What is the salary of an occupational therapist?

Salary of an occupational therapist depends upon the area where he is working. The Plans and conducts help occupational therapists to work them properly. With good plans they can develop their patient’s conditions and their daily activities. The annual salary of an occupational therapist is $53,250 to $74,800. If we count it in hours then it is $25.40 to $37.50 per hour. The salary of an occupational therapist varies from place to place. It depends on certain things. The salary of an occupational therapist depends upon his experience and the place where he is working now. The average salary of:

ü  Travel occupational therapist is getting $84,000

ü  Average salary of a physical therapist occupational heath is getting $92,000

ü  School occupational therapist is getting $97,000

ü  Occupational therapist rehab is getting $93,000

ü  Travel physical therapist is getting $88,000

ü  Travel physical therapy assistant is getting  $83,000

ü  Consultant occupational therapists earn between $40,000 to $60,000

ü  Part-time other flexible working arrangements and career breaks are possible.

The 50% therapists are earning between $39,540 and $ 68,580 per year and their average earning is near about $48,001. The lowest 10% are earning less than $30,801 and the highest 10% are earning more than $86,001 annually. Those who are working in nursing and personal care facilities are earning more than doctor’s offices, hospital and schools.

Are there any special responsibilities for occupational therapists?

Occupational therapist is a person who is trained in the use of physical methods of treatment, exercises etc. occupational therapist is a person trained in use of psychological methods also. These methods usually apply for helping patients to get them rid from their physical and mental problems. At present, a bachelor’s degree in occupational therapy is the minimum requirement to get a job. The Admissions in occupational therapy program is not only based upon academic achievement, but also on non-academic factors. These factors ensure that candidates can complete the minimum requirements to be a therapist. The person who wants to become an occupational therapist should meet these requirements:

ü  Degree: A bachelor’s degree which should be in science or may be with art courses is required.

ü  Residency: Residency is most important for the one who want to be an occupational therapist. A permanent resident proof of United State is required.

ü  Graduation time period: Person must be a graduate or he/she may have five year diploma in occupational therapy.

ü  Experience: Person must have experience working or volunteering with people who have mental, physical or developmental disabilities.

ü  Experience in different fields: It is important for the applicant to work or observe at least two different types of occupational therapy. Or they may have done practice 40 hrs.

ü  Computer knowledge:-Person must have basic computer knowledge.

ü   English: A good command of English language is necessary for admission.

ü  Pass: Person must have passed all semesters of his course with good marks.

ü  Background: A background check is very important. The students who get admission, their background check in very important.

Candidates who are not citizen of the United States, they must have to pass English language test and all other conditions:

This may be a Test of English as a Foreign Language.

The other one is Michigan Language examination.

The third is International English Language Testing System (ILETS) examination.

They must pass these examinations. After passing college, it is important to practice a minimum of 1000 hrs to get experience. An occupational therapist should have certain skills:-

Ø  Evaluation: An occupational therapist must be able to evaluate a patient’s condition just by touch.

Ø  Observation: An occupational therapist should have observation skills. So that he can observe his patient’s well.

Ø  Sight: An occupational therapist should have a good sight, hearing, smell and touch.

Ø  Records: Occupational therapist should be very fair. They should be good in problem solving.

Ø  Dedication: Occupational therapist should be devoted towards their work. They should have an internal desire to help others.

Ø  Handling stress: An occupational therapist should be able to handle any stress that come up during the job. It is very important for them to handle these kinds of problems.

An occupational therapist should have knowledge of the basic understanding of technology, so that they can work if ever they needed.

Occupational therapist is a person who is trained and licensed in the practice of occupational therapy. It is a therapy or a treatment which provide treatment to people with social, emotional and physical level. The main purpose of the therapist is to provide full satisfaction to their patients from their problems. It deals with the issues of physical and mental level. They also provide their services to disabled people. It is basically a training of improvement of quality of life. The one who wants to become an occupational therapist, have to follow these steps:

Ø  Person must take psychology, sociology, human development, anatomy, physics and anthropology classes during basic education.

Ø  They must have to learn the way of treatment because they have to face different kind of people, they may be physical or mentally disabled.

Ø  The experience is most important for this job. So the person who is searching part time jobs, they must join near hospitals or clinics so that they can get experience also.

Ø  Practice is the main thing during your studies. So most probably you should concentrate on practice.

Ø   Before making career in a particular field, make sure that this is the actual field which you wanted.

