April is Occupational Therapy Month and I think it is a great opportunity to answer the most frequently asked questions I receive, which pertain to occupational therapy (OT) and how I found myself working in the field. If you are looking for a career in healthcare, are contemplating OT as a profession, or are even working as an OT or an OT student, then I hope you will find this helpful! I’ve encountered a lot of ups and downs in this field and love to share my experiences. OT is a great profession, yet is definitely not for everyone.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with OT– which is most people, unless you’ve ever needed OT services– I provide a quick synopsis here. Please keep in mind that the definition one receives regarding OT is highly dependent upon that person’s experience and specialty. For example, I possess a different perspective because my experience is primarily driven by physical dysfunction unlike other OTs who may specialize in mental health or work with kiddos who have autism (for example). However, the constant throughout all specialties is that OTs work to improve people’s independence, whether that person has experienced an accident or was born with a congenital condition. OTs utilize meaningful activities to promote improved function in their patients’ lives.

“OT embodies a balance of utilizing science and art.”

Okay! Let’s start with the five most common questions I am asked regarding OT. Here are the questions I receive from readers and aspiring OTs:

1. What led you to choose OT over other professions in healthcare? I chose OT over 10 years ago (whoa, feeling old now) while in undergrad. I studied exercise science with an emphasis in pre-medicine and knew I wanted to work in healthcare. I experienced a shoulder injury in college which ended my swimming career, which left me feeling lost and without a sense of identity. I underwent extensive rehabilitation for my shoulder yet no one ever attempted to treat or even discuss the immense psychosocial issues this loss caused me. When researching different disciplines, I learned OTs are educated in both physical and mental health dysfunction therefore are trained to treat the whole person. It veers away from the reductionistic viewpoint of other healthcare fields and I felt instantly drawn to the profession due to this. OT embodies a balance of utilizing science and art that resonated with my personal philosophies at the time.

During the time I was preparing to choose my future field, I was highly influenced by those around me. (I was 21 years-old, after all.) I cannot stress enough how this seemingly innocuous factor greatly impacts one’s decisions! The female physicians I knew closely were divorcing. I was completely turned off by physical therapy from my own personal experience as a patient. My professors told me physician assistant programs were impossible to get into. I wanted to work in pediatrics and the few practicing OTs I shadowed said OT was the way to go for pediatrics. I simply didn’t know what other healthcare fields existed beyond the therapy trifecta (OT, physical therapy, and speech-language pathology) and medicine (physicians, physician assistants, and nursing). So, in a nutshell, I chose OT because a perfect culmination of events led to this destination. It was my own personal experiences, what OT represented to me, and my perceptions of other females in healthcare that led me to choose OT as my profession. As you can deduce, the answer to the question grows much more complicated than “I just wanted to help people.”

“Working as an OT has undoubtedly helped me grow into a more empathetic, altruistic, curious, and intelligent person than I might otherwise have been.”

2. What do you like about occupational therapy? OT has many great aspects that make it a wonderful profession.

• Varied Specialities: I love how broad OT is. As my favorite OT professor once told me: You can make OT into what you want it to be. I have been able to work in a wide variety of areas such as feeding and swallowing dysfunction, pediatrics (including the NICU, PICU, outpatient, etc), acute burn management, seating and mobility, splinting and casting, geriatrics…honestly the list goes on. My point is, it’s amazing to be able to switch specialties (with the necessary training, of course) without having to return to formal school.
• Flexibility: Right now, I am especially appreciative of OT’s flexibility. I work part-time as a professor teaching OT students, work part-time at a children’s hospital, coach a Paralympic swim team, and I get to talk OT in regards to parenting and childhood development right here on my blog. What a dream, right! OT is overwhelmingly dominated by females which I think makes it an understanding profession for women raising families. Many of my peers have been able to take a few years off or switch to part-time work thanks to the nature of the profession. I know some mothers who are forced into either staying-at-home or working full-time due to the stipulations of their jobs rather than their personal choice and I am grateful I have the opportunity to choose thanks to my field. For me, working part-time and staying at home part-time with Waverley is the best of both worlds.
• High Demand: There is a need for OTs everywhere and the demand is predicted to increase, therefore it is a great field to be in if one needs to move around a lot. This also provides incredible job security.
• Interpersonal Development: You guys, I’ve seen a lot. I’ve worked in rural Oregon, inner city Baltimore, and urban Portland, to name a few. I truly believe working in healthcare offers an unparalleled way to see the world (perhaps without actually leaving the country), experience different cultures, help those in need, and simultaneously morph into a completely different person. I wholeheartedly feel I would not be the person I am today without the experiences OT has provided me and the people I’ve met along the way, both patients and colleagues. Working as an OT has undoubtedly helped me grow into a more empathetic, altruistic, curious, and intelligent person than I might otherwise have been without it.
• Patient Relationships: Working as an OT provides an amazing opportunity to develop meaningful relationships with patients. OTs are present for some of the deepest, darkest moments of people’s lives while they pull themselves up from unfathomable tragedy. (Unlike in Gray’s Anatomy, it is actually the therapists who teach people how to walk post-operation and fit them for prosthetics!) If you treat people daily or weekly for months, you are bound to get to know them and even their families on a deep level.

“The education requirements continue to increase yet the pay and autonomy of practicing OTs has remained relatively the same.”

