A physical therapist called earlier this week. She's been on an assignment in Texas for a few months. (Hi A.W.!)
This physical therapist had questions about per diem prorating. When her per diems were prorated, her calculations didn't match with ours. After talking for a few minutes, I realized that she didn't read the Orientation package that explains how per diem is prorated.
I know there's a lot of material to read when you accept your physical therapy jobs with MDI Medical (or jobs in other specialties), but it's especially important that you read the Handbook and Orientation package. It explains our policies & many things that could help you along the way. Even if you don't have time to read it the minute you accept your PT jobs, be sure to read it prior to your start dates.
You can find the most recent copy here: http://www.mdimedical.com/resources/#employment
Click on Start Package, For Review.
I think we all have varied tolerances for change. I know people who crave change & those who resist it.
Most travelers like change. One of our speech language pathology travelers says that she craves variety in the speech language pathology jobs that she chooses. She chooses SLP jobs based on settings, caseload, and location.
So, here's a question for those therapists who want to travel but are reluctant to take the plunge: when you start your new speech therapy jobs, what tips do you have to adjust to the change?
MDI Medical, along with sister companies MDI Group IT Workforce solutions and MDI Group F&A, have made Atlanta Magazine's 2008 Best Places to Work! The award is based on MDI's benefits, wages, turnover, and workplace environment. Read more by clicking here.
Thanks to the physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, and therapy assistants in Atlanta who voted for MDI for this prestigious award. Even if you're not in Atlanta, if you want more information about working for a company that is recognized for our employee-focused attitude, click the "contact us" page or search our open jobs. We have hundreds of Allied Health jobs across the U.S., and we'd love to hear from you!
MDI's newest occupational therapist was a little slow in returning his paperwork to us. Specifically, his Candidate Confirmation. I'd like to explain why it's so important to get these Confirmations back to us quickly:
When you accept your occupational therapy jobs, and before you begin your occupational therapy careers with MDI Medical, there are a few key documents we need to get started. The most important are Candidate Confirmations. These Confirmations detail exactly what you will receive in benefits & compensation. They also list your start date, end date, on-site manager, dress code, and more.
Candidate confirmations ensure that the clients, the recruiters, the account managers, and you all agree. They prevent misunderstandings. Confirmations are also your official acceptance of your assignments. They are your signal for us to set up benefits, payroll information, housing, and credentialing.
MDI Medical does more than finding your next job. We take your career seriously. We do our best to guide you towards the right assignments for your skills and your desired locations/settings. Candidate Confirmations are the first step towards becoming an employee of one of the best therapy staffing companies around.
What a success story for Tiger Woods at the U.S. Open! To imagine playing with cartilage damage AND stress fractures AND winning the tournament - wow.
What I love even more is that physical therapists are mentioned in the national news. With such a shortage of students entering programs for physical therapists, the industry can use all the PR it can get.
How did you first learn about physical therapy jobs? What made you want to become a physical therapist?
This PT wanted to take over his current MDI Medical housing at the end of his assignment. Unfortunately, this creates a sticky situation. Here's why:
When we sign leases for travelers taking physical therapy jobs, speech language pathology jobs, or occupational therapy jobs, the liability is on MDI Medical. The lease is in our name & we pay the deposits. The same is true for furniture and utilities. I'd like to tell you about two situations that happened a couple years ago:
Learning experience #1: a physical therapist was on assignment here in Atlanta. We usually don't set up cable tv, but we did this time. At the end of the assignment, the PT asked for everything to be transferred to her name. We agreed, then 10 months later, we received a cable bill for $729 in pay per view charges. We learned that MDI Medical was still responsible for the cable box, even though we transferred the service in her name. (It wasn't the PT who ran up the bill; we think the box was lost or stolen.)
Learning experience #2: An occupational therapy assistant in California wanted us to change the lease to her name after her assignment. We filled out the forms, but when she moved out a year later, we were stuck with damage charges. She said the damages were caused while she was on assignment with us, not afterwards. The apartment complex said they never did a walk-through when the lease was transferred because her personal effects were still in the unit. (I personally think they decided that they were more likely to get money from MDI Medical than the COTA.) They found a loophole in the lease transfer form and came after MDI for the damages.
As much as we'd love to help you after your assignment, there is a business reason we cannot transfer your lease, furniture, and/or utilities to your name. We must close the utilities accounts completely, return all equipment, do a walk-through inspection with the complex (which requires your moving out), and return the rental furniture to the warehouse (so they can assess the furniture's condition).
