There’s a new take on the words Medical Travel Professional. You as a traveling nurse pick and choose assignments that can send you anywhere from the Redwood forests of northern California to the white sandy beaches of Florida. For many, nurses pick places they’ve always wanted to see but never had the opportunity to explore until discovering the many benefits that are afforded to them as a traveling nurse. Of course these are assignments where you are expected to work as you would in any other setting, they are not vacations. Travel nurses are placed to fill the void of vacant positions in hospitals where there is a dire need for help and come as a relief to the taxing workload permanent nurses have been experiencing for what is probably too long. When the work is done, then it is time to play! But what about those on the other end of care, the patients. Being in the hospital is surely not a vacation. Unless of course that person longs for the smell of sterile rooms and boring cafeteria food to evoke such memories of surgeries past as opposed the ocean breeze. There is now an option for them as well and it’s called Medical Tourism.

While we are familiar with the state of healthcare here in America, it should come as no surprise that many Americans are now seeking medical care from abroad. Within the past decade, the medical travel industry is beginning to really, take off. More often than not one can find the level of expertise and care to meet or exceed that of what one may be used to in the ole US of A. There are a few companies based here that offer exchange healthcare in countries like Brazil, Costa Rica, South Korea and many others. On another note, from major to minor medical emergencies one can expect to pay significantly less and without the hassle of insurance companies. So while you have the option to choose where you want to work and practice, the patients now have a similar option… Except their choices can be a little more exotic.

My hope is that I imagine the whole world will open it’s doors to one another and soon enough anyone and everyone can get the care they need and deserve. Until then… Be well.