r/OccupationalTherapy

- for content im going into my third year, i have healthcare, nursing home volunteering experience, my gpa is 3.95/4

- im only realizing it might not be for me due to the very slim chances of getting in, 4 years of extra schooling with debt

- i've been looking at PT/OT, speech pathology masters but they all also require masters/higher education with a very small chance of getting in (what im scared about)

- it'd be nice to get someones outlook on this as im quite scared of changing career choices

Hey! I’ve posted a few times on this app but not quite as straight forward as this. I accepted a job in an outpatient clinic where I would be the only OT helping build a caseload. The goal was to be a generalist in a under served community where I could work with pediatrics and orthopedics, which I felt would be a great opportunity to get into the ortho realm because there’s very limited opportunities for that in my area. Since beginning I’ve had imposter syndrome but I feel like with my ADHD I keep catastrophizing, internalizing any poor outcomes, and just feel like a shit therapist. I also compare myself to my old classmates who don’t appear to be struggling quite as hard for me. I quest my questions are:

1. How do I truly know if I’m doing enough to help someone?

2. How do I manage when parents only bring their kids to 3-4 visits before no showing and having to be discharged? It can’t always be because of me right?

3. How do i feel enough even though i generate half the income of the PTs? ( they double- I one on one)

Any advice is appreciated!

Cross posted

Hi everyone! I plan on applying for my Masters in Occupational Therapy (Ontario) this Fall… again. I didn’t get in this upcoming cycle but I’m really trying to get at least one acceptance for next cycle.

If anyone has any advice or tips i’d truly appreciate it! For reference my subgpa is 3.8, my casper was 3Q, my background is in more education and aba therapy, and my personal statement was mainly about my experience of wanting to become an OT.

Pls any advice would be greatly appreciated!

What setting are you in?

On a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being not burnt out at all and 10 being ready to put your hat up today, how burnt out are you?

Do any districts in southern CT or westchester county direct hire OTs in schools? So many use third party contractors

Curious how common it is for those in hospital systems to need some help with managing the things we see and work with every day. I love my job and what I do, and couldn’t imagine being in a different setting because I love it so much, but it can get heavy.

Hi everyone,

I’m really interested in moving to Germany to pursue an Ausbildung to become an Occupational Therapist (Ergotherapeut). I’m trying to get a realistic picture of what the profession looks like there, and I have a few specific questions:

• What is the salary outlook? What can I realistically expect to make as a monthly stipend during the Ausbildung, and what does the starting and long-term salary look like after graduation (both in private practices vs. hospitals)?
• How autonomous is the profession? I understand that patients need a doctor's or psychiatrist's prescription (Heilmittelverordnung) to see an OT. Does this mean OTs strictly follow a plan laid out by the physician, or do you have clinical autonomy over your own assessments and treatment methods? How widespread is the new Blankoverordnung (blank prescription) system in reality?
• How integrated is evidence-based practice? To what extent are modern, international research and occupation-centered models (like MOHO, COPM, etc.) integrated into standard German training and daily treatments, compared to more traditional, craft-based approaches?
• Do you recommend pursuing a bachelor's degree after completing the ausbildung?

I would love to hear from anyone who has gone through the Ausbildung or is currently working as an OT in Germany. Thanks so much for your help!

I’m 33 years old and hit a wall with my current career at a nonprofit. My background is generally in design and I pursued social impact / development cause I enjoyed systems thinking. I’ve practiced design thinking since 2014.

Last year around Christmas, I was in rehab for my wrist. I had multiple PTs but since it was a ward, I got to see other patients with their OT too. I didn’t know it yet then but looking back, it felt like it was the most hopeful place.

That feeling stuck with me and I was hoping I could hear stories to get a vibe of what’s it like to get into the field.

Now for my two questions for OTs:

1. What’s making you stay? Feel free to mention your ‘specialization’ / focus. I’d be very appreciative of stories :)

2. What’s a skill or trait you didn’t know you’d need until you were in it?

Thank you so much!

I am a pediatric COTA covering a SNF for the summer. I normally work an outpatient pediatrics in school based I’ve done my time at SNF and inpatient hospitals, so I’m used to the hustle. I can handle the productivity standards at this facility, which is 90% for the next two months without an issue. What is disheartening to me is the poor care and low quality of care therapy patients are getting. this is not on the Therapist. It’s on the shitty Rehab companies that push high productivity. Therapist are being forced to see five and six people at a time no equipment or broken equipment spending all of five minutes with a patient to review exercises and moving onto the next person. Why do we tolerate this? What other industry demands that you are productive 90% of the time there’s no way to deliver meaningful effective care under this model. So to be clear, you have overworked underpaid therapists, broken or in-adequate equipment, and seniors that are going bankrupt to pay for shitty therapy just so some CEO can afford a third home on Martha’s Vineyard. It wasn’t always this way folks I graduated in 2001 and we could give people therapy they needed. It’s not about achieving goals any longer. It’s about billing units. What a sad state of existence our field has become. I can tolerate it for the summer but damn guys I can see how the burnout is even worse for those working in SNF

