Why I Want to Be an Occupational Therapy Assistance

One of my many goals in life, since I was younger, was to major in a profession where I can change the world and make it a better place. I want to help people and positively impact their lives. This is when I decided to major in occupational therapy and focus the profession towards youth. Hopefully, I will  be able to

In order to be considered for a job in this field you need to have a Master’s Degree in Occupational Therapy. Along with a Master’s Degree you also need to have a state license, be CPR or Basic Cardiac Life Support (BCLS) certified, sometimes both are necessary. In order to get a state license, you need to go through a Master’s program, have fieldwork experience, and pass the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) exam. Once pass the exam, you will be given an OTR credential and continued education will have to follow in order to maintain the OTR credential. Others optional certifications can be taken from the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA). Also, you are required to have at least one to two years of experience, but some employers may differ. Key skills that an employer’s looks for in an Occupational Therapist are good communications and interpersonal skills, compassion, patience, and strong writing skills. Physical strength is sometimes taken into consideration as

Fortunately, UA Cossatot offers an accredited OTA program. The OTA program is a two year full-time study that includes subjects over psychology, biology, and other topics. All occupational therapy assistants have to complete at least 16 weeks of fieldwork to have an insight of the work field. They require interpersonal skills, flexibility, compassion, some sort of physical strength, and detail oriented. Most OTAs have to be licensed or registered by an accredited occupational therapy assistant program in order to practice therapy.

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.

I want to become an Occupational Therapist Assistant because I have always dreamed of helping people young and old, and occupational therapy is perfect for that. I want to help people gain their independence and confidence back whether they are recovering from things like a stroke or an illness / disease. Each person’s situation is unique: some may live with someone who is able to help the patient out or they may not have anyone to help them so you have to adjust your plans to fit each individual. Doing that may be difficult at times but I have been through numerous situations that required hard work and I was able to complete them. Independence and confidence are important aspects of life, especially when it comes to day-to-day living. There will be people who can make a full recovery and will be able to live

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).

A person who is looking into becoming an occupational therapist must have a specific education and set of skills to successfully navigate the job. To start, one must first attain a bachelor's degree in order to apply to an occupational therapy master's degree program. There is no specific bachelor's degree that is mandatory to enter into a graduate program, but there is mandatory coursework that one must complete, such as physiology, biology, and psychology (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015). These coursework requirements vary depending on each school's preference. Schools that offer an occupational therapy graduate program, in the state of Florida, include: Adventist University of Health Sciences, Barry University, University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences, and Nova Southeastern University. To prepare for admittance into a program one must complete the required coursework, the minimum number observational hours, acquire recommendations from occupational therapists and professor, and complete the GRE exam (The American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.). Along with the educational requirements, one must have or develop certain skills that will assist in the everyday duties of being an occupational therapist. Communication is an important skill because an occupational therapist is constantly interacting with their patients to either talk about how they are doing or teach them how to do a specific task.

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."

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

With the variety of majors and interests college offers, the decision of choosing a career holds a heavy weight. There are many paths one can go to have a successful, fulfilling job for the rest of their lives; this is where college can explore a person’s likes and dislikes. From taking taking the self-assessment, it resulted careers that revolve around medical and/or as educators to help others. These choices seemed very very accurate and possible that I want to pursue. I have always been passionate of caring for others in some source. The four careers that I decided to further research are: occupational therapist, social and human service assistant, pharmacist, and veterinarian.

The Occupational Therapy Assistant lab at University of Charleston is unavailable after normal business hours to complete tasks hands on and to work on homework effectively; with no computer lab available for additional knowledge on the subjects, OTA students of University of Charleston is at a hindrance, resulting in tasks being completed off campus. The OTA program is at an educational disadvantage because the main resources are limited to a Monday through Friday schedule, which entitles students to rely on unscholarly articles and websites for information.

I was at ease because I was in the best hands when my father sat me up on a table to wrap my sprained ankle after a reckless fall in gymnastics. He lectured me while handing me crutches and pulling me back onto my feet. “You have to take it easy until it heals,” he said as he continued to demonstrate how to properly apply my own bandages, ice my ankle and safely walk. This occurrence was not something new to me. Growing up, I was often inspired by the struggles my father underwent as an Asian immigrant fighting to open his own primary care clinic in America. However this gave me the freedom to interact directly with patients to educated people on how to promote their health and the steps to take in order to recover and return to their original lifestyles. My father’s influence and tenacious work ethic instilled in me the dedication to provide the best care possible throughout all my experiences and cultivated my desire to become an occupational therapist.

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