Occupational Therapist Assistant

The career path I have chosen to enter upon the completion of my college major is in Occupational Therapy Assistance. Occupational Therapy is the medical treatment for people who are limited by mental health problems, the aging process, physical injury or illness, and learning or developmental disabilities. An Occupational Therapist Assistant, or OTA, is the assistant to the Occupational Therapists, or OT, and assists him or her in providing Occupational Therapy treatments and procedures. An Occupational Therapist Assistant may also assist in the development of treatment plans, direct activity programs, carry out routine functions, and document the progress of patients’ treatments. OTs and OTAs work together with their patients, and their goal is have their patients regain the highest ability of functionality in their daily lives.

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.

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

Throughout this course, my mind was opened to several healthcare careers which I was unaware of before. For the careers that I did know about, this course still did a great job at informing me of the professions on a deeper level. After reviewing the lectures and careers, I feel strongly about pursuing a career in Occupational Therapy. More specifically, I want to become an Occupational Therapy Assistant. This was a career that I had in mind when I began the course and I have been interested in it for about two years now. Occupational Therapy Assistants need to be sociable, compassionate, flexible, and enjoy problem solving. I believe I will enjoy this profession because my personality matches with all of these things.

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).

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

My life is a bit of a rollercoaster. I knew what I wanted to do since a young age; however, different paths and decisions brought me to my goal in a roundabout way. After high school I decided to take time off before going to college because I was fortunate enough to have a successful career in retail management. Around the nine year mark I decided that I wanted to return to my goal of entering the medical field, which I was already in the process of doing by attending Northeastern and working towards my BS in Biological Sciences. My ultimate goal being to achieve an MS as a physician assistant. When moving into health care I started in the Urgent Care Department which was closely related to one of the fields I am interested in when practicing

The name of the society changed in 1923, due to hospitals wanting a national directory of qualified occupational therapists. There now was a minimal standard of training that had to be met before an individual was put in the directory (AOTA, 2009). The name was changed to the American Occupational Therapy Association. The American Medical Association worked with the American Occupational Therapy Association starting in 1933 on getting improved education programs for occupational therapists (AOTA, 2009).

This scholarship is very important to me in many ways.This scholarship will help me physically and emotionally if I receive money. For instance, it will make me stress less about how I am going to be able to pay for my tuition and fees and not have debt. Also, it will give me a way to purchase my books for the classes I will take.Since I will not receive financial aid I will have to apply for more scholarships. I plan to go to Northwest Shoals to be able to get my basics done and further my education and transfer to Wallace State to be able to become an Occupational Therapist it has always been a desire to work with many people and help someone out if they needed it. Some of my college goals is to be able to maintain a high GPA and do the

I believe that my prior work and school related experiences allow me to stand out above other future occupational therapy assistants. I am currently in school obtaining a bachelor's degree in psychology. Throughout the past three years I have taken classes not only in the field of psychology but also anatomy and physiology, biology, and chemistry. I strongly believe that the time I spent while obtaining a bachelor's degree and focusing on healthcare classes will allow me to do exceptionally well in the occupational therapy field. Since I have taken many undergraduate classes while obtaining a psychology degree, I have taken many of the classes that are incorporated into the coursework at zane state, therefore I will have less classes to take

To serve in the military is a noble act in one’s life to defend our nation and their freedoms. However, what does one do after the military to continue serving. This author states after serving 20 years in the United States Army as a human resources sergeant. He chose the profession of occupational therapy in a veteran’s hospital after he graduates as an Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) to serve the military and their families due to the fact that he is a veteran himself. After serving 3 tours in Afghanistan and understanding the effects of war does to Soldiers and their families. From reintegration after a deployment and transitioning out of the military and rejoining the civilian population. Find themselves under educated and unable

Physical Therapist/Occupational Therapist’s careers are on the rise! According to my interest in adaptive technology, and my passion for helping others, a career as a Physical Therapist/Occupational Therapist (PTOT) appears to be a very positive, and a rewarding career choice for me! As a result, as a PTOT I will be working with new adaptive technologies and career advancement, reveling in ultimate job security, and new methodologies, open to growing employment opportunities, experiencing unlimited options, and the rewards of helping others to be healthy, healthy and knowing I had a part in a their recovery is key. However, as I embark on this career path as a PTOT that I have considered all the positive attributes, and the negative

Field Work 24 weeks in OT setting where I want to focused on based on Field work 1.

Occupational therapy students complete “field work” in the summer. This field work is arranged through Quinnipiac. We are required to work 40 hours per week at our assigned organization for no compensation. I am also working as a waitress nights and weekends to earn money, so I have to borrow less for school. I will also waitress during the school year to cover rent and living expenses. I have received an academic scholarship and plan to borrow the balance from a couple of sources. With a full course load and a part-time job, this scholarship will allow me be able to cut down on the hours I am working and spend more of my time volunteering and providing services to my community.

I have chosen occupational therapy as a career because of my family experiences, volunteer work, and my personal skills and qualities that I believe will contribute to my success as an occupational therapist. Occupational therapy has interested me from a young age because my mom, who is an occupational therapist, inspired me and instilled a passion within me for helping others. I have always been interested in pursuing a career in the health field where I am able to put my sills to great use in order to help other people. I am also drawn to occupational therapy because of the amount of variety within the profession. I love that occupational therapists have a wide range of populations to work with, as well as settings and specializations that they can chose to pursue. I also like how holistic and patient centered the therapist’s approach is while helping patients. For me, the biggest reason that I would to be an occupation therapist is because of the opportunity