What are My Options?

I never realized before how many different locations you could find yourself if this was something you chose for your future. Occupational therapists work in a variety of settings. These include hospitals, rehabilitation centers, nursing facilities, home health, outpatient clinics, private practice, school systems, private organizations, industries, and community agencies such as return to work programs, prisons, and community settings. The number of different places where OTs work is growing every year. Along with the endless work environment options, you can choose your type of clients which include clients with permanent disabilities, work related therapy, children, elderly, mental health patients, terminally ill patients, and people with chronic pain. I think that is great, how many jobs can you actually customize your cliental along with picking the location of where you work, and always have confidence that someone will employ you somewhere? There aren’t many of these jobs now days, if I do say so myself.

Some Helpful Links

Advise on pursuing an Occupational Therapy degree
http://www.ehow.com/about_7693090_job-benefits-occupational-therapist.html

Professionals writing about their own experiences, the good and the bad
http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/details/Default.aspx?Id=284

Basic over view of the job
http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/details/Default.aspx?Id=284

Search for college campus' in your area that offer OT programs
http://www.campusexplorer.com/colleges/search/major=68839C6C&majorgroup=A4660768&majorgroup2=4960C29E&schoolty

Current Professionals I Spoke With

During my time of research I was given the opportunity to speak to and converse with some experts on the topic of occupational therapy and I learned a lot. One person that I feel I gained the most knowledge from Amy Marshall, a current professor who teaches at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU), the college I am planning on attending. Much of the information that I found out from her was extremely helpful, and I learned so much about the current process of education for an occupational therapist.

She explained to me, which I found to be very interesting, that when you are ready to search for internships or jobs EKU has a resource room where each student can go and look through updated job files of all the available OT jobs around the world. This idea shocked me; in this field, the employers are searching for you! In my opinion I think that’s crazy for a job nowadays. With many people loosing their jobs or receiving pay cuts it must feel good to know you’ll have a job right when you graduate. Besides that, by the end of my conversation with Professor Marshall I was able to conclude that being an occupational therapist today is very smart choice; meeting someone like her allowed me to see the endless options for my future.

Great Website

Here is a link to a quiz that you can take if you are interested in the possibility of pursuing Occupational Therapy:
http://careerplanning.about.com/od/occupations/a/occupationaltherapist_quizintro.htm

Some Qualities It Takes to be in the Field

Some of the more obvious roles would be the love to work with people, the creativity aspect, and the loving for helping others. This job is almost in my opinion a perfect combo between therapy, teaching, and nursing all in one. Another interesting piece of information that I came across is the amount of teamwork involved in being a occupational therapist. This was something I didn't think of at the beginning of my research process. But I found that one vital part about this job, is learning how to work with other people in the field, not only are there occupational therapists but occupational therapist assistants and there are 2 separate college paths for each one. The assistant pathway of course takes less time. But they work hand in hand, along with other specialized teams that are usually catered to the client who is being treated. Therefore students considering this field should be good collaborators and team workers.

What is the Education Process?

Boston University, where current top OT program is located

Education for Occupational Therapist’s, that has been a area of huge growth in the recent years. Occupational therapy schools use to be very limited and now they are growing rapidly. People are beginning to see the practicality of placing themselves on a the path to becoming an OT and most would say that it pays off when you get there. You are currently required to get a bachelors degree in OT in order to be certified in the job, this basically calls for 6 years of schooling, unless you choose to become a occupational therapist assistant which only takes about 2 years to acquire (College of Occupational Therapists). Some of the top OT schools in the U.S. according to careerplanning.com are Boston University in Ma, Washington University in St. Louis MO, University of Southern California in LA, University of Illinois in Chicago (career planning). In terms of Ohio schools, according to campus explorer Ohio State University, University of Findlay, Cleveland State University, and Shawnee State University are some of the best (campus explorer inc.). In the end, there is a wide range and variety of colleges that offer an Occupational Therapy program for almost anyone that is interested.

Why Is It a Good Field to get Into?

