Occupational Therapists
The occupation Occupational Therapists covers people who assess, plan, and organize 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. Expect to test and evaluate patients' physical and mental abilities and analyze medical data to determine realistic rehabilitation goals for patients. On the six-type interest model it reads SIR, meaning helping, teaching or caring for people comes first, followed by research, analysis and working through hard problems. Plan on graduate school and often five years or more of related experience; O*NET labels this extensive preparation. Strength in service orientation, monitoring, and active listening helps most here. It tends to suit people who want helping, teaching or caring for people, and it offers little for anyone seeking leading, persuading and making business decisions.
What they do
Assess, plan, and organize 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. Use therapeutic techniques, adapt the individual's environment, teach skills, and modify specific tasks that present barriers to the individual.
Main tasks
- Test and evaluate patients' physical and mental abilities and analyze medical data to determine realistic rehabilitation goals for patients.
- Complete and maintain necessary records.
- Plan, organize, and conduct occupational therapy programs in hospital, institutional, or community settings to help rehabilitate persons with disabilities because of illness, injury or psychological or developmental problems.
- Plan and implement programs and social activities to help patients learn work or school skills and adjust to handicaps.
- Select activities that will help individuals learn work and life-management skills within limits of their mental or physical capabilities.
- Evaluate patients' progress and prepare reports that detail progress.
Skills
- Service Orientation
- Monitoring
- Active Listening
- Writing
- Speaking
- Social Perceptiveness
Who this career fits
May suit you if
- You get energy from helping other people move forward.
- You enjoy working out why something happens, not just what happened.
- You are prepared for graduate-level study and a long training path.
- You are comfortable relying on service orientation and monitoring.
May not suit you if
- You find a full day of dealing with people draining.
- You want to lead people or run the business side. Enterprising rates 1.8 out of 7 here.
- You want to be working in the field within the next few years.
Interest profile
O*NET rates each occupation from 1 to 7 on six interest types. The code SIR takes the three highest, and Social comes first here.
Preparation
Extensive preparation. Many jobs here need graduate study, and people often spend five years or more building specialist experience.
Most-reported requirement in the O*NET survey: Master's Degree. This reflects what workers reported most often and is not a legal minimum. Licensing rules can differ by state or industry, so confirm what applies where you plan to work.
Also called
- Assistive Technology Trainer
- Certified Hand Therapist (CHT)
- Early Intervention Occupational Therapist
- Home Health Occupational Therapist
- Industrial Rehabilitation Consultant
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This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.