Occupational Therapists

What the job really is

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.

At a glance

• Sector: Healthcare Practitioners
• O*NET-SOC code: 29-1122
• O*NET job zone: 5 — extensive preparation
• Work sample tasks on file: 12
• Tools and technologies listed: 12

What you actually do

Work sample tasks recorded for this occupation:

• Advise on health risks in the workplace or on health-related transition to retirement.
• Provide patients with assistance in locating or holding jobs.
• Test and evaluate patients' physical and mental abilities and analyze medical data to determine realistic rehabilitation goals for patients.
• Complete and maintain necessary records.
• 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.
• Plan and implement programs and social activities to help patients learn work or school skills and adjust to handicaps.
• 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.
• Lay out materials such as puzzles, scissors and eating utensils for use in therapy, and clean and repair these tools after therapy sessions.
• Consult with rehabilitation team to select activity programs or coordinate occupational therapy with other therapeutic activities.
• Design and create, or requisition, special supplies and equipment, such as splints, braces, and computer-aided adaptive equipment.

Tools and technology

Facebook, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Word, eClinicalWorks EHR software, Adaptive cutlery, Adjustable beds, Alternative computer keyboards, Bizmatics PrognoCIS EMR, Braille printers, Casamba Smart, Computer drawing software

What employers expect you to already be comfortable with.

Where this job leads

Related occupations — the usual moves up and sideways:

• Occupational Therapy Assistants
• Occupational Therapy Aides
• Physical Therapists
• Physical Therapist Assistants
• Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physicians
• Recreational Therapists
• Psychiatric Technicians
• Clinical Nurse Specialists

Getting in

O*NET assigns this occupation job zone 5 (extensive preparation). The related occupations above are the realistic routes in and out.

Find openings

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Check this against the source

O*NET OnLine: Occupational Therapists — the authoritative public-domain profile this page is derived from, including the full task list, reported skills and the wage estimates for your region.

Derived and rewritten from the public-domain O*NET database (U.S. Department of Labor / Employment and Training Administration). Figures are observations, not promises — always confirm salary, licensing and visa requirements with the employer and the relevant authority.