These articles are basically done-for-you informational interviews of all sorts of rehab professionals in non-traditional roles . 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. For example, some cases are more about chart reviews and writing your expert opinion based on what youve read. There are tons of software and tech companies that need help with usability. Some require that you take a steep pay cut to enter the field. Youll spend your days scrutinizing environments, then making recommendations to ensure they are free from hazards and have injury prevention measures in place. She is also the host of the OT Potential Podcast. 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? The initial leap into a non-traditional role will be the most challenging, but once youre there, youll rock it! Going non-traditional doesnt need to mean non- treatment! Plus, you get ALL of her crash courses included with your enrollment. That said, the quotas are usually very reasonable, unlike clinical productivity expectations these days! The first thing youll need as a writer is to get published online. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Thank you for your great article. Writing. 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. Seeing is believing, and these occupational therapists have successfully transitioned into non-clinical roles! Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Thank yall. 1. That said, you dont need any additional training to write for your next career! She also offers a great Non-Clinical Crash Course on Writing. Being an administrator, particularly at a hospital, means that you are a manager for therapists over a specific department. From my personal experience, being a very emphatic and sensitive person to peoples energy made direct patient care so challenging to balance. Youre so welcome and Im glad the article gave you some ideas! So many interesting ideas here! May I reach out to possibly feature you on The Non-Clinical PT?? Companies that offer health and weight loss programs have proven to save costs on their insurance premiums. The desire to change to a non-traditional occupational therapy careerwhether temporary or permanentis normal. Definitely check it out! Hi Karen! Itll help your case! Your email address will not be published. Hello I love reading the articles you write, I was just wondering if you could help me out. 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. I am interested to know if many OTs have considered Special Education Teaching or pursued it as career changers. Weve created this guide to get you started, and to help you find the top resources for making a career pivot. For example, if you are the Inpatient Rehab manager, you are responsible for the work of all PTs, OTs, and SLPs in that department. It can be a strange feeling to start to self-identify as something other than an OT. Then, when you apply for the rehab liaison roles, play up your connections big timeyoull need them! If you make yourself an expert salesperson, or you learn the ins and outs of online sales strategies, you will easily excel in a role as a social media manager, or where youre marketing (selling) rehab practitioners services. Also is there any volunteer activities that I could be doing in the mean time that could help me out ? Definitely check out the Facebook group Alternative Healthcare Careers for Rehabilitation Professionals. More information can be found on the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. 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).. So is there any jobs right now I could look at or apply to to get my foot in the door without having to go back to school or getting another liscence? While sales might be somewhat high stress, it can definitely be an interesting change-up to traditional patient care. Because of this, treatments that really are necessary may get denied by auditors that dont understand working on deficits. Thanks again for sharing! It feels like every company I work with requests my headshot at some point. We definitely have a great field with tons of possibilities even as we come to later stages of our career. Cash-based OT, early intervention, nature-based OT and other types of niche roles are not considered non-traditional for the purposes of this article. On this path, the short term satisfaction of getting a steady paycheck with predictable hours is foregone for the long-term prospect of being the owner of a successful and valuable practice. This option is becoming popular as more and more healthcare websites are popping up daily, and need frequent articles to publish. 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. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. There is also a website with great information on home modifications related to OT from the Home Modification Occupational Therapy Alliance (HMOTA). For those with a considerable amount of experience in a particular OT area ( ex. Patients may become unable to operate a vehicle in situations involving recent amputation, stroke, brain injury, or other neurological impairment. How did some other people in these specific areas get started or where can I get started? Nice article! These cookies do not store any personal information. 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. Employers are beginning to be incentivized by health insurance companies to utilize health improvement programs like the ones Jouyin developed. Im always excited to hear about even more versatile ways our degrees can be used. Any suggestions? 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. 1. There are also other holistic avenues you can take when starting your own private practice. These alternative career ideas come from an array of different conversations that Ive been a part of with other OTs at work and online. Youll find endless resources on how to get started, but this article on Becoming a Health Coach from Well and Good is a good one to check out initially. Family or community commitments can also change over the years, which can impact your desire and ability to work in clinical care. AOTA offers a Low Vision certification that you can learn more about here. Many positions that you did propose are more towards OTRs? If youre going in this direction, check out Home Modification OT Alliance! OTs can be trained in and administer cognitive behavioral therapy to populations in need. 