the enclosed fingerprinting card and pay New Jersey $67 to allow those finger prints to be converted to a digital format.
• So now it is five months later and I just got notification that once I send in $110 and I pass my background check, I will have my New Jersey PT license.

A: I'm pleased to be on the final step of the process, but am in no hurry to complete the process. I will probably not need the license until summer of next year. It is good for 2 years and usually the application is good for 6 months before I have to start over.

P: My plan is to send in my final check in the beginning of the new year. Once I start a job there with Medical Connections they will reimburse me for the cost of everything.

Home

S: We drove 731 miles from Hamden, CT to Oxford, MI. The drive was lovely on the eastern side of the Berkshires. The leaves on the trees were red, yellow, pink, green and orange. It looked like a painting of a flowing carpet along the interstate.

O: It took us 13 hours to drive home. The route we took was through Canada and over the Peace Bridge in Buffalo. That is faster than taking the Niagara Falls bridge. We only waited 15 minutes to cross the border, but it was after midnight on a Monday morning too.

A: I was glad we had enough cash to pay all the tolls. It cost around $20 in tolls and bridge crossings. I should have saved my Canadian change to give to them at the border, but I'm never that organized.

P: I start a local job tomorrow. It will be nice to get back into a routine.

Yale and Phantom of the Opera

S: I finished my assignment at Griffin Hospital in Derby, CT. I had a great assignment and will miss my coworkers. On my last day, they gave me a delicious pot luck lunch and a present with our group picture .

O: Besides working my assignment I was able to tour some local sites. We went to the Big E or the Eastern States Exposition. It is an annual event in Massachusetts. We also went to tour the campus of Yale and ate at the famous Pepe's pizza. I tried the clam pizza, but won't miss it when I return to the Midwest! Yesterday we went to New York City to see the Phantom of the Opera at the Majestic Theater. It was fantastic and I can see why it is still going strong after 20 years. It was a full house on a Thursday night so I guess it will still be showing for years to come.

A: I enjoyed being on assignment in Connecticut and getting to know the people of New England. All of our touring has been fun and I'd recommend an assignment here to anyone in the future.

P: Tomorrow we plan to go on a New England fall color tour on a historic train ride. We'll be leaving to go back to Michigan on Sunday.

Travel assignment almost over

S: I'm on my 11th week and have 2 more weeks to go in Connecticut. I found this to be an awesome state to work in. Getting my PT license was a breeze. The location is close to New York City and allowed me to take the Metro-North train into Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan. The picture above is Times Square.
My coworkers love their state of Connecticut so one took me on a boat ride around the Thimble Islands. The picture on the right is of a Thimble Island home at low tide. Could you live there?

O: When I travel as a PT, I have goals (of course!) and I feel that I've accomplished most of what I wanted to do. I helped the facility that had a backlog of patients waiting for therapy, I shared my knowledge of Kinesio tape, and I learned about the New England way of life. Before I leave, I still need to share the area with my husband and son, I want to visit a graveyard (Boo!), buy souvenirs for my friends, and take a train tour.

A: I'm feeling that I like being a health care traveler. I'll be glad to get home though. My friends keep saying "Where are you now? When are you going to stay put?"

P: I'm planning to stay put in Michigan for the winter-Brrrr! It's Michigan cuddle alert time!

Coast to coast

S: I'm on the East coast in Connecticut working a PT job at Griffin Hospital. I had been in California working near Monterey.

O: The good thing about traveling as a PT is getting to visit family, friends, and see the country. My husband and I drove to CA. in March and went to the southern rim of the Grand Canyon. On our return trip in June we went to Yellowstone. Now that I'm close to New York, we've been to NYC several times. We spent one weekend in Boston.

A: I'll finish this assignment at the end of September, but housing will be provided until 10/4. I plan to tour locally since I'll have housing.

P: I plan on returning to Michigan where I'll be co-teaching PT 800 at Oakland University.

I passed!

S: I'm so happy! I found out a couple of days ago that I passed the CA. jurisprudence exam.
My recruiter called to tell me. I checked online to confirm that she was right and my name now appears as having a valid CA. license.

O: My recruiter wants to know what jobs I want to apply for. I'm looking at San Jose, Salinas, and Monterey.

A: I'm so relieved that I passed. I studied really hard for the test. It is funny that the CA. exam was so hard and the MI exam is an open book exam!