Ø  Most of Occupational therapists start their own business in this field.

Ø  Occupational therapists having excellent communication skills, high wish to help people who are unable to do anything.

Ø   An occupational therapist (OT) must be serious about his studies. They should take part in art classes.

Ø  OTs must choose an accredited program. The programs ever held by their institution, they must attend them.

Ø  In United States, having a bachelor’s degree of science is compulsory. Without this degree he/she will not be suitable to take part in the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT). Without this degree they are not suppose to get license.

Ø  Choose what type working environment you want for your job..

Ø  Therapists can work any place. These places can be  can be from a clinic to a well known hospital or may be a government also

As the experience of an occupational therapist increases their skills and work also increases. They get good opportunities of working and jobs. Most occupational therapist has a master degree and many have doctorate degree. As they start getting good opportunities, they start getting calls to attend different programs. By 2016 the project work may increase by 24%.

Occupational therapy is a health profession that focuses on helping     individual’s mental or physical illness and tries to achieve the highest level of satisfaction, so that they also can live their life. Occupational therapy is an area of working where customized treatment programs are also included but for specific disabilities. Occupational therapists provide recommendations for important adaptation. The term occupational means doing their job in a sincere manner. There are certain career options for an occupational therapist:-

ü  Schools: Occupational therapists may work in schools. For example, they can provide therapy to children and also can recommend them.

ü  School programs: Occupational therapists can also work for children’s programs. These kinds of activities and programs mostly held in schools.

ü  Work for different kind of programs: Occupational therapists can work for different kind of programs. They can work for Adult Day Care Programs and also can work for the beneficial elderly population programs.

ü  Mental settings: Occupational therapists make their career in mental health settings. They may also work with individuals who are dealing with drug abuse, depression or stress related problems.

ü  Government field: They also can work in government sector or private.

An occupational therapist has many options to work with any reorganization. They have different areas where they can get jobs easily. These areas include:

• Field of Accident and emergency
• The field of Pain
• They also can work in Computer technology
• They also can work in Cardiac rehabilitation
• They may work in neurology
• They can work mental health field
• They can work in learning disability

What special duties they need to do as an occupational therapist?

Occupational therapy helps people who are disable and are not leading a good life. Therapists help them to provide good quality of life so that they also can lead their life in a better way. A disabled person is the one who have certain physical or mental problems. It is helping them to earn a good living and managing them in a better way.

There are certain Roles of occupational therapists:

v  Occupational therapists are known as specialists in the whole world.

v  Occupational therapists are those who make orthosis. They know their work in a better way.

v  Occupation therapists works as helping hand and whenever they are called for any campaigning, they always ready to attend these camps.

v   In US, physiotherapist and occupational therapists are eligible to get certificate to become Hand Therapists.

v  Occupational therapists are also known as ergonomic consultants who make modifications at work place.

v  Occupational therapists are generally trained in functional evaluations, job settings, work sharing and handling, work conditioning and vocational training programs.

v  The main problems which are tested by occupational therapists are related to humanistic, psychosocial, compensatory and biomechanical.

Work hardening is basically a work oriented treatment program which improves the patient’s present condition and his productivity. The duration of the program can vary. It can be from 2 to 12 week. Sometimes they may have to work more than 8 hrs. These treatments included discussion, active participation and visual aids. There are certain responsibilities of an occupational therapists: -

ü  Documentation :- Examine the patient’s document is the main responsibility of an occupational therapists

ü  Exercises :- Occupational therapists help their patients in their exercise and also they take care of them

ü  Monitor: - As an occupational therapists, it is your responsibility to monitor individual’s activities so that you can take better decisions for your patients.

ü  Records: - To keep all records of the of the patient’s improvement is also a responsibility pf an occupational therapist.

ü  Patient’s care: - to take care of patient is also the responsibility of the therapists. In this care their dressing and grooming also involves.

ü  Positive attitude :- it is also a responsibility of an occupational to maintain the positive attitude towards patients and also their treatment

ü  Environment: - taking care of room’s environment is also a responsibility of an occupational therapist. Take care of the designing of the lab is also important.

ü  Daily report: – A report must be submitted every day. It should be about patient’s health and his treatment plans.

The job of an occupational therapists deals with the patient’s treatment schedule. Some therapists are doing private practice, working for health care services, and some are working for a government agency. Many occupational therapists are also working permanently for disabled patients. The person who may have been born with some disease or may have some physical problems are called disabled person. These people are basically physically ill.