My goal is to become an occupational therapist assistant by getting my associate degree, but I would like to start working in this field now while I attend school. Also, if you work in this field, what are some pros and cons? Thanks.
How do I go about getting a job as an occupational therapist aide with no background experience?
10
Apr
jannsody
April 10, 2010 at 11:30 pm
My cousin had gone to school for occupational therapy assistant, and while it is a rewarding field, the job may be both mentally as well as physically draining. If wanting to get a job as a occupational therapy aide, perhaps one may start out as a volunteer until if or when a position opens up. The job title may be ‘ot aide’, ‘physical therapy aide, ‘rehabilitation aide’ or such. If there are jobs available (economy plus usually only a couple ot/pt aides per facility), perhaps look at area hospitals, nursing homes or outpatient facilities.
Most jobs in the OT field and as an OT assistant are working in nursing home/long-term care facilities. They may work with residents (term for patients in nursing home since they, unfortunately, usually live there) that have had a stroke (“brain attack”), amputated limb, hip replacement or fractured hip or such. If looking for an ota program, please make sure that it’s accredited within the industry.
For general career information: http://www.bls.gov/oco and can type into search.
JustMe68_86
April 11, 2010 at 12:07 am
You could try a local nursing home or LTC facility. Back in the day (1980s) they would train you to be a physical therapy assistant or occupational therapy assistant. But I believe now days, you have to be a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA) or Certified Physical Therapy Assistant (CPTA) to be hired. You could try checking with your local nursing home, explain that you are attending school to obtain your COTA but would like to have real world experience while attending school. If they say no, ask them if you could come in some day to shadow the COTA to get a perspective of what a typical day in the life of a COTA entails.
beamer
April 11, 2010 at 12:27 am
I have been an occupational therapist for over 6 years and love my job! It is such a rewarding career. It is great to work with people with all sorts of disabilities and help them reach their fullest potential. Another pro is you can work in so many different areas such as mental health, pediatrics, geratrics, ergonomics in the workplace, etc. The cons are like any job the politics that go on plus it can be physically demanding on your body depending on what setting you work in. Another con at least where I live is there is not a huge demand for COTA’s compared to OTR. When I was going to school I was a home health care aide which really helped my skills to work on their activities of daily living. I would recommend looking into your local hospitals and nursing homes to see if they are hiring for a “rehab aide”. Generally this does not require experience plus you actually get to work with physical, speech, and occupational therapy. A lot of rehab aides that I have worked with are going to school to become a therapist usually get offered a job at that facility. I wish you the best of luck!