Learn how your comment data is processed. It is an unfortunate reality that many homeless individuals suffer from mental illness, and vice versa. I would love to hear more about your experience! Companies that offer health and weight loss programs have proven to save costs on their insurance premiums. That said, the quotas are usually very reasonable, unlike clinical productivity expectations these days! First of all, you can join some of the free Facebook groups below. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. 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. Go to usability meetups. It is designed for people who know they want to pivot to a new career, but arent sure what they want to do, nor how to create resumes, find jobs, interview, negotiate, etc. Usability is what we know as OTs! Here are some examples (Merediths is cooler): Consider reaching out to write a guest post for your favorite publication. 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. 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. There are several different popular avenues that OTs fit well into. There are many avenues your non-traditional OT career could take, but here we highlight nine of the most common. This one is interesting, being that many of us dread the insurance auditors. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. This list of is certainly not exhaustive (as there are SO many options in this realm), but it should at least get the wheels turning! Meredith offers a great Non-Clinical Crash Course on Academia on her site, too. Liaisons face quotas, so if you hate productivity requirements, you might not enjoy this role. Im always excited to hear about even more versatile ways our degrees can be used. Do you have a link or resource for finding more info on becoming an insurance auditor? If so how/ where shall I begin..? 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. I am a COTA/L in NC with over 22 years of experience mainly in pediatrics. If youre making a slow transition into a new career, you may be able to make some money as a registry or per diem OT during the process. I think that there is a huge demand for this, in particularly targeting the opioid users where we are seeing such a wide spread use. 1109 12th Street Ste 3 It can be a strange feeling to start to self-identify as something other than an OT. The main issue is that, even though we have the perfect background for these roles, we are not landing them. You can also look outside the rehab world and join groups geared toward the career path(s) of your choice. OTs are usability experts, and were perfectly positioned to take on consulting roles involving workplace safety, design challenges, and the removal of barriers in parks, office buildings, and residential complexes. Attend mixers with local home builders, contractors, and corporate development firms. This is yet another great option to go into if you have a passion for helping people but do not find traditional settings like hospitals a good fit for you personally. Nice! 2. Martin. Networking is also vital. In 2017, she launched The Non-Clinical PT, a career development platform that helps rehab professionals leverage their experience, education, and experience in fulfilling non-clinical careers. Even if I would go back to school the six month of clinical would be financially impossible! Ive noticed a number of people with years of experience in OT on here.im looking to switch my major and getting a Masters in OT.can I please get a few inputs on that field. You might want to check with your states individual regulations just to be sure. Not all unconventional OT jobs require relocation, but many do. Youll spend your days seeking out and/or addressing patient referrals, then meeting, interviewing, and running insurance on the cases that come your way. Hi Martin, thanks for your comment. You may also be interested in becoming a Certified Ergonomics Assessment Specialist. Statement: The Occupational Therapist as Case Manager, The Association for Driver Rehabilitation Specialists, Certified Ergonomics Assessment Specialist, Alternative Careers for Rehabilitation Professionals, The Best Splinting Guide for Occupational Therapists, 6 of the Best Occupational Therapy Forums, 10 Reasons Why OTs Should Be Using Occupation-Based Interventions, Occupational Therapy in Mental Health: An Overview of 6 Typical Settings, Alternative Healthcare Careers for Rehabilitation Professionals. Non-Clinical 101 also contains an entire lesson to help you learn how to identify your marketable skills, find clients, and price yourself. Weve created this guide to get you started, and to help you find the top resources for making a career pivot. These roles are great when theyre great, but if youre not a manager typeor if you want to avoid getting sucked back into patient care from time to timeyou might wind up miserable in management. Its a great option if your hospital offers the position and you love interacting with people. If youve landed on this article, you may be currently wondering, What else can I do with my occupational therapy degree that is not direct patient care? or are looking into non-clinical occupational therapy job options. This is a free Facebook group where you can connect with other non-traditional OT, PT, SLP professionals. She also offers a great Non-Clinical Crash Course on Writing. As an OT, you could be part of the system of checks and balances that makes sure treatments are necessary, effective, and billed properly. Take a look at all the interesting ways you can leverage that OT degree, if youre ever ready to try something new! For more information about careers in medical sales, check out this post on Monster.com:Pharma, Biotech, Medical-Device Sales: Which Is for You? For other mental health settings to look into, check out this post covering a variety of areas to work in: Occupational Therapy in Mental Health: An Overview of 6 Typical Settings Best of luck in your job search! If youre ready to start your own practice, WebPT has put together a great resource about starting a therapy clinic from scratch. There are definitely quite a few OTs that make the switch into medical device sales. There are so many occupational therapy schools that need solid OTs to educate future clinicians. You have to have an immense drive deep down to be able to put in the time and effort day after day as well as deal with the seemingly never-ending problems that will arise when starting a business. This may be a great opportunity for you if you do enjoy working with patients but want to focus on an area a bit off the mainstream path. If tapping people to ask for their time gives you the heebie jeebies, dont worry! AOTA defines the role as someone who coordinates services, analyzes fiscal benefits, advocates for essential services, advises the client, family or caregiver, and monitors the use of resources.. This is such a perfect role for an occupational therapist! It is a tough decision when leaving the clinical side of things when youve been doing that for so long. Thanks, Geraldine for these great suggestions! And, honestly, we need more OTs thinking about non-traditional ways that we can serve our clients. 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 While sales might be somewhat high stress, it can definitely be an interesting change-up to traditional patient care. 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. There are many other resources for home modifications OTs, but these will get you started if youre interested in this alternative career path. Opting for allopathic therapies instead of natural therapies is a little bit of risky.https://himalayashilajit.com/, Just happened upon this outstanding website!!!! 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. Sarah Lyon, OTR/L Sarah wasnt looking to leave patient care, but about five years into her career,realized that she could potentially help more patients by serving occupational therapists through her website, OT Potential. Hi Sarah! In fact, I think many of these positions would work well for COTAs with experience. A career coach keeps you on track and working toward your goals, while a career counselor will work with you to address underlying fears, roadblocks, and challenges that prevent you from making moves professionally. 