OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY ASSISTANT
The occupational therapist assistant, OTA works with patients under supervision of a certified occupational therapist or OT. The OTA aids patients with problems that can be emotional, physical or rehabilitative. Some of the jobs include helping the patient with activities, recording data and progress of patients, and then sharing with the occupational therapist (OT). The OTA can keep track of patient insurance and billing information. The OTA must have completed an accredited occupational therapy program.
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST
The occupational therapist (OT) has a BA, MA and is certified to work with diverse ages. These can range from infancy to geriatrics. The therapist carefully evaluates the needs of the patient and sets up a care plan that can then be shared with an assistant (OTA).
JOBS AFFILIATED WITH OTA AND OT
The OT evaluates and plans and the OTA and or OT can offer assistance with:
dressing, playing, social interaction or other skills.
Both the OT and the OTA need to understand a patient’s illness or disability. Proper training and certification is necessary.
COMPARISON OF REQUIREMENTS FOR THE OTA AND THE OT
1. Both need to produce their GPA’s from previous studies.
2. The OTA need to take Anatomy, Physiology, Medical Vocabulary courses, math, science and
interpersonal communication.
For the BA and MA additional courses may be psychology, evaluation of patients, advanced statistics.
3. Field work is required.
4. To move from the OTA to the OT, one must take the coursework beyond the AA degree.
Some programs may take 2 years beyond the AA for the BA and 2 for the MA. This can vary if online program is used.
SALARY COMPARISON
The national median for OTA is between $31,000 and $44,000. The OT median is $56,000. These salaries vary in accordance to location, scheduling and previous experience.
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY SCHOOLS/OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY ASSISTANT SCHOOLS
———Maryville University – St. Louis Missouri 800-621-7440
———Montgomery College – Silver Spring, Maryland (OTA training – AA)
———University of Maryland (UMB) http://pt.umaryland.edu/ programs for OTA, OT
———University of Arizona School of Health – MA – (online available)
———Boston University – Online courses OTA
———Nova Southeastern University – Ft.Lauderdale, Florida – MAT and Continuing courses, Online doctorate
———Brown Mackie College – Tucson – www.brownmackie.edu/Tucson – OTA
Jobs are available in the OTA and OT professions. To move from OTA to OA one needs to consider further coursework and compliance with certifications. This can vary in accordance to programs selected. Online programs may speed up the process in many cases. Take a good look and good luck as you pursue the profession.