Start here: finding a travel therapy mentor and using one well
This site is for physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists and their assistants who are starting travel work, or thinking about it, and want to talk it through with someone who has done it. Read the five pages below, then use the request form to ask for a mentor in your discipline.
Who is this site for?
Three groups of readers use it. The first is new graduates and staff therapists weighing a first contract, who meet questions about agencies, pay packages, tax homes, housing and licensure all at once. The second is travelers already on the road who want a second opinion on one decision: an offer, an extension, or a contract that is not going as described. The third is experienced travelers who might mentor others; becoming a mentor covers what that involves.
Mentorship here costs the mentee nothing. A mentor is another traveler, not your recruiter, your employer, your licensing board or your accountant, and the site says so plainly. What a mentor gives you is judgement: whether a situation is normal, what usually happens next, and which of the things worrying you is the one that matters.
Where should you start?
- Meet the mentors: the directory of experienced travelers who volunteer as mentors, across PT, OT, SLP, PTA and COTA, so you can see whose background is close to yours.
- What mentors help with: the subjects mentees ask about, from choosing an agency and reading a pay package to tax homes, housing, licensure and the first contract.
- What a first conversation with a mentor covers: one of the newer guides, on what to bring, what a mentor will ask, and what a mentor can and cannot help with. It links the IRS and GSA pages behind the pay questions people bring.
- Making mentorship work: the mentee’s half of the relationship, from setting goals before the first call to running the calendar and ending a mentorship on purpose.
- When an assignment isn’t what you were told: a newer guide for the week the caseload, setting or productivity target differs from the offer, with links to the APTA, NBCOT and ASHA pages that apply.
If you already know your question, the mentorship FAQ answers how matching works and what it costs.
When you have read those pages and know what you want to ask, request a mentor in your discipline: Find a Mentor.
What on this site comes from data, and what is written?
The mentor profiles, the topics page, the guide to making mentorship work and the FAQ page are written: the words of the site’s authors and mentors, with no figures in them. Read them as experience, not as rules.
Four parts are rendered from data rather than typed. The questions at the foot of the home page are answered only in quotation from public sources, each with its link and the date it was read: the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy, which says “Each licensing authority has its own eligibility criteria for licensure and for taking the National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE)”; the PT Compact Commission; the Texas Board of Physical Therapy Examiners; and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The two newer guides are generated from a data file that lists every source with the date it was read, and the renderer refuses a figure without its source. The link lists at the foot of the home page are built from the site’s sitemap and search data, and the job alerts page and the words around every form come from files the whole network shares.
Those sources matter when a mentor’s story and a rule meet. The PT Compact Commission defines a licensee’s home state as “the person’s true, fixed, and permanent home.” A mentor can tell you how they handled theirs; only the Commission and your board can say how the rule applies to you.
How do you reach a mentor?
Use the request form. The home page sets out the steps: you fill out a short form with your discipline, your experience level and what you need help with; you are paired with a mentor who shares your discipline and has direct experience with your situation; and your mentor reaches out once you are matched, by phone, text or email, whichever suits you both.
Before you send it, read the first-conversation guide and write down the one decision you are facing. Mentors volunteer their time, so a concrete question gets a concrete answer, and a document you can share, such as an offer with the names taken out, gets a better one.
ProTherapy Staffing, which publishes this site, is owned and run by licensed physical therapists. A mentor here does not place you, and asking for one commits you to nothing. If you want contracts rather than advice, the job alerts page sends new travel therapy contracts in your discipline by email, daily or weekly as you choose.
Frequently asked questions
Does it cost anything to get a mentor?
No. The home page says mentorship is free and carries no obligation, and the mentors are travelers who volunteer their time.
Can a mentor tell me whether my tax home or license plan will hold up?
No. A mentor can share how they handled it, but a tax question belongs with a tax professional and a licensing question with the board or compact commission that decides it.
What if the mentor I am paired with is not a good fit?
Say so early and ask to be rematched. The guide to making mentorship work treats a mismatch as a normal outcome, not a verdict on either person.
Sources
- FSBPT, National Physical Therapy Examination, read October 25, 2026
- PT Compact Commission: How is a licensee's home state defined?, read October 25, 2026