Becoming An Occupational Therapy Assistant Essay

In order to become an Occupational Therapists Assistant, one must earn an Associate’s Degree, obtain a certification and/or license for OTA, and have 1-2 years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. As I complete my major, I will also be gaining work experience during my Externship. Through this experience, I will have the opportunity to participate actively in my field of work interest alongside my mentors who are OTs and OTAS and gain the hands-on training I will need in order to begin my career as an OTA.

A clinical situation that has taken place that has enabled me to incorporate the “Occupational Therapy Practice Framework Domain and Process (3rd Ed.)” (AOTA, 2014) into my approach was when an individual that has had a car accident during an ice storm. We will refer to this individual as Jane. She was a 55 year old housewife that was the primary caretaker of her husband who had suffered a stroke a few years ago. Jane took care of all the home management as well as transportation and health care needs for her husband. Jane was very active in her community as well as her family that lived several hours away.

I didn’t know what I wanted to be at the time, but the medical field sparked my interest. I went up there, and I met a woman by the name of Pam who worked as an occupational therapist at a nursing home. She showed me around and introduced me to her patients. I love everything about her work. She would show simple tasks, such as cooking an egg, to her patients and helped them try to master it. Pam even showed them how to sit in the toilet seat by themselves. I observed and even helped her sometimes, and I loved the feeling of helping them get a step closer to living independently. Recently, I talked to the occupational therapist in the school at De Queen, and she told me that she has 32 kids that have Down syndrome or have some sort of disability problem. Her name is Kim, and she sees them twice a week for 30 minutes. She helps them recover or develop fine motor skills, visual and social participation skills, and problem solving skills. According to Kim, she states that occupational therapy and OTA is a career in which you help a person try to become independent in doing daily normal tasks, and she loves her job because she gets to see the progress every child makes. I knew that this was the career I wanted, and I was glad that UA Cossatot offered it. An occupational therapy assistant not only help patients recover daily skills, but they help them live

My personal experience with Occupational therapy is watching my grandpa go through it; he had fallen in a parking lot and had sustained a traumatic brain injury. He had surgery but then had a long road of recovery ahead of him. He had gone from not being able to get out of a chair to being able to hold a toothbrush and brushing his teeth again over a few months. I would go visit him and would watch the occupational therapists work with him so he could gain some of his independence back. They would help show him tools to make things like putting on his socks easier for him. Once he was home he still needed to do exercises like walking, so I would put the gait belt on him and walk with him so he would not get hurt again. He also developed Parkinson’s and dementia so there were times that he struggled with understanding what to do so I have also had experience working with the mental aspect. Working with him and watching him recover is such a great and rewarding feeling and I want to experience that with my career. I know becoming an Occupational Therapist Assistant is what I am meant to

To be able to participate in one 's own life, to do the things we want to do, and to competently perform the activities that form part of our daily, weekly or monthly routines, is a common goal for most people.  This not only includes taking part in the basic activities of self-care, such as grooming and dressing, but also extends to our work and leisure activities.  It is through doing things that we learn and develop as human beings.  The occupational therapy profession believes that being prevented or hindered in some way from participating in the activities that are important to us could adversely affect our health and wellbeing.

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.

The Psychology Major’s Handbook by Tara L. Kuther gives a list of positions that Psychology majors can obtain with a bachelor’s degree. This list is helpful because only one-fourth of psychology majors go to graduate school immediately following graduation (Kuther, 2015, p. 170). Within this list, the occupation that caught my eye was that of an Occupational Therapist. Though one cannot be an Occupational Therapist with only a bachelor’s degree, one can be an Occupational Therapist Assistant (OTA) with a bachelor’s degree. With other training and licensure, an individual with a bachelor’s in psychology can work in the field of Occupational Therapy because psychology teaches one human service skills. Employers may not understand why a psychology major would be eligible for a job like Occupational Therapy; thus it is the responsibility of the applicant to explain their eligibility for the desired position (Kuther, 2015, p. 171).

