Occupational Therapist Salary: How is it determined?


Posted on September 11, 2011 by What Is OccupationalTherapy

Occupational therapist salary can be very attractive for those who are considering a career in the medical services.  Most jobs in the medical industry are mentally and physically demanding, and the practice of occupational therapy is no exemption.  While it is true that the job of an Occupational Therapist is quite difficult, there is no doubt that the high Occupational Therapist salary is a sweet incentive.

One of the main factors of Occupational Therapist salary is the level of education and qualification that a professional holds.  Of course, it is only logical for someone with advanced degrees to earn more than the lowest average income.  Pursuing further education—such as a master’s or a doctorate degree—will allow one to bring in more knowledge and skill into the job; therefore his or her services will be more valuable compared to the O.T. that only possesses minimum qualification.

The kind of establishment or institution a licensed professional is employed with is another factor that affects the amount of Occupational Therapist salary.  On average, those who are employed with a hospital or a healthcare establishment earns around twenty to thirty percent more in salary compared to those who are employed with an educational institution, such as elementary or secondary schools.  Also, it has been observed that more than half of all the Occupational Therapists in the country are employed with a hospital or a healthcare institution, with the others distributed in educational institutions, private companies, and other kinds of industries where the services of an O.T. will be useful.

The last factor that affects Occupational Therapist salary is the location of the workplace.  California is probably the highest paying state—with Redwood City and San Mateo being the cities that pay the most.

 

Posted in Occupational Therapist salary | Tagged | Leave a comment

What Is An Occupational Therapist, Exactly?

Posted on September 9, 2011 by What Is OccupationalTherapy

What is an occupational therapist?  This is a question that plays in the mind of a lot of people when confronted by this rather obscure term.  After repeating the question in their minds (“what is an occupational therapist, exactly?”), most people will still not have come up with a concrete answer that will satisfy their curiosity about the matter.  The answer to what is an occupational therapist is not an easy one—mainly because this field of the medical sciences can be very broad, and there are a lot of items included in the job description of an occupational therapist.  We will repeat the question once again—what is an occupational therapist?  What does this kind of medical profession entail?

Like most medical professions in the industry, the occupational therapist is a licensed medical worker.  To define what is an occupational therapist based on the job description, the basic answer is that the occupational therapist is the person who sets the patients on the road toward self-reliance.  Although the name may suggest that the occupational therapist is someone who fixes work-related problems, the occupational therapist is actually someone who prescribes “occupations”—things that the patient can do with his hands and probably use his mind and imagination—as a form of therapy for patients that have been disabled (figuratively or literally) by injury or physical and mental illnesses.

What is an occupational therapist can also be defined by the kind of work he or she performs.  The main purpose of occupational therapy is to encourage the social and physical development, as well as the motor functions, of the patient, and these are performed by designing a rehabilitation program that is most suitable to every patient’s condition—whether physical, mental, or emotional—and limitations and capacities of his or her body.

Posted in What is an Occupational Therapist | Tagged | Leave a comment

Finding The Best Occupational Therapy Programs

Posted on September 7, 2011 by What Is OccupationalTherapy

Occupational therapy programs are an important requirement if you want to become a licensed occupational therapist.  Because occupational therapy is standardized field of study, there are a lot of universities and colleges offering occupational therapy programs of all levels—from associate and bachelor’s degrees to post-graduate or master’s and doctorate levels.  The coursework involved in occupational therapy programs will allow the aspiring occupational therapist to have a basic understanding and knowledge of human physiology and psychology.

In general, occupational therapy programs will require an aspiring occupational therapist to study biology, chemistry, physics, human anatomy, physiology, and a whole lot more subjects that are directly involved in the medical and physical sciences.  Occupational therapy programs—whether you enroll in one with a physical school or an online educational institution—basically have the same course framework, because they aim to help the student prepare for a fruitful and rewarding career in the future.

If you have the time and the financial resources, it is highly recommended that you enroll in occupational therapy programs offered by a physical school.  Of course, it will be important to find an accredited university or college offering such programs, because you can be assured that you will get quality education.  Aside from providing the students with classroom lectures and highly qualified professors, there are also facilities for clinical training—which will definitely come in handy once you have graduated and starting on your career as an occupational therapist.

There are also online occupational therapy programs—and before you dismiss them as a pale comparison to the ones offered by a physical school, you should know that many of these online course offerings are accredited and are very convenient in this day and age.

Wherever you choose to enroll for occupational therapy programs, the dedication to the future career and the willingness to learn will be very important in this endeavor.  Good luck!

