Ep. 141: Experience as a Travel SLP and Clinical Fellow with Claudia Berger

Welcome to another episode of the SLP Full Disclosure podcast. In this episode, host Michelle sits down with Claudia Berger, a University of Central Florida graduate and AMN Healthcare travel SLP, to talk about what it's really like to start your career on the road. From choosing a destination to navigating the clinical fellowship year as a traveler, Claudia shares her honest, firsthand experience, and offers practical advice for graduate students and new SLPs considering travel therapy. 

Timestamps:

00:00 – Introduction: Michelle welcomes Claudia Berger and sets the stage for the conversation 
01:25 – Why Claudia became an SLP: her mom's influence and a love for special education populations 
02:19 – How Claudia discovered AMN Healthcare through social media and a Google search 
03:14 – What the AMN Passport app is, how it works, and who can use it 
04:22 – What Claudia was looking for in a travel company as a new grad 
05:06 – The clinical fellowship year: traveling as a brand-new SLP 
05:46 – That first recruiter call with Paige: what it felt like and what she learned 
06:46 – Questions new grads should ask their recruiter before signing a contract 
07:53 – Why Claudia chose Vermont and how travelers pick their destinations 
08:43 – Contract history: two years in Vermont, next stop Washington State 
09:20 – Why Claudia extended her Vermont contract for a second year 
10:03 – The logistics of travel life: storage units, furnished apartments, and road trips 
12:12 – The social side of traveling: making friends, building community, and settling in 
13:10 – Claudia's favorite thing about being a travel SLP 
14:06 – Alaska, adventure, and how far travelers are willing to go 
14:39 – AMN's Clinical Fellowship mentor program: how supervisor placement works and why it matters 
16:09 – Summer contracts and extended school year: options for travelers between school years 
17:45 – Advice for graduate students considering travel therapy 
18:49 – Why Claudia recommends AMN Healthcare to other SLPs 
19:36 – Closing thoughts, TikTok shoutout, and how to connect with Claudia 

Key Concepts Discussed

• You Don't Need to Be Hired to Use the AMN Passport App: Anyone can download the app, search available positions, filter by location and contract length, and explore pay rates before ever speaking to a recruiter. 

• Your Recruiter is a Great Resource: Claudia's recruiter, Paige, walked her through licensing requirements, health insurance options, and contract details from day one—and became a genuine professional ally. 

• State Licensing Complexity Matters: Not all states are equally straightforward to get licensed in. Claudia originally wanted Maine, but her recruiter flagged the complicated licensing process and suggested Vermont instead for her first assignment. 

• AMN Handles CFY Supervisor Placement: New grads don't have to scramble to find a qualified supervisor. AMN vets and places supervisors for clinical fellows, providing structure and mentorship from the start. 

• Furnished Finders Makes Housing Easy: This app, built for travel healthcare workers, connects travelers with fully furnished short-term rentals—no need to haul furniture across the country. 

• Traveling Builds Your Resume and Skill Set: Variety is one of travel therapy's biggest professional benefits. Each contract can expose you to different populations, settings, and clinical approaches. 

Resources Mentioned 

• AMN Passport App: Available on the App Store—free to download and open to anyone exploring travel positions 

• Furnished Finders: A housing app and website built for travel healthcare workers, offering furnished short-term rentals across the U.S. 

• AMN Healthcare: Learn more about travel SLP opportunities at amnhealthcare.com 

About Michelle

Michelle Gage, MA CCC-SLP, embarked on her journey in speech-language pathology during her undergraduate studies at the University of Mississippi, where she also worked at North Mississippi Regional Center, gaining invaluable experience in various therapy approaches. Following her Master's Degree in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Central Florida, she has dedicated 25 years to empowering children and families in improving language skills and overall development. Currently residing in Mississippi, Michelle extends her expertise through telehealth services. Additionally, she proudly serves as the host of the SLP Full Disclosure podcast.

Outside of her professional commitments, Michelle is the proud mother of Mia, an accomplished middle school math teacher and all-around amazing human. In her leisure time, she indulges in her love for travel and cherishes moments spent with family and friends.