The alternative would be to decrease pay rates to cover possible extra housing losses, and no one wants that. To keep your pay rates high, we work very hard to control unnecessary costs. And this includes controlling risk and liability.
So please understand why we cannot transfer the housing into your name at the end of an assignment. Trust me, if we could, we would.
As you might know, traveling is a business of supply and demand, and hospitals in beach communities are busy during peak season. They usually pay their staff overtime or schedule local PRN therapists, but sometimes, they hire travelers to cover peak caseloads.
If you're an Occupational Therapist or Occupational Therapy Assistant, keep your eyes open for occupational therapy jobs in Bluffton, South Carolina. It's only 15 - 20 minutes from Hilton Head, and a client frequently has great OT jobs there. In fact, we housed an occupational therapy traveler in a Hilton Head beach condo last year, and she commuted to Bluffton. (Hi RC!)
Just a few months ago, MDI Medical rented a Connecticut beach house for one of our physical therapy travelers. (Hi RM!) Rather than live in the city, RM asked to be housed a few miles away at the beach. It was too cold to go swimming, but the view from her living room window was spectacular.
Our website is always up-to-date with current openings. Click here to search for travel therapy jobs: http://www.mdimedical.com/ If you'd rather receive hot jobs for a specific area in your inbox, call your recruiter or shoot me an email, and we'll set it up.
Your turn, travelers: where was your favorite summer assignment located?
As it ends up, blogging is ok. Several times a day, as I talk with MDI's physical therapists, physical therapy assistants, occupational therapists, COTAs, and speech therapists, I realize there are so many topics you'd be interested in.
Recently, I've received a few inquiries: why was my blog so quiet? Where in the world was I?
Last week, I was in sunny Hilton Head, South Carolina, with my extended family. We've been vacationing there for 3 years now & it's the perfect way to kick off the summer.
It's tough to leave the beach, but it's good to be back to work. And I'm "back" to blogging. If you haven't signed up for the RSS feed to the right, do so, and you'll be notified every time I update the blog. You can also do this for your other favorite MDI Medical bloggers and even the main blog.
What summer vacations do you have planned?
Do you plan your travel therapy jobs around your vacations, or do you plan your vacations around your traveling rehab jobs?
week: the price of gas has increased so much, would she receive more travel money on her next assignment?I was the bearer of bad news: the IRS has not raised its mileage reimbursement rate. It's still at 50.5 cents per mile, so that is the maximum we can reimburse for business miles traveled to an assignment.
We then talked about auto allowances. When you're traveling to SLP Jobs, OT Jobs, and PT jobs across the country for business, not your regular commute, you're eligible to be reimbursed (or claim on your taxes) your business miles.
How much money can you receive from your travel company? The formula is easy: estimate how many business miles you will drive for your travel therapy jobs in 2008, multiply that number by 50.5 cents, and accept no more than that amount throughout the year. If you receive more money that you can justify, you need to pay taxes on that money or return it to your travel company.
MDI Medical, like most travel companies, uses a non-accountable system. That means you keep documentation to back up your tax-free compensation, and we trust what you tell us. Even though we don't need to see them, you still need to keep records... just in case an IRS auditor knocks on your door.
Go to www.irs.gov and search on "business expenses" for more information on what you can deduct, and what records you need to keep.
Notice the distinction between business miles and commuting miles. If you're on business trips, like traveling rehab jobs assignments, your miles are tax deductible (or your allowances are tax free). If you're living at home, and commuting back and forth every day, your miles are not business expenses, nor tax deductible. If this is the case, you're in the same boat (or SUV) as me, paying $70 each week in after-tax money to fill up your gas tank.
This morning, on my way to work, I saw a family of geese try to cross a busy 4-lane road. How they got to the median? I don't know-- surely a stroke of luck. Then, in my rear-view mirror, I watched a police car put on its flashing lights and stop traffic so the geese could cross the rest of the way.When this was happening, I was thinking about a situation at work yesterday. An occupational therapy assistant is coming onboard with MDI Medical next month. (Hi JH!) But she's running into trouble with her current travel company. They learned she's coming to work for us & they're leaving voicemails on her cell phone that are not so nice. This therapy assistant did nothing wrong. There's no reason for this competitor -- her employer (!) -- to give her a hard time about leaving their employ.
Sometimes I think employers are like the police officer I saw this morning: most will stop traffic to help you cross the street -- no matter where your destination -- but some will keep on driving.
