I Want To Be An Occupational Therapist 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.

Ever since I was a child, people always asked me what I would like to be when I grew up. At first, I would always say that I wanted to become an engineer because of my love for hands-on learning and my exceptional problem-solving skills. However, when I grew older I found that similar spark of fascination in the medical field. I wanted to go into a profession where I could help others and use my love for problem solving and hands-on interest. This is when I became interested in occupational therapy and fell in love with the profession. Occupational therapy has several elements I find passion in such as, the ability to be hands on and help change other people’s lives in a positive manner. My goal in life is to become an occupational therapist and help others live independent lives again. As I work to obtain this goal, I am doing many things such as strengthening my writing skills because this major involves many various aspects of writing. To succeed in this field, one needs to be able to write strong research-based papers and cite all sources correctly. I am striving to master these skills in hopes that I can succeed in and accomplish my academic goals.

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,

As an Occupational Therapy Assistant, I will work alongside an Occupational Therapist and work directly with patients. The difference between an OT and an OTA is that OT’s set up treatment plans and perform medical assessments while OTA’s carry out the treatment plans with the patients. In volunteering at rehab clinics, I’ve learned that Occupational Therapists often spend much of their time dealing with paperwork while OTA’s are performing more hands on work with people. Their day includes helping patients in performing rehabilitative exercises within a treatment plan. Occupational Therapy Assistants help people to regain their ability to perform activities of daily living, or ADL’s. These are the core aspects which

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Occupational therapy assistants and aides help patients develop, recover, and improve the skills needed for daily living and working.” OT Career Path.com also states that, “occupational therapy assistants assist with the rehabilitation and care of patients with mental, developmental, physical, social, and emotional disabilities” Occupational therapist may provide many different forms of service from setting up materials, moving a patient, explaining exercises, preparing reports and implementing treatment plan as prescribed by the Occupational Therapist. An OTA’s duties vary greatly an example of their duties include helping patients acquire fine

With my past work experiences as a case manager, I 've had various meetings about what services my clients were going to need and what my involvement was going to be in meeting their needs. This has helped me strengthen my communication skills and I have learned to talk to a variety of different individuals. I especially find myself to have confidence which has also helped me sound relaxed and approachable when meeting someone for the first time. With this in mind I felt positive I was going to do well on my interview reflection assignment for my Introduction to Occupational Therapy class.

After considerable contemplation, I confidently decided to pursue the path of becoming an Occupational Therapist. Motivated by my past experiences, current endeavors, and future possibilities. My life course over the last several years lead me to this pivotal moment of applying to graduate school, and I feel honored by this opportunity to share my academic and personal journey.

“What if there was a job that allowed someone to have endless flexibility and creativity; a profession that is respected and is in overwhelming demand... Most importantly, wouldn’t it be nice to find a job in which you could make an impact, big or small, on the lives of each individual person you worked with? I found this job and that is why I decided to pursue a degree in occupational therapy" (Springer, J., 2015). This testimonial comes from a practicing occupational therapist who has found value in his life's work. Occupational therapy is not a job where "one size fits all"; there are many different demographics of people who need occupational therapy in different environments. Although, all occupational therapists have the same skills

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,

My long-term goal is to learn the techniques that are used by patients to help them progress. In addition, I want to explore the different work environments, which the occupational therapists work in such as in hospitals, clinics, or schools.

I chose occupational therapy because it helps people with special needs or rehab stuff to help them get better and get through school or work days. What do occupational therapists do and who do they work with? “Occupational therapy services typically include: an individualized evaluation, during which the client/family and occupational therapist determine the person’s goals, customized intervention to improve the person’s ability to perform daily activities and reach the goals, and an outcomes evaluation to ensure that the goals are being met and/or make changes to the intervention plan (ACTA).” Occupational therapist often work with younger kids with special needs to help them make it through school but sometimes they work with

I believe that everybody deserves to have a happy and comfortable life and that being able to complete every task effectively plays a major part in achieving this. I think as humans we tend to take everyday tasks for granted as it we complete these subconsciously without ever considering the impact it would have on our lives if we were unable to complete them. I want to be an Occupational Therapist as I believe that adjusting a person’s environment and teaching them necessary skills makes a huge positive impact to their life. I am also passionate about seeing people grow in strength to achieve their full potential no matter what challenges they face.

If you were to walk around a college campus and randomly ask students what they were going to do with their lives you would most likely be answered with tears, confused looks, and some near breakdowns. Luckily for me I’ve always known that I’ve wanted to become an Occupational 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