What is Occupational Therapy?!?| Occupational Therapy vs. Physical Therapy 

Thank you so much!! So happy you are here! Xx

@@Slavic_Boer It matters because OTs work with patients and clients from diverse backgrounds and it is important that this is represented within our practice to improve cultural competency in healthcare and health disparities experienced by people of color

I start next year I can't wait! My husband had a stroke his OT and PT helped him gain his independence back! It influenced me to help others do the same.

@@BelleAmorehunt Wow! That is a great story! I’m proud of you girl! Congratulations

@@BelleAmorehunt That’s great! How did it go?

Can you explain more? I mean how did you get your job? Where are you working now? Etc

That is awesome, Maddie!! It is so very rewarding and allows for a lot of flexibility and creativity. I love it!

@CLOUT Maddie could transfer yk

Hi Cynthia, My son just got referrals for both Occupational and Physical Therapy. I’m confused on if he can attend both at the same time?

@@samuelnicholas7834 Hi! I didn't see your message until just now. Yes, my son attended both at the same time. One thing that was very helpful for OT was identifying that my son needs to be allotted more time while test-taking, and her recommendation made it into his IEP. She made him do an activity/game untimed, and then timed, and then noticed that while the same activity was timed he was more anxious and nervous and didn't get 100% in a reasonable timeframe like he did when it was untimed. If the OT is good, they will know what to look for, and will be able to describe to you how your child's executive function issues, if any, can affect his behaviors, ability to pay attention, follow direction, manage emotions, etc. It took me a while to find an OT that I was happy with, so you may need to go to various before you find one that is a good fit. Good luck =)

Definitely consider OT. It's a great career choice and you will have numerous options within the career. I have had many students who have made career changes into OT from other professions. I definitely recommend it.

@@drrehabdirector4973 what are some of the numerous options?

@@ecug1g1 Some of the option categories may come from the setting itself: Such as working in outpatient therapy, skilled nursing facilities, home health, school system, acute care, inpatient Rehabilitation, mental health, academia/research etc... The second tier of options would fall under a subset of the first category or specializations. For exam example: specializing in hands in an outpatient setting or working in sports Rehabilitation as outpatient. Or preferring to work in a spinal cord unit or stroke unit in an inpatient rehabilitation environment. Lastly I would venture to say professional growth or entrepreneurship areas as: management track or private practice, opening up a private business, assistive technology, consulting, ergonomics and home / equipment design or niche opportunities where you can maximize on the education and experience that that career provides. Let me know if you want me to expand on any of these suggestions.

Thank you for your feedback! Wish you all the best in finding the perfect fit. :)

Kids OT Help is awesome!!! Thank you indeed!!

Thank you so much, Jessica!! :)

also you remind me of maggie from greys :)

Hi Jamay! Good idea! It seems like I am getting quite a few students finding this video and some of those questions are popular. I will start putting some ideas together. Thank you!

That is awesome!! Welcome to the club, future OT! ;)

Thank you Reilly! You've got this! Speak from the heart, and you'll be just fine. Good luck!! :)

So glad to hear this!! I'm happy to help! :)

Hey this is OT Lifehacker! Typicaly 2-3 years from what I have seen in US programs and of course depends on the program. Some manage to work while in school, often taking jobs on campus.

Congratulations to u

Welcome to the OT fam! 😁

Yayy!! Good luck to you! If you haven't already, check out my video on How to Become an OT Student. :)

@@nekoleamber I went to watch it right after this one! Im so glad I came across your channel. It was a blessing 😇

You are so sweet! Thank you, Tamara!! Best of luck to you!

That is SO cool! Where did you find the personality test? That sounds like a great resource. :)

Kids OT Help it’s on a website called prospects.

+Rebecca Robinson Thank you! I’ll check it out! 😊

Hey! I know this might be off topic but I am actually interested into going into the field of recreational therapy. If you don't mind, could you email or let me know here (either way) about how you feel about this career, the pros and cons, etc. And why you want to transition. This would be so helpful since I am entering my freshman year of college. Thank you so much for any response given!! asha2500@yahoo.com

Hi there! The last search I did stated that all states (with the possible exception of Colorado) require a Masters degree to become an OT. I did a quick good search and you may find this site helpful being in IL: www.ilota.org/mot-and-otd-programs Hope that helps! :)

You are so sweet! Thank you so much for the kind words!! :)) Absolutely!! Feel free to shoot me an email. hello@kidsOThelp.com :)

Thanks Elizabeth! It's hard to say for sure, because we did not have interviews for the application process and I was really just a number in line. I would imagine my letters of recommendation and undergraduate GPA were my strongest areas as an applicant. My GRE scores were ehh, haha. Are you shadowing an Occupational Therapist at the hospital? I would recommend reaching out to Occupational Therapists in different settings to shadow them, and see where you'd be most interested in working. A far as hands on experience, that may be limited before you become a student because of liability reasons. However, you might be able to pick up a job as a therapy aide that works directly with the therapist and patients, and that would give you a lot of information about the job, and plenty of hands on experience!

