Occupational Therapy Outline

As a member of Phi Theta Epsilon, I will continue to pursue my occupational therapy degree in the presence of other highly motivated students that share the same values and the same desire to contribute to the continued growth and promotion of our profession. I will continue to seek the knowledge and experience necessary for me to become the best occupational therapist that I can be for my future clients with the support of Phi Theta Epsilon. I will demonstrate continued academic excellence and professionalism through my role in positively representing occupational therapy at Alvernia. I am excited for the opportunity to represent occupational therapy not only here at Alvernia, but also within the larger community as well.

Occupational therapy is a profession that is currently growing faster than anyone would have expected. Because of the increase in demands for occupational therapy services, therapists are having larger caseloads, needing the help of more occupational therapists. Occupational therapy in the mental health setting is one environment that has grown in popularity over the last decade. Knowing the benefits of occupational therapy in this setting, and the expansion of clients needing occupational therapy services, more funding needs to be established in this setting.

My long-term goal is to learn the techniques that are used by patients to help them progress. In addition, I want to explore the different work environments, which the occupational therapists work in such as in hospitals, clinics, or schools.

The licensure requirement I looked up for where I live in CT. For an Occupational therapy license, one must have received a bachelor’s degree and a graduate program that has been accredited by the AOTA. They also could have completed an

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

Occupational Therapy has played a role in helping those with Mental and physical disabilities in the United States since 1917. Before that time, Occupational Therapy was used solely in mental institutions to help people that were "more normal" and able to function in a social status. These patients enjoyed things like arts and crafts. It seemed that those who engaged in such activities where perceived as "more healthy". These findings lead Drs. to encourage patients to engage is such activity to improve there overall health. (http://quoccupationaltherapy.weebly.com/history-of-occupational-therapy.htmlhistory-of-occupational-therapy.html)

I am thankful for having the opportunity of applying to the Occupational Therapy program at Abilene Christian University (ACU). My decision of becoming an occupational therapist arose my sophomore year in North Lake College. Ever since, I have worked toward taking the prerequisites and then transferred to the University of Texas at Arlington, where I obtained by bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science. So later, I could pursue obtaining my master’s in Occupational Therapy. I am applying to the occupational program at ACU because, it is a Christian school, its excellent degree plan, along with experienced faculty, and my eagerness about of becoming an occupational therapist would equip me with the tools I need to perform the occupation with quality and humanity. I am ready to commit and serve others by putting to use what I have learned from occupational therapy experiences and to take advantage of all the resources the program has to offer.

When asked what I want to do with my life, my answer is simply to help others. Although this answer is one would expect to hear from just about anyone, I have always been encouraged by mentors and parents to do what I love. In my case, helping others brings me a great deal of satisfaction. The human body and how it is able to adapt has always been a fascination of mine, and from a young age I identified the health care field as an ideal fit for my interests in medicine, as well as my passion for helping others. With these two drives in mind, I found myself at the age of sixteen with a career goal in mind: Occupational Therapy.

A practitioner looking to maximize their career should define personal expectations and goals for the affiliation including the desired amount of supervision and style of supervision that would enhance attainment of goals and pair great with the individual’s learning style. Being able to independently seek and participate in opportunities for improving skills is a great way to advance in the field of occupational therapy. It is important during fieldwork to demonstrates consistent work behaviors including initiative, preparedness, and dependability. Every day of fieldwork should be given the best effort because this could potentially become a company that would want the OT practitioner as an employee. This requires the practitioner to consistently maintain professional behaviors in the workplace such as taking initiative, being prepared and dependable, and assuming a professional demeanor.

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.

Now before I talked a little on how I became interested in this helping profession, by doing my own research and so on. I have to admit there have been points in my college career that I have doubted my choice in career. What has helped me continue in this far, have been a couple different experiences. One has been an amazing teacher that I had my first semester here at Northern. She herself is an Occupational Therapist and the class that she taught was an Intro to Occupational Therapy

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

Assistants have countless work tasks, but a few of the primary tasks are choosing the best therapy to fit patients’ needs and capabilities, overseeing patients’ performance in these activities while offering support, and educating patients and families on home programs, basic living skills, and the care and use of adaptive equipment (“Occupational Therapy”, 2015). Assistants need an associate’s degree or 1-year certificate program in order to practice (“Certified Occupational”, 2016). Different college majors for this occupation are health sciences, exercise and wellness, and kinesiology (“College of Health”, 2015). To transfer into an appropriate major to be an occupational therapy assistant, a GPA of 2.5 or above is required (“College of Health”, 2016). Health Occupation Students of America (HOSA) is an organization on campus, and there are events on campus such as Occupational Therapy Night and A.T. Still Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy Student Q&A Session that are also student events on campus that connect to occupational therapy assistance (“Orgsync”, 2016). In order to obtain this job, the assistants need a couple years of experience working under a trained professional in order to learn how to properly do work tasks and meet qualifications such as monitoring patient progress, maintaining medical equipment, preparing medical reports, and performing clerical work in medical settings (“Occupational Therapy”, 2015). Health Occupation Students of America (HOSA) and American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) are national professional organizations for this occupation (“Orgsync”, 2016; “American Occupational”, 2016). The average salary for this occupation is $27.38 hourly and $56,950 annually. (“Occupational Therapy”, 2015). In 2014, there were 33,000 occupational therapy assistants, and the projected growth of this occupation

In order to become an Occupational Therapists Assistant, one must earn an Associate’s Degree, obtain a certification and/or license for OTA, and have 1-2 years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. As I complete my major, I will also be gaining work experience during my Externship. Through this experience, I will have the opportunity to participate actively in my field of work interest alongside my mentors who are OTs and OTAS and gain the hands-on training I will need in order to begin my career as an OTA.

Occupational therapy is focused on developing creative ways to resolve problems in order to maximize independence, making these skills essential for the job. I am also goal oriented, self-motivated, and have a strong drive for academic excellence. Through volunteering in a variety of health settings, I have developed a great level of patience, as well as strong communication skills. I have experience in designing adaptive equipment through computer aided drafting and engineering courses. Through focusing my projects for these classes on adaptive equipment, I have gained spatial and visual skills, as well as an understanding of the importance of technology in occupational therapy. In addition, I have a very compassionate attitude and desire to help others. I believe that these traits, skills, and experiences, will contribute to my success as an occupational