Steve Mullett

In this month's cover story, frequent Healthcare Traveler contributor Anne Baye Ericksen presents a panel discussion between two travel company officials and two traveling healthcare professionals—a nurse and a physical therapist. One company representative reports that hospitals' use of travelers hit bottom in August or September, then started climbing again. His firm placed six times more clients in November than it did in March.

The panel seemed to agree that the healthcare travel market will always be there, but that it's a good idea to make sure you've done whatever you can to make your career recession-resistant. And in our secondary feature this month, James M. Fraleigh offers 10 New Year's resolutions for traveling healthcare professionals, many of which are aimed at the same target. As James' piece notes, it's important to be flexible, keep your finances in order, and maintain current credentials in any state you might be thinking about practicing in, among other things. And both pieces note the importance of staying in close touch with your recruiter.