MedPro

Whether you’re a physician, registered nurse, pharmacist, or speech, physical or occupational therapist, chances are you have a significant debt load as a result of taking the graduate-level educational program required for entry into the field.

What’s the average debt load? For physicians USNews.com reported that in “2010 the average med student graduated with more than $145,000 in debt, according to data collected in U.S. News‘s fall 2011 survey of medical schools. For doctors graduating from private schools in 2010, the average debt load jumps almost $10,000.”

The average pharmacist’s debt isn’t much better. The Health Workforce Information Center in March reported in a 2011 survey of graduating pharmacy students that the average amount borrowed to attend a pharmacist program at a public school was $98,605.

If you’re a few years out of school, you can understand that paying off your loans is a slow process. One solution to help you pay off your medical school debt would be to work as a travel healthcare professional. Working as a traveling physician, nurse, pharmacist or therapist can be a great way to pay that debt off more quickly.

Why? Because you could be making more money.

As a traveling health professional you’ll receive a per diem rate that’s more than your work-in-one-place counterparts receive in salary. In addition, many traveling staffing firms such as MedPro Healthcare Staffing offer plenty of bonus opportunities. MedPro, for example, could pay its traveling professionals as much as $20,000 more a year in referral bonuses alone. We also pay out longevity bonuses to those healthcare professionals who work with us for a long time.

Working as a traveling professional can be a terrific career move for a healthcare practitioner with at least 1-3 years’ experience. Contact a MedPro recruiter today to learn more!

You always knew that nursing was a great career and the Bureau of Labor Statistics as well as U.S. News and World Report have been reporting so for several years now. Healthcare positions often top the charts of “best jobs.”

This year is no different as USNews.com once again lists nursing as the number 1 “Top Job 2012.”

A February 2012 article at USNews.com predicted that the job growth for registered nurses “should see significant growth over the next decade.”

Based on BLS data, USNews.com the article went on to say that “registered nurse employment growth of 26 percent between 2010 and 2020, adding 711,900 more positions. Solid employment growth and a wide range of job prospects help make registered nursing a top healthcare job, as well as the No. 1 career on our list of The Best Jobs of 2012.”

The article states that the “best-paid 10 percent” of nurses made a bit more than $95,000 annually, while the “bottom 10 percent” made a bit more than $44K. If you want the big bucks, look into personal care nursing or pharmaceutical or medical device companies. As for where you’ll make the most in salary, the article cited the cities of San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco.

The article recommends that RNs “[l]ook beyond the hospital. Nurses are fanning out into a host of jobs, ranging from rehab and long-term care facilities to nurse-run community clinics, schools, or corporations where preventative care and wellness are becoming a bigger focus—and a bigger source of jobs.”

Speaking of a “bigger source of jobs,” check out work as a traveling nurse. You’ll hone and improve skills – and very likely learn new ones – all while traveling to different cities and healthcare facilities throughout the country. Contact MedPro Healthcare Staffing today to learn more about these terrific opportunities.

Taking on a travel assignment can be one of the best things you ever do for yourself, both professionally and personally.

But it can get lonely.

After all, all your friends and perhaps family are “back home,” hundreds — possibly even thousands — of miles away. Plus, you don’t know anyone in your new city and, while you’ll undoubtedly make new friends quickly, they may not be as deep as you need.

Google+ Hangouts to the rescue!

Google+ is Google’s “answer” to a social media platform. It’s different than Facebook in that it allows you to group your “friends” by “communities” so that your grandmother, for example, won’t read the posts you send to your fellow singletons as you look for love (unless you want her to, of course!).

Google+ Hangouts is the site’s video chatting service. Hangout allows you to “hang out” with your different communities via webcams. These chats can be made public or private. If public, they are broadcast on the Hangout On Air feature (via YouTube). The private feature allows you to webcam with up to 10 people, while On Air allows your video chat to be seen and heard by anyone anywhere.

What’s more, you don’t need to have a webcam – you can download a webcam plug-in when prompted as you set up your Hangout account.

If you already are a member of Google+ and want to start a Hangout with some of your community members, go to the green “Start a Hangout” button that’s located in the third column of your stream page.

