The medical and healthcare industry is a trillion-dollar industry in the United States alone, which means there are a lot of chances for people with the right type of education to excel in their respective medical and healthcare fields. There are a lot of sub-fields of healthcare, occupational therapy is also one of them. Occupational therapy is one of the highest paying medical fields. The job of an occupational therapist is to look after the clients who need treatments.

They help patients with certain medical disabilities to live normal lives. For example, they help people who have lost one or more limbs. Apart from medicines to heal their wounds, these patients will need special care and training to return to normal life. The job of an occupational therapist is to understand the needs of his/her patient and train them to use their prosthetic limbs. The article below explains everything that you need to know if you want to become an occupational therapist. Read it carefully, and follow these steps so that you can achieve your goal of becoming an occupational therapist. 

What is Occupational Therapy?

To define occupational therapy as a field, we can say that, “It is a profession in which professionals assess the condition of their patient’s disability, and create a strategy to reduce the effects of that disability so that their patient can live a normal, and healthy life despite that disability.”. People who do this job are known as occupational therapists. There are a lot of steps in this process of occupational therapy, starting from assessment of the patient’s condition, and learning about their disability.

This assessment starts from basic learning of the patient’s disability and how it has impacted their lives. For example, if there is a patient who has lost a leg due to an accident. An occupational therapist would check the condition of the wound and would read the reports from the surgeons and physicians who treated that patient. Apart from reading reports, the occupational therapist would learn more by examining the patient.

After the examination of that disability of the patient, occupational therapists would create a prosthetic if needed or continue to develop other strategies. Once they have developed these strategies, they will take the patient through these therapeutic sessions of training. These sessions aim to remove and reduce the impact of the disability as much as possible. For example, in the case of the patient who lost his/her leg, he/she will have to wear a prosthetic leg and will have to learn the proper use of this prosthetic leg.

Patients would need training sessions and therapy sessions. Some patients with smaller injuries and issues only take a few sessions while some patients who suffered from severe injuries may have to continue their sessions with an occupational therapist for a much longer period. The job of the occupational therapist is to help their patient live normal lives despite their disability.

How to become an Occupational Therapist?

The path to becoming an occupational therapist is simple, you only need to do certain tasks. For example, obtaining the required degrees, passing the tests, getting certification, and registering yourself with national and state-level healthcare organizations. Below is the explanation of each of these steps.

●     Get a Bachelor’s Degree:

You cannot get admission to any of the occupational therapy courses if you do not have a bachelor’s degree. That is why getting a bachelor’s degree is the first step. There are a lot of medical majors that you can choose and all of these majors will help you learn more about human physiology. This knowledge is very important as you will be using it to treat your patients. Think of the bachelor’s degree as the backbone of your career in occupational therapy. So, you should study hard and get good grades.

Bachelor’s degree requires completion of 120 credit hours and studying for four years at a university or college. This degree can cost you between $100,000 to $200,000. But there are some other options such as online bachelor’s degrees, these will help you reduce the cost of your degree. But you will have to make sure that your college or university is affiliated with the regulatory organizations.

Majors related to medical, biology, and healthcare will be helpful to you in the future. That is why you should select one of these majors. After your bachelor’s degree is complete, you will be ready for the next step.

●     Pass GRE and Complete Observation Hours:

The next step is passing the GRE test and completing your observation hours. Some colleges and states require passing the GRE test only but some require completing both of these. GRE stands for graduate records examination. It evaluates your eligibility for your major in Masters. So, it is very important to work hard and take this exam seriously. Observation hours can be completed by working in a medical facility where you will observe occupational therapists performing their duties. After that, you will apply for a Master’s degree which is the third step.

●     Get an Occupational Therapy Degree (MOT or OTD):

This step requires studying the field of occupational therapy. There are two options for those who want to pursue a career in occupational therapy. The first one is MOT, which stands for the Master’s in Occupational Therapy, the second is OTD or Occupational Therapy Doctor. The basic difference between these two programs is that the MOT program is a Master’s program and can be completed within two to three years. Meanwhile, the OTD program which is a doctorate program requires studying for three and half years. Once you have completed one of these educational courses, you will have to go through a 24-weeks-long supervised learning process. This supervised learning program will judge your ability to treat patients.