Transcript:

00:00:00:09 - 00:00:21:00
Speaker 1
Hey y'all, it's Michelle with SLP. Full disclosure, welcome to the podcast today. I'm so excited to welcome a beautiful person that I had the honor and a pleasure of meeting in Washington, D.C. at Asha this year. She is a fellow. I am in SLP. She is working as a traveler and her name is Claudia Berger. Claudia, thank you so much for joining us today.

00:00:21:04 - 00:00:23:07
Speaker 2
Yeah, thank you for having me. I'm so excited.

00:00:23:08 - 00:00:45:06
Speaker 1
Yes, I'm so excited to have you here. We are going to have Claudia talk about her experience working as a traveler during her clinical fellowship year. She has been a traveler since she graduated. We're going to talk about her journey. We're going to ask her all the questions. I know. When we were at Asha, I heard so many young graduate students and people who had just graduated from there.

00:00:45:06 - 00:01:04:19
Speaker 1
We're asking you specific questions about logistics and the logistical part of traveling and your home base and all of those things. So we're going to pick your brain about all of that. And it's also this podcast is going to air, and SLP might they may. So it's a great way to kick off SLP month with our very own Claudia, our SLP traveler.

00:01:05:00 - 00:01:24:02
Speaker 1
So just a little bit about Claudia. Another beautiful thing that I love about Claudia is that she is a fellow University of Central Florida graduate, so Go nights. She is currently working. Like I said, as a traveler with Am, she is on contract in Vermont and she is working in a school district and she's working primarily with children with autism.

00:01:24:02 - 00:01:24:21
Speaker 1
Is that correct?

00:01:24:23 - 00:01:25:05
Speaker 2
Yeah.

00:01:25:05 - 00:01:33:01
Speaker 1
That's right. Okay. Awesome. So, Claudia, the first thing I want you to do is tell us about becoming an SLP. Why did you want to be an SLP?

00:01:33:02 - 00:01:48:00
Speaker 2
Yeah. So, my mom is a special education teacher, and my whole entire life, even from the time I was, like, in elementary school, she would bring me to work with her on Bring Your Kid to Work Day and all kinds of fun stuff like that. And I just really, really loved the population of students that she worked with.

00:01:48:05 - 00:02:01:07
Speaker 2
And I knew I wanted to do something similar like that as a career, but I wasn't so sure about becoming a teacher. And my mom was like, why don't you look into speech therapy? I think you'd really like that. So I kind of just did what she told me, and here I am.

00:02:01:09 - 00:02:19:14
Speaker 1
That's right. You always listen to your mom. I think one thing that I fell in love with about Claudia is that she's about my daughter's age. So I'm old enough to be her mother, but she's just. You're just so well-rounded and you're so well-spoken. And I'm so excited to hear about your journey. So, first of all, tell us, how did you initially hear about.

00:02:19:14 - 00:02:21:09
Speaker 1
I am in healthcare specifically.

00:02:21:09 - 00:02:40:14
Speaker 2
So I, I went to school in Florida, like you said, and I knew I didn't really want to stay in Florida, but I wasn't sure where I wanted to go. And I had heard about, you know, travel nursing, travel therapy, all these kinds of things on social media. So I figured I would look into it. So I really just googled, like travel therapy jobs hiring.

00:02:40:14 - 00:02:55:08
Speaker 2
And I came across an and and and it's like one of the biggest companies. So I went ahead and downloaded the Am and passport out just so I could see what kind of jobs were available. And there were hundreds of jobs available. And as soon as I download the app, a recruiter reached out to me and that was that was it.

00:02:55:12 - 00:03:13:22
Speaker 1
That's how it started. So it's so interesting to hear you talk about I googled and I was looking on social media back in the day. Claudia, when I graduated, there was no Google, there was no social media. And it was just like you had to look the hard way in the the newspaper, you know, people posting jobs, you had to make phone calls, you know, cold call people.

00:03:14:00 - 00:03:31:13
Speaker 1
So the social media aspect and googling. So you heard about am in health care and I'm glad you mentioned the Am passport app, because that is something that I think a lot of people. And I had this question when we were at Asha, do you have to be an employee of Amman to get the passport app? So tell our listeners about the passport app and what that is.

