Occupational Therapists

Assess, plan, and organize rehabilitative programs that help build or restore vocational, homemaking, and daily living skills, as well as general independence, to persons with disabilities or developmental delays. Use therapeutic techniques, adapt the individual's environment, teach skills, and modify specific tasks that present barriers to the individual.

On the job, you would:

• Test and evaluate patients' physical and mental abilities and analyze medical data to determine realistic rehabilitation goals for patients.
• Complete and maintain necessary records.
• Plan, organize, and conduct occupational therapy programs in hospital, institutional, or community settings to help rehabilitate persons with disabilities because of illness, injury or psychological or developmental problems.

Education

• master's degree
• bachelor's degree

Health

• therapy and counseling
• medicine and dentistry

Math and Science

• psychology
• biology

Business

• customer service

Arts and Humanities

• English language

Basic Skills

• keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements
• listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions

Social

• looking for ways to help people
• teaching people how to do something

People and Technology Systems

• thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one
• figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it

Social

People interested in this work like activities that include helping people, teaching, and talking.

• Integrity
• Dependability
• Concern for Others
• Cooperation
• Self Control
• Adaptability/Flexibility

Verbal

• communicate by speaking
• communicate by writing

Ideas and Logic

• make general rules or come up with answers from lots of detailed information
• notice when problems happen

Attention

• pay attention to something without being distracted