This therapy assistant was looking for a great company to propel her occupational therapy career. She contacted MDI Medical after she saw signs her current company didn't have her best interests at heart. In fact, they lowered her compensation in the middle of the assignment without even notifying her! She found MDI Medical through a coworker, a speech language pathology traveler who was working at her facility at the time. (Hi NV!)
So, JH, hang in there. Soon you'll be with a company that's committed to be your advocate, fulfill its promises, and provide the best occupational therapy jobs in Illinois!
A certified occupational therapist assistant just moved into her apartment today in North Carolina. (Hi SD!) The complex is a good one. One we've used many times. But it only accepts pets under 50 lbs. We thought her dog was around that size, but when our therapy assistant traveler moved in, she said, no, I think he's larger than 50 lbs.
An occupational therapist is moving into an apartment in Florida next week. We found a great complex, but they do not accept puppies. Unfortunately, this therapist just adopted a puppy this week. Back to the drawing board to find more housing options.
We're good at what we do, and that includes housing. Hopefully, we'll work something out with both of these properties. After all, both of these travelers have taken many occupational therapy jobs during their occupational therapy careers with MDI Medical. We've never had complaints about their dogs, and we've never lost deposits. Here are some insider housing tips if you're traveling with a pet:
1- Apartments will not house "vicious breeds": dobermans, german shepards, rottweilers, bull mastiffs, and pit bulls. It doesn't matter if your dog is the sweetest doberman in the universe. Or if it's only 50% pit bull. We cannot house it.
2- Some apartments charge housing fees/deposits for EACH pet. We once had a physical therapy assistant who traveled with 4 cats. It was difficult to find a unit that would accept 4 cats, and when we did, the pet fees were high. Travel companies pay for refundable deposits, but pet deposits and fees are the traveler's responsibility.
3- Puppies and elder dogs have more accidents. Landlords prefer adult dogs.
4- Even if the apartment will accept your pet, it may later require you use a doggy daycare or off-site kennel if it barks all day while you're at work, or if it's a nuisance to other residents.
5- Is your cat declawed? Is your dog a certified companion animal or therapy dog? Have you always received 100% of your housing deposit back? We can sometimes negotiate with apartment complexes if we know more about your pets.
Traveling with pets is a great option for most people with travel therapy jobs. But if you're considering a new pet, keep these tips in mind as before you fall in love with your new best friend.
On my way into work, I received a call from a favorite traveler. I mentioned him in an earlier blog: J.C. is a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant currently working in South Carolina.
J.C. started at MDI Medical more than 4 years ago. His first assignment was in a small town in VA. His then-girlfriend, a Physical Therapy Assistant, joined him on his second assignment. They've taken travel physical and occupational therapy assistant assignments in TN, VA, RI, CT, SC, and NC. I remember when they got engaged, and I even attended their wedding!
J.C. called me this morning. He was paying bills, and he saw his big bonus hit the bank account. He called to say "thank you" to the team.
It reminded me of the reason I'm in this crazy, sometimes stressful business. At the end of the day, we help great people find great allied heath jobs. We help people like J.C. earn great money while enjoying dream occupational therapy careers. (and physical therapy careers and speech language pathology careers)
J.C., you're the one who deserves the "thank you" for everything you do every day. MDI Medical is proud to have you on the team, and I am lucky to have you as a friend.
1) Be flexible. We may have only one outpatient hand therapy job in an area,
but we may have several occupational therapy jobs in various settings within 20 minutes of each other. In the same way it's easier to find a solo deck chair on a busy cruise ship on a sea day, it's also easier to find separate travel allied health jobs within the same vicinity.2) Bring two cars. Yes, it's easier to drive cross-country in one car, but you may need "space" from time to time. This will also help if you are assigned to separate facilities.
3) Discuss housing arrangements ahead of time. We have two friends who "nearly" travel together. They became friends during their occupational therapy programs, and B.C. joined us in 2004 and R.C. in 2005. (HI!!!) Although they don't technically travel as a team, we coordinate their start and end dates to coincide, and we find OT jobs within 2 hours of each other. A couple years ago, they both had OT jobs in Orlando, these two friends decided to get separate apartments in the same complex. They needed their space.
4) Socialize. Since you have a built-in friend, it's easy to get into a rut. Be sure to make new friends & explore new cities during your traveling SLP jobs, PT jobs, or OT jobs. After all, isn't that why you started traveling in the first place?