00:03:31:14 - 00:03:46:12
Speaker 2
Yeah, a lot of people actually asked me about this, Asha, if they had to be hired before they could access the app. But that's not true at all. You can just any person could download the app on the App Store and you can search what type of job you're interested in, what type of location you're interested in.

00:03:46:14 - 00:04:03:13
Speaker 2
You can filter it by how long the contract is, how much the pay is. It's a really, really good hub to find positions. And then it's also a good way to reach out to your recruiter, reach out to your team members. But your time sheets, like we do everything on there for women travelers, that's like the place to go.

00:04:03:15 - 00:04:22:06
Speaker 1
Yep, I know it. It it is your abs. It's our absolute heartbeat of what we do. Everything. When you were looking into the travel therapy, you said you had heard about travel therapy through social media and just googling and all of the things. What was the number one thing you were looking for in a company when you were looking for your job in that job search?

00:04:22:10 - 00:04:41:10
Speaker 2
Yeah. So I was really just looking for a company who could help support me. I feel like the one thing after graduation that I was not really sure about is, how do I get my license, how do I get my keys? How do I find a safe supervisor, like all these little details that are so much to think about, so much to manage as a new grad.

00:04:41:10 - 00:04:47:08
Speaker 2
And so that was one thing that I really, really liked about. And was kind of the new grad program and the mentorship that they provide.

00:04:47:11 - 00:05:06:10
Speaker 1
Yeah, because Am provides all of that for you. We help find your supervisor and we connect you with everyone, and you've got a credentialing team that walks you through the steps of getting your licensure. And what made you decide you're currently on contract in Vermont, right. And what year are you? And is this your second year as an associate?

00:05:06:12 - 00:05:07:14
Speaker 2
Yeah, this is my second year.

00:05:07:16 - 00:05:19:17
Speaker 1
Okay. So you've got your CS, you're done with your CFI. All of the things you're ready to go. Yeah that's exciting. But you did your clinical fellowship year as a new grad clinical fellowship year. You were traveling right.

00:05:19:19 - 00:05:20:00
Speaker 2

00:05:20:06 - 00:05:21:10
Speaker 1
I wouldn't make you nervous.

00:05:21:10 - 00:05:29:00
Speaker 2
A little bit. It was kind of scary to start a new job. My first like big girl job away from home. But I also just really enjoyed the process.

00:05:29:00 - 00:05:46:12
Speaker 1
Yeah. When you were you talked about your recruiter connecting with your recruiter. And your recruiter is Paige right. Okay. So she's now my recruiter as well because Jill has moved on to bigger and better things. So I love Paige. She's amazing. That first phone call with your recruiter, what was that like when you connected with Paige for the first time?

00:05:46:14 - 00:06:04:04
Speaker 2
I was a little bit nervous at first. I was like, oh my gosh, I just downloaded this app and somebody is calling me already, like, this is serious. But then once I got on the phone with her, it was like, amazing. Page is such. She's so personable. She's so friendly. She's such she's a good recruiter, but she's also just a really nice, good person to work with.

00:06:04:09 - 00:06:21:20
Speaker 2
Super. Like, she was at Asha with me and we just were like best friends. Like, she's really, really awesome. And she kind of just walked me through all the steps for what being a travel SLP looks like, what I need to do, what my assignment would look like. She kind of just explained everything that I am and and what that would look like for me.

00:06:21:20 - 00:06:26:01
Speaker 2
And even just from that first phone call, it was super, super helpful. I got so much information.

00:06:26:03 - 00:06:46:15
Speaker 1
And you said you downloaded the app, and then almost immediately she called you. So I'm guessing you didn't have time to prepare questions for her. Did you know? Okay, so knowing what you know now, Claudia, what would you tell those new grads, those graduate students, those people that are looking to go into travel therapy? What are some of those questions you would say make sure you're asking your recruiter these things.

00:06:46:15 - 00:07:04:18
Speaker 2
That's a good question. So I think that I would definitely tell them to look into what the set, what stage they're interested in, if there are any jobs available there, what the licensing process in those states looks like. Because I originally told Paige I was interested in going to Maine and she was like, well, you know, Maine, the licensing process is really complicated.