Posted in Occupational Therapy Programs | Tagged | Leave a comment

The Occupational Therapist Assistant Salary Rate

Posted on September 5, 2011 by What Is OccupationalTherapy

The rate of Occupational Therapist Assistant salary is one of the things that come up whenever one is seriously considering a career in this field.  Becoming an occupational therapist assistant is a very rewarding career move—one will get to work with a lot of people and help the patients get started on the road toward full recovery.  The occupational therapist assistant salary is also a great motivator for people to consider the job—especially when a career in the practice and industry of occupational therapy can also be a very fulfilling job in terms of the financial rewards.

There are a lot of factors that influence the amount of occupational therapist assistant salary.  One of them is the individual’s level of education and experience.  It is just logical that the assistant who has furthered his or her training in the field, or has more relevant working experience will get the higher rate of occupational therapist assistant salary.  On average, the typical occupational therapist assistant salary in the United States is about thirty thousand to forty-five thousand every year—but it could possibly be higher or lower, depending on the industry the individual is working in and the location of the establishment or institution he or she is employed in.  Private hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare service establishments are the highest-paying employers, while institutions like public schools and educational systems offer occupational therapist assistant salary that is quite on the low side.  Also, institutions that operate in the city or busy urban areas tend to offer higher rates in occupational therapist assistant salary—an individual who wants to find satisfying financial rewards while pursuing a career in the field will do well in the city.

There are also other factors that determine the Occupational Therapist Assistant  salary—but those we have mentioned above are a few of the most important ones.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

What is Occupational Therapy?: A History

Posted on September 3, 2011 by What Is OccupationalTherapy

If asked what is occupational therapy, a professional practicing in this field of the medical sciences will point to the history of the field.  In the ancient times, there has been conclusive evidence that occupation has been used as a method of therapy in treatment.  What is occupational therapy back then was the usage of therapeutic baths, exercise, massage, and even music, and these treatments were used to cure people with mental illnesses.  If the ancient Roman doctor Celsus is alive today and we can ask him what is occupational therapy, he will probably answer that it is the treatment of illnesses in patients with listening to music, traveling, conversing with his peers, and exercising.  But if we ask the medieval doctors what is occupational therapy, the best answer we will be met with is a blank stare—for they did not believe in gentle and calm treatments of “mental” disorders back then.

It was during the 1700s in Europe that the answer to the question of what is occupational therapy is slowly being developed.  Johann Christian Reil and Philippe Pinel reformed the oppressive hospital system that used chains and ropes to restraint their patients—and steered toward using tedious work and leisure activities to promote the well being of the patients.  During this time, the United States is still not aware of what is occupational therapy—they did not adapt this humane healthcare system until the turn of the twentieth century.

The 1910s saw to the development of what is occupational therapy as we know it today.  The focus, back then, was promoting health and well being among the invalids—or the people whose lives were severely hampered by injury or illness.  The healthcare professional during that era defined what is occupational therapy by encouraging the patients to do crafts as part of their treatment.

Posted in What is Occupational Therapy | Tagged | Leave a comment

What is Occupational Therapy?: Evolution of the Discipline

Posted on August 26, 2011 by What Is OccupationalTherapy

In the last article, we have answered the question of what is occupational therapy by looking into the history of the discipline.  Although defining what is occupational therapy cannot be limited to associating it with a singular scientific discipline, it is more often connected to the medical sciences, as it deals with the treatment and rehabilitation of people who have been suffering from mental, spiritual, physical, and social disabilities.  It was not until the 1920s that the question of what is occupational therapy has been met with standardization.  Entry and exit criteria to the now developing profession were founded and established, and the concerned professionals rallied for satisfactory salaries, steady employment, and fair working conditions in the places they chose to work at.  Because the professionals working in occupational therapy were showing capacity for organization, the discipline eventually gained medical and scientific legitimacy.

The question of what is occupational therapy might yield an answer that is closely tied to the sciences, but the driving philosophy of the discipline was probably more of a contrast to the anti-humanistic stance of popular science.  In fact, the founders of the discipline borrowed more from the ideals and concepts of romanticism (a literary and art movement popular in Victorian Europe), humanism, and pragmatism, which are philosophies that shaped the Western consciousness of the 1800s.  Adolf Meyer, a Swiss-American psychiatrist, answered the question of what is occupational therapy by presenting a paper on the topic in 1922.  William Rush Dunton, defined what is occupational therapy by asserting that occupation is a “basic human need” and that it can possibly be used in the promotion of health and well-being of the patient.

To answer the question what is occupational therapy is looking back on how the discipline has evolved into its modern day form.

Posted in Occupational Therapy Description | Tagged , | Leave a comment