P: I'm still in school (last semester for my DScPT), so I have to go study for my Advanced Differential Diagnosis exam that is tomorrow.

California law exam for physical therapists

S: I've been studying for the CLE and I retook it today.
O: I studied all the right material this time! The link above of FAQ was helpful. Make sure you study the Penal Code also.
A: I think I only missed 2 questions. I can miss 10 and pass.
P: I'll know in 2 weeks if I passed. Keeping my fingers crossed!

taking the exam agian

S: I've been doing some investigating and it turns out I only studied the California Physical Therapy practice act. This was only 26 pages. I emailed the CA. state board, but they never responded. The person handling my CA. license at my travel company hasn't called me either.

O: I went online and looked up everything I could possibly be tested on. I've found 120 additional pages of things I should study. I need to study the laws, regulations, proposed regulations, the handbook, and the practice act. I also need to be up to date on direct access info.

A: I'm a full time graduate student, working and now restudying for the CA jurisprudence exam. I gave myself several weeks to take the exam again. I'll take it right before Halloween.

P: I've got to go study for another exam!

failed!

S: I'm soooo mad. I failed the stupid California law exam. I'm scheduled to go to work there in Jan. '08, too!

O: I'm going to call somebody to ask what I'm supposed to be studying. I think I'll start with e-mailing the California state board and ask them what I'm supposed to be studying.

A: I feel like a dummy.

P: I plan on being upset for a while.

PT board of California

S: I finally found the original letter (I got it back on August 8th) from the Physical Therapy Board of California that was my source of my instructions on what to study.

O: The letter said to go the the website www.ptb.ca.gov and download a copy of the Laws and Regulations governing the Practice of Physical Therapy.

A: I think I must have ADHD because now I did exactly what the letter said and it took me to the correct information that I should have studied. What the heck did I do before and how did I get the incomplete information? Yikes!

P: I hope I don't have to take the exam again. Live and learn.

California jursiprudence exam

S: I've been studying for the California PT laws and regulations exam. I didn't realize it, but I should have also studied the code of conduct. To be safe, every time I take a state licensing exam the company should call the state PT board and ask what I should be studying. This tip was given to me by Heather, a fellow PT traveler, who I met at the Bay City assignment. I called her after the exam to complain about how hard it was.

O: I took the exam today and I found out that I have to score a 37 out of 50 questions to pass. I will find out if I passed in 2 weeks. I thought the test was hard and it probably didn't help that I hadn't known that there was other stuff I had to study!

A: I think I passed the exam, but I don't want to jinx myself!

P: I have to go study for one of the university classes. This semester I'm taking Differential Diagnosis, Counseling for Wellness, and doing my research proposal. I have to watch a video tonight that has something to do with counseling....

Bye Bill (and "yous" guys)!

S: My assignment is over and I'm back home. It is good to be back home, but I miss the guys in Bay City. I made a lot of friends on my assignment. Bill was my boss and as I was leaving he said "I've been checking your blog!". I was determined to update it ASAP, so this one is for you Bill!

O: If you are a Physical Therapist and looking for a place to work in Michigan, you might find the place you've been looking for at Bay Regional Medical Center. I think of it as a "caring community of health care workers within a community of caring people". I was impressed with how much the workers cared about each other (and teased each other) and how much dignity the patients had in the face of their medical troubles.

A: One of the people I worked with loves romance novels like I do. I've been in a romance reading group for many years (maybe 8 years- nobody remembers when we started the group) and one of our members is a published author. It turns out I have an autographed copy of one of her books, so I'm going to send out a box of romance books with the autographed one to my former coworker.

P: Today I'm going to mail the box of books at Meijer. I want to do it before school starts tomorrow. Once I'm back in school, my life becomes crazy (school, study, eat, sleep). Bye!

Frankenmuth

S: This past week my husband stayed at the hotel with me. We had a fun time going to do some sight seeing.

O: We went to Frankenmuth to eat and walk around the Bavarian shops. We had a delicious chicken meal at the world famous Zenders restaurant, enjoyed a stroll across the covered wooden bridge, and marveled at the beautiful flowers along walkways.

A: I'm glad my husband and I did a little sightseeing before the end of my assignment.

P: Next week may be my last week on this assignment.