00:07:04:18 - 00:07:22:13
Speaker 2
Maybe we should look at Vermont instead. So I just think those are some good questions to have in mind. Health insurance is a really big one. You want to find out how the health insurance plan works and whether that works for you. Just kind of all the logistical things in the background. Your recruiter has all that information. So you want to just make sure you go ahead and ask those questions.

00:07:22:13 - 00:07:40:17
Speaker 1
I know I've said this before on the podcast, and because you're young and you've got social media and you have so much information at your fingertips, you probably knew and I didn't because I transitioned to travel about in 2019. So it's it's been a while, but I was much more seasoned in my career and I didn't know anything about travel therapy.

00:07:40:21 - 00:07:53:04
Speaker 1
So I thought that when I connected with the recruiter that they were going to say, okay, Michelle, we're sending you here. We're going to send you here. Yeah, that's not how it works. How did you decide on Vermont? What made you pick Vermont?

00:07:53:06 - 00:08:12:04
Speaker 2
Hey, I just knew I wanted something different. After being in college in Orlando for years, with all the traffic and the people and the hot weather, I was like, I want whatever. The opposite of that is. And I had actually never been to Vermont before, but I feel like that's one of those places that you just like see in hallmark movies and like on calendars, and it just looks so beautiful.

00:08:12:08 - 00:08:19:04
Speaker 2
So I just really wanted to give it a try. I really like nature and hiking, so it's been a really different experience, but really great.

00:08:19:07 - 00:08:35:02
Speaker 1
And that's really how I picked Baltimore. I picked Baltimore, Maryland. Everybody's like, why Baltimore? And I'm like, well, I'd never been up the East Coast. I'm from Mississippi, and I had never been up the East Coast, and it gave me an opportunity. I was there for a year and a half. It gave me an opportunity to visit Delaware and Pennsylvania and New York all the time.

00:08:35:07 - 00:08:43:06
Speaker 1
I mean, it was amazing. You get to see all of these places and you can see you just get to pick where you want to go. So how many contracts have you been on?

00:08:43:06 - 00:08:55:03
Speaker 2
So I've done two contracts, two full school year at this school in Vermont that I'm at right now. And then I'm getting ready to go out to Washington for my next contract in a few months. So that'll be wow.

00:08:55:05 - 00:09:01:02
Speaker 1
That's right. Because you interviewed basically at Asha, you got to meet the school district and we were at Asha, right?

00:09:01:04 - 00:09:02:08
Speaker 2
Yeah. That's right.

00:09:02:13 - 00:09:07:19
Speaker 1
That's amazing. So you're moving from the East Coast all the way to the other side of the country on the West Coast?

00:09:08:00 - 00:09:08:08
Speaker 2
Yep.

00:09:08:08 - 00:09:20:22
Speaker 1
That's amazing. So you said that you've been at the same school district for two years. You did your clinical fellowship year, and then you did what we call an extension, and you rebooked what were the circumstances? Why did you decide to rebook and stay in Vermont?

00:09:20:22 - 00:09:37:12
Speaker 2
So I just I really like Vermont, like I mentioned, you know, the nature, all that type of stuff. But I also just really, really like the program that I work in. I have a really low caseload of about 25 students. It's all one on one therapy. I work with a lot of accusers, which is something I really, really enjoy doing.

00:09:37:17 - 00:09:43:04
Speaker 2
And I was like, I need to just take advantage of this like fun program that I work in and stay for another year because it's so great.

00:09:43:06 - 00:10:03:15
Speaker 1
I love that. That is amazing. Let's talk a little bit about, I know some of the questions that I overheard people asking you the logistics, and I will say that when I moved, I had a home. I owned a home, and I had a lot of things. You're young, you're just getting started. You didn't own a home that you had to sell all of those things.

00:10:03:20 - 00:10:23:13
Speaker 1
I and I tell people this all the time, if I were to go back to travel again, I would not pack all of my things and move them with me. So let's talk about the logistics of being a traveler, because when you move everything and your if you decide to go from, I want to go to East coast, West Coast, I want to go out west, I want to go to Florida, maybe Hawaii or Alaska.