Follow the instructions.

It’s that simple!

If you’re not yet a member of Google+, simply go to plus.google.com and follow the instructions to sign up.

You can schedule times for short or lengthy Hangouts with your friends and loved ones. Watch YouTube videos together, share photos and favorite songs…just about anything that you could do together in person if you had a smartphone between you.

If you’ve the travel bug and you have at least one year’s experience as a nurse, therapist or pharmacist, contact a recruiter at MedPro Healthcare Staffing about many of the great travel assignments we offer healthcare professionals. We look forward to hearing from you!

Travel nursing is such a great career opportunity for registered nurses that we often get newly-certified RNs asking about assignments.

As much as we’d love to assign a newly-minted RN to a travel assignment, we rarely do so. The reason? When our clients ask for a nurse for a short- or long-term travel assignment, it almost always means they are in great need – often desperate need – for a nurse who can hit the ground running and be successful and useful from day one.

New nurses rarely have that kind of experience.

Yes, our client sites will train you in “their way of doing things.” But they need a nurse who knows how to perform procedures quickly and correctly. Who has considerable experience handling all types of cases and emergencies. Who can commiserate with the teen who broke his foot during football practice to the father franticly wanting to know why his 2-year-old lost consciousness so suddenly.

Generally, we look for RNs who have been working in a hospital setting for at least one year. We do prefer nurses with more than three years’ experience, however.

If you’re a new nurse, we hope this hasn’t discouraged you. Time will fly quickly on your first job. Please send us your information and let us know you’re interested in a travel assignment once you have more experience. We’ll be happy to keep your information on file; travel nurses are in great demand and we’re always looking for new recruits.

Much success with your new nursing career!

If you’re currently working as pharmacist, you chose a terrific career: once again, USNews.com has ranked the job of pharmacist as one of the Best Jobs 2012.

If you’re thinking of getting the training necessary to become a pharmacist (four years or more of post-graduate training after college) you’ll find that, according to USNews.com, “[j]ob prospects should be excellent in the field in the years to come, and the earnings potential remains relatively high. While the market has cooled a bit from several years ago, experts say an aging population and increasingly complex medicines will keep industry growth healthy for years to come.”

Employment opportunities should grow by a whopping 25.4 percent between 2010 and 2020, USNews.com reports, siting Bureau of Labor Statistics data. This growth, plus the fact that pharmacists tend to be well-paid (the BLS reports that the median salary for pharmacists in 2010 was $111,570), make the career the number 3 career in USNews.com’s Best Jobs of 2012.

Earning your pharmacy degree (the Doctor of Pharmacy, or the Pharm.D.), isn’t easy. Not only will you be undertaking a rigorous four-year post-college program of study (see above), but you’ll need to pass one or more tough exams. A one- or two-year postgraduate pharmacy residency wouldn’t hurt, either, especially if you want to practice in a pharmacy specialty such as in a clinical practice or a research lab.

Many pharmacy students wish to pursue an MBA while in their pharmacy program or afterwards. Others look for pharmacy programs that also offer a master’s in public health (MPH).

Another benefit to working as a pharmacist is the opportunity to serve as a travel pharmacist. In this capacity, you’ll travel to different communities and pharmacy facilities all over the country. MedPro Staffing, in fact, has a contract with the U.S. Veterans Administration, and we’re a regular provider of pharmacists in VA hospitals.

Contact us today for information on pharmacy positions in your current community or in a city across the country!

There are perhaps countless reasons to think about becoming a travel therapist. Here are the top five:

First, an explanation: a travel therapist is a licensed therapist (physical, occupational, speech) who travels around a state, region or even the United States on short-term assignments at different therapy facilities and hospitals. Most assignments are about three-six months in length, although they can be longer or shorter [some assignments can last a year.

Reason 1) Not only will you be able to travel the country, seeing new sights and meeting new people, but your therapy skills will improve tremendously. Why? You’ll be practicing in all manner of facilities – from hospitals in well-to-do locations to free clinics in rural areas and all types in between. You’ll help patients from all socio-economic backgrounds. You’ll learn new ways of doing things and you’ll work with some of the most high-tech (as well as low-tech) equipment available today.