Hi Brooklyn! I was working post-undergraduate degree in a completely unrelated field. To be completely honest, I took a leap of faith. My in-laws consist of many different healthcare providers and it was suggested that I look into O.T.. I had very limited time to research what it was and what I could expect, as I was coming up on school application deadlines. I decided to go for it because it allows me help others and be creative in doing so. There are so many settings in Occupational Therapy to explore. Those are two huge perks to this profession. Also, you'll most likely always be able to find a job! :)

Hi Malia! I would shadow both of them for a couple of weeks to see which type of work you gravitate towards more :) Best of luck to you! They are both wonderful fields.

Wow!! OT & PT?? What a rockstar! :) I'm in a level 3 NICU too!! Love working with the tiny ones!

Love Learn Laugh nice! We need more rehab therapists in NICUs! Glad to hear it! Are you going to the NANT conference? I’m going to go next yr. 🙂

radiahmaria I agree! I won’t be able to make it next year, but I plan on going in 2019. Maybe I’ll see you there 😊

Awesome at first I wanted to do Nursing. But then I want to be an OT.

Wow, how you are both? You went into a dual degree program, or you just got into one program and finish that then applied & got into the another program?

That is amazing!! Yes! I have actually just launched an OT consulting practice. I am really excited to see where it leads. :)

+Nya Caudell Thank you! 💜

Hey OT Lifehacker here! I had been deciding between the two for a while too and I am so glad for the choice I made for OT. The way I did it, I listed the difference in approaches and values/philosophies. Feel free to check out OT and PT channels and try to find differences. It also helps a lot to look at PT and OT student channels to see how their learning and curriculum structure is. I also document my experiences with the goal of helping people see what OT is so that could be something to look at too.

That is awesome! Yes!! Check out hippotherapy :)

Hi Karilynn! After you receive your bachelor's degree, you would apply for a Master's degree or Doctorate degree program for Occupational Therapy. Pre-req classes will be required, such as anatomy and physiology, abnormal psych, and child development (depends on university). You will also need to take the GRE. Hope this helps!

Hey OT Lifehacker here :)! Kids OT Help is so right! The prereqs are important and I want to add on some other very important things to consider: Make sure you check when those prereqs need to be completed and how long they last for (each program is different). Plan for when to take the GREs and know what scores are recommended. As for route of education, you really can choose anything and just be sure to connect it well with OT in your personal statement. Feel free to contact me on IG @OT_Lifehacker for more details.

Thank you, Derriann! :)

Hey there, I just read your comment and I feel as if I'm in the exact same position as you. I've completed my first year as a PT student and I'm now strongly considering changing my way into OT. Can you tell me about your experience so far? Would be really helpful, thank you.

Physical therapy is actually a very flexible career! :) if you get burnt out from working in an outpatient setting, you can always transfer to an inpatient setting. You also don’t have to just work with kids, you can work with any age population

@CLOUT it’s competitive with PT and nursing and often overlooked as a valuable source of therapy.

@CLOUT I have and sometimes these concentrations overlap.

When you read the areas that they overlap it can seem like there is duplication of services. However when you see each professions/ discipline working in their specific area you will see that they are focusing on completely different objectives and all compliment the overall recovery of the client. OT is a good viable career and will continue to be so for many decades.

@@drrehabdirector4973 That’s great to hear. I just keep reading Reddit post about many OTs being unhappy with their careers.

@@Anew3A3 I think in any career you will find people with different opinions. I would listen to see what people don't like about a certain career and see if it makes sense or not, or also if it would matter to you, and that may help you make an informed decision. Some folks will complain about anything, some folks will raise legitimate issues. Sometimes those issues are specific to the individual or the specific company that they're in. Just try to look at all the angles and look into the issue raised. If you have any specific questions or want an opinion on something you might have heard, feel free to let me know. I will be glad to answer any question you may have and give an honest response about pros and cons.

Hi Amie! Shoot me an email with anything specific you would like to know. :) hello@kidsothelp.com Xx

Haha yes! You have the sequence correct. I would chat with a college counselor about the best major for you. Some colleges even have a pre-OT program. :) Best of luck to you!!

I'm literally in the same boat right now ! I hope you are still trucking through. You can do this 💪

With occupational therapy yiu can work with anyone. Its your choice and you can get specialized in that area.

