VFRESHERS

Occupational therapists are health aids who help abnormal persons, it can be either physically handicapped patients or mentally retarded people. There is a wide range of opportunities to these therapists in hospitals, medical centres and as well as at home as care takers.

It is a more responsible job which involves participation from therapists who are well-versed in theoretical knowledge of ailments and their treatments. There are many types of therapists who are well defined by their occupations:

• Home care Assistants
• Nursing professionals
• Speech and hearing aid therapists
• General therapists for institutions

These occupational therapists have to pursue their degree courses which involves the study of core subjects like biology, sociology, physiology and psychology. Under these subjects there are many areas and sub-categories to study and practical classes to know the facts and treatments of the injury or ailment. Categories include neuro-science, anatomy, theory and process of occupational therapy, epidemiology and environmental science. With this four-year degree course, a person can work as an assistant for an Occupational Therapist(OT). He is paid around $50K per annum in USA.

To become an OT, one must attain Masters degree in Occupational Therapy. In this post- graduation course, one could opt for a specialised subject in which they are interested to build a career. An OT can expect a pay package of around $60K p.a., in USA and has to have a license from government to run a private centre.

A diploma holder in occupational therapy can be hired as occupational therapist aide who often helps Assistant OT in their jobs and he can expect a pay scale of around 25K$.

Job opportunities have increased variably in these days and there are more hospitals, medical centres, health care clinics, scanning centers, physiotherapy centers to hire these Occupational therapists of various levels to suit the job profile. Apart from these, OTs are preferred to take care of old-aged people, bed-ridden patients and injured sufferers to provide help and aid to them to perform their activities by themselves.

Occupational therapists must be sharp and active in performing their duties like:

• Providing helping hands to patients to get their work done.
• Must be able to train physical exercises that helps the patient to get well soon.
• Mental support to recover fast.
• Taking care of young children.
• Enhancing methods to help old-aged people to keep healthy by themselves.
• Caring for injured patients to prepare them like before.
• Aiding mentally challenged persons.

Occupational therapy has evolved as a new and different challenging career these days and has increased the flexibility of working for these therapists in many hospitals, care taker homes and health care centres. This has emerged as a para-medical field as these therapists will be aware of all first-aid methods and treatment facilities that could be provided to the patients easily and quickly. However, a person who is more responsibile can only opt for this career because of its high reliability and dependability.