Reason 2) Free housing. That’s right: Free! Not all travel staffing firms offer free housing to their traveling therapist, but most do (and MedPro Healthcare Staffing is one of them). We’ll provide you with a modern and clean apartment in a safe and pleasant complex near your assignment. Many of our apartments have pools and even fitness facilities! If you prefer to find a place on your own, we can give you a housing stipend to help you pay for the most of your housing or even all of it.

Reason 3) Terrific per diem rates! You could end up making more per diem than the “permanent” colleagues with whom you’ll work while on assignment. In addition, MedPro offers loyalty and referral bonuses to our therapists. You could win up to $20,000 more a year in referral fees. You also could earn one or more Apple iPads!

Reason 4) Travel staffing services such as ours also provide generous health benefits and 401(k) retirement plans.

Reason 5) You’ll be working in facilities where your expertise will be highly valued. Our partner healthcare facilities come to us for their staffing needs because they are short-handed and/or have a large patient case load. They often are desperate for the help you provide them. You’ll be a true hero to the facility as well as to their patients.

If you’d like to learn more about the many benefits working as a travel therapist provides, contact one of recruiters today! We look forward to hearing from you!

If you’re working on a travel assignment and wondering how to receive recommendations from supervisors and colleagues, the process is pretty much the same as it would be if you were working in a more permanent position at a hospital or medical center.

Basically, do your best work and then ask for recommendations.

Step 1) Doing your best work. This pretty much goes without saying. Yet working as a travel professional makes it a bit harder to do your best work. After all, you’re in a new environment and are being asked to get up to speed quickly in the facility’s way of doing things. This can be a challenge, but not an insurmountable one.

Work hard, ask questions and volunteer to do more when your current tasks are complete. In addition, start scoping around for people/colleagues whom you know are happy with your work. These individuals would make good people to ask when it comes time for you to ask for recommendations.

Step 2) Then ask. As your assignment nears its end, you’ll want to go to the people you’ve identified in Step 1 for recommendations.

A good way to approach them is to say something along these lines:

“I’ve enjoyed working with you. Do you feel you know my work well enough to write a good letter of recommendation for me?”

(Note: It’s important to ask if the person will write a “good” letter of recommendation. You might assume that when you ask someone to write a recommendation letter for you, she knows you mean you want a good letter. But some people won’t assume this and may write what you consider to be a “bad” recommendation letter, one that doesn’t sing your praises and may even portray you negatively. So just be safe and be sure to ask if the person will write a good letter of recommendation.)

Provide the individual with an updated copy of your CV/resume.

If the person is pressed for time, you can offer to write the letter for him or her (or the rough draft). You’ll want to be sure to give this letter to the individual so that he or she can sign it and/or re-write it/edit it to more accurately describe their recommendation of your work.

Speaking of recommendations, don’t forget that working with a travel staffing service such as MedPro Staffing can bring you a great wealth of positive recommendations and references from facilities all over the country! Contact us today to learn more about our healthcare travel assignments!

USNews.com has ranked the top jobs for 2012 and the career of nursing sits in the top spot.

The website compiles its “Best Careers” list each year based on the Labor Department’s employment projections.

The top 10 careers are:

1. Registered Nurse
2. Software Developer
3. Pharmacist
4. Medical Assistant
5. Database Administrator
6. Web Developer
7. Computer Systems Analyst
8. Physical Therapist
9. Computer Programmer
10. Occupational Therapist

U.S. News based its rankings on “for the Best Jobs of 2012 on professions that should hire abundantly over the next several years.”

Nursing, it continued, should see a growth of more than 700,000 jobs this decade (according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics), rising by about 26 percent.

The article goes on to say that “[f]or a better chance at landing a nursing job, you’ll want to determine your niche early, consider using virtual networking tools, and look for employment outside a hospital setting.”

The only other health professions position that made the top 25 jobs for 2012 was paramedic, at No. 15.

U.S. News said it based its rankings by

“…comparing their projected growth up to the year 2020 with the current employment rates of the industry to which they belong. Other components that contributed to each job’s overall score and rank include its average salary, predicted job prospects, and a quantitative assessment of the job satisfaction of those who are currently or have previously worked in the profession.”