00:10:23:15 - 00:10:31:08
Speaker 1
Yeah. I can't pack your things up and just drive it to Alaska. I mean, you just can't. So what did you do with your things? I know that's one of the questions you get all the time.

00:10:31:10 - 00:10:52:07
Speaker 2
Yeah. So I left some of my stuff in a storage unit in Florida near my parents house. And I found an apartment on this app called Furnish Finders, which a lot of travel health care workers use. It's kind of like Airbnb, but it's catered a little bit more towards travel, health care. So I found a furnished apartment and I brought my clothes and, you know, a little bit of stuff.

00:10:52:07 - 00:11:03:12
Speaker 2
And now I'm realizing I brought too much stuff and I need to meet up before I head out to Washington. But the really nice thing was not having to bring any furniture with me, because then when you have to get a U-Haul and do all these extras, it gets really expensive.

00:11:03:12 - 00:11:21:21
Speaker 1
It cost me a fortune. And you got to remember when I decided to come back home, back to Mississippi from Baltimore, it was right in the middle of the pandemic. Yeah. And I couldn't find a U-Haul anywhere. I had to drive two hours to get a U-Haul just to take it back to Baltimore to load it up and then drive 17 hours to Mississippi is a nightmare.

00:11:21:23 - 00:11:25:15
Speaker 1
So what was that website you said again, we're going to make sure we get that linked in the show notes.

00:11:25:15 - 00:11:30:09
Speaker 2
Yeah, it's called furnished finders. And that's it's a website or it's an app you could download.

00:11:30:11 - 00:11:34:17
Speaker 1
Wow. Now, are you driving from Vermont to Washington State? Are you taking your car?

00:11:34:18 - 00:11:36:14
Speaker 2
I am, that's the plan.

00:11:36:16 - 00:11:38:13
Speaker 1
Oh my gosh, how long is that going to take you?

00:11:38:16 - 00:11:49:00
Speaker 2
I think I'm going to make three overnight stops on the way back. So yeah. Wow. But I've never been out west, so I want to kind of experience the whole road out there.

00:11:49:04 - 00:12:12:02
Speaker 1
Wow. Oh, to be young and traveling and driving across the country, that is like a dream. What about just the social aspect? And because I've talked about this on the podcast before too, I'm older. And I was really worried that when I got to my contract and when I got to Baltimore, I was going to be on a team with no offense, because I've got a daughter your age with a bunch of 20 something year olds, and it was not going to be a great social.

00:12:12:02 - 00:12:28:11
Speaker 1
The social aspect was not going to be great for me, but it turns out I got up there and there were women that were my age. There were women. There were also divorced like me. There were younger women. But we had an amazing team and it ended up the social peace. I mean, I made friends with those people and I talk to them every day.

00:12:28:13 - 00:12:31:10
Speaker 1
I love it. So what was that like with your friends?

00:12:31:15 - 00:12:47:05
Speaker 2
I was a little bit nervous about it. The town that I live in right now is kind of rural, you know, not a ton of people, but everybody that I work with is just so nice. They've all been so welcoming and accommodating and, like, super excited to meet me and get to know me. And yeah, like you said, I've definitely met a ton of people here.

00:12:47:05 - 00:13:03:02
Speaker 2
You know, the other therapists, there's a lot of other young therapists close to my age. So we hang out, you know, at work I come do some work in their office sometimes, and we chat, and then we also do stuff outside of work. So, yeah, it's not not as scary as everybody thinks because you're all working a similar job.

00:13:03:02 - 00:13:07:10
Speaker 2
You have a lot in common in that way. So it is really easy to meet people and connect over things like that.

00:13:07:13 - 00:13:10:02
Speaker 1
Yeah. Claudia, what is your favorite thing about being a traveler?

00:13:10:02 - 00:13:29:05
Speaker 2
I think my favorite thing about being a traveler is just all the new experiences that I've gotten. You know, I get to see a bunch of different places. You know, since coming to Vermont, I've gone to New York City a bunch of times. I've gone to Boston, I've got a trip to go camping in Maine and a few months, like, I just think I've had so many new experiences and seen new places.

00:13:29:08 - 00:13:44:15
Speaker 2
And then it's also nice to just kind of get a variety of different work. I know I've stayed at the same place for two years, but then I'm going to move on and do something different, maybe work with a different age range, or maybe not with students with autism. So I just think there's so much variety and it kind of keeps it exciting.

