Housing during clinicals?

[dreamlife]

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Hello all! I'm hoping the majority of you have already completed a clinical [or more]. I'm starting PT school this fall, and my first 6-week clinical will be next May I believe.

My question is this: other than the rare circumstances where your clinic provided room & board for your 6-10 week stint, how did you go about finding housing? No one I've talked to can give me a straight answer about this other than 'family' and 'Craigslist'. I will likely be doing a majority of my clinicals in areas where I have no friends or family and I've always been very wary of Craigslist in general. I know it's not typical to find an apartment that will give you a 6-week lease, so I'm very curious what the plethora of PT students before me have done.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 🙂

 

[Akiramay]

One of my classmates suggested this site, saying it's like craigslist but for housing. Hope it helps!

http://www.airbnb.com/

 

[markelmarcel]

I'm hoping that with my "one out of the area" I can get away with somewhere close to where my parents live... Or, I have a friend who lives in Texas that I could go stay with!!

 

[TheOx777]

I have been wondering about this too. We have 7 clinicals and the majority are away from the main medical campus! Looks like I will be seeing a great deal of this country over the next 3 years. I know that we are given insight way ahead of time about where we will be and for how long, so that part is helpful! I don't know whether to feel like--->😎 and --->😀 or and😕

 

[dreamlife]

I have been wondering about this too. We have 7 clinicals and the majority are away from the main medical campus! Looks like I will be seeing a great deal of this country over the next 3 years. I know that we are given insight way ahead of time about where we will be and for how long, so that part is helpful! I don't know whether to feel like--->😎 and --->😀 or and😕

All of my clinicals will be a minimum of several hours away from my university because my school is in a very small town. I'm hoping I can get a couple of them in my hometown where my parents live (which is in the same state), but I know we have to do at least one out of state. Unfortunately, all my extended relatives live on the other side of the country. I suppose I could make it work, but it would be a huge pain to drive from the Pacific Northwest to the East Coast.

 

[dizzy88]

Contact the schools in the area. Most programs send out their students on internship in the summers, so you might find a student who needs to sublet their place around the same time.

We get countless emails from students coming into the area and it really works out for some of them.

 

[truthseeker]

Hello all! I'm hoping the majority of you have already completed a clinical [or more]. I'm starting PT school this fall, and my first 6-week clinical will be next May I believe.

My question is this: other than the rare circumstances where your clinic provided room & board for your 6-10 week stint, how did you go about finding housing? No one I've talked to can give me a straight answer about this other than 'family' and 'Craigslist'. I will likely be doing a majority of my clinicals in areas where I have no friends or family and I've always been very wary of Craigslist in general. I know it's not typical to find an apartment that will give you a 6-week lease, so I'm very curious what the plethora of PT students before me have done.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 🙂

Try contacting your CI at the upcoming clinicals. They may have a friend who will rent you a room. Some places have a standing apartment for temporary employees, like from a flex nurse staffing agency and one of those might be available. I know that I stayed in a spare bedroom of one of the people I worked with and it worked out fine.

 

[markelmarcel]

I don't know whether to feel like--->😎 and --->😀 or and😕

LOL, me too!!

 

[myzougrad]

I just finished my first clinical in a rural area (Lake of the Ozarks in MO). The owner of the practice had a summer home there and let me stay in a downstairs apartment they use for interns. It worked out well.

 

[NoleGirl4DPT]

Just start getting really friendly with other SDN posters in your year 😉 House swap anyone?

 

[MinnDasota]

I went to PT school in NYC and did all my clinicals out west (San Fran, San Jose, Los Angeles, and Vail). I either stayed with family or have had great luck with Craiglist (look for furnished sublet). I too was apprehensive, but it worked out in the end. I know that's not the answer you were looking for. Another option once you know where your clinical placements are is to contact the CCCE of that clinic and inquire about housing. Sometimes, those clinics/hospitals have employees willing to sublet rooms to students.

At my school, we were able to browse through the reviews, etc of clinical sites interned by past students where they made very good suggestions on housing, transportation, etc. I assume most schools have this (unless the site hasn't had a student from your school before).

 

[jellybean2020]

Wait, I don't get this thread at all. Are PT schools in the habit of sending students really far away for clinicals? Or is the original poster just wanting to do an 'away rotation' ?

 

[TheOx777]

Wait, I don't get this thread at all. Are PT schools in the habit of sending students really far away for clinicals? Or is the original poster just wanting to do an 'away rotation' ?

It depends on the program. There are a number of programs situated in such a populated area that there is often no choice but to send students away for rotations. The Northeast/Mid-Atlantic for example region has so many DPT programs in a limited area, thus many will require that you do at least one clinical 50-75 miles away from the school. The furthest will be across the country. The program I am in will more than likely have at least half of our clinical rotations away from school(7 full-time clinical rotations in total). It really depends on the program, so it is something you might want to consider when researching and applying to schools.

 

[dreamlife]

Wait, I don't get this thread at all. Are PT schools in the habit of sending students really far away for clinicals? Or is the original poster just wanting to do an 'away rotation' ?

Hi Jellybean! My PT school is in a relatively remote location where the need to send SPT's out of town/state is great because there are few clinics in the area and thus few clinical spots. The main issue I'm having is most of my family is concentrated in one part of this state and I don't know any extended family/friends in nearby states where clinical spots are likely to be available.

 

[Akiramay]

At my school (Northwestern) you must travel outside of the area (Chicagoland) for one of your clinicals. My first 3 are in Chicago, but for my last one I chose to go to Arizona! I could've picked somewhere close that I could commute home via the Metra or rent a car for the weekend (Indiana, a no name town in Southern Illinois, etc) but I wanted to experience somewhere new and fun! I'm excited for it! It'll give you experience in other settings and broaden your horizons, so I'd recommend going away from home for one clinical if you have the opportunity. 🙂

 

[TheOx777]

It'll give you experience in other settings and broaden your horizons, so I'd recommend going away from home for one clinical if you have the opportunity. 🙂

Akira,

This is exactly my thought process as well!

 

[MinnDasota]

I chose to go across country because I couldn't pass up those clinical sites. Also, I have wanted to live in those areas (as I was willing to move there after graduation). There were plenty of sites for me to choose from nearby, but the opportunities from those clinicals opened up a lot of doors for me professionally.

 

[johncronejr]

I just finished my first clinical in a rural area (Lake of the Ozarks in MO). The owner of the practice had a summer home there and let me stay in a downstairs apartment they use for interns. It worked out well.

I am attending school in Arkansas and we have to do one out-of-state clinical. Would you mind pm'ing me the name of this particular clinic myzou?

Two others that are out of state for me that I am interested in are Athletico in Chicago and Sports Center in Austin, TX. They look like fantastic places.