Some colleges and institutions also offer a combined program of five years, in which students’ study for both bachelors and masters. When this five-year-long course ends, they are awarded a Master’s degree in Occupational Therapy. Make sure that your courses are accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education.

●     Get a Certification from NBCOT:

After getting your degree and completing your supervised learning process, you will have to get a certification from NBCOT or National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy. You will be eligible to sit in the exam only if you have completed all of the above steps. This test will determine your learning ability, and your eligibility to practice the profession of occupational therapy. That is why it is a very important certification exam and you must prepare very well for this.

Once you have passed this test, you will be awarded a certification that will make you eligible for the practice of occupational therapy. This test is known as OTR or Occupational Therapist Registration test. After that, you will become a member of the American Occupational Therapy Association. It will help you get a license for practicing in your state.

●     Get a License from Your State:

Some states require occupational therapists to pass state-level exams to determine their eligibility. These are known as board tests, or state tests and vary in each state. So, you should know more about them from your respective board. After passing their exam, you will become licensed in that state and will be able to start your practice as an occupational therapist.

Specialization in Fields of Occupational Therapy:

What are the Job Responsibilities of an Occupational Therapist?

Here is a list of the job duties or responsibilities of an occupational therapist.

• Knowing the history of a patient requires studying the detailed history of the patient and knowing about what type of issues he/she is facing. This is also known as knowing background information about the patient.
• After studying the background information and patient history, occupational therapists have to do a physical examination of the patient. This helps them create an evaluation of the patient’s health and physical abilities.
• The next job responsibility of an occupational therapist is to create a recovery plan for the patient. This recovery plan requires creating goal posts that your patient would achieve during the treatment. This is an action plan that you will follow during the treatment.
• You will also teach your patients to perform their daily tasks on their own with little external help. So that they can live an independent life.
• You will also have to teach your patients life skills that they need to do their job. Some patients change their careers after having disabilities, but some want to continue doing what they were doing. In both cases, you will be creating strategies to help them earn for themselves.
• Job duties of the occupational therapists also require checking the house, and office, so that you can evaluate if it is according to the requirements of your client’s health or not. If the house or office, or workplace lacks something important for the health of your patient, you will be responsible for advising them to arrange those things.
• You will also be responsible for commuting with your family members and employers. You may have to train them to provide necessary aid to your patient. For example, if your patient needs extra care, you will be responsible for teaching the parents to provide that help and care.
• If your patient needs special equipment for example wheelchairs, prosthetics, eating aid, or anything else, you will be responsible for teaching your patients to use this equipment.
• Last but not least, you will also be responsible for keeping a record of your patient’s health and physical activity. You may also have to check on your patient to make sure that they can live a better life despite their disability. You may also have to share these reports with the physicians who are treating your patient so that they can provide better treatment according to the patient’s history.

What are the Benefits of Becoming an Occupational Therapist?

There are a lot of benefits to becoming an occupational therapist. It is one of the most stable career choices in the medical and healthcare fields. Here is a list of some of these benefits.

• Employment Opportunities: There are a lot of employment opportunities for occupational therapists’ positions. That means if you have this degree, there will be a lot of opportunities for you and you can avail the one that suits your requirements. 
• Economic Opportunities: Most of the occupational therapist jobs provide a six-figure salary that means you will be economically very well settled. You will have a very good salary package, but if you want, you can also start your own business as well. That increases your economic opportunities.
• Career Growth Options: It also offers multiple career growth options through a vast number of specializations. There are a lot of sub-fields in occupational therapy and you can take any of these. After your specialization, your economic and employment opportunities will further increase.
• Job Satisfaction: According to the data from BLS, occupational therapy has one of the highest rates of job satisfaction. There are a lot of reasons behind this fact, for example, higher salaries that lead to economic stability, homeownership, and job safety. All of these lead to better job satisfaction levels.
• Better Working Conditions: Working conditions for an occupational therapist are always better. Most of the time they work within medical facilities where they treat patients. They also get other job benefits such as insurance benefits and more.
• Retirement Plans: The job of occupational therapists also comes with retirement plans that are better than most other professions. That means after your retirement, you will be able to live an even better lifestyle.

What are the requirements for the job of an Occupational Therapist?

Like many other professions, occupational therapy has some requirements for the job. Every applicant must meet these requirements to be considered for this job role. Here is the complete detail about these job requirements.

