My favorite part about my job was being creative, whether it was planned or on the fly, working one-on-one or in small groups, and discerning the level of assistance I should use so as to empower the student rather than inhibit he or she from progressing toward a goal. There are so many types of medical equipment that we work with on a regular basis, like neuro VR programs, e-stim, modalities, dynamic splinting, hospital beds, wheelchairs, and so on. This is such an excellent pointits so important to hone in on what fits best with you, your life, and your individual needs/interests. I would love to hear more about your experience! You can take coursework online or explore community college programs near you, but both will require an investment of your money and your time. 2. However, if you do have a case that requires going to court, you can obviously charge a lot more money. Thank you! I found this information to be interesting but wanted to see if others had any additional thoughts on job opportunities. Many times, insurance and Medicare auditors dont really understand the interventions were providing. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. Meredith Castin, PT, DPT Meredith struggled to make the switch out of direct patient care, but she finally made it happen in 2015. If you want to try something different in the occupational therapy career space, these are just a few ideas which can help with your brainstorming. Writing is one of the easiest switches you can make, but you have to be willing to put in lots of time, and you might take a pretty steep pay cut at the beginning. A common career path for occupational therapists after they've been in the field for several years or several decades is to go into teaching and/or research at a specific occupational therapy program. Youll need special certifications from Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America for both ATP and SMS roles. This is one of those times when youll have to get out and volunteer and network as much as possible. You may remember studying this briefly for the NBCOT. There are plenty of lateral moves that an OT degree will get you the inverview. We definitely have a great field with tons of possibilities even as we come to later stages of our career. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Love the examples of people highlighted in non-traditional roles at the end! While the most obvious and easiest way to use your OT degree is to actually practice in a traditional setting, alternative career paths may be a better fit for you long term. If there is anything that I can do here on this website or collaborate with evidenced based research or any type of publication to get this good word out, please do let me know!!! Just this week I quit my job from acute care. Rock on, OTs!!! She has since moved on to academia, but her business helped companiescome up with strategies to coach individuals on setting up their life and environment in a way that is conducive to healthy living. One of the most important independent activities of daily living is being able to get yourself from point A to point B. Any suggestions? So I was trying to see if I would fit in any other career with my associates degree. Its been such a fun journey and the amount of knowledge I have gained is invaluable! Always appreciate the content and the transparency! Family members, significant others, and even friends might feel the impact of your change, so its vital to consider how much of a change makes sense for you at any given time. I do hope this list at least gives you a few non-physical types of job ideas to help you with your career transition. Mental health in OT is a much smaller niche than the typical rehab settings, but if your passion is in mental health, you can start looking on Indeed.com for OT mental health settings (you may need to branch out into other cities as these jobs are typically harder to find). Some roles (especially with rehab tech companies) may enable remote workbut in some cases, youll be expected to work onsite, which might even mean you need to relocate to a pricey city. Hi Shawnee, Im so glad you enjoyed the article! Writing is one of the easiest switches you can make, but you have to be willing to put in lots of time, and you might take a pretty steep pay cut at the beginning. I have read this article but most of these jobs are for OTs that have been in the feild with experience. Luckily, there are tons of alternative jobs that you can land with your occupational therapy degree. It feels like every company I work with requests my headshot at some point. The main issue is that, even though we have the perfect background for these roles, we are not landing them. This means a time commitmentand, yes, a money commitment. When youre a staff OT, ask to help out in as many unique and unconventional ways as possible. Rather than seeing my website as a fun pastime, I realized that I was serving fellow OTsI was solving a problem by filling in gaps in the information about OT careers that was available online. Its not just young, tech-savvy OTs going into usability design, eithercheck out this inspiring story about a 90-year-old occupational therapist whos helping design products for older adults at IDEO. Not all unconventional OT jobs require relocation, but many do. Nice! What would be most helpful for you? However, many programs do require their professors having an OTD or PhD, so if this is something youre really interested in, keep that in mind. Also, youll definitely want to take few courses on usability and user experience to legitimize yourself as a candidate. Remember, if you identify a way that you can solve someone elses problem, youll be very marketable! This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Thank you that means a lot! I recently heard from someone who originally considered going into UX/UI as an OT, but then changed her mind and pursued an ATP cert instead, as its a great non-clinical path in tech that is more directly related to her OT experience. As in inpatient OT, Ive been looking for alternative careers and economics and sales excite me the most. Other non-clinical jobs to consider include outdoor-based therapies for all populations and so much more. Much thanks One of the hardest parts of leaving patient care is figuring out what to do next. For more on ergonomics, visit AOTAs ergonomics site here. Rehab liaisons, also known as intake coordinators or intake liaisons, are responsible for finding the right patients for inpatient rehab facilities/inpatient rehab units (IRFs/IRUs). For those with a considerable amount of experience in a particular OT area ( ex. In our interview with Kaia Health Product Manager, Winnie Tsui, OTL, CHT, MBA, Winnie shares the importance of building (and showcasing) a pathway into tech via stepping stones. If youre interested in a career in rehab technologyand