Backyard BBQ

S: I have been very busy working during the week and going home on the weekends. I am enjoying my assignment a lot, but I've also missed my family a lot. In fact on Sunday I felt sad that I would be done with my assignment in 4 weeks and sad that I was leaving my family again to go back to work. I've been asked to consider extending my assignment 2 more weeks. If I stay I'll miss my family and if I leave I'll miss the people at the facility. My coworkers are so nice that one, Matt, invited everyone (including me and another traveler) over today for a backyard BBQ .

O: The BBQ was a relaxing way to end the day. Matt offered venison hot dogs, a swimming pool, a game of basketball, and lots of interesting conversation.

A: I feel blessed to have lucked out to having such a great assignment. I was a little nervous about traveling, but all of my worries were for naught.

P: My plan is to enjoy every day, no matter where it leads me......

July 4th fireworks

S: I've been so busy with my travel job, I've been neglectful of my blog! I've had a good travel assignment with nice colleagues, patients, and hotel staff. I've read in Health Care Traveler magazine that I would make new friends, but I didn't believe it. Now I've experienced it in the form of a patient who took pity on me when she found out that I was going to the Independence day fireworks by myself.

O: My husband didn't want me to go to them by myself and when she offered to meet me I jumped at the chance. Nice people do exist! You may never get a chance to see the phenomenal Bay City fireworks in person like I did, but I found a YouTube video of them. You can watch them at this link.

A: I had a great time at the fireworks. It would have been very lonely by myself (a side effect of traveling that I didn't expect).

P: I don't have a plan of what to talk about in my next blog. I'll have to see what comes to me!

First day

S: I started the travel job today. It went well except I was sent to the wrong address. I had the phone number of a person at the hospital and she told me where I should have been. I was glad I had that with me.

O: My tip for new travelers would be to try to confirm the address directly with the facility if possible. Also, today I had to repeat the TB test and drug screening. My other tip is to bring a binder full of the documents that had been sent to the travel company. I have with me all my medical records, diploma, licenses, certifications, and forms. I did need to refer to some of it today to answer questions.

A: My first day was spent being oriented, asking questions about procedures, getting all my questions answered, and going on tours. It seems like a good facility and nice people.

P: Tomorrow will be interesting.

Ready to roll

S: I have been terribly busy getting ready for my assignment. I couldn't believe the amount of paperwork that was required, but I'm excited to say I'll be on assignment starting in one week.

O: Here is a link to where I'll be. I will be staying in one city and working in another. I will be on an 8 week assignment at an outpatient facility.

A: I'm glad I'm finally going to be traveling. I'm looking forward to starting next Monday.

P: I plan to write the next blog about what was required for me to do before I got this travel position.

Summer Job

S: It has been a busy couple of weeks, but I'm happy to say that I've signed for a job for 8 weeks. The picture above shows what the harbor looks like in the city I'll be working in. It will be very nice and interesting.

O: There were more steps than I realized to getting to this point. After the phone interview with the facility, they offered me the job one hour later. I wanted to wait until the next morning so I could talk to my family. The job was still available the next morning and I accepted. Now I'm in the process of getting a physical, taking a drug test, filling out all the paperwork for benefits, and getting my many questions answered!

A: I'm excited to be starting a traveling job for the summer. My husband will come with me for part of the time and help me settle in.

P: The next step will be finishing all the paperwork.

My travel company

S: I'm happy to say that I heard from my account rep today and she asked if I would interview for another position. I was beginning to get a little worried because I've only got one interview set up for one facility.

O: I told my rep that I would be interested in interviewing for another position. I've already got one interview for Tuesday 5/7 and she will try to set up another one on the same day. I also asked her some of the questions that I had been meaning to ask regarding the pay and package. I asked if I was guaranteed to be paid even if the census is down and I'm sent home early. She said that her company guarantees a 40 hour work week even if I'm sent home early.

A: I was happy to hear this because although I'm expecting to work every minute I'm there, it would be bad for me if I was sent home early and not get paid. I wonder what the facility thinks about this arrangement though?

P: I plan to continue to read and ask questions about the benefits and pay package.

Phone interview

S: My account representative called today and said that an interview will be set up for 5/8. I'm so excited to have an interview.

O: I've already gone online and looked at the site. I've got a few questions for them, but I totally forgot to ask the account rep the questions about the pay and perks.

A: I feel really good about getting an interview and will be even more excited when I talk to the therapist at the facility.

P: My plan is to ask the account rep the pay and perks questions before I have the interview.