00:13:44:18 - 00:13:45:23
Speaker 1
How long do you think you'll travel?

00:13:46:00 - 00:13:52:05
Speaker 2
I think a few more years for sure. I don't have a end date, but yeah, I really keep doing it. I'm enjoying it.

00:13:52:07 - 00:14:05:21
Speaker 1
I love that. I mean, you're just going to get to see so many different places in the United States. Any interest in going? I know my recruiter when I first started, her name was Elle. She kept trying to send me to Alaska. Would you ever go that far? Would you ever go to Alaska?

00:14:06:01 - 00:14:16:13
Speaker 2
Yeah, I that's another one that I've seen on social media. You know, there's a few travel therapists who have taken trips up there and contracts up there, and I'm like, wow, that does look pretty cool. I might need to try that one day.

00:14:16:15 - 00:14:39:01
Speaker 1
Yeah. Let's go back and talk a little bit before we, before we get going too far and talk more about that mentor program that, and offers. Tell us about the mentor program, that clinical fellowship year specifically because I know a lot of our listeners are either still in graduate school getting ready to graduate. They're just doing that research on travel therapy.

00:14:39:03 - 00:14:46:17
Speaker 1
And tell us about the mentor program with AMA and how they supported you, and about your clinical fellowship supervisor and that experience.

00:14:46:17 - 00:15:03:23
Speaker 2
Yeah, sure. So that's something that I know a lot of people in my graduating cohort were kind of nervous about. They're like, oh, no, like, how do I find somebody who, like, can be my supervisor and is with me for a certain number of hours and can do all of these things that are required in your CFI? And I didn't have to worry about any of that.

00:15:03:23 - 00:15:21:11
Speaker 2
You know, this job was accepting CFI because they had a person ready to go. And then I got here and she was just ready to go. My supervisor was amazing. She gave me so much, you know, freedom and flexibility to kind of do my own thing. But then she was also there to guide me, mentor me in any way I needed.

00:15:21:11 - 00:15:30:03
Speaker 2
And it was just really nice knowing that AMN had found like one person to be there for me and kind of guide me through my whole CFI was super helpful.

00:15:30:07 - 00:15:55:09
Speaker 1
I think it's important to for our listeners to know that yes, AMN found that supervisor, but what they do is they I mean, there's a the vetting process is unbelievable. We're making sure that we're placing our clinical fellows with supervisors who have experience and who know what they're doing, who, like you said, Claudia can guide you and mentor you through that first year because it is very, very daunting.

00:15:55:12 - 00:16:09:08
Speaker 1
So overall, you felt very supported in that clinical fellowship year, even though you were brand new, you were out traveling and all the things someone asked me recently and I want to get your answer to this because I know what I do during the summer, but our contracts or.

00:16:09:10 - 00:16:09:21
Speaker 2
Are.

00:16:09:21 - 00:16:23:22
Speaker 1
For a calendar school year. So typically August, May or maybe August to mid-June, depending on what state you're in. In those local school districts, what do you do during the summer? Do you contract the work, or do you just kind of take some time off?

00:16:23:22 - 00:16:44:15
Speaker 2
So this is a really good question. And actually I was just talking with page about this today. Last summer I stayed for extended school year and worked with my same students for the whole month of July. And that was a really fun time because they're shorter days. It's nice outside. We're doing we're being a little bit more flexible, you know, in speech therapy on the playground, we have a cute little walking trail behind the school that we can take walks on.

00:16:44:15 - 00:17:00:08
Speaker 2
Just little fun things like that. I really, really enjoy doing summer school, and I'm considering doing summer school again this summer. But I'm also thinking about just going down to Florida with my parents and spending the summer down there. It's kind of up in the air right now, but either way, they both sound fun.

00:17:00:10 - 00:17:21:00
Speaker 1
Yeah, so that is something I did extended school year when I started, doing telehealth, I did extended school year, I guess every summer except for the summer that I didn't go. I wasn't going to be returning that next school year. They only let those SLPs that were returning the next school year work that extended school year. But I'm at the age now, Claudia, where I'm just like, I'm taking June and July off.

