The growth of the occupational therapy (OT) field is bringing a lot of attention to OT practitioner roles, especially the occupational therapy assistant (OTA).
Graduates of an OTA school’s 2-year program point to several advantages: an excellent salary, being a member of a healthcare team, and the satisfying feeling of helping people reach their daily living goals. Is there an occupational therapy assistant degree in your future? Take this quiz and find out!
Measure Your OTA School Readiness With This 5-Question Quiz
1. Do you naturally connect with others?
Your OT clients will need to trust your advice and recommendations, so a natural ability to connect with others is a great advantage for an OTA. Because you’ll be working with people of all ages, cultures, and socio-economic backgrounds, you should be able to quickly “size up” how to establish a good working relationship with your clients.
2. Are you compassionate….and detail oriented?
A unique skill combination of the OTA is the ability to inspire and encourage while also being an effective healthcare professional.
In OT work, clients may be feeling stress over what you’re asking them to try, so OTAs must be able to show empathy and understanding while keeping in mind the desired therapy goals. The combination of occupational therapy assistant degree coursework and guided fieldwork delivers the expertise and confidence to be better at both.
3. Are you good at observing and analyzing?
As an OTA, it’s your observation and teaching skills that can lead to successful implementation of OT therapies. As an OTA school student, you’ll learn how to gain important insights by observing and analyzing what you’ll see during OT therapy sessions. Your occupational therapy assistant degree gives you the knowledge to help clients do the daily activities they want to do.
4. Is collaborating with others energizing for you?
The OTA and the occupational therapist work as a team to deliver just-right therapy for every client. The OT develops and oversees the therapy results; the OTA carries out the therapy plan and monitors the progress. If needed, the OTA recommends adjustments to the plan.
5. Are you a creative problem solver?
The ability to be creative is extremely valuable for those earning an occupational therapy assistant degree. For an OTA, taking occupational therapy from theory to real life requires lots of creativity.
Some tools or procedures, for example, are created on-the-spot by an OTA or adapted specifically for one person’s benefit. OTAs appreciate the freedom to explore better ways to meet developmental, emotional, physical, or sensory-based challenges.
How to Know Becoming an OTA a Good Career Fit
Answering “yes” to any of the five questions is an indication that going to an OTA school could be a positive career step for you. Check out the information available on the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) website and see how you can bring health and hope to those who need it.
The 2-year Occupational Therapy Assistant Degree at CUKC
Cleveland University-Kansas City (CUKC) offers an Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S.) in Occupational Therapy Assistant degree program. In addition to the professional OTA coursework, you’ll practice your OTA skill set in our on-campus simulated living quarters lab. Finally, you’ll do the four-to-five months of required fieldwork experience that helps to ensure you’re ready for the OTA workforce.
Cleveland University-Kansas City (CUKC) is a nonprofit, private, healthcare-focused university located in suburban Kansas City. Allhealthcare.com rates the Kansas City area among its top 25 cities for a healthcare career.
Features of the CUKC program:
Connect with an advisor now to learn more about our OTA school, or click here for the informative, free ebook: Your Complete Guide to an Occupational Therapy Assistant Career.