3. What do you dislike about occupational therapy? Like with any profession, there are pros and cons to be aware of.

• Return on Investment: OT is not a field to go in if one is hoping to make a lot of money. The pay may seem high initially (the average OT makes approximately $78,000/year), yet once the cost is calculated of seven years of school (plus the loss of wages during those years) and six figures in student loan debt (which can cost $2,000/month), the monthly income is not as lucrative. To put this in perspective, a registered nurse can earn their degree in two to four years with an average salary of $66,000/year or a physician assistant can earn their degree in six years with an average salary of $95,000/year. There is an obvious discrepancy between required education and earning potential.
• Increasing Education Requirements: Not too long ago, one could become an OT with just a Bachelors degree. However, the trend now is heading towards a Doctorate for entry-level practice. (Currently, a Masters degree is required, which still takes three years to complete.) The education requirements continue to increase yet the pay and autonomy of practicing OTs has remained relatively the same. I believe this puts an undue burden on graduating students as schools prepare capable and brilliant minds who are often unable to fulfill their working potential…or pay their student loan bills.
• Lack of Awareness: Depending on where one lives, where one went to OT school, and the facility one works at, the reputation of OT varies. Some view OT as a fluffy field based in arts and crafts. Others view OT as a necessary therapy for effective rehabilitation. I personally wish the reputation of OTs was more in sync as the field evolves, especially with the increasing education requirements and the skills this inevitably brings. This would mean OTs could spend more time treating patients rather than explaining their profession and fighting for their scope of practice rights. Of course like in any field, there will always be therapists who practice unbeknownst to evidence just as there will be therapists of whom OT is lucky to have in the field– much like my former office mate who graced OT with her genius for a few years until switching professions.
• Limited Scope: OTs are highly limited by insurance companies who will often only pay for a certain number of visits per year or who deny necessary OT services altogether. Also, OTs are unable to do anything without a physician’s approval/prescription (e.g., even for a hand splint). I do not think OTs should diagnosis diseases or disability by any means, however, it would be beneficial to have more autonomy to practice independently. That is, after all, why we earn a Doctorate.

“Do not feel too superior to perform the nitty gritty jobs, work overtime (for free), and take on tasks that no one wants.”

4. What are your recommendations for success in OT?

• Find Your Niche: As my professor said, OT is what you make of it. Therefore, my advice for success in OT is to find a niche you are passionate about and make yourself indispensable. Here’s the thing: I am not a parade-attending OT who wears t-shirts and loves OT with all of her heart. I am somewhat cynical and probably would have been better suited for a different profession– a fact a former OT professor loved to remind me of. However, I believe I found my niche in the field and truly enjoy working in that specialty area. That is how I found success. It took a few years and a lot of bouncing around in various specialties until I discovered my passion in assistive technology/seating and mobility (which, by the way, is not an area I would have predicted I’d love) and I worked diligently until I became an expert in that area. Now, I get to teach it!
• Do Grunt Work: Another way to find success in OT is similar to finding success in any field: do not be afraid to perform the nitty gritty jobs, work overtime (for free), and take on tasks that no one wants. When you are working your way up, it is not desirable to exhibit an arrogant attitude. One of the ways I found success in my last job was that I took on a task no one wanted. This was for good reason, because it ended up taking an exorbitant amount of time, was extremely difficult, and even landed me in court. However, the relationships I built through this awful task remain invaluable and the new skills I learned from the experience are traits I boast about on my resume to this day.

“If you take anything away from this post, let it be this– take your time shadowing a variety of healthcare providers.”

5. How do I get into occupational therapy school?

• Be Well-Rounded: There are so many different OT schools in the nation and each school values relatively different aspects of an applicant. There is not one definitive major to study in undergrad or a specific summer internship that is necessary. That being said, I recommend a science background which will immensely help the anatomy, physiology, and neuroscience in OT school be more manageable. However, you’ll also need a strong psychology background as well. Because OT is such a broad, varied field schools typically look for broad, varied people who bring different experiences and perspectives to the classroom and their education. A perfect 4.0 collegiate GPA is not required, yet those who don’t have an outstanding GPA will certainly need to counteract it with impressive work experience (preferably in healthcare), extracurricular activities, and interpersonal skills. Furthermore, nurture genuine relationships with professors and work supervisors who can write heartfelt and educated letters of recommendation. Be thoughtful and inquisitive in the interview.
• Educate Yourself: When applying to OT school, or any graduate school for that matter, I highly suggest– seriously, if you take anything away from this post, let it be this– to take your time shadowing a variety of OTs and a variety of other healthcare providers. You may think you love OT because of one single OT you met, but then realize a huge aspect of OT is teaching people how to use the bathroom and shower independently. Color me shocked when I learned that tidbit in OT school when I thought I’d be taking care of babies in the NICU. Please do yourself and the program you are applying to a favor and shadow a multitude of healthcare providers to ensure OT is for you. The worst things that could happen are, 1) You’ll learn a lot by volunteering extra time, 2) You’ll meet more interesting/uninteresting people who will help you determine your path, or 3) You’ll feel 100% certain OT is/is not for you based on the experience.

Phew! That was a long post and if you’re still reading, thank you for sticking with me. I can only assume you are being paid or threatened at this point. If you have more questions about OT, please leave it in the comments so others may learn from the discussion. Thank you for reading! Happy OT Month!