The Fifth Assignment - Maricopa/Phoenix, AZ

The Fifth Assignment Trail Guide

We packed our bags and continued to head further West! We landed a 6-month assignment in Maricopa, Arizona: a place where the locals and the snowbirds call it an “up and coming” city. Maricopa is about 45 minutes South of Phoenix and about 1.5 hours Northwest of Tucson. We landed this contract together, working at the same OP PT clinic, which was our 2nd assignment working together. It was the same overhead company that we worked for in Texas, but with a different name (meaning same work flow and documentation system, score!). This was our first 6-month contract experience! It was kinda nice having some consistency and we worked between December 9, 2024 - June 6, 2025! 

The Search

After having a great time in Central Texas during our fourth assignment, we took 5 weeks off to spend time with family and friends in Pennsylvania and Florida. We were able to secure our 5th contract during the last few weeks in Texas. So, once our 4th contract ended, we drove from Central Texas to Phoenix, dropped off our belongings and cars, and then flew to Florida. 

We decided we wanted to head out to Arizona for our next contract while being on our 3rd assignment in the DFW area. As we were in Central Texas, near the halfway mark, we started to apply for our Arizona PT license via non-compact on September 29, 2024 (more to come on this experience at the end of this blog.)

By mid October, we started looking at what the travel job market was in Arizona, mainly Southern Arizona. This time we worked mainly with 1 recruiter (the one we had ¾ contracts with) and 2 others. The market was scarce due to everyone wanting to be in Arizona for the winter months. We even interviewed with an ATI clinic in Tucson and we were going to accept as a last resort, but an opening with 2 spots at the same clinic became available on October 22, 2024. It was the same OP PT company that we were currently at and we enjoyed the caseload and autonomy. Our recruiter submitted us for the openings…boom an interview request! We interviewed the next day and we received and accepted offers on October 25th, 2024.

Accepting the Fifth Contract Assignment

This was our first time we had a back and forth negotiating phone interview. Our original plan was to begin work in December with a 13 week assignment in Southern Arizona, have some time off for the holiday season during that contract, and then finish off with another 13 week assignment in Northern Arizona. Since we are non-compact travelers, we try to do at least 2 assignments in the same state to get our money's worth.

Before the interview, we submitted for a higher pay rate than what was listed since it was a little less than the previous 2 contracts we worked, and asked for a 13 week contract. During the phone interview, our soon to be manager told us that they were a brand new clinic and had only been open for 9 months. They needed to fill 2 voids due to the current travel PT couple leaving in a few weeks. They also told us they normally do not do 13 week contracts and were looking for a 26 week contract and our requested pay rate was higher than what they normally do. They countered and told us they would give our requested pay (only about $15 a week less than what we wanted) only if we did a 26 week contract. This would be our first 6 month contract…

The rest of the interview went well. We learned there was also 1 other PT at the clinic that was “with us for a long time.” At the end of the interview, it seemed that they were going to hire us if we did a 26 week contract. We were hesitant at first, but the current travel PT market was scarce, so we told our recruiter we would accept.

We negotiated some days off too. We took some days the week before Christmas to go visit Alyssa’s family, a long weekend in February for Andrew’s birthday, a random day in April for a long weekend, and a few days in May for Alyssa’s brother’s high school graduation. 

Also, we did not make our own schedules again. Instead we both worked 8am-6pm from Monday-Thursday and 8am-12pm on Fridays (woo for half day Fridays!). At first, we were told the clinic was open 8am to 7pm Monday-Friday. Finally, we only needed to sign some contracts and send some items that we had on hand to be ready for this assignment.

Finding our Home #8 in Maricopa, Arizona

The day we received and accepted our contract offers, we also accepted a lease agreement for our Home #8 together. Maricopa is a fast growing city that has a population of around 90,000, but about 10 years ago, they had about 50,000 people. We could not move into our place until the week after we started because there were still tenants, but when we reached out to the property manager via Furnished Finders, they set us up in another house about 2 streets down for the first week. So after the first week, we moved out of the temporary casita to our 3 bedroom/2 bath house! The best part is, it was only 0.7 miles from our clinic!

We stayed in the newer part of town, the far side away from all the traffic, but near most of the new construction (apartment buildings, shopping centers, newly paved roads). We also found the best gym/community fitness space. Copper Sky Multigenerational Center is a space that every community must have. It was fully equipped with a fitness gym, indoor track, pool, indoor and outdoor basketball courts, tennis and pickleball courts, soccer fields, baseball fields, skate parks, sand volleyball courts, and an outdoor paved trail around a fountain. It has everything you need and it is community goals!

P.S. As we were arriving in Maricopa for the first time, we experienced the “Maricopa smell.” Every once in a while you will get a good strong whiff of cow manure… Also, there is one way in and one way out of Maricopa via the dreaded 347… we saw our fair share of road rage here, but many free sights of wild horses along the way!

Our Contract Experience

Overall, our contract experience was pretty good. This was our first longer contract experience, and our first time working in one place for more than 3 months without extended time off! In the beginning, we started to see patient populations that we have not worked with often, adjusted to taking over patient caseloads from the previous travel PTs, and adapted to no manager on site. The middle of the contract flew by. By the end, we were ready for change, but in a good way. We wanted a challenge, in a new environment, to help us to continue to grow professionally.

During the interview, we were told there was another PT that was with them for “a long time,” however, it ended up being another traveler that just arrived 6 weeks earlier from a different clinic of theirs. We took over caseloads from another travel PT couple, who were only there for a 13 week contract versus what our interviewer/manager told us, which was that they only did 26 week contracts. The overall theme was that we kinda ran the show: our manager was very busy managing 7 other clinics, would come to our clinic once a month for about 4 hours, do zoom meetings, usually only say “hi and bye,” and leave. Good thing we had experience with this company so we knew how things ran, the other PT was helpful and a friend, and our 1 front desk staff was amazing!

The cases we took over were like solving a puzzle with 70% of the pieces missing and pieces from another completely different puzzle with it. Just saying, as travelers, we believe your documentation should be thorough, correct, and easily replicated, to help others who come after you and to provide the best care possible.

All in all this assignment was a good one. Being in a more rural area with limited PT clinics for locals, we definitely saw all ends of the spectrum when it came to diagnoses, injuries, and ages. We had plenty of freedom (within insurance restrictions) to provide individualized treatment, adjust plans of care, and make good relationships with our patients. We worked long enough that we saw patients as repeat customers for other issues. We finally felt what it was like to be a part of a growing community. We would run into our current and former patients in grocery shops, at the gym, and out and about in the community. We look forward to this later in our lives when we settle down with permanent jobs. 

Arizona Physical Therapy Licensing Process Experience

The Arizona PT license process takes some effort. It is best to complete the application as soon as you can. Most of the time, the AZ PT board has to meet in person before they approve of your license, which occurs about one time a month. We applied via endorsement on September 29th and we received our license on October 26th.

We needed to send transcripts and NPTE scores, have fingerprints performed, complete some documents with the application, and actually go to a testing center to take a jurisprudence exam. The documents we needed to complete required us to print them off and sign them, and upload them via PDF since they did not want to accept electronic signatures. After completing our jurisprudence exam and having everything submitted, it took exactly 1 week to get our Arizona license!

Biggest tip, plan in advance and get things done as soon as you can, because it can take some people anywhere from 1-4 months to complete all of the required items.

Best Wishes,

ATB & AJS