What You'll Do

  • Complete and maintain necessary records.
  • Evaluate patients' progress and prepare reports that detail progress.
  • Test and evaluate patients' physical and mental abilities and analyze medical data to determine realistic rehabilitation goals for patients.
  • Select activities that will help individuals learn work and life-management skills within limits of their mental or physical capabilities.
  • 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.
  • Recommend changes in patients' work or living environments, consistent with their needs and capabilities.
  • Consult with rehabilitation team to select activity programs or coordinate occupational therapy with other therapeutic activities.
  • Help clients improve decision making, abstract reasoning, memory, sequencing, coordination, and perceptual skills, using computer programs.
  • 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.
  • Provide training and supervision in therapy techniques and objectives for students or nurses and other medical staff.

Essential Skills

Active Listening 4.12/5
Monitoring 4.12/5
Service Orientation 4.12/5
Reading Comprehension 4.0/5
Writing 4.0/5
Speaking 4.0/5
Critical Thinking 4.0/5
Social Perceptiveness 4.0/5
Instructing 4.0/5
Judgment and Decision Making 4.0/5
Active Learning 3.88/5
Learning Strategies 3.88/5

Career Fit Overview

Use this summary to sense whether the day to day rhythm and focus of this path line up with what energizes you.

Top passions

  • Helper: Supporting people and making a difference matters to you.
  • Analyst: Investigating problems and finding patterns keeps you engaged.
  • Maker: Building and fixing energizes you. You like tangible results and practical tools.

Common styles

Empathy, Cooperation, Attention to Detail, Dependability, Social Orientation

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Key Abilities

This career demands strong capabilities in the following areas:

Oral Expression 4.12/5
Written Expression 4.0/5
Problem Sensitivity 4.0/5
Deductive Reasoning 4.0/5
Inductive Reasoning 4.0/5
Oral Comprehension 3.88/5
Written Comprehension 3.88/5
Information Ordering 3.88/5

Technologies & Tools

Bizmatics PrognoCIS EMR Casamba Smart Computer drawing software Crick Software Clicker 4 Duxbury Braille Translator eClinicalWorks EHR software Email software Facebook Fifth Walk BillingTracker FileMaker Pro HMS Internet browser software Language arts educational software Lexrotech LxPediatric Math educational software Mayer-Johnson Boardmaker Microsoft Excel Microsoft Office software Microsoft Word Music software

Work Environment & Strengths

Common Strengths for This Career

  • Empathy (High importance: 5.0/5)
  • Cooperation (High importance: 4.79/5)
  • Attention to Detail (High importance: 4.71/5)
  • Dependability (High importance: 4.65/5)
  • Social Orientation (High importance: 4.53/5)

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How to Become One

This career requires extensive preparation, typically including a graduate degree (Master's or Doctoral) and several years of experience. Most professionals in this field have invested significant time in education and training.

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Also Known As

This career is known by many different job titles across industries. Here are all the variations:

Assistive Technology Trainer Certified Hand Therapist (CHT) Early Intervention Occupational Therapist Home Care Occupational Therapist (Home Care OT) Home Health Occupational Therapist Independent Living Specialist Industrial Rehabilitation Consultant Industrial Therapist Inpatient Occupational Therapist (Inpatient OT) Job Trainer Occupational Therapist (OT) Outpatient Occupational Therapist (Outpatient OT) Pediatric Occupational Therapist (Pediatric OT) Pediatrics and Acute Care Occupational Therapist Registered Occupational Therapist (OTR) Rehabilitation Engineer Rehabilitation Occupational Therapist (Rehab OT) School Occupational Therapist (School OT) Travel Occupational Therapist (Travel OT) Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist Vocational Trainer