Top 3 Cities for Travel Pharmacists
Traveling pharmacists have been gaining popularity for the last decade. The ability to freely move around and explore new areas while maintaining the desired career is certainly something to get excited about! If you have been considering taking your career into the traveling option, all you need is at least a year of experience. The more experience you have, the more likely you will be hired. This doesn’t mean if you have just a year’s experience that you shouldn’t try for a travel job! Here are the top three cities to consider when looking for traveling pharmacy work.
Paris, Texas
Texas would naturally fall into this list! Many of the southern states are attractive if you like seasonal work that keeps you traveling. Paris, Texas sees their fair share of “snowbirds” (the elderly that head south for the winter) and will require more pharmacists on hand to handle that influx in the population. While not all companies offer much in the way of benefits to traveling pharmacists, we found that many of the companies in Texas offer benefits that are pretty tempting. Many offer insurance coverage from the first day you work, housing options, competitive pay, and even 401K matching programs.
Davis, California
California falls onto the list because of their competitive pay. Cost of living can be higher and this city is ideal for the unpartnered traveler who wants to enjoy a short life on the west coast before exploring other areas. We also found that Davis, California is home to some companies that go above and beyond to take care of their traveling pharmacist. Not only do you see the competitive pay, you will be provided with housing and reimbursed for licensure fees in order to practice there. Need a rental car while there? They will cover it for you. The companies in Davis love traveling pharmacists so much, they really work hard to take care of them and make saving the hard-earned money very easy.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania may seem like an unlikely state to look for traveling pharmacists, but they love them! Much like California, they bend over backward to take care of the traveling pharmacist. Competitive pay, wonderful benefits, and housing provided are all fantastic reasons to want to hit the East Coast for a little bit. One of the unique things about Pittsburgh is the rise of work-at-home pharmacists. It would seem weird to travel somewhere just to work from home, but it can have fantastic benefits. You would still need to meet on occasion for meetings during the contract, but a bit of flexibility goes a long way!
Keep Your Eyes Open
While these are our top picks of where to go, we highly encourage anyone interested in traveling as a pharmacist to keep their eyes open and watch for job openings in cities that they want to visit. If you have always wanted to go back to New Orleans, why not see if you can work there for a few months? Never been to Wisconsin? Research and see if it’s a viable option for you. A successful traveling pharmacist never holds themselves back from the possibilities!