Occupational Therapist Overview

Accidents, injuries, and aging take a toll on a human body and mind. These are the state of life, when people are mentally, emotionally, and physically down. Such conditions destroy the quality of life and requires long-term treatment. They also take away the capacity of performing the basic necessary chore, and require an assistance from the able hands like of occupational therapists. These occupational therapists help people with mental, emotional, and physical problems, whether the conditions are due to an injury, accident, or age-related to overcome them and lead a normal life. Their main aim is to make patients free from dependency. They also provide assistance to people in doing routine tasks such as washing, cooking, eating, and dressing. The best thing about occupational therapists is that they are capable of treating a diverse age-group of patients suffering from acute illness or major disorders.

Occupational Therapist Job Description

Occupational therapists work with patients of different ages in need of support to get back to routine life after a long-time illness, undergoing surgery, or facing an accident. They play the role of a mentor, guide, and doctor to help people lead an independent life.

Employers for Occupational Therapists

Since people suffer from physical, emotional, and mental traumas, there is no shortage of places to work for occupational therapists. They can be employed by private clinical settings or local government, or even by community settings. Some may even work independently and attend to patients at their homes for part-time or full time.

Most common employers for occupational therapists are:

Occupational Therapist Education and Experience

Occupational therapists have to complete a degree program in occupational therapy from an institution certified by the ACOTE (Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education) or AOTA (American Occupational Therapy Association). They have to obtain an occupational therapist license from the National Board in Certified Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) by passing an exam.

To apply to any employment setting for an occupational therapy job, one year of experience is must. The person must be capable of working with computers, hold excellent communication, interpersonal, and health assessment skills.

Occupational Therapist Qualifications/Skills

Occupational therapists have to enact different roles while treating the patients. Besides treating, they have to provide advice and solutions as well as ensure the patient is back to normal life. They work with children and adults. As such their role and responsibilities may differ as per their specialization in the specific field. In any case, most employers seek for these common qualifications/skills in occupational therapists:

If you are trying to obtain an occupational therapist job, you will need a cover letter and a resume for the same. Click on the each of the link given below for a professional job application that will surely yield a result.

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