Pursuing Professional Development as a Traveler:

Growing as a Clinician and Knocking out CEUs

Finding, signing up for, and then following through to complete professional development courses that are in your area of interest is a serious challenge when you don’t know what corner of the country you’ll be living in next!

Sometimes it is hard, as a traveling professional, to complete an adequate number of CEUs – not just to maintain your professional licenses, but to back your claim as a versatile expert and build your resume. The problem only intensifies when you have multiple licenses to maintain and track, each state with various requirements and expiration dates.

To help you develop a professional growth plan that is targeted towards your area of interest and will build your skills as a therapist, I have outlined the three best ways to obtain CEUs while on the move around the country.

Pursuing Professional Development as a Traveler

1. Online Courses of Substance

Online courses are by far the most versatile and convenient way to earn CEUs as a traveler. Not only can you take the course anywhere, but you can fit it into your schedule so that you don’t have to spend an entire weekend inside a classroom instead of out on an adventure.

So far the only online CEU company we have found to be completely worth our time (and money) has been Medbridge.  Medbridge has incredibly good content from some of the best-known educators in Physical Therapy, and they also have courses for Speech Language Pathologists and Occupational Therapists as well.  You can learn from some of the best such as Kyle Kiesel, Chad Cook, Adriaan Louw, and Terry Malone (You PTs out there should all recognize these names).  Additionally, there is a built in system to help you track your CEUs, determine what states they are approved by, and keep your licenses on record.

Sometimes states require a specific type of CEU credit in order to renew your license – like an ethics course for California, or 7 hours of suicide awareness in Washington. Being able to take both of these online through Medbridge with no extra fees saved time and money, and were far more enjoyable to complete while snuggled on the sofa with our dogs!

The thing I like most about online courses is that they are a fantastic way to gain knowledge quickly, or review applicable content when you find yourself in a new setting. After taking a short hiatus from Home Health, I was able to quickly complete a 3 part re-fresher course from Dee Kornetti and Cindy Krafft from the Home Health Section over the time span of a few evenings. When I transitioned to working with mountain athletes in Anchorage, Alaska, I took a Medbridge course and quickly sharpened my skills in running gait analysis and training. 

Online courses also come in handy in a pinch. Let’s face it – despite all your best intentions of planning ahead, sometimes a license deadline just sneaks up on you! It’s easy to lose track of deadlines and multiple licenses when you’re also managing moving around the country, traveling the world, and being a bad-ass clinician!

*We have recently become an affiliate of MedBridge, however, this is truly our highest recommendation for CEU’s on the road.

2. Plan a Destination Course

Who doesn’t want a mini-vacation to study The McKenzie MDT Method in Miami, in the middle of February, when you’re coming from a land of snow and ice?

As traveling therapists who typically don’t get reimbursed for traveling continuing education, don’t spend your time and money on just any course. You’ll want to invest in a course that will be foundational to your career.  Consider your main area of interest, and choose a course that is going to provide you with a new intervention skill. For an Outpatient therapist, choose something such as IASTM or dry needling – or a course that will provide a framework for evaluation/treatment and potentially lead to certification such as McKenzie MDT, SFMA or Maitland.

And if you’re taking the time to travel away from your new home, you’ll want to choose a location that will provide a vacation in itself as far as weather or a new city to explore. After all – we are in this for the adventure, right? Look ahead at some of the big name websites and choose a location and topic that appeal to you. Don’t wait. Sign up for the course, then request those dates off next time you are negotiating a contract.

We’ve never regretted traveling to Miami and Las Vegas for our McKenzie Part A and Part B training, or to Denver to take the SFMA Part 1 – these have been foundational to our assessment and treatment of orthopedic patients and I utilize both methods nearly daily, and in various settings. We were able to schedule the time off in advance, and even visited local friends and family while we were there for the courses – including some beach time with my grandparents while we were in Florida! 

3. Take advantage of local events

Once you find out where you are headed on your next assignment, a quick Internet search of the area should help you discover courses that may be held in that area (or close by) while you are there.

If you find out early enough, you can write the dates into your contract. Alternatively, we typically ask for 2-3 days off TBD when negotiating our contracts. We have found that it’s often easier to discuss the exact dates off with the manager after you arrive vs. put it in writing ahead of time – and they are much more likely to help you switch days or grant you a day off if they know it is for professional development! This is something you can also bring up during your interview.

Sometimes your own local clinic will host continuing education opportunities that present while on contract. For example, while we were in Alaska working outpatient at a clinic with a therapy pool, Steve’s co-worker was a certified Burdenko specialist. Steve took the opportunity to get a Burdenko course under his belt and now has aquatic therapy experience to market to future job opportunities.  On the Central Coast of California, one of our co-workers was a Neuro Specialist with Parkinson’s expertise, and I was able to strengthen my neuro and Parkinson’s skills with an evening course as well as co-treatments.

With all of these options available, we have not had difficulty completing relevant and legitimate CEUs on the road and hopefully this can help you get started! Stay tuned for future info on alternative CEUs, obtaining our specialty in orthopedics, and tracking licenses and CEUs.

 

Written by: Ellen Stockhausen PT, DPT, OCS