A career change can affect more than just you. For example, some cases are more about chart reviews and writing your expert opinion based on what youve read. The wonderful thing about being an occupational therapist or COTA is that our education and experience is so versatile, but it can be hard to know exactly where to turn if you want to do something out of the norm. 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. Can you give me any advice on where to look for employment in this area? 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. I do see the awesome challenge to see where a COTA might fit into some of those roles. Sometimes its accompanied by a picture and short bio. Heres where working with a career coach or career counselor can be very helpful. If youre going in this direction, check out Home Modification OT Alliance! You might want to check with your states individual regulations just to be sure. The world of education is filled with opportunities for OTs. I also helped to start an OT clinic within a University setting so I guess another would be Consultant to other universities wanting to open an OT clinic. Any career transition requires self-discipline and time. This course covers the difference between health and medical writing, and it has resume and cover letter templates, as well as interview practice questions and advice. You can start your own blog, or you can reach out to websites to get published and start racking up some bylines. This route may also fall into the category of Business Owner/Entrepreneur as you can certainly start your own Home Modifications business. There probably isnt an OT provider out there who hasnt thought about taking a break from patient care. They spend their days creating seating, positioning, and mobility solutions for people with disabilities, and tend to spend quite a bit of their days working with wheelchairs. Youll spend your days seeking out and/or addressing patient referrals, then meeting, interviewing, and running insurance on the cases that come your way. Whether youre just curious about alternate career paths, are looking for a break from the physically demanding rehab settings, or if youre just feeling burned out and need a change, this post will offer you some common alternative careers to consider. Thanks, Geraldine for these great suggestions! I have volunteered and shadowed, finished my pre-req.s, etc. The Alternative Careers for Rehabilitation Professionals Facebook group is an active and growing group of over 18,000 members, created for people looking for non-clinical OT career options. That said, you dont need any additional training to write for your next career! I recently found a job on indeed.com with the title skilled inpatient care coordinator. It is similar to what a case manager does, but there are now companies hiring therapists in addition to nurses (who are typically utilized in a case management position). Leave them in the comments! rehabilitation ) you can also look into being an expert witness. These are low-cost courses designed to help you pursue specific career paths in the non-clinical world. And, honestly, we need more OTs thinking about non-traditional ways that we can serve our clients. If you type in inpatient care coordinator in to indeed.com you may find positions across the country looking for OTs. While there are certainly differences, it will be a helpful starting point to understand your options. Workstation ergonomics involves a deep understanding of many different facets of a variety of workplace environments. There is a huge need to be filled in this arena, and OTs are a great fit to help here as well. I appreciate this post. Nice! There are so many occupational therapy schools thatneedsolid OTs to educate future clinicians. Here are some examples (Merediths is cooler): Consider reaching out to write a guest post for your favorite publication. Other non-clinical jobs to consider include outdoor-based therapies for all populations and so much more. For the purposes of this article, non-traditional refers to anything outside of conventional hands-on patient care roles. Email me at Sarah@myotspot.com for more information , First, what is a case manager? The sky is the limit with consulting, so think about where your unique skill set can best serve others needs. Someone who wants to start their own business usually places a high value on individual ownership. This might mean picking up a few per diem OT jobs for a year and networking as much as possible with case management during that time. Another great option would be to work in vocational rehab in a community-based setting. This is Merediths flagship course. 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 You can read more about my own non-traditional journey, including how I built OT Potential, in my spotlight on The Non-Clinical PT! Also, if youre still interested, you could try contacting insurance companies near you to inquire more about requirements and training. Many times, insurance and Medicare auditors dont really understand the interventions were providing. Its definitely advisable for new grads (or people who have only worked in one setting) to consider whether they should spend a little more time in patient care before switching gears. Networking is also vital. Theyre an excellent introduction into the world of startups, not to mention a great networking opportunity! It is a tough decision when leaving the clinical side of things when youve been doing that for so long. A common career path for occupational therapists after they've been in the field for several years or several decades is to go into teaching and/or research at a specific occupational therapy program. If going back to college to work isnt your thing, you can also teach continuing education courses around the country in your specialty. You dont necessarily need to go to court. This is a free Facebook group where you can connect with other non-traditional OT, PT, SLP professionals. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. OT has so much potential and I encourage all practitioners out there to follow their passion and use their skills to enable the potential of any population in any setting who needs increased holistic health:). The guide helps you think through key questions to get your business off the ground like should you have a specialty, what equipment should you buy, and whats the best way to manage operations? When there is new construction in your area (especially smaller projects like parks or municipal buildings), reach out and offer your services for free. I would like to help people with mental illness gain and retain employment. Whether treating or not treating, OTs have so much to offer the world! Educator. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. In preparation for these events, youll want to: Youll want to have your title and a personal email address on hand for anytime you meet folks at networking events, healthcare hackathons, or even happy hours! I am an OT with 20+ years experience in SNF but really needing a change. These roles are ideal for OTs who have an eye for noticing potential hazards in peoples homes. One of the most important independent activities of daily living is being able to get yourself from point A to point B. Its been such a fun journey and the amount of knowledge I have gained is invaluable! 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. Do you have a link or resource for finding more info on becoming an insurance auditor? These articles are basically done-for-you informational interviews of all sorts of rehab professionals in non-traditional roles . May I reach out to possibly feature you on The Non-Clinical PT?? 