Occupational Therapists
Health Science > Therapeutic ServicesProjected Growth: Much faster than average
Projected Job Openings
Extensive Preparation Needed
Job Description
Your job is to Assess, plan, organize, and participate in rehabilitative programs that help build or restore vocational, homemaking, and daily living skills, as well as general independence, to persons with disabilities or developmental delays.
Common job titles of Occupational Therapists include:
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Experience and Education
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
71.43% said they needed a Master's Degree.
19.05% said they needed a Bachelor's Degree.
Tasks
Evaluate patients' progress and prepare reports that detail progress.
Train caregivers in providing for the needs of a patient during and after therapy.
Plan, organize, and conduct occupational therapy programs in hospital, institutional, or community settings to help rehabilitate those impaired because of illness, injury or psychological or developmental problems.
Lay out materials such as puzzles, scissors and eating utensils for use in therapy, and clean and repair these tools after therapy sessions.
Recommend changes in patients' work or living environments, consistent with their needs and capabilities.
Select activities that will help individuals learn work and life-management skills within limits of their mental or physical capabilities.
Test and evaluate patients' physical and mental abilities and analyze medical data to determine realistic rehabilitation goals for patients.
Complete and maintain necessary records.
Advise on health risks in the workplace or on health-related transition to retirement.
Design and create, or requisition, special supplies and equipment, such as splints, braces, and computer-aided adaptive equipment.
Help clients improve decision making, abstract reasoning, memory, sequencing, coordination, and perceptual skills, using computer programs.
Consult with rehabilitation team to select activity programs or coordinate occupational therapy with other therapeutic activities.
Plan and implement programs and social activities to help patients learn work or school skills and adjust to handicaps.
Provide training and supervision in therapy techniques and objectives for students or nurses and other medical staff.
Develop and participate in health promotion programs, group activities, or discussions to promote client health, facilitate social adjustment, alleviate stress, and prevent physical or mental disability.
Provide patients with assistance in locating or holding jobs.
Conduct research in occupational therapy.
Tools
Wobble switches
Wheeled walkers
Wheelchairs
Weights
Voice output communication aids
Video magnifiers
Video cameras
All ToolsTrackpads
Trackballs
Tongue switches
Switch use tools
Splints
Soldering irons
Single-cut mill saw files
Sewing machines
Scooters
Saws
Resistive exercise bands
Pulleys
Pressure care garments
Power sanders
Power drills
Portable scanning pens
Personal digital assistants PDA
Personal computers
Orthotics
Mechanical stethoscopes
Manual blood pressure cuffs
Looms
Lift chairs
Lathes
Laptop computers
Joy sticks
Hoists
Goniometers
Gait and transfer belts
Exercise balls
Electronic blood pressure units
Electric wheelchairs
Electric knives
Drill presses
Computer switch interfaces
Braille printers
Alternative computer keyboards
Adjustable beds
Adaptive cutlery
Technologies
BillingTracker
Bizmatics PrognoCIS EMR System
Casamba Smart
Computer drawing software
Crick Software Clicker 4
Duxbury Braille Translator
All TechnologiesFileMaker Pro
HMS
Internet browser software
Language arts educational software
Lexrotech LxPediatric
Math educational software
Mayer-Johnson Boardmaker
Music software
OpenOffice WRITER
Physical education educational software
Rehab Documentation Company ReDoc Suite
Science educational software
Screen magnification software
Screen reader software
Social studies educational software
Special education educational software
Speech recognition software
Spreadsheet software
Synapse Adaptive Connect Outloud
Tactile graphic production kits software
Text reader software
Text scanning software
Skills
Monitoring
Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Service Orientation
Actively looking for ways to help people.
Social Perceptiveness
Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Judgment and Decision Making
Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Reading Comprehension
Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
Active Listening
Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Speaking
Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Critical Thinking
Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
Writing
Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Active Learning
Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Coordination
Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Instructing
Teaching others how to do something.
Time Management
Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Learning Strategies
Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
Persuasion
Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
Complex Problem Solving
Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Operations Analysis
Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
Systems Analysis
Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
Systems Evaluation
Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
Negotiation
Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
Management of Personnel Resources
Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
Abilities
Tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
Cognitive Abilities › Idea Generation and Reasoning Abilities › Problem Sensitivity
Listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Cognitive Abilities › Verbal Abilities › Oral Comprehension
Communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Cognitive Abilities › Verbal Abilities › Oral Expression
Apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Cognitive Abilities › Idea Generation and Reasoning Abilities › Deductive Reasoning
Combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Cognitive Abilities › Idea Generation and Reasoning Abilities › Inductive Reasoning
Read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Cognitive Abilities › Verbal Abilities › Written Comprehension
Communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Cognitive Abilities › Verbal Abilities › Written Expression
Arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Cognitive Abilities › Idea Generation and Reasoning Abilities › Information Ordering
Come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
Cognitive Abilities › Idea Generation and Reasoning Abilities › Originality