Career Compass by Abby Jadot Occupational Therapist
What is occupational therapy? Occupational therapy helps solve problems that interfere with your ability to do the things that are important to you. It can also prevent future problems. Such problems include injury, illness, disability or other things that limit your ability to take care of yourself, work, or enjoy hobbies. Occupational therapists believe that occupations describe who you are and how you feel about yourself. If you are unable to do the things you want, or need to do, to live and enjoy your life, your general well-being may be affected and that’s where a occupational therapist comes in to help!
What is occupational therapy? They are employed by hospitals, nursing homes, schools, private agencies, community care centers, social service agencies, rehabilitation clinics, and colleges and universities. Some Ots may have they own practices. OTs can work in specially equipped therapy rooms in health care facilities or a clients’ workplace and home. They interact with all kinds of people. A client may be anyone from a child with disabilities who is adapting to school life, to an older person suffering from severe arthritis, to a person recuperating from a workplace injury or car accident. OTs work 8 to 9 hours a day and make $45,000 and $95,000 a year.
Characteristics to succeed Communication and listening skills Problem solving Desire to help others Patience Compassion Empathy Emotionally stable
Education The minimum educational requirement for this career is a masters degree in occupational therapy In high school it is highly recommended to take advanced math and science courses Your bachelors degree can be in any field but it is recommended to take courses such as anatomy and psychology as OT programs are very small and competitive. The masters degree in OT takes about 2 years to complete
Douglas College and University of British Columbia Ideally I would go to Douglas for 4 years to get my bachelors before going to UBC to take my Masters in Occupational Therapy which takes 2-3 years to complete To get into Douglas and UBC I would need 76% or more in all my high school courses. At Douglas I would need to take a social science course, behavioral science course, and a human anatomy course to qualify for UBC UBC also requires 70 hours interactive volunteer experience
Short Term Goals Graduate from high school with 80% or more in all my courses Start looking for volunteer opportunities with children, disabled, and elderly people Become a full time student at Riverside Secondary Get a part time job to start saving for post secondary school
Potential Hurdles My biggest hurdle is money and paying for post secondary I often struggle in science and math
Long term goals Graduate from UBC with my MOT Take the certification exam for the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists and become a member Have a job right out of school in occupational therapy so I can start paying for student loans
Thank you for listening