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! document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Address Martin. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. The initial leap into a non-traditional role will be the most challenging, but once youre there, youll rock it! This post was originally published May 30th, 2017 and updated on February 29, 2020. If youre wrinkling your nose at such ideas, it doesnt mean you cant pursue non-traditional workbut being open-minded and willing to shake things up certainly broadens your options. Organize lunches and in-services. She now spends her work days connecting OTs with new research in the OT Potential Club. What OT topics are you most interested in? Being an administrator, particularly at a hospital, means that you are a manager for therapists over a specific department. Once youve made contacts with key players in the contracting and architecture/design industries, you can really beef up your resume (or maybe even your references, if you make nice)! OTs can be trained in and administer cognitive behavioral therapy to populations in need. Meredith offers a great Non-Clinical Crash Course on Academia on her site, too. I have been struggling for a while to find my just right fit. If you enjoy working with patients, but you hate the time constraints and pressure of traditional settings, you can consider a role as an assistive technology personnel (ATP) or seating mobility specialist (SMS). Whether its going to work, the grocery store, doctors appointment, or a family members house, the most common way to get everywhere is by car. Seeing is believing, and these occupational therapists have successfully transitioned into non-clinical roles! Because of this, treatments that really are necessary may get denied by auditors that dont understand working on deficits. I LOVE being able to work with them one-on-one and in small groups. You can also look outside the rehab world and join groups geared toward the career path(s) of your choice. As an OT, you could be part of the system of checks and balances that makes sure treatments are necessary, effective, and billed properly. This is such a perfect role for an occupational therapist! Whether it involves admissions and/or discharges, having experience as an OT can make working as a case manager a perfect fit. There are plenty of lateral moves that an OT degree will get you the inverview. 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. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. What does your job entail? I know its an additional certification that an OT would have to get, but thought I would bring it up since it is an alternative career path for an OT, since OT does involve a lot of teaching and working with individuals with disabilities. If so how/ where shall I begin..? There are many other resources for home modifications OTs, but these will get you started if youre interested in this alternative career path. Not sure where youre located, but Center for Community Partnerships in Fort Collins, CO is a great agency for community integration/job retention services. 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. Initially, I had aspired to be a Special Education Teacher; however, after seeing the high and very frequent turnover/burnout of Teachers in our classroom, I began analyzing the other specialists that would work with our students and their careers (who seemed most satisfied, which fit my personality more, etc.). For a great perspective on this, check out OT Devon Breitharts experience as a freelance writer, complete with tips on how get started. Hello, I am an OT with a masters degree and 14 years of clinical experience in the acute care hospital and outpatient settings with lymphedema experience as well. This year has been an extremely difficult year of landing a job. Its a great option if your hospital offers the position and you love interacting with people. Your email address will not be published. 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. Im definitely going to be on the lookout for those courses at AOTA about being an expert witness. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. Disability Access Consulting is also an emerging role for OTs. Also, youll definitely want to take few courses on usability and user experience to legitimize yourself as a candidate. I know that this pretty much eliminates most of the jobs available. With two teen girls heading towards college, I wouldnt dream of going back to school myself. Youll also need to take exams to get certified. Hi Shawnee, Im so glad you enjoyed the article! Thanks again for the article, it did open my eyes! I wanted to share my recent discovery of another area we can utilize our OT expertise. A common career path for occupational therapists after theyve been in the field for several years or several decades is to go into teaching and/or research at a specific occupational therapy program. Explore different options/gain experience before leaving your day job, 8 specific non-traditional OT jobs you can look into, Non-Clinical Jobs and Networking for PT/OT/SLP Professionals, Non-Clinical 101: The Complete Guide to Launching Your Non-Clinical Career (Save $75), You can read more about my own non-traditional journey, including how I built OT Potential, in my spotlight, Here are some sites that sometimes accept high-quality guest posts from occupational therapists, interview on her career path into OT academia, becoming a rehab liaison (or clinical liaison), this inspiring story about a 90-year-old occupational therapist, UX Design and User Experience Design for Beginners, Become a UX Designer Learn the Skills and Get the Job, Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America. This is such an important aspect to occupational therapy overall and in keeping our profession accountable and responsible now and into the future. 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. Best of luck to you. I made solving this problem my focus and went after the skills I would need to solve it: Unless you get really lucky and land the first non-traditional job you apply to, youll probably wind up slowly easing out of your day job and into your new career. Not only are you in charge of scheduling, but you are responsible for coaching therapists about how to become better, intervening in tough situations, keeping everyone motivated, and reporting to higher level management about the productivity and efficiency of your department. It is an unfortunate reality that many homeless individuals suffer from mental illness, and vice versa. Here, youll get the chance to work one-on-one with individuals, many times veterans, who need help getting back to work. Many OTs transition to either rehab department manager or hospital administrator, among other management paths. Looking more towards the future, this is an easy field to get excited about, especially when you see things like this in the news:Prosthetic Limbs, Controlled by Thought. Need to be on the non-clinical world transitioned into non-clinical roles work one-on-one individuals! Fall into the category of business Owner/Entrepreneur as you can certainly start your own blog, or can. And start racking up some bylines doing that for so long someone who wants to start their business! Start your own blog, or you can also look into being an expert witness websites to get and., among other management paths few courses on usability and user experience to legitimize yourself as a manager... World of startups, not to mention a great fit to help as! Huge need to take few courses on usability and user experience to legitimize yourself as case! 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