Do you know we have literally HUNDREDS of travel rehab jobs?
Not a traveler? That's ok: many clients will also interview local contractors for these openings. Here's a sampling of physical and occupational therapy jobs that came in today:
Occupational Therapy Careers
COTA Jobs:
near Austin TX - Mixed hospital setting
South Carolina (only a few hours from Atlanta) - Inpatient/outpatient mix
Dayton OH - Acute care
Occupational Therapy Jobs:
Connecticut - School, Pediatrics experience required
Northern California - Inpatient Acute
San Antonio TX - home health
Physical Therapy Jobs
Colorado Springs, CO - inpatient/outpatient mix (this job will go FAST!)
Indiana - 100% outpatient (this won't last long either)
Oops, I was just going to stick with OT & PT today, but I'd be remiss if I didn't include our RED-HOT Speech Therapy Jobs.
Speech Language Pathology Jobs
Southern California - school district
See something you like? Call an MDI Medical recruiter at 888-416-7949 or click on the "contact us" page.
It's not natural for me to feel this way: for the majority of my career, I've been selling something over the phone. First, consumer goods, then hospital equipment, then great opportunities.
I've been shopping for new software for our company. We've outgrown our old database, and it's time to upgrade our technology. There are some really cool things out there: I previewed one today that will search open Allied health jobs by distance. Let's say you're a physical therapist looking for travel therapy jobs that are 100 miles from Jacksonville, Florida. Your recruiter can select these parameters, and out pops a list of all clients' PT jobs in the area. It's exciting how much the technology has changed in the past few years, and it's thrilling the effect this will have on your occupational therapy careers, physical therapy careers, and speech language pathology careers.
So why the rant about salespeople? I talked with three today. Two were not so great. They didn't understand me nor our business. They gave the standard presentation, even when it was clear I wanted to move to ahead to a new topic. It was like a formula: needs analysis, introduction, features/benefits, close. I could anticipate their next step. They were trying to "sell" me.
One was great: he listened to what I needed, he tailored his presentation to my needs, and he answered my questions when I asked. He knew what MDI Medical did, he understood our business, and he even talked our language. He didn't push. He didn't rush. He followed my lead. Talk about credibility. You'd better believe I listened to him when he offered suggestions & ideas at the end of the conversation.
Have you noticed a difference when recruiters call? Do they simply push their travel therapy jobs, or do they listen to your needs first? Do they only "pitch" the hottest occupational therapy jobs, or will they actually take time out to talk about your occupational therapy career? Yes, even good recruiters will give advice and steer you towards a hot job. But the good ones do it with credibility and with your best interests at heart.
How about you? What types of experiences have you had with rehab therapy recruiters?
Out of the blue on Saturday, my brother-in-law said, "seems like you're having fun w/your blog." My blog? Mine? Oh, really? He's reading this?
I've been operating in a vacuum, thinking only about direct conversation to MDI Medical's physical & occupational therapy employees and speech language pathology employees. It took my B-I-L to remind me that there are others who stumble upon this blog.
So, to all the non-therapists, welcome! (And hi Evan.)
I was not an expert in allied health jobs when I started at MDI Medical 4 years ago. I used to recruit physicians. I was a generalist, so I had vast knowledge of nearly every M.D. specialty and knew more than I wanted about hospitals, private practices, and the business of healthcare delivery. But I knew little about physical therapy careers, occupational therapy careers, or speech therapy careers. Good thing I'm a quick study.
Here are the top 3 things that surprised me about Rehabilitation Therapy:
- A physical therapy assistant is called a PTA, a speech language pathology assistant is called an SLP-A, but a occupational therapy assistant is called a COTA. Go figure. (COTA=certified occupational therapy assistant. It makes sense in writing, but when you say it out loud, it's easy to miss the connection.)
- Most speech language pathology jobs in hospitals & nursing home focus on swallowing, not speech. I used to think SLPs helped people to communicate. They save lives, too. For example, if a nursing home resident has trouble swallowing, they could die as a result of food going down the wrong "pipe" and ending up in their lungs. (Sorry to all the SLPs who are cringing at my description. After 4 years of training recruiters, I've learned this is my best non-clinical explanation.)
- Physical and occupational therapy students attend nearly as much school and have nearly as much training as Internal Medicine physicians, yet they rarely receive the respect and recognition they deserve from these same physicians. (If you know a PT or OT, give them a big hug & a huge THANK YOU for what they do.)
