What is Occupational Therapy?

Here is the page which has information on what Occupational Therapy is, how it came to be, who they work with and resources for more.#OccupationalTherapy #OT

Here is a picture that centers around Occupational Therapy and the words surrounding it is what is involved with those of OT such as what they need to learn, where they work, who they work with, and how they help those who need their services.

What's Occupational Therapy?

Occupational Therapist work to help those with varying disabilities, illnesses, and injuries across the lifespan to allow them to be able to get back to their daily living.

Occupational Therapy is field of therapy that is not much heard of outside of the therapy and or health field. Although it is not known much to those outside these fields, it is an important to those who are in need of their assistance. Occupational Therapist or OT work with a variety of people with their overall goal is to help those who have a disability, illness, or injury be able to help them get back to their daily living or help them adapt to their disability. They work with a variety of professionals such as Physical Therapist, Speech Language Pathologist, Physician, Nurse and other professionals which work together to treat an individual depending on the therapy that is needed.

How to become an Occupational Therapist

To become an Occupational Therapist there are several things that are needed to be done. The first thing is to get a Masters or a Doctorate degree in Occupational Therapy. With Occupational Therapy you can get any degree, but it is important to have a high GPA since OT schools prefer higher GPA around 3.6 depending on the university. Another thing to note is that the minimum degree for an OT has been changed from Masters to Doctorate which will be changing as a requirement as of 2027. Within your minimum requirement to becoming an OT, you can also get a specialty to further narrow or broaden your focus more on this below. After graduating what is needed is to take an exam to become an official Occupational Therapist. The exam that is needed to be taken is the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapist. Afterward what is needed is to get a license depending on the state that you are in or practicing in.

What can you get a specialty in?

With an degree in OT you are able to further your profession and can get a certification to work in a specific field. There are many different types of specialties but here are some listed below:

Driving
Hand Therapy
Adult Mental Health
Geriatric Healthcare
Neurology
Intellectual Disability
Orthopedics
Pain Management
Musculoskeletal Disorders

Here's a link with more info and other specialties not listed above:

https://www.usa.edu/blog/occupational-therapy-specialties/

The University of St.Augustine website provides you a list of different types of OT specialties and this website also has a degree in OT. You can find more information on an example of things that are required in order to get into this university as well as more information on what OT provides and gives you an idea on what is expected when you get your degree in OT in their universities across the US.

Summary:

Occupational Therapy is a interesting, important, and rewarding career for those who are in the filed. Although this career may not be for everyone, note that it is a career that has made a positive impact in many people's lives with the work that they do and can help you as well if you feel like Occupational Therapy is what you may need.

Here is also a video that mentions everything said in this page with extra content in a easy to digest video.

Learn More

Here are some videos and links that talk about OT and some different certifications based on interest.

https://www.aota.org/

Here is the link by the official website for Occupational Therapists called the American Occupational Therapist Association. This is a website with all information on OT from educators, students, parents, and clients. It has a variety of resources such as continuing education, what do OT do, what is needed to become an OT, and the patients and places that they can work. For those who aren't an OT or considering it it is for how they can help you when you are in need of an OT, their history in the healthcare field, and how they impact people lives.

https://www.nbcot.org/

This website takes you to the National Board Certification in Occupational Therapy. The website is filled within information about the certification exam to become an OT as well as resources to prepare for the exam and more about what the certification exam is. It also gives more insight on what is NBCOT as well as resources for educators as well as the public on what this exam is for and why it is important. It also has a area for Certification for those taking it and the process of renewal of your certification along. There is also a page for regulators of the exam on their job and what they have to do to make sure that the people who are taking the exam are qualified and are following the rules and rules that are needing to be followed when grading these exams.

How OT can help you:

Here is a video from AOTA about what Occupational Therapy is and how it can help those who are in need of their services. This video helps those who never heard of OT learn more about the profession, have an appreciation for their work, find out something new, and see if this is something they might be in need of.

Link to page where the link is located:

https://www.aota.org/Education-Careers/Considering-OT-Career.aspx

What OT do at work:

This video provided by ConnectEd provides one person's life as an Occupational Therapist and although this is only one perspective on what OT do, note that there are a wide variety of Occupational Therapists and what they specialize, who they treat, and where they work.