A Career In Hand Therapy

I have chosen to study athletic training because it allows me to still participate and be involved in sports as well as be able to help athletes recover from injuries while gaining valuable clinical experience for physical therapy. Growing up I have always had a love for sports but I have not been graced with the abilities to become a professional athlete. With my love for sports as a youth I watched a lot on television with my father and I would see athletes get injured and medical personnel rush out to their aid. When I found out they were athletic trainers and physical therapists, I knew that is what I wanted to do when I grew up. All throughout high school I was involved in sports and unfortunately had an injury or two. Although our school did not have an athletic trainer, I went to many different specialists and

Occupational therapy assistant is my dream career. They help people live a normal life again without any assistance of other people. The help people enhance, improve, develop, and recover the skills use for working or doing daily average tasks. OTA’s usually work under the direction of occupational therapists, and they still get involved with providing therapy for patients. According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, occupational therapy assistants help patients do therapeutic activities. For example, they help patients to stretch or do other exercises. OTA’s also help children who have developmental disabilities to play activities that helps stimulate coordination and learn to socialize. They teach disable people to use special equipment,

Life can change in a split second when an unanticipated injury or disease hinders someone’s normal daily life. Modern medicine, physicians and families can only do so much but physical therapy can help recoup the life many of us take for granted. It often isn’t until we lose something that we as humans realize what we had such as the value of our body’s ability to take us through each day. A physical therapist is the person who stays with a patient for the duration of the rehabilitation process. A physical therapist leads the patient through the process of regaining physical strength and helps the patient regain control of their future. Much like many careers that involve interaction with individuals, physical therapy reaches beyond

From that experience I went on to shadow OTA’s at Plant City Rehabilitation Center and at Hillsborough County Public Schools to further explore my interest. While shadowing I was also allowed to participate in working with the patients and discuss the role of an OTA in detail with the staff. Through these experiences and observations my interest has led to a desire to become an OTA.

This step lays the groundwork towards my expertise in athletic training. My schooling provides the opportunity to acquire the experience I will apply to different circumstances in the future, and permits me the ability to test my proficiency of the situations. Education forms the way I will react to distinct situations. With this necessary information, I will not only be confident in myself , but I will also have the same confidence in the decisions I make. As time goes on, continuing education will be an essential component which will aid in remaining up to date with regards to revised treatment plans and enhanced

I am thankful for having the opportunity of applying to the Occupational Therapy program at Abilene Christian University (ACU). My decision of becoming an occupational therapist arose my sophomore year in North Lake College. Ever since, I have worked toward taking the prerequisites and then transferred to the University of Texas at Arlington, where I obtained by bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science. So later, I could pursue obtaining my master’s in Occupational Therapy. I am applying to the occupational program at ACU because, it is a Christian school, its excellent degree plan, along with experienced faculty, and my eagerness about of becoming an occupational therapist would equip me with the tools I need to perform the occupation with quality and humanity. I am ready to commit and serve others by putting to use what I have learned from occupational therapy experiences and to take advantage of all the resources the program has to offer.

Why is it that in today’s society, people merely believe that a person can be successful if they have a degree from a higher education? In the article “The Case for Working With Your Hands” author Mathew B. Crawford talks about his life as a mechanic and the decisions and revelations that got him there. Crawford claims that a good job is defined to meet an individual’s passion and to see the “effects of the world” (Crawford). Crawford is saying that a person does not have to have a degree to have a good job. With Crawford’s claim, in the article titled “The Case for Working With Your Hands,” that a person should find a job that satisfies their own passions and desires I would agree with the author’s stance based on my own personal experiences as well as his information he presents.

