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Occupational Therapists

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Assess, plan, and organize rehabilitative programs that help build or restore vocational, homemaking, and daily living skills, as well as general independence, to persons with disabilities or developmental delays. Use therapeutic techniques, adapt the individual's environment, teach skills, and modify specific tasks that present barriers to the individual.

Related: Occupational Therapy Assistants Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Physicians Physical Therapist Assistants Physical Therapists Recreational Therapists

Industries: Health & Counseling Education

Summary
Details

Plan and implement programs and social activities to help patients learn work or school skills and adjust to handicaps.
Plan, organize, and conduct occupational therapy programs in hospital, institutional, or community settings to help rehabilitate persons with disabilities because of illness, injury or psychological or developmental problems.
Evaluate patients' progress and prepare reports that detail progress.
Lay out materials such as puzzles, scissors and eating utensils for use in therapy, and clean and repair these tools after therapy sessions.
Lay out materials such as puzzles, scissors and eating utensils for use in therapy, and clean and repair these tools after therapy sessions.
Conduct research in occupational therapy.
Advise on health risks in the workplace or on health-related transition to retirement.
Test and evaluate patients' physical and mental abilities and analyze medical data to determine realistic rehabilitation goals for patients.
Provide training and supervision in therapy techniques and objectives for students or nurses and other medical staff.
Test and evaluate patients' physical and mental abilities and analyze medical data to determine realistic rehabilitation goals for patients.
Complete and maintain necessary records.
Provide training and supervision in therapy techniques and objectives for students or nurses and other medical staff.
Provide patients with assistance in locating or holding jobs.
Help clients improve decision making, abstract reasoning, memory, sequencing, coordination, and perceptual skills, using computer programs.
Consult with rehabilitation team to select activity programs or coordinate occupational therapy with other therapeutic activities.
Recommend changes in patients' work or living environments, consistent with their needs and capabilities.
Help clients improve decision making, abstract reasoning, memory, sequencing, coordination, and perceptual skills, using computer programs.
Design and create, or requisition, special supplies and equipment, such as splints, braces, and computer-aided adaptive equipment.
Plan, organize, and conduct occupational therapy programs in hospital, institutional, or community settings to help rehabilitate persons with disabilities because of illness, injury or psychological or developmental problems.
Design and create, or requisition, special supplies and equipment, such as splints, braces, and computer-aided adaptive equipment.
Develop and participate in health promotion programs, group activities, or discussions to promote client health, facilitate social adjustment, alleviate stress, and prevent physical or mental disability.
Select activities that will help individuals learn work and life-management skills within limits of their mental or physical capabilities.
Evaluate patients' progress and prepare reports that detail progress.
Train caregivers in providing for the needs of a patient during and after therapy.

Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.

Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.

Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

Education

Master's degree

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

No on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

102360/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

49.21/hr

Currently Employed

3,510

Yearly Projected Openings

300

Social: People interested in this work like activities that include helping people, teaching, and talking. They do well at jobs that need:

Integrity
Dependability
Concern for Others
Cooperation
Self Control
Adaptability/Flexibility

Adaptive communication switches for the physically challenged
Braille devices for the physically challenged
Computer mouse
Cutlery or utensils for the physically challenged
Domestic electric knives
Domestic sewing machines
Drilling machines
Electronic blood pressure units
Gait belts for rehabilitation or therapy
Game pads or joy sticks
Goniometers or arthrometers
Hand held camcorders or video cameras
Hand looms
Headpointers or mouthsticks for the physically challenged
Keyboards
Medical acoustic stethoscopes
Mercury blood pressure units
Mill saw file
Notebook computers
Orthopedic splint systems
Orthotics or foot care products
Patient care beds for general use
Patient ceiling hoists
Patient lifts
Patient scooters
Personal computers
Personal digital assistant PDAs or organizers
Power drills
Power sanders
Pulleys for rehabilitation or therapy
Resistive exercise bands or putty or tubing for rehabilitation or therapy
Saws
Scanners
Soldering iron
Therapeutic balls
Touch pads
Tracer or duplicating or contouring lathe
Vascular or compression apparel or support
Visual presenters
Voice synthesizers for the physically challenged
Walkers or rollators
Weights or sets for rehabilitation or therapy
Wheelchairs

Accounting software
Computer based training software
Data base user interface and query software
Device drivers or system software
Electronic mail software
Graphics or photo imaging software
Internet browser software
Medical software
Music or sound editing software
Office suite software
Optical character reader OCR or scanning software
Pattern design software
Spreadsheet software
Voice recognition software
Web page creation and editing software
Word processing software

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