Job: Occupational Therapist (OT)

Salary by Company Size

Company Size National Salary Data (?) $0 $28K $56K $84K 1-9 $49,400 - $60,154         10-49 $44,497 - $67,712   50-199 $47,500 - $71,344   200-599 $48,700 - $69,061   600-1999 $54,848 - $74,795   2000-4999 $56,298 - $75,000   5000-19999 $58,504 - $82,629   50000+ n/a Not enough data Country: United States | Currency: USD | Updated: 29 Apr 2011 | Individuals Reporting: 121

There are many perks to being an OT one of the best is that the work hours are extremely flexible and very family friendly. You only really have to work as much as you want to and by having an occupational therapy degree you open yourself up to a lot of extra work opportunities. Many OT’s get weekly calls to do one time or short term jobs that aren’t involved with their employers. The pay for an OT is great, the average income currently is around $60,000 a year and between $30-$40 an hour, and with the field continuously growing at a rapid rate that is expected to increase year by year (Bureau of Labor Statistics). In conclusion, pursuing an OT career in the up coming years is a positive choice for students searching for solid jobs after graduating.

Why Am I Interested?

Occupational therapy holds importance in my life because it is something that I plan on pursuing next year in college. About three years ago I was speaking with a neighbor about what she did and where she worked. The more we talked, the more and more interested I became in this job of Occupational Therapy, which is what she did for a living. At the time even after talking to her I only understood a little bit, but as a freshman I figured there was plenty of time to learn. As time passed I began to come across people who knew about it or who actually were Occupational Therapists for a living. These encounters I believe have brought me where I am to day. The more I learn about it the more I am realizing that it will be the right field for me to go into someday. I am a high school senior and I have throughly enjoyed this process of learning lots more about occupational therapy.

The Growing Profession

I found that occupational therapists held about 104,500 jobs in 2008 and the largest number of OT jobs was in ambulatory healthcare services, which employed about 29% of occupational therapists. Their employment levels are expected to increase by 26 percent between 2008 and 2018, much faster than the average for all occupations (College of Occupational Therapy). The increasing elderly population will drive growth in the demand for occupational therapy services. The demand for occupational therapists should continue to rise as a result of the increasing number of individuals with disabilities or limited function who require therapy services, which shows that the elderly are (and will be) the most common age group to receive occupational services from employed professionals. As a result of this transition we should expect a growth of the Occupational Therapy field in the years to come.

How Did Occupational Therapy Come About?

I was able to answer many common questions that I had or didn’t even know that I had. One being; when did this job actually come about and who noticed the need for it? I was able to conclude that In the 1700's, during the "Age of Enlightenment", Occupational Therapy began to emerge. It was during this period that revolutionary ideas were evolving regarding the "infirmed" and mentally ill. At that time in history, the mentally ill were treated like prisoners; locked up and considered to be a danger to society. It wasn't until two gentlemen; Phillipe Pinel (a French physician, philosopher, and scholar) and William Tuke (an English Quaker) started to challenge society's beliefs about the mentally ill; that a new understanding, philosophy and treatment would emerge, which is now known as occupational therapy (The History of Occupational Therapy).

What is Occupational Therapy and Why Should I Care?

“Why should I care?” you might ask. Well this job affects almost everyone in one way or another. An occupational therapist helps patients improve their ability to perform tasks in living and working environments. They work with individuals who suffer from a mental, physical, developmental, or emotionally disabling condition. OT’s, as they are commonly referred to, use treatments to develop, recover, or maintain daily living and work skills of their patients. The therapist help clients not only to improve their basic motor functions and reasoning abilities, but also to compensate for permanent loss of function. The goal is to help clients have independent, productive, and satisfying lives. Ultimately whether you like it or not, OT's study almost everyone. The normal, the abnormal, the disabled, and the handicapped. Most likely there is a high probability that you know someone who receives some type of occupational care to allow them to learn and improve at something that they struggle with.

Introduction

Over the course of this past semester I chose to research the field of Occupational Therapy. The biggest reason for my interest is that I am planning on going into that profession but another huge reason is that I selected this for my research is for the very reason that many people don't even know what it is, so if this blog serves as nothing more than educating you then I'll take it. :) As you can see my blog is set up in a series of frequently asked questions along with helpful links that I have been collecting over the past semester. I plan on telling a little about my story but then of course sharing with you the basics of; what it is, where it came from, why Occupational Therapy is a wise job choice and many other questions. I hope my collected information gives you a new perspective.