Hello OTs and much respect for all you do! I know a medical professor whose hand pain is getting worse from injuries (their hobby is horses), surgeries and arthritis--but they're on the computer sometimes 15+ hours a day.
They are trying all VTT options, but seeking the next level of hands-free options for productivity, eg, opening/sending/editing emails, copy/pasting into different programs, even editing images for lectures... what do people use that have no use or limited use of their hands and might it be applicable for a very busy professor with hundreds of medical students?
Thank you!

I’m trying to get a better understanding of the long-term career outlook for outpatient pediatrics. I know school-based OT is often praised for its schedule and work-life balance, but I’m curious whether there are OTs who have built long careers in outpatient peds.

Is it normal/ reasonable to ask to shadow an OT for a day or half a day at a job you have an offer from before deciding if you want to take it or not? I want to make sure it’s a good fit for me especially since inpatient peds will be new for me coming from the schools. Thanks!

Hello, I am in the UK and I have recently finished my first year of my undergraduate OT degree but after finishing my recent placement I realised that I not only really dislike placements in general but I also heard of the recent job freezes in the NHS. Honestly, I pursued this degree because my family is poor as well as toxic and healthcare supposedly provides great job security but my passion and my talent is art and I was hoping to use my undergraduate to build a stable life or use it to finance a masters in something like art therapy. The uncertainty of getting a job is really demotivating and making me question if it's worth sacrificing my early 20s for the field especially since I love the academic side of university but I think I'll go insane if I have to be sent to another random town in the uk to work an unpaid almost 40 hours a week and after that having to do it as a job. While there are some areas of OT that I find interesting, it makes me miserable seeing all of my friends finish university early and not go on long placements and I cried almost every night at my placement because I cant even switch my brain off after going home since I have to continue studying and learning. However any other degree doesn't give job security either and that's what I'm worried about but I understand that I may have to fight for internships and experiences to get where I want. I just want some advice if I should continue or change while I still can, I don't want OT to be my lifelong career but a stepping stone in order to pursue my passion and independence.

Starting my first OT school based job.

I have 8 schools a COTA and an office to put all of my toys.

1. How should I organize my supplies, toys and materials?
2. What’s the biggest stressor or concern I should mentally prepare for in this job.
3. Should I study or review anything before starting this job. I have been an outpatient therapist for 5 years some adult and mostly PEDS.

As per the title, this is a call out to neurodivergent therapists - what kinda OT jobs have suited your neurotype & why? Special call out for advice from those with ADHD.....

When applying for or working for a company, what are some things that would make you turn down the offer or immediately leave?

Hi everyone,

I'm about to start my first Level II OT fieldwork, and if I'm being honest, I'm really nervous.

I have POTS, and while I've made it through the classroom portion of OT school, full-time fieldwork feels like a completely different challenge. My biggest worries are fatigue and brain fog. Some days I process information more slowly, and I'm concerned I may appear less competent or unable to learn quickly. I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing, which I'm sure is normal, but it is complicated by my chronic illness since I have to learn how to manage that in a clinic context too.

I've tried to prepare as much as I possibly can. I've already set up accommodations through my school, created my own little toolkit with documentation templates, reference guides, ROM norms, MMT, common interventions, and other resources I can quickly access if I need them. I've also spent a lot of time studying not just the material itself, but how to actually apply it in practice.

For anyone who has gone through Level II fieldwork while managing POTS or another chronic illness, how did you get through it? Did things start to click once you were actually there? Is there anything you wish you had known before starting?

I think I mostly just need to hear from people who have been in a similar position. Any advice, encouragement, or honest experiences would really mean a lot.

Hi!

I just took the Practice 1 test and got a 422:
1 - 56%, 2 - 40%, 3 - 54%, 4: 61%

My test date right now is Wednesday July 8

For context: I completed the 450 formula course on 6/30 (been working part time MWF on top of studying) and since then have been reviewing the notes & menmonics from there and doing NBCOT domain mini tests (I’ve done domains 3 & 4 - haven’t done 1 & 2 yet). I have access to the AOTA study program but haven’t used it in a while (used to do the CSQ questions)

I was going to take the NBCOT full practice exam on Sunday, but now I think I need to take it on Monday to give myself time to study domains 2 & 3 before attempting the practice exam.

Do you think I have time to improve my score to passing by Wednesday July 8?
Or should I push my exam to Saturday, July 11 (or even later ?) to give myself more time to improve the score?

I’m currently already hired for a job and feel a lot of pressure to pass the first time, all eyes are on me.