Personal Statement: Why I Chose Occupational Therapy Assistant

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 am writing this easy to tell my plans after graduating from high school are to, Go to a two year college at Bossier Parish Community College.And I will taking Physical Therapist Assistant. Knowing math will help me in this field because in this that field you have to know math and science. Even though that math is hard for me and it is not easy to do i need to learn how to do it. In the following paragraph i will discuss how knowing math will help you in the medical field.

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).

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

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.

A health care profession that I am interested in pursuing would be in occupational therapy, specifically the assistant. Although many people do not know what someone in this profession does, it is a growing occupation and is becoming more known. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2015), “occupational therapy assistants and aides help patients develop, recover, and improve the skills needed for daily living and working” (“Occupational Therapy Assistants and Aides”, para. 1). There are a few different schooling options, job settings, and salaries for this health care profession. Occupational therapy assistants need to have an associate’s degree from an accredited OTA program, college, or technical school.

The gift of life has been interpreted as an insurmountable present. A profession that empowers a person to heal and restore life is regarded as one of the most respected jobs. If you are drawn towards servicing humanity and have often dreamt of carving a niche for yourself in the world of medical sciences, then a career in medical assistantship is the perfect choice. We are here to assist you with a curriculum that is a perfect blend of theoretical study and practical experimentation. Our medical assistant schools in Miami have won respect for producing the best medical assistants who have proved to be a true asset in society.

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.

A myriad of challenging experiences have molded my life serving as a catalyst to become an Occupational Therapist. At age eighteen, I was diagnosed with a progressive form of bilateral hearing loss. Due to the sudden and severe nature of my hearing loss, I was able to participate in a rehabilitation program. Overcoming adversity provided a sense of purpose and vocational direction. The last 20 years, I have guided others confronting equally daunting hardships.

Have you ever thought about what life would be like if you had a life-altering disability that completely changed the way you were able to function on a day-today basis? Have you ever given thought to how frustrating your new reality would be? I would venture to guess that most therapy patients likely never anticipated the depth of challenge that would become their new reality. These patients come to occupational therapists for help and are oftentimes afraid, confused, and doubtful they will ever have again the life they once knew. They are depending on their therapist to play many different roles for them and be able to guide them through this new and possibly frightening time in their life.

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.

I am writing to apply for the Master of Occupational Therapy Practice with Swinburne University of Technology. I initially studied Bachelor of Health Science and Master of Occupational Therapy Practice at La Trobe University from 2013-2017. I took an alternative exit to Bachelor of Health Science as I was excluded from the course due to failing the same subject/placement three times. Despite difficulties and failures, I am determined to strive and become a qualified and competent Occupational Therapist. I always want to become an Occupational Therapist since I was young.

When I came to SLU, I had trouble finding where I fit in. I tried club volleyball and Greek life, but I never felt that those places were where I belonged. Finally, I joined Alpha Phi Omega (APO), a service fraternity on campus, but I still was not as involved as I wanted to be. While APO taught me about the importance of leadership, friendship, and service, I knew I wanted to be involved in an organization that would support me professionally in my future career. Thus, when I started my junior year, I realized that the occupational therapy community at SLU was where I belonged, and Pi Theta Epsilon could provide me an opportunity to merge the two together.

With my past work experiences as a case manager, I 've had various meetings about what services my clients were going to need and what my involvement was going to be in meeting their needs. This has helped me strengthen my communication skills and I have learned to talk to a variety of different individuals. I especially find myself to have confidence which has also helped me sound relaxed and approachable when meeting someone for the first time. With this in mind I felt positive I was going to do well on my interview reflection assignment for my Introduction to Occupational Therapy class.

The career path I have chosen to enter upon the completion of my college major is in Occupational Therapy Assistance. Occupational Therapy is the medical treatment for people who are limited by mental health problems, the aging process, physical injury or illness, and learning or developmental disabilities. An Occupational Therapist Assistant, or OTA, is the assistant to the Occupational Therapists, or OT, and assists him or her in providing Occupational Therapy treatments and procedures. An Occupational Therapist Assistant may also assist in the development of treatment plans, direct activity programs, carry out routine functions, and document the progress of patients’ treatments. OTs and OTAs work together with their patients, and their goal is have their patients regain the highest ability of functionality in their daily lives.