Occupational+Therapist

**=)**
= = = Job Description - = **Occupational therapists help** **patients improve their ability to perform tasks in living and working environments. They work with individuals who suffer from a mentally, physically, developmentally, or emotionally disabling condition. Occupational therapists use treatments to develop, recover, or maintain the daily living and work skills of their patients. The therapist helps clients not only to improve their basic motor functions and reasoning abilities, but also to compensate for permanent loss of function. The goal is to help clients have independent, productive, and satisfying lives.** This picture is showing an occupational therapists helping a girl to write. This is just one of the tasks that an occupational therapist might have to help a patient with. = Personality Characteristics - = **For this job, you have to have many friendly characteristics. They need active listening, writing, and speaking to be able to get along with their patients. Even though occupational therapists don't always work together they need to be able to cope with kids and adults. They're main characteristic that they need is patience. These patients have been through a lot, and some of them do not know how to stop themselves.** = Working Conditions - = **Occupational therapists actually work at the patients houses. Their workplace could be from a mansion to an old trailor to a 2-story house. The only real health risk is if the patient is ill. This job keeps a person up and moving all the time, and that's a great source of exercise. Therapists do face hazards such as back strain from lifting and moving clients and equipment. The biggest complaint that employees would have would be if their patient is biting/kicking/spitting on/smacking them. This job is to help the patients, but sometimes the patients do get mad and don't feel like taking the help.** = **Places of Employment** **-** = **The largest number of jobs available are in hospitals. Other major employers were offices of other health practitioners (including offices of occupational therapists), public and private educational services, and nursing care facilities. Some occupational therapists were employed by home health care services, outpatient care centers, offices of physicians, individual and family services, community care facilities for the elderly, and government agencies. A small number of occupational therapists were self-employed in private practice.** = Job Outlook - = **Employment of occupational therapists is expected to grow much faster than the average for all occupations. Job opportunities should be good, especially for occupational therapists treating the elderly. This is a growing occupation that is in high demand of working people.** = Salary Information - =  **Industries with the highest levels of employment in this occupation:**
 * These jobs are always available, and because of the population boom, more and more of these positions will need to be filled. These jobs will be close to anyones house.**
 * ~ Industry ||~ Employment ||~ Hourly mean wage ||~ Annual mean wage ||
 * **General Medical and Surgical Hospitals ** || **23,650 ** || **$31.90 ** || **$66,350 ** ||
 * **Offices of Other Health Practitioners ** || **18,860 ** || **$33.04 ** || **$68,720 ** ||
 * **Elementary and Secondary Schools ** || **12,140 ** || **$28.65 ** || **<span style="color: #d228d2; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">$59,590 ** ||
 * **<span style="color: #d228d2; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nursing Care Facilities ** || **<span style="color: #d228d2; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7,950 ** || **<span style="color: #d228d2; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">$33.67 ** || **<span style="color: #d228d2; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">$70,040 ** ||
 * **<span style="color: #d228d2; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Home Health Care Services ** || **<span style="color: #d228d2; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6,540 ** || **<span style="color: #d228d2; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">$36.79 ** || <span style="color: #d228d2; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">**$76,530** ||

= Recommended Education and Training - = **Typically, occupational therapists must be State licensed, requiring a master’s degree in occupational therapy, 6 months of supervised fieldwork, and passing scores on national and State examinations.** = Bibliography =


 * "Occupational Therapists." __U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics__. 31 Mar. 2009 http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos078.htm
 * "Occupation Profile - America's Career InfoNet." __Welcome to America's Career InfoNet__. 31 Mar. 2009 http://www.acinet.org/occ_rep.asp?next=occ_rep&Level=&optstatus=111111111&jobfam=29&id=1&nodeid=2&soccode=291122&stfips=42.
 * ** "Career Planning, - Profiles." __Career Planning - Career Planning Guide__. 07 Apr. 2009 http://careerplanning.about.com/od/occupations/p/occ_therapist.html. **
 * ** "Occupational Therapy." __KidsHealth - the Web's most visited site about children's health__. 07 Apr. 2009 http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/system/ill/occupational_therapy.html. **
 * ** "RehabWorld Library." __RehabWorld: Physical,,Occupational, Speech, Mental Health Jobs, Resumes, Supplies__. 07 Apr. 2009 <http://www.rehabworld.com/rwlib.htm> .**