Occupational Therapy Degrees

by Nick Roberts
nick.roberts@medicalhealthcarecareerschools.com
Medical Healthcare Career Schools Columnist

If you pursue an occupational therapy career, you will find that helping others live more productive and satisfying lives is more than personally rewarding. It can be a promising career.

An occupational therapy career offers you many choices to exercise your passion and talents. You can help people cope with physical, mental or emotional impairments and adapt to their everyday lives, whether in a hospital, office, home or school setting.

With an occupational therapy degree, your chances of finding work are very good. Employment of occupational therapists is expected to grow faster than the average of all occupations through 2012, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.bls.gov). Median annual earnings of occupational therapists were $51,990 in 2002.

What are the types of degrees required for an occupational therapy career?

Required degrees in occupational therapy vary with the type of work you wish to perform and the level you want to reach. To prepare for your career in occupational therapy, you will need to complete a bachelor's degree or a post-baccalaureate degree (a professional master's degree or above).

Professional level degrees in occupational therapy lead to fully certified occupational therapist positions. Technical level, or associate, degrees prepare you to become an occupational therapy assistant. Associate occupational therapy degrees take two years to complete.

But as of 2007, all new occupational therapy candidates will need a post-baccalaureate degree, according to the American Occupational Therapy Association (www.aota.org).

Courses in occupational therapy include physical, biological, and behavioral sciences as well as applied occupational therapy theory and skills. You will also need to complete six months of supervised fieldwork.

An occupational therapy career offers many employment opportunities. Most jobs in occupational therapy are found in hospitals. But you can also set up your own occupational therapy practice and provide contract work and consulting services.

Nick Roberts is a journalist with over 15-year experience in education and career development.