Meh OTs can work with any age group and do a lot more..you really thought you did something😐

Meh Um..OT helps people who have cognitive, physical, and sensory problems. Some OT do more than PT and some PT do more than OT depending on the patient and their needs. Idk what you’re trying to get out of this honestly🙄 they’re literally 2 different careers

Meh You’re honestly acting like a child...grow up.

Meh Lmao okay, believe what you want to believe, cuz at the end of the day all y’all do is perform stretches with injured people😐

Congratulations 🎊🎈🍾

@@nekoleamber Thx

I too find myself always wanting to learn about PT and OT. My clients have almost always had Speech, OT and PT services. And now that I'm trying to figure out what my 3 year old needs I'm looking at these services from a different perspective. I love being an SLP 🥰

So glad you found it helpful! Do you mean in sports medicine? That is a good question, I am not sure to be honest. I mostly see PTs in that particular setting; but not to say there aren't OTs doing it as well. I was a communication major before OT school. It was completely unrelated to the courses needed for OT school, so i had to take all of the pre-requisites after the fact (with the exception of statistics). It doesn't matter what your major is in as an undergraduate, just that you receive your degree from an accredited college. You can take the pre-requisite courses at any time before applying. :)

Thank you so much for responding back. This is great feedback!

+De'Erica A Hey there! 😊 I was a communication major (pretty unrelated) and worked in an unrelated field for a few years before discovering OT. There are prerequisite courses you need to take before applying for OT school. Basics usually include stats, anatomy and physiology as well as some psychology courses. You also need to take the GRE. Most programs also require you to do some volunteer hours with an OT as well. Looks like you’ll likely have some courses out of the way, which is nice! Good luck to you!

Love Learn Laugh Okay, that's great to hear! I am a Psychology minor as well so the Psychology courses I have taken may help me as well. Thank you so much for responding! I appreciate it! ❤

+De'Erica A of course!💜 That should definitely help you, as I believe the psych courses are abnormal and developmental. Best of luck to you!! 😊

It depends on the setting. If you're in a hospital or skilled nursing facility or home health you may wear scrubs, but if you are in a pediatric clinic or outpatient hand therapy clinic you probably won't.

Hi there! Check out my video on how to become an OT student. It will answer most of your questions: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-cdjb41ZCph8.html My best advice for you is to shadow an OT in a few different settings (acute rehab, inpatient rehab, pediatric, school) to get a good sense of what an OT does and which setting you could potentially see yourself working in. Best of luck!!

Thank you so much!!

My pleasure!

Hi Sam, from what I know, there are just the basic OT Masters or Doctorate programs. From there, you can choose wherever you want to work, you don't need special certifications. I do know that you can get special certifications in hand therapy, or things like that after the fact. But you can work with children with a regular masters. From what I understand, 50% of the field works with children.

Hey Sam! Alyssa beat me to the response but has it right. You can work in any setting once you have your degree - however some settings are a little harder to get into as a new graduate. For example, I knew I wanted to work in the NICU but most hospitals won't let a new grad into the NICU because it is a pretty specialized field and you need extensive training before you can work in there. Usually you will have to find someone to take you under their wing and train you before you are able to work in that particular setting. There may be a few other specialized settings like that, that I am either unaware of or don't know much about. But most places will happily take you as a new graduate and train you. Hope that helps! :)

Personally, I think having more males in OT would be a wonderful thing!! Especially since there are just as many male as female clients, so some male (or even female) clients might actually feel more comfortable with a male OT, although the profession is currently dominated by women. I think having a diversity of OTs is very important to continue bringing new perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences to the field which will provide greater treatment for clients in turn. I do not think the profession is tailored more for women over men! If it seems that way it is probably only because of societal norms that portray women as being more of "compassionate helpers/caregivers," although being an OT is so much more than that! It is great for anyone who wants a job where they can be really creative and active and it takes a lot of knowledge in anatomy/physiology as well as psychology (among several other things), so there is more to it than meets the eye for most people. Anyway, I appreciate your interest in OT!

Thank you! It seems to vary based on the setting you work in, but typically they are paid roughly the same

Hi there! To be an OT you do need a master's degree, and the word on the street is this soon will be changing to a Doctorate degree as well. OT and PT are constantly trying to keep in-step with one another, so OT will follow suit (almost surely) within the next couple of years or so. I also considered PT, but am very happy with my choice to become an OT. There are *some* similarities, but overall OT looks and treats the entire person, and doesnt just focus on mobility. There are so many fields to specialize in OT too, so it is hard to get bored! Hope that helps and best of luck to you!