What about you? If you're a non-clinician, what questions do you have about therapy jobs? If you're a clinician, besides clinical advice, what types of questions do people ask when they learn what you do?
"Shnite-zer?" They ask.
"Sh!t-zner?" (I can't even write the word to get this blog uploaded.)
"Snit-zer?"
And then the inevitible, "Is that German?" The more creative people tell me to "buy a vowel." It used to be funny. The first 5 times.
The thing is: we don't have much choice in our names. Or our corporate email addresses. So after spelling "mschnitzer at mdimedical dot com" and answering all the usual questions for the millionth time, it hit me. Why don't we have easy-to-remember email addresses for the people that you email all the time?
So, for your convenience, here you go:
Payroll: payroll [at] mdimedical [dot] com
Benefits: benefits [at] mdimedical [dot] com
Housing: housing [at] mdimedical [dot] com
Credentialing: credentialing [at] mdimedical [dot] com
Hours: hours [at] mdimedical [dot] com - for emailing your hours or confirming timesheet receipt
Billing: billing [at] mdimedical [dot] com - for client invoicing questions
Take it from someone with an unusual last name: this will be much easier to remember.
M.S., and T.S., husband and wife team, both with PT Jobs in Baltimore Maryland: iPod Touch and gift card to Great Wolf Lodge
E.S., who has held multiple Physical Therapy Assistant jobs with MDI Medical clients over the past several years: 5 days of paid time off (PTO).
N.N., another long time MDI Medical therapist, currently in Connecticut on his way to DC for his DPT: an iPod Touch for his hour commute from NYC.
M.P., a Physical Therapist who was on assignment in Southern California for nearly a year before taking a staff position with the client: Best Buy gift card.
J.S., an SLP in Oregon now: 1 week of paid time off (PTO), and a second week accrued through client bonuses.
K.R. in Columbus, Ohio: a Lowe's Gift Card.
C.H., Phoenix, Arizona: a laptop computer.
K.D., Washington DC: a Wii.
And this doesn't include C.C., a PT in Atlanta, who can't decide between a cash bonus or a Caribbean Cruise. Hmmm, decisions, decisions.....
Do you want to get in on the action? If you're an MDI Medical employee, ask your recruiter, or talk with Brandon when he calls for your annual review.
If you're not an MDI Medical employee, what are you waiting for?
It was a crazy Monday morning. Traffic was extraordinarily bad, and I was rushing to MDI Medical's Monday morning staff meeting. It's the meeting where we talk about all of our Physical Therapy Jobs, Occupational Therapy Jobs, Speech Language Pathology Jobs, and all of the SLPs, OTs, COTAs, PTs, and PTAs that we need to place in these jobs. It's really embarrassing if you're late, so I was one of those crazed commuters, trying every shortcut in the book to get to work on time.
At 8 a.m., I got a text message from one of our Physical Therapists who is on assignment in Baltimore Maryland (hi RM!): "School closed to to power outage and flooding. I'm here already." 
You can guess my state of mind, and my short fuse, so I hurriedly texted back: "Ask about working Acute today."
Beep beep beep. "Supv not here today. Don't have her number."
I called our Account Manager. He was on his way to the office and didn't have the client's phone number with him. (Pretty typical: our Account Managers have way too many clients to carry around everyones' numbers.) When Joseph got to the office, the client didn't answer, so he had to email. Eventually, the client reached the PT, but not until waited an hour for reassignment.
So, travelers & contractors, here is my tip of the day: ask your on-site supervisor for his/her cell phone number. Program it in your cell phone.
Direct communication with the client shouldn't replace communication with your travel company, but on days like these, it makes life a lot easier.
What's your favorite tip for communicating with clients during travel assignments?
No time to blog, but I have to share some great news. Through our Loyalty program, two of our favorite travelers are receiving HUGE bonuses next payroll. I just scheduled $3,000 in our payroll system.
J.C., a COTA in South Carolina, has been with us for more than 4 years is receiving a bonus for $1500. His wife, a PTA, traveled with us for 3 of those years. (Kelly, don't let him spend all the money on the car or boat. Get something nice for the two of you or the baby.)
O.O., a PT in Atlanta, is also receiving a $1500. O.O. is a favorite around here. He's been by the office to visit, sat on a traveler panel for a company meeting, and recently went out clubbing with our Recruiting Manager.
Well deserved, guys. Thanks for your hard work and dedication over the years. We are proud to have you on the team!
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