Campus Connection

Do you remember how difficult it was to decide what we wanted to do after college? Many of us turned to family, friends, and counselors for advice but I am sure not many of them suggested looking into the field of Occupational Therapy (OT). In fact, many people are not even sure what occupational therapists actually do, and some do not even know that such a profession exists. I was one of these people. Luckily, I had an aunt who knew about OT and I have her to thank for suggesting that I look into this promising specialty.

At first, I was very skeptical about getting into a field I had heard so little about, but as soon as I started researching OT, I realized that this was very much the specialty for me. For a while now I had been considering a career in healthcare and thought that the best option for me would be to go into physical therapy. However, I felt that this field would limit my patient interaction to helping people regain motor function after surgeries, illnesses, or accidents.

It seemed that as a physical therapist I would be focusing on helping patients gain back their loss of function and that my job would stop once I helped them reach their maximal physical potential. But I wanted to be more involved.

This is where occupational therapy came in, because it bridged recovery of physical function with recovery of skills necessary to conduct activities of daily living in the context of their physical abilities. This meant that I would get the chance to work with patients on a much more intimate level and would have the satisfaction of doing more for them, even after they had reached their maximal motor capability.

And this was exactly what I was looking for in my career.

The American Occupational Therapy Association defines occupational therapy as “skilled treatment that helps individuals achieve independence in all facets of their lives.” Basically, OT assists people with disabilities in learning how to optimize the use of their existing skills and to help them develop new ones.

They can work with: children who have developmental disabilities in order to help them reach their full potential, or with normally developing children, who have difficulty learning a skill, such as reading or writing; adults who suffered traumatic injuries or were afflicted with an illness to help them regain some or all of the skills they once had, like cooking, eating, and showering; the elderly population to help individuals remain active in their communities, including teaching them how to continue driving safely to help mitigate the effects of dementia.

On top of all that, a career in occupational therapy gives you the opportunity to partner up with various other specialties. Therapists can work with architects, engineers, and builders to create homes that follow a universal design, meaning that they are made accessible for people with various disabilities by incorporating features such as elevators, ramps, or moveable kitchen cabinets. And they can work with physicians, nurses, and physical therapists to devise a plan of care that would lead to the best results and highest level of recovery for the patient, both in terms of their physical body and in terms of their skill sets.

Thus, it’s no wonder that in 2008 U.S. News & World Report ranked occupational therapy 31^st among the top careers, based on job satisfaction, training difficulty, prestige, job market outlook, and pay.

All of these features make occupational therapy a highly collaborative profession, giving therapists the opportunity to work alongside a diverse group of colleagues, in a number of different settings, and with a variety of populations. This was another factor that really peaked my interest in the specialty, as I saw the multiple opportunities I could pursue, once I had my degree.

So now that you have all this information in hand, you can share this knowledge of OT with your fellow students in the health-related fields.

Elana Roshal is a 5th year Occupational Therapy student at Towson University.

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