PT Finds Second Career as Allied Health Recruiter
Meet AMN Healthcare Recruiter Jessica A.
When your job is to recruit physical therapists (PTs) and other clinicians for allied health travel assignments across the country, there may be no better experience than being a former PT yourself.
And that is exactly the case for Jessica A., PT, a high-performing AMN Healthcare recruiter with over 20 years of therapy experience.
An Early Call to Physical Therapy
Originally hailing from Portland, Maine, Jessica knew she wanted to be a physical therapist after attending an eighth-grade career fair.“I listened to these PTs speak, and then I went home and told my parents that is what I wanted to do. And I stuck with it,” she remembers.
Jessica graduated from PT school at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut, and went straight into the workforce.
“My first job out of college was in New York City,” she said. “I did inpatient rehab for the first half of my career. Mostly spinal cord injury, strokes, multi-trauma, amputees, etc. I then transitioned out of inpatient rehab and into outpatient orthopedics about halfway through my career.”
Allied Health Traveler to AMN Healthcare Recruiter
Although Jessica didn’t do travel assignments during her stint as a PT, she did get to travel for some of her work which gives her unique insight into the lives of the traveling therapists that she recruits today.
“As a PT student, several of my clinical assignments were travel assignments -- I was always out of state for those so I felt like a traveler. I did one where I grew up in Portland, one in Colorado, and two in Connecticut.”
Fast-forward to 2020, when COVID started to impact every aspect of the healthcare sector, including physical therapy. The staff at Jessica’s work went down to two therapists and she found herself home and wondering what was going to happen to her career.
“I started sending resumes out and was googling what PTs can do as alternative careers. I always had an interest in recruiting but never took the chance on it.”
Jessica soon found a job with a small physician recruiting company before she found her current role at AMN Healthcare.
Guiding Allied Healthcare Professionals
“Once I interviewed at AMN, I loved it and I knew it was the right job for me,” she said. “I just finished my first year with the company and I feel so excited and motivated to be here. There’s not a high rate of turnover and there’s so much career longevity. It’s a really positive environment and I have a good crew of travelers and my team is the best.”
Jessica said that her prior experience as a physical therapist definitely helps her connect to her allied health travelers and creates an environment of mutual trust and respect. “I think my background is reassuring to them. I understand pay, documentation, and productivity requirements. They know I am on their side.”
“I love landing new jobs for travelers, I think it's rewarding and I definitely get excited about finding their next assignment, especially when it is somewhere that I may want to go,” she continued.
Jessica spends the majority of her time working with travel therapists, but she also recruits other allied health specialists such as medical assistants, MRI/CT techs, sonographers, and others.
Her advice for those considering healthcare travel: “I would say definitely go for it. The market is really good right now and there are so many jobs. And with all of the tax-free savings as a traveler, it’s a great way for new grads to start paying off their new loans. It’s also nice to check out new settings before settling on one.”
When she’s not helping out her allied travelers, Jessica enjoys spending time with her husband and three children while working remotely in Rhode Island. You can find her at the beach, soccer field, running, or traveling.
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