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. Very informative & encouraging site! You may remember studying this briefly for the NBCOT. Thanks again for the article, it did open my eyes! I bet an OT could find a rehab equipment sales job if they wanted or something similar. In regards to this article, do you know of many OTs who leave the profession to become Teachers? For more on ergonomics, visit AOTAs ergonomics site here. Heres where working with a career coach or career counselor can be very helpful. Theyre an excellent introduction into the world of startups, not to mention a great networking opportunity! Loved this article. and recommendations for how to interview, search for jobs, and more! A perfect match for me!Tanisha Cowell. All the allopathic therapies leave some side effects on the patients care. All things considered, income is an important consideration to keep in mind when you plan your move. Its a great option if your hospital offers the position and you love interacting with people. You can become an OT professor, an adjunct instructor, a tutor, a subject matter expert, or a con-ed instructor. 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. Opting for allopathic therapies instead of natural therapies is a little bit of risky.https://himalayashilajit.com/, Just happened upon this outstanding website!!!! 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. I graduated as an Occupational Therapist and am now working as a surgical neurophysiologist. . As noted above, financial considerations are real. I studied how I could make my articles align with the questions people ask. The issue Ive had is finding a company that will give me a chance since I do not have extensive experience in these fields. The site is chock-full of great information to help you launch a non-traditional OT career. Hi Even if I would go back to school the six month of clinical would be financially impossible! These terms are often used interchangeably, but theyre actually quite different in terms of responsibilities and scope. Workstation ergonomics involves a deep understanding of many different facets of a variety of workplace environments. This is a free Facebook group where you can connect with other non-traditional OT, PT, SLP professionals. 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! These roles are ideal for OTs who have an eye for noticing potential hazards in peoples homes. Life happensyou may have an injury or health condition forcing you to step away from something you love, or you may simply be burned out and seeking change. Occupational injustices present an exciting non-traditional/non-clinical community based setting in which to do holistic OT treatment. Rock on, OTs!!! These articles can be related to occupational therapy, but may also involve other medical topics that OTs are familiar with. Remember, if you identify a way that you can solve someone elses problem, youll be very marketable! Sometimes its accompanied by a picture and short bio. If so how/ where shall I begin..? If youre interested in working with home modifications, be sure to also check out AOTAs Home Modifications page. 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. According to AOTAs article about low vision: Many older adults experience age-related vision changes that cant be corrected with eyeglasses, contact lenses, or surgery. In her own journey into tech, she started with consulting on the side and this grew into full time opportunities. Director of Rehab and OT Supervisor probably sound familiar to you. Thanks! I love the article but Im still lost. Thanks for sharing. If there is any other advice you could give me i would really appreciate it, thank you for your time. Leave them in the comments! Take a look at all the interesting ways you can leverage that OT degree, if youre ever ready to try something new! An informational interview is a quick conversation where you ask a professional questions about their job. There are many other resources for home modifications OTs, but these will get you started if youre interested in this alternative career path. If you develop a skill set that solves a specific problem that people are havingand a problem that you enjoy solvingyou will become extremely marketable. 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. There are so many occupational therapy schools that need solid OTs to educate future clinicians. There is more to it than you might think, and if youre interested, Id recommend checking out The Association for Driver Rehabilitation Specialists. This is one of those times when youll have to get out and volunteer and network as much as possible. Here are a few resources offered by The Non-Clinical PT: Networking has a new meaning since the pandemic struck, but there are plenty of ways you can make connections. Some people think they want to leave patient care, but they really want to escape bad managers, shady corporations, or unrealistic productivity expectations. What OT topics are you most interested in? Looking creatively at your career and skill set may enable you to help more people than ever would have been possible in 1:1 therapy. You can start your own blog, or you can reach out to websites to get published and start racking up some bylines. If tapping people to ask for their time gives you the heebie jeebies, dont worry! 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! Jobs, and more popping up daily, and to help you find the top resources for making a coach. Ot treatment home Modification occupational therapy schools that need solid OTs to educate future i don t want to be an occupational therapist anymore training to write your. 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