1. First are the educational qualifications, or educational requirements. These requirements are related to the educational background of the applicant. For example, if you have certain degrees, diplomas, or levels of education. In the case of occupational therapy, there are two types of educational programs that cover occupational therapy. One is known as the OTD or doctor of occupational therapy, and the other is MOT, Masters of occupational therapy. So, you should read the job requirements carefully, and see if your degree is according to their requirements or not. Both of these degrees are valid, but OTD is preferred over MOT.
2. The second most important requirement is having passed all the licensing tests, and having the membership of certain boards related to occupational therapy. These boards work as a regulatory body and you can join them by passing certain tests or exams. Make sure that for the job you are applying for, you have all the required licenses and certificates.
3. The third most important requirement is having experience. There are a lot of places that only hire experts with some professional working experience in the field of occupational therapy. Make sure that you meet the experience requirements of the job. Sometimes you can also get a job even if you do not have the required experience. But in that case, you must impress the interviewers with your answers.
4. The fourth most important requirement is that you must have all the specializations that are required for the job of an occupational therapist.

Job Outlook Data of Occupational Therapists:

The job outlook data of the occupational therapists shows that it is one of the highest-paying career choices. According to data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, occupational therapists have a median income of $86,280 ($41 per hour) per year. Meanwhile, the top ten percent earners in this field can make up to $122,670, while the lowest ten percent earners can make up to $57,330. People with specialization can make even more. According to this data, as of 2020, there are more than 131,600 jobs in this profession and this number will keep growing at the rate of 17% for the next decade. That means it will produce at least 23000+ jobs each year. This job outlook data shows that it is one of the best career choices for people who are looking forward to having a high-paying career choice.

Why Choose Occupational Therapy?

As it is clear from the data of the occupational therapist’s job outlook, it is one of the most promising career choices that not only offers higher salaries and better working conditions. But also provides all the insurances and job benefits that you might seek. There are a lot of other benefits as well, for example, it is a degree in the field of healthcare, and that means, you will become a doctor of occupational therapy at the end of your degree. Some other benefits include job security, better retirement plans, housing loans, and better credit availability if required. This means, it increases your overall economic portfolio and gives you a chance to make a six-figure income. Also, as compared to other medical and healthcare degrees, it is much easier. These are the reasons why you should choose occupational therapy.

What is the best undergraduate major for OT School?

There are a lot of majors that you can take if you have the goal of reaching an occupational therapy school. Selecting your major carefully can increase the chances of your admission to OT schools. For example, some majors are favored as compared to others because these majors are helpful in the future studies of OT. Here is a list of the undergraduate majors that will help you reach OT school.

• Biology: Biology is one of the best choices as it is a pre-medical major and will help you in your future studies of occupational therapy. But biology is considered one of the hardest majors. You should keep this in mind as it will help you make a decision. 
• Psychology: Many occupational therapists who are currently working, took psychology as their college major. It is an easy major that provides all the information that you need.
• Kinesiology/Exercise Science: This is a major that is directly related to physical therapy and occupational therapy. Many students prefer taking it as their major in undergraduate if they have a goal of becoming an occupational therapist.

There are a lot of other majors as well, such as education, sociology, and physical education.

How much an occupational therapy degree can cost?

Occupational therapy degrees such as ODT (Doctor of Occupational Therapy) and MOT (Master’s in Occupational therapy) can cost up to $10,000 per semester. So, if your degree will be completed in 3 semesters, you can expect to spend up to $30,000 on your degree, but if it takes more time, then you may have to spend up to $50,000 in total. These are the costs just related to tuition, other costs such as admission, accommodation, food, transport, are excluded. If those fees are also included in this program, it can cost up to $100,000 in total. Also, to reach the level of MOT or OTD, you must have completed a bachelor’s degree that can cost between $80,000 to $160,000. Although these are very high costs, think of them as an investment to your future as you will be able to earn more than this within the first few years of your practice. So, even if you took an educational loan, you will be able to easily repay your loan from your salary.

Conclusion:

Occupational therapy is one of the best healthcare degree options for many students. It is one of the best degrees because it offers some of the highest-paying career choices to graduates. You will become an occupational therapist once you have completed your education. The job of an occupational therapist is one of the high-paying jobs according to the BLS. Also, there are a lot of specialization options for those who further want to continue their education. This degree will provide you with a stable job, better working conditions, and other benefits. The article above explains how you can become an occupational therapist in detail.