Lives are changed everyday by occupational therapy assistants. I have the dedication, compassion, and ability to celebrate every miniscule improvement needed to become a successful OTA. This a quickly growing field where I can use the talents I already possess to excel. I can easily recall the differences made in my papaw’s life through occupational therapy and the way every advancement in mobility or independence was as exciting as it would be with a new

The occupational therapist, I interviewed was Lorena Ortiz, MS, OTR/L. She is from Columbia, South America and currently lives in Greenville, South Carolina, where she has been a resident for sixteen years. She has three sisters, one brother and a son that is two years old. She attended Brea High School her junior and senior year and later graduate from Mauldin High School. Her favorite subject in School was anatomy because she enjoyed learning about the human body and the way it functions. In her opinion of what an occupational therapist is, she stated, “Helping people become as independent with daily activities as they wish after injury or disease.” The facilities where she works are, Greenville Health System, PRN acute care/In-patient rehab and Greer Memorial Hospital, out-patient rehab fulltime. Other areas she has worked are, subacute, long term acute care orthopedics. She worked as an occupational therapist assistance at St. Francis Hospital for seven years. While she worked at St. Francis Hospital, she later went back to school, for her master’s degree,

When I broke my Tibia and Fibula playing football my sophomore year of high school, I started to really think about what I wanted to do with my life. I had a lot of love for playing football, and I knew that I did not want to stray too far away from the sport. It wasn’t until I started going to physical therapy that I realized that I didn’t have to, so I decided that I wanted to be a physical therapist, to help other people get back on their feet. However, my junior year, we got a new athletic trainer at my high school. So, I decided to ask Mrs. Pam if she would mind if I shadowed her, to learn more about what she did, and how to help other players with their injuries. She agreed, and I spent my junior and seniors years shadowing her. I learned

Today, Amanda Gordon, an Occupational Therapist can and talked to us today. It was such an honor for her to talk with us. I was especially interested in her lecture because I was thinking of becoming an Occupational Therapist, and she taught me so much more information about OT. Amanda was working at Moss for 5 years. She works with spinal cord injury patients and teaches them skills to accomplish everyday tasks. She teaches and practices them real life activities such as how to dress, cook, tie shoes, and much more. Amanda loves seeing her patients improve and slowly going back to their normal everyday routine. Because of Occupational Therapist Amanda, patients become more independent and be able to do an assignment.

“The occupational therapy provided by Niagara Therapy LLC from 7/29 to 09/15/15 was not supported by records as medically necessary/standard of care. The medical necessity of ongoing therapy depends upon making measureable progress in functional goals. The documentation does not support that this patient meets this criteria. The patient received 12 visits through 7/27/15 and improvement in function was not documented. Also, there is a lack of literature support for long term OT for this patient’s condition. The patient could have continued a home program after 7/27/15. Occupational therapy after 9/15/15 would not be supported as medically necessary due to the lack of documented progress and lack of support for the efficacy of long term therapy over practicing skills with a home program.”

The American Occupational Therapy Association(AOTA) offers continuing education (CE). They are recognized, by NBCOT, state licensure boards, specialty certification providers and employers.There are many areas to specialize in, in both adults and children needs. There are also areas in Health and wellness, mental health, productive aging rehab and disability, work and

The Bureau of Labor Statistics describes an occupational therapist as one who treats patients who are ill, injured, or disabled by the therapeutic use of everyday activities. They help patients develop, recover, and improve the skills needed for daily living and working (2014-15).The Occupational Handbook describes the many jobs of these occupational therapists in steps. It states that the process begins with observing patients, interviewing them, and reviewing medical history. Once they evaluate the patient’s condition and needs, they develop a treatment plan that includes various activities to help them accomplish specific goals (2014-15). Occupational therapists can help with various disabilities in patients of all ages. For example, if an autistic child struggles with pinching the buttons on a shirt in order to button them, a therapist could give the child tasks such as beading, in order to teach them to grasp using two fingers (Sheryl Bos interview). They can also aid patients in learning how to operate special equipment and even educate a patient’s family or teacher/employer on how to accommodate and care for them (Occupational Handbook 2014-15). OTs can work in many settings as well. They are able to work in educational setting as well as mental settings. With this range, OTs can work in hospitals, schools, rehab centers, home health, or nursing care facilities (Occupational Handbook 2014-15). In order to become successful occupational therapists, the

What kind of career is Massage Therapy? A very interesting and productive career which I would enjoy pursuing. Some reasons that this would be a good career for me are that it pays well, education is not extensive, it helps others, and it is something I am good at and enjoy doing.