THERAPY AND REHABILITATION
Occupational Therapist
To be a successful Occupational Therapist you should...
be able to work with a wide variety of people with different illness and impairments; be able to motivate patients.
What will my job be like?
Occupational therapists assess, plan, organize, and participate in rehabilitative programs that help restore vocational, homemaking, and daily living skills, as well as general independence, to disabled persons. Occupational therapists (OTs) use many techniques to help people learn or re-learn to carry out the activities of daily living, such as eating, dressing, writing, cooking, and going to work. They work with people whose functioning is impaired by physical or mental illness, by injury, or by old age or developmental disabilities. OTs evaluate functional skills, train people to do such things as dress or drive a car in a new way, identify barriers to meaningful activities, and help people adapt activities or use adapted equipment to achieve self sufficiency.
Specialties
- Development Disability
- Educational
- Gerontology (Elderly)
- Home Health
- Mental Health
- Neonatology
Where could I work?
The largest number of jobs are in hospitals and occupational therapist offices.
Other workplace settings:
- Adult Daycare
- Home Health Agencies
- Inpatient and Outpatient Mental Health Facilities
- Nursing Homes
- Outpatient Rehabilitation Centers
- Physician Offices
- Social Services Agencies
Average Annual Salary
$96,370 per year
What is the future of this career?
Employment of occupational therapists is projected to grow 11 percent from 2023 to 2033, much faster than the average for all occupations.
About 9,800 openings for occupational therapists are projected each year, on average, over the decade. Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.
Type of Education/Training
Beginning in 2007 a master’s degree or higher will be the minimum education requirement. As a result, students in bachelor’s-level programs must complete their coursework and fieldwork before 2007.
Where could I get the education/training?
- CT State Manchester
- Quinnipiac University
- Sacred Heart University
- Southern Connecticut State University
- University of Hartford
- University of New Haven
- University of Saint Joseph
Licensing/Certification
Licensure is required in the state of Connecticut. Prerequisites: An approved degree. Licensing requires 24 weeks of supervised fieldwork experience and successful completion of the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy certification examination.
More Information
American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.
7501 Wisconsin Ave., Suite 510E
Bethesda, MD 20814
800-SAY-AOTA/301-652-6611