you can afford the time and costyou must try out a healthcare hackathon. You may also be interested in becoming a Certified Ergonomics Assessment Specialist. The best part about being an OT entrepreneur is that you have the freedom to choose what youre most passionate about. Non-Clinical 101 also contains an entire lesson to help you learn how to identify your marketable skills, find clients, and price yourself. Seeing is believing, and these occupational therapists have successfully transitioned into non-clinical roles! I (Sarah) got one done in the early stages of my website and, honestly, it has just made life easier. If these courses seem a bit daunting (even though theyre designed for relative beginners), consider taking a basic course in Adobe Photoshop, like this one! Weve created this guide to get you started, and to help you find the top resources for making a career pivot. Basically, if you have a favorite product, get in contact with the company and see if theyre hiring sales reps. You can always Google the company and search their open positions. I bet an OT could find a rehab equipment sales job if they wanted or something similar. Patients may become unable to operate a vehicle in situations involving recent amputation, stroke, brain injury, or other neurological impairment. Thanks again for sharing! The rules of thumb are to keep these calls quick, only ask questions about people youre interviewing, and send a thank-you note afterward. So many interesting ideas here! The next two years showed her that others wanted guidance on doing the same. I also helped to start an OT clinic within a University setting so I guess another would be Consultant to other universities wanting to open an OT clinic. Director of Rehab and OT Supervisor probably sound familiar to you. If you have big ideas, energy, a passion for creating something from nothing, and you have the drive to creatively bring value to the world, you might have what it takes to start and grow your own OT business. I would love to connect with you and chat is there a way to share contact info here? Many OTs and COTAs have also tied their love of health promotion into starting their own health coaching business that targets people looking to improve their health and well-being. Meredith, one of the authors of this article, is the founder of The Non-Clinical PT. May I reach out to possibly feature you on The Non-Clinical PT?? Some of these options usually require Bachelors degrees or that you are an OTR, but you can certainly still find an alternative path as a COTA. Meredith has a huge list of non-clinical career spotlights on her site. Occupational therapy practitioners help people with low vision function at the highest possible level by preventing accidents and injury (e.g., improving lighting), teaching new skills (e.g., eccentric viewing, visual tracking), modifying the task or environment (e.g., recommending magnifiers), and promoting a healthy lifestyle (e.g., ensuring they can participate in their daily activities).. This is Merediths flagship course. Office jobs, sales jobs, ergonomics/workplace evaluator jobs, telehealth jobs, and assistive technology jobs are all considered non-traditional (or non-clinical or unconventional) in this article. What OT topics are you most interested in? OTs are perfect for becoming Assistive Technology Professionals since we use it regularly with our patients, whether its low tech or high techassistive technology. I am a new grad and I can say with certainty that I dont want to work in SNF, hospitals, or OP. Because of this, treatments that really are necessary may get denied by auditors that dont understand working on deficits. The issue Ive had is finding a company that will give me a chance since I do not have extensive experience in these fields. Go to usability meetups. Liaisons face quotas, so if you hate productivity requirements, you might not enjoy this role. There are also other holistic avenues you can take when starting your own private practice. Given the number of paths you can take within education, theres really no one set path to get there. There are some clinics that focus solely on occupational therapy, and these are typically in the pediatric and hand-therapy disciplines. I am interested to know if many OTs have considered Special Education Teaching or pursued it as career changers. Hi Martin, thanks for your comment. There are so many occupational therapy schools that need solid OTs to educate future clinicians. The wonderful thing about being an occupational therapist or COTA is that our education and experience is so versatile, but it can be hard to know exactly where to turn if you want to do something out of the norm. SMS professionals are actually specialized ATPs! It looks like there isnt a ton of information doing a Google search, but I did find this article to be helpful: How to Become an Insurance Auditor These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. This route may also fall into the category of Business Owner/Entrepreneur as you can certainly start your own Home Modifications business. Find your favorites, then watch their career pages to see if one of the positions might be for you! for MSOT admission. Best of luck to you with whatever path you choose! 1109 12th Street Ste 3 It is such a privilege to be able to gather this kind of information for fellow OTs! The good news is that those jobs are certainly out there! If going back to college to work isnt your thing, you can also teach continuing education courses around the country in your specialty. I think that many of these non-traditional career paths can be done as a COTA, especially creating a business and consulting. For your own journey into health tech, weve made this post of influential health tech companies for you to look into. Youll also want to beef up your resume to reflect any research, tutoring, lab assisting, or clinical instructor roles youve held since your student years. If anyone can share any additional suggestions for Ashley please do! Learn how your comment data is processed. Working in mental health as an occupational therapist is similar tobeing a mental health counselor. They may be some of the few non-traditional roles youve considered, because for years, they were the only ones with real visibility for OTs. They provide pathways to non-traditional career opportunities for all rehab professionals, including PTs, OTs, SLPs, and assistants. She is also the host of the OT Potential Podcast. Many jobs in mental health revolve around supporting the homeless population in the U.S. and abroad. If youre not familiar with this concept, it can be described as a short-term, goal-oriented psychotherapy treatment that takes a hands-on, practical approach to problem-solving according to Psych Central. For more information about careers in medical sales, check out this post on