If you’re a nurse, physical therapist, occupational therapist, pharmacy professional, etc. and are interested in looking into our many healthcare travel assignment opportunities, contact a MedPro Staffing recruiter today. We look forward to hearing from you!

U.S. News & World Report came out with its 2012 medical school rankings in March 2011 (2013 rankings weren’t yet released when this post was written in late-March 2012) and “yet again,” as USNews.com’s headline stated, Harvard Medical School was ranked number one.

Please note: these results rank the top research medical schools.

The article went on to report that there wasn’t much change in the top rankings from the previous year (2011), with the biggest move coming from Stanford University’s School of Medicine, moving from an 11^th place tie to a fifth-place tie this year.

Perhaps the most important finding of the ranking was this:

According to the article “[a]cceptance rates among the top research schools are cumulatively lower than any of the other major graduate disciplines.”

For example, Stanford, the article continued,

“accepted a mere 3.3 percent of applicants in 2010. The Mayo Medical School, associated with the renowned Mayo Clinic headquartered in Rochester, Minn., and tied for 26th in this year’s rankings, accepted the lowest percentage of applicants in 2010—a miniscule 2.2 percent. In fact, only one school in the top 20, the fourth-ranked Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, accepts more than 10 percent of applicants.”

Below is the list of top 10 research medical schools:

1. Harvard University
2. Johns Hopkins
3. University of Pennsylvania (Perelman)
4. Stanford University
5. University of California, San Francisco
6. Washington University in St. Louis
7. Yale University
8. Columbia Univerisity
9. Duke University
10. University of Chicago (Pritzker)

As for the rankings of medical schools providing primary care education, the University Of Washington School Of Medicine ranked first.

Unlike the research school rankings, several primary schools jumped in the ranks in 2012 over 2011. The East Carolina Brody School of Medicine rose to a 10^th place tie in 2012 (from a 28^th place tie in 2011), while the University of Virginia rose from 39^th to 20^th.

The rankings for primary care schools are:

1. University of Washington
2. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
3. Oregon Health and Science University
4. University of California, San Francisco
5. University of Colorado, Denver
6. University of Nebraska Medical Center
7. University of Massachusetts, Worcester
8. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
9. University of Minnesota
10. University of California, Los Angeles
11. University of Pennsylvania (Perelman)

Read the whole article and then contact MedPro for more information on the many travel nursing opportunities we have for nurses with the skills and the wanderlust to travel to different medical sites throughout the country. We look forward to hearing from you!

If you’re a nurse, you probably have friends or colleagues in the medical professions who are talking about studying for the MCAT, the Medical College Admissions Test, and you may be wondering if you need to take it.

The short answer is “no.” There’s no need to take the MCAT to become a registered nurse, nor to work as a travel nurse.

However….

If you want to advance your career as a nurse by receiving advanced nursing training, leading to (for example) the master of science in nursing (MSN), the doctorate in nursing (DNP), the nurse practitioner (NP) designation, you will need to take an advanced test such as the GRE (Graduate Record Exam), often taking by those interested in pursuing a master’s degree or even MBA.

If you’re thinking of becoming a physician (MD or DO) you will need to take the MCAT to enter medical school.

The GRE is a very tough exam. It measures, according to the Educational Testing Service’s website, your verbal and quantitative reasoning and your critical thinking and analytic writing skills.

Still, not all advanced educational programs for nurses require the GRE. Some feel it’s not a good indicator of how you’ll do in their program; others will waive the requirement if you had a high grade point average (GPA) in college (usually 3.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale).

You should check with the nursing programs in which you’re interested about their specific admission testing requirements.

As for the MCAT, you’ll be required to take this exam if you’re thinking of taking your medical career in an entirely new direction – to that of the physician.

Check out the American Association of Medical College’s (AAMC) website for more information on taking the MCAT.

If you have questions about the types of opportunities working as a travel nurse can bring you, don’t hesitate to contact a recruiter at MedPro Staffing. We sincerely look forward to discussing the positions we have available with you!