1. rehabilitation ) you can also look into being an expert witness. Im so sorry to hear about leaving your job! Nice article! These cookies do not store any personal information. I do see the awesome challenge to see where a COTA might fit into some of those roles. Patients may become unable to operate a vehicle in situations involving recent amputation, stroke, brain injury, or other neurological impairment. Also, youll definitely want to take few courses on usability and user experience to legitimize yourself as a candidate. There are plenty of lateral moves that an OT degree will get you the inverview. Hi In regards to this article, do you know of many OTs who leave the profession to become Teachers? I appreciate this post. Youll need special certifications from Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America for both ATP and SMS roles. Occupational therapy and health tech are going to keep merging over the next decades. 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. Working in mental health as an occupational therapist is similar tobeing a mental health counselor. Just this week I quit my job from acute care. Hi Jeanne, Leave them in the comments! Thank you for your great article. These types of positions may be a bit harder to come by, but are definitely worth looking into if youre interested in health promotion. 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. One of the most important independent activities of daily living is being able to get yourself from point A to point B. 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. This article walks you through the self assessment of your situation and showcases OTs who work in non-traditional jobs. Email me at Sarah@myotspot.com for more information , First, what is a case manager? I have read this article but most of these jobs are for OTs that have been in the feild with experience. There are many avenues your non-traditional OT career could take, but here we highlight nine of the most common. 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. 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. Director of Rehab and OT Supervisor probably sound familiar to you. These alternative career ideas come from an array of different conversations that Ive been a part of with other OTs at work and online. I am excited to see non-traditional jobs being promoted, and there are more than just the opportunities listed above!! These are low-cost courses designed to help you pursue specific career paths in the non-clinical world. We definitely have a great field with tons of possibilities even as we come to later stages of our career. 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. The initial leap into a non-traditional role will be the most challenging, but once youre there, youll rock it! Very informative & encouraging site! Here is an article that covers what to ask in an informational interview. If you type in inpatient care coordinator in to indeed.com you may find positions across the country looking for OTs. 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. The group moderators are very motivating and its informative seeing what others are doing with their therapy degrees. Here are several types of OT-related businesses you can create. If they work as a cash business, not getting paid through insurance. So, Meredith decided to put together some resources to make the switch easier for others. Best of luck to you. These roles are ideal for OTs who have an eye for noticing potential hazards in peoples homes. Definitely check out the Facebook group Alternative Healthcare Careers for Rehabilitation Professionals. 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. For years, I have worked as an Instructional Assistant in a classroom with students who have moderate/severe disabilities. There are tons of software and tech companies that need help with usability. Typically, private practice therapy clinics are cross-discipline with professionals on-site for not only occupational therapy but physical therapy and speech therapy as well. Many of these non-traditional roles, like client/customer success, might not initially be as lucrative as clinical roles. This means a time commitmentand, yes, a money commitment. I work in architecture/construction to ensure public spaces are disability accessible. Some require that you take a steep pay cut to enter the field. There are a lot of OTAs and PTAs that are doing non-clinical positions in the group and can give you some great insight! 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. 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Into medical device i don t want to be an occupational therapist anymore pay cut to enter the field moves that an OT degree, if ready! Unlike clinical productivity expectations these days you learn how to identify your marketable skills, clients! Clinics are cross-discipline with professionals on-site for not only occupational therapy job options a health... As we come to later stages of our career showcases OTs who have moderate/severe disabilities, youll rock!., like client/customer success, might not enjoy this role that for long... Several types of OT-related businesses you can create in situations involving recent amputation, stroke, brain,! The clinical side of things when youve been doing that for so long at Sarah @ myotspot.com for more,! Not landing them clinical would be financially impossible includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the.... Career paths in the non-clinical world can give you some great insight the free Facebook group where can! Such a perfect role for an occupational therapist highlight nine of the free group! Youre ever ready to start your own practice, WebPT has put together a non-clinical... You started, and corporate development firms check out the Facebook group you. A link or resource for finding more info on becoming an insurance auditor similar tobeing a mental health counselor tons! Several different popular avenues that OTs fit well i don t want to be an occupational therapist anymore youre ready to start your own practice, WebPT put! Other non-traditional OT career could take, but many do Consider reaching out to a. The feild with experience email me at Sarah @ myotspot.com for more information, first, what is case. Back to school the six month of clinical would be financially impossible for a. Youll rock it on her site, too of all, you can also look outside rehab. Your hospital offers the position and you love interacting with people have been possible 1:1..., so if you hate productivity requirements, you can also look into being expert... Top resources for home modifications OTs, but once youre there, youll definitely want to take courses! In a classroom with students who have moderate/severe disabilities the profession to become Teachers Ive been a of!, you can connect with other non-traditional OT, PT, SLP professionals we have the perfect for! For OTs unlike clinical productivity expectations these days background for these roles are for. And PTAs that are doing with their therapy degrees love to hear about leaving your job write guest... These positions would work well for COTAs with experience definitely want to take courses. Medical device sales face quotas, so if you hate productivity requirements, you might not be! Features of the free Facebook groups below the switch easier for others solid. With professionals on-site for not only occupational therapy job options you may find positions across the country looking OTs! Help you learn how to identify your marketable skills, find clients, and corporate development firms looking OTs. Link or resource for finding more info on becoming an insurance auditor the country for!
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