00:17:21:02 - 00:17:45:18
Speaker 1
Out. I'm going to rest, I'm going to recoup, and then I'm going to travel and I'm going to do those things. It's been amazing to hear from you and it's so exciting just to see that there's someone like you that can explain to our new grads. I know there's a new university's program that's going to be connecting the graduate programs with all these different universities, with people at Amnh, just to explain travel therapy, because your generation, you knew about travel therapy.

00:17:45:18 - 00:18:06:21
Speaker 1
I didn't know about travel therapy. And it's just it's a great way to explore the country, but also build your resume, build your skill set, and work in a variety of settings. Like you said with autism. Ask, and maybe next year you won't do that. What is one piece of advice, Claudia, that you have for people that are in graduate school?

00:18:06:23 - 00:18:07:18
Speaker 1
What would you tell them?

00:18:07:20 - 00:18:25:09
Speaker 2
I mean, I would tell them to just really think about where they want their career to go. And that's something that you kind of figure out. During grad school, when I was in grad school, I was, you know, maybe I want to do adults, maybe I want to do kids. I'm not too sure, you know. But then I interned at a pediatric clinic and I was like, I think I want to do kids.

00:18:25:09 - 00:18:41:06
Speaker 2
And so then I did my CFI in high school, and I really, really like working with the kids. So I would tell people in grad school to just kind of use that time, use their internships to figure out what they really, really enjoy, and then give that a try for their CFI and see if that's something that they really do like doing as a career.

00:18:41:06 - 00:18:49:04
Speaker 1
Also, if someone were to ask you directly, why should I take a travel contract with Amnh, what would your answer be?

00:18:49:04 - 00:19:13:00
Speaker 2
I would tell them that Amnh is just a really, really supportive company to work with. That's been the biggest thing for me, is they walk you through the whole licensing process. They're, you know, your recruiter or your credentialing people. They are there for every step of the way, anything you might need. And they're not only there for you at the beginning of your contract, they're there for you throughout your whole contract and your whole time you're traveling with them.

00:19:13:02 - 00:19:15:12
Speaker 2
And they really have your best interests at heart.

00:19:15:15 - 00:19:36:09
Speaker 1
Right? I love that, and I'm with you, Claudia. I you know, I could not imagine working for another company other than Amazon. And I know people probably think, well, you have to say that you're on the podcast, you work for them. But I really don't. Because if I didn't love this company and if I didn't believe in what they were doing, and if I didn't feel supported, I wouldn't stay with them.

00:19:36:09 - 00:19:58:06
Speaker 1
And it is an amazing company, and I highly recommend, if you're interested at all in travel therapy, download the Am passport. Like Claudia said. And we're going to also have all of Claudia's contact information, because I know that you just have a wealth of information, and there's probably a thousand questions that that we didn't talk about today. And there's so much that goes into making that decision and making that job.

00:19:58:06 - 00:20:02:06
Speaker 1
How am I going to do this and is this the right thing for me? But Claudia, thank you so much.

00:20:02:10 - 00:20:02:17
Speaker 2
Yeah.

00:20:02:17 - 00:20:19:07
Speaker 1
Thank you. It has been so great having you and I'm so great at glad I got to see you again today. If you guys have any questions for Claudia, I'm sure that she's all over our TikTok. I love it. He was like the star of our TikTok at ash. It's been great. So sleep. Full disclosure on TikTok. Claudia is always on there.

00:20:19:07 - 00:20:26:17
Speaker 1
They're posting clips of you answering questions about being a traveler. So thank you guys so much for joining us today. And Claudia, thank you so much for being here.

00:20:26:17 - 00:20:30:10
Speaker 2
Thank you. I was so glad to be here.

00:20:30:12 - 00:20:55:10
Speaker 1
Thank you for tuning in to SLP. Full disclosure you can learn more about this episode and our show on our website at AMN healthcare.com. If you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend and subscribe to our show on your favorite podcast platform. You can also find show updates and sleep opportunities on our Instagram at AMN ally. Special thanks to AMN healthcare for making this show possible.

00:20:55:14 - 00:20:56:13
Speaker 1
See y'all next time!