Children with many different disabilities need the intervention of an occupational therapist; therefore, occupational therapists work in the school systems. Elderly people often begin to lose their physical ability to do certain tasks, so there are occupational therapists working in nursing homes or providing in home care. Many athletes suffer sports injuries that cause them to lose their ability to do daily activities, and occupational therapists are available to them in rehabilitation centers and hospitals. These are just a few of the many scenarios where occupational therapists are available; they can also work in orthopedic centers, colleges, mental health settings, and drug and alcohol settings (Hoffman & Harris, 2000, p. 405). Due to the fact that occupational therapists can often specialize to a certain type of patient, it may be helpful to hold a job in college where one could learn how to work with that group of people. For instance, if a prospective occupational therapy student wants to work in a preschool for students with special needs after they graduate then it may be beneficial to hold a job as an assistant preschool teacher. Similarly, if the goal of an occupational therapy student is to provide their service to elderly people then training and working as a CNA would provide both useful experience and medial

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

I’m currently working in the health care field as a Patient Care Technician. My job is to assist patient with their ADL’s, and becoming a therapist, I will encourage patients and help them to function Independently with their ADL’s. I’m very nervous and excited about becoming an occupational therapist assistance because I’m fearful of different challenges that will come being a therapist. Can I perform my duties successful as a therapist? I’m I going to feel like a failure when a patient is not progressing the way they should? I’m also feeling excited because, I will get the chance, to make a difference in someone’s life, by helping them function back to their occupations independently as possible before their injury, disabilities, or

This takes more time and effort from both the patient and the physical therapist assistant. There are patients who will need to adapt to having an artificial limb or being permanently confined to a wheelchair. Patients with these kinds of impairments will be stressed emotionally with the limitations they have with their body; a physical therapist assistant must also help that patient to improve their state of mind. Overall, it’s about helping a patient regain independence as much as possible. Along with the team, a physical therapist assistant will also help with the evaluation of a patient’s condition, “An evaluation can include measuring the patient's strength, range of motion, and functional ability; that is, how well the patient performs certain physical tasks” (Mayo Clinic). Once the evaluation is done, the physical therapist will develop a treatment plan for the patient that the physical therapist assistant has to carry out (Mayo Clinic). When carrying out this treatment plan, the physical therapist assistant must “observe [the patient] before and during therapy, [take note of] their status and [report] to a physical therapist (Bureau of Labor Statistics). If a procedure it a little more complicated both the physical therapist and the assistant will work alongside each other to get the job done. However, most routine visits will be done by the physical therapist assistant alone. They also help patients by teaching them how to use things like canes, braces, walkers,

I chose occupational therapy as a career for many reasons. I feel fulfilled when I help others. I want to enjoy my job and not work for money. Moreover, I want to help patients reach their goals because the outcomes make me feel proud. When my brother was little, he had a hard time grasping the pen to write. An Occupational Therapist used to come to our house a few times a week. I would see the therapist try to help my brother write. My mother recently told me that when I was younger, I said, "I want to be just like that therapist."

Occupational therapy combines my two loves the medical field and working with special needs children. While being employed in the school system as an occupational therapist, I will be interacting and working with many different people on a daily basis. We will all be considered part of the support staff and will work together to help the children achieve their goals. I will also be keeping the parents updated on a weekly basis of their child’s progress, along with attending each child’s IEP (individual education plan) conference. Becoming an occupational therapist is a very long and hard journey. During the process I will be taking many difficult classes, learning about numerous disabilities, taking lots of tests, learning how to use adaptive

Occupational therapy has been in the process of continued development since the 1900’s. With several contributors helping to build the groundwork for creating the awareness needed to bring occupational therapy into the field of health care. Continued research is contributing to the ongoing significance of how occupational therapy is a vital aspect in promoting increased independences in all aspects of healthcare. (Willard, Schell, 2014) With the incorporation of “Occupational Therapy Practice Framework Domain and Process (3rd ed.)” helps creates the foundation for occupational therapy clinicians as well as other health care providers in facilitating the core believe of occupational and the relationship of health and occupation. (AOTA 2014) Therefore, providing a uniform outline of the various aspects of each individual and how they are interconnected to create the foundation of each individual. With a greater understanding of the foundations of that induvial, the clinician can then facilitate the best therapeutic treatment plan for that individual to achieve their personal goals with unified foundations of care.

An occupational therapist is a trained and licensed health care professional who can make a complete evaluation of the impact of disease on the activities of the patient at home and in work situations. Hobbies and recreational activities are considered when an assessment is made. The most generally accepted definition of occupational therapy is that it is an activity, physical or mental, that aids in a patient’s recovery from disease or injury.