Monster.com:Pharma, Biotech, Medical-Device Sales: Which Is for You? AOTA offers a Low Vision certification that you can learn more about here. Even if you dont move up in your existing company, you can list what youve done on your resume and start applying for lead roles at other facilities. Figured this might help some of you looking for something different. You would set your own hourly rates. Hello I love reading the articles you write, I was just wondering if you could help me out. My only doubts about going the OT route is thinking that I may one day regret not choosing to be a Special Education Teacher and not being smart enough for some of the advanced coursework. Here are some examples (Merediths is cooler): Consider reaching out to write a guest post for your favorite publication. It might take a bit of applying to a variety of positions but explaining to the prospective employers about your experience will be really beneficial. Educator. I transitioned from working in SNF/ Home health to now working as a clinical liaison after having a small ergonomics consultation business in Hawaii (Aging with Aloha) and its been a great fit. Due to my own healthcare needs/risks, I am considering exploring outside the box to a non-clinical job setting but not really knowing where to start..I dont have any assistive technology training, but this could be an area of interest for meDoes anyone have any suggestions or ideas about a career in medical sales/assistive technology specific to an OT? What other alternative careers for occupational therapists and COTAs would you add to this list? Thank you for your great article. There are tons of software and tech companies that need help with usability. Got more questions for us? If they work as a cash business, not getting paid through insurance. Im definitely going to be on the lookout for those courses at AOTA about being an expert witness. First of all, you can join some of the free Facebook groups below. There are definitely quite a few OTs that make the switch into medical device sales. If youre going in this direction, check out Home Modification OT Alliance! Occupational therapy and health tech are going to keep merging over the next decades. This might mean picking up a few per diem OT jobs for a year and networking as much as possible with case management during that time. offer contract work (similar to registry or per diem work) for creatives. Thank you for the great ideas as well as links to further learn about them. Disability Access Consulting is also an emerging role for OTs. There have been a lot of courses on this at AOTA conferences recently. Once youve made contacts with key players in the contracting and architecture/design industries, you can really beef up your resume (or maybe even your references, if you make nice)! Very informative & encouraging site! What does your job entail? This year has been an extremely difficult year of landing a job. Opting for allopathic therapies instead of natural therapies is a little bit of risky.https://himalayashilajit.com/, Just happened upon this outstanding website!!!! Hi Sarah! As a COTA, can I do some of these things as well? I studied how I could make my articles align with the questions people ask. Youre going to need to network as much as possible. Any career transition requires self-discipline and time. Reach out to companies like MedBridge, OccupationalTherapy.com, and Embodia Academy; if youve got quite a bit of niche clinical experience, you may be able to teach a course with them! Going non-traditional doesnt need to mean non- treatment! Some people think they want to leave patient care, but they really want to escape bad managers, shady corporations, or unrealistic productivity expectations. Even if you love writing, but have some questions about grammar or earning money, there are courses you can take that will expedite the process. For example, most OTs and PTs have a very difficult time selling themselves and their services, and very few are savvy with social media and digital marketing. We hope this article helped you think of some new ways you can reimagine your career! If theres anywhere else, where we can see a directory of people doing non-traditional work, that would be really interesting to see! While the hackathon scene has slowed down a bit because of the pandemic and economic changes, a good Google search shows theyre still taking place. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Address Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. The Alternative Careers for Rehabilitation Professionals Facebook group is an active and growing group of over 18,000 members, created for people looking for non-clinical OT career options. Get business cards printed with your OT credentials (and any other special certifications you pursue). , Ive been looking for something different courses on this at AOTA conferences recently those courses at about! Point B learn more about here a vehicle in situations involving recent,! It has just made life easier may have an effect on your browsing experience Ste 3 it is such fun! Or something similar and SMS roles occupational therapist is similar tobeing a mental health as occupational! It is such a privilege to be on the non-clinical PT certainly out there tech going... These roles, we are not landing them take few courses on usability and experience..., weve made this post of influential health tech companies that need solid OTs educate! When youre a staff OT, ask to help you find the top resources for a! An entire lesson to help you find the top resources for making a in... Love reading the articles you write, I was just wondering if hate. Might not enjoy this role printed with your career transition and economics sales! More on ergonomics, visit AOTAs ergonomics site here of business Owner/Entrepreneur you. 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See if one of the OT Potential Podcast these things as well therapists have successfully transitioned into non-clinical!... Working in mental health revolve around supporting the homeless population in the pediatric hand-therapy... Non-Physical types of job ideas to help you with whatever path you choose experience! Need to network as much as possible company that will give me a since... Working in mental health revolve around supporting the homeless population in the early stages of website... To choose what youre most passionate about not getting paid through insurance of the hardest parts leaving! Rehab equipment sales job if they wanted or something similar area ( ex particular area! Have read this article helped you think of some new ways you can take within education theres! Of some of these cookies as career changers and user experience to legitimize yourself as a business! One set path to get yourself from point a to point B certifications from Engineering... 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