A Comprehensive Career and Education Plan for Occupational Therapists

This report provides a detailed career and continuing education plan for occupational therapy assistants (OTAs). It begins by identifying the strengths of OTAs, such as knowledge of psychology, therapy and counseling skills, communication skills, and technical skills. The report then outlines challenges faced by OTAs, including professional stress, patient response, institutional barriers, and competition, alongside corresponding goals like increasing motivation, improving communication, gaining institutional knowledge, and enhancing competency. A detailed plan is presented to achieve each goal, incorporating resources like books, online materials, professional courses, and trainers. Specific plans for further education are provided, focusing on teamwork, communication skills, institutional knowledge, and advanced training, including cost estimates and realistic commitments. The report also discusses funding sources and emphasizes the realistic aspect of the plan, aligning with SMART parameters and promoting work-life balance. This document is available on Desklib, where students can find more solved assignments and past papers.

Running head: PROFESSION OF OCCUPATIONAL THERAPISTS
Profession of Occupational Therapists
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1
PROFESSION OF OCCUPATIONAL THERAPISTS
Part 1. Continuing educational plan:
The occupational assistants must continue their education to achieve further career
growth and gain further knowledge while pursuing their career as OTS. They should first list
their professional strengths and weaknesses. Then they should adopt appropriate career plans to
deal with those weaknesses and develop their skills further. Their continuation of education plan
can consist of joining membership of reputed organizations like Therapeutic Services. They can
pursue their further skill enhancement plans according to their convenience and practice their
profession simultaneously. The same has been deal with in the subsequent sections.
List of strengths or abilities to practice OTA:
The following are the strengths of an occupational therapist assistant:
Knowledge of psychology:
A therapist must possess sound knowledge of psychology of patients and their family
members. The patients requiring services of occupational therapists usually suffer from serious
illness and injuries. These injuries and illness often inhibit their logical thinking and render them
mentally weak. These patients often respond late to the therapy which means that the OTA
should be able to understand these psychological aspects of the patients and treat them
accordingly (Robinson, Brown & O'brien, 2016).
Therapy and counselling:
The therapists should have strong knowledge of therapy and counselling methods. This
would enable them to treat patients more appropriately to make their recovery speedier.

2
PROFESSION OF OCCUPATIONAL THERAPISTS
Communication skills:
Sound communication skills are one of the strengths of occupational therapists which can
help them to treat patients more effectively. For example, aged and mentally impaired patients
respond very slowly and need more cooperation from the therapists. Strong communication skills
of therapists help them to understand the individual problems of the patients and choose
appropriate therapy to speed up patient recovery (Clarke et al., 2015).
Technical skills:
The occupational therapists should have sound technical skills to apply modern therapy
machines to treat their patients. Their strong technical strengths help them to treat patients more
appropriately and enable their fast recovery (Demo et al., 2015).
Part 2. Challenges and goals:
The following table would showcase the challenges and goals of occupational therapists
assistants:
No. Challenges No. Goals
1 Professional stress 1 To increase motivation and
concentration to minimize
professional stress
2 Patients often respond very little
and even adversely
2 To increase communication skills
with different types of patients
3 Institutional barriers 3 Increase knowledge of different
institutions
4 Competition from established 4 Increase competency, skills and

3
PROFESSION OF OCCUPATIONAL THERAPISTS
OTAs employed with reputed
hospitals
knowledge like fabricating wounds in
better way and to treat aged and
children more efficiently.
Part 3. Plan to achieve each goal:
The following are the plans which would be used to achieve each of the goals:
No. Goals Plans to achieve them
1
Increase motivation and
concentration to handle
professional stress
Work as a team
2
Acquire communication skills
to treat diverse types of patients
Join communication courses specially
designed for professionals
3
Acquire knowledge of different
institutions
Gain information about different
institutions
4
Increase competency, skills and
knowledge about occupational
therapy
Join advanced therapists continuing
educational courses from reputed
institutes like the American
Occupational therapy Association
Inc. (AOTA).
Resources to be used:
The resources which would be used to achieve the aforementioned goals are as follows:
1. Books.

4
PROFESSION OF OCCUPATIONAL THERAPISTS
2. Materials, articles and medical journals available online.
3. Advanced professional courses on OTA.
4. Trainers
Plan for further education:
The OTs should continue their education to gain more knowledge and skills in
occupational therapy. This would allow them to rehabilitate patients suffering from critical
illness and enable them to bring about development in their profession. The plans shown below
deal with their continuing education as per their goals.
Plan for Goal 1:
Work as a team
Details: Acquire communication skills to treat diverse types of patients
Resources www.AOTA.org , practical experience, Interview of OT expert,
mentoring and collaborating with senior OTs.
Courses Practical training, classroom training and online seminars
Cost of plan $500 - $ 750 for each seminar/Free seminars do not attract charge.
Payment method With differ according to the type of course chosen. Free courses are
also available.
Realistic
commitment
The courses are convenient and can be done as per the financial
power of the OTs.
Plan for goal 2:
Join communication courses specially designed for professionals

5
PROFESSION OF OCCUPATIONAL THERAPISTS
Details: Acquire communication skills to treat diverse types of patients
Resources Coaching, mentor guidance and online seminars
www.therapeuticservicesinc.com
Courses Membership at Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists
Cost of plan $155 - $ 193
Payment method On time payment
Realistic
commitment
The plan is realistic and would allow the OTAs take the
trainings as per their convenience without hindering their professional
practices
Plan for goal 3:
Gain information about different institutions
Details: Acquire knowledge of different institutions
Resources Vocational courses, www.therapeuticservicesinc.com for conferences
and webinars
Courses Professional seminar, public speaking and communications
Cost of plan $300-$500/Free
Payment method Differ as per institutes (No cost for free courses)
Realistic
commitment
This plan is realistic with respect to time, cost and family of
patient.
Plan for goal 4:

6
PROFESSION OF OCCUPATIONAL THERAPISTS
Join advanced therapists continuing educational courses from reputed institutes like the
American Occupational therapy Association Inc. (AOTA).
Details: Increase competency, skills and knowledge about occupational therapy
Resources Vocational courses, www.therapeuticservicesinc.com for conferences
and webinars,
Courses Institutes like New York State Occupational Therapy Association Inc.
provide free online self-study courses which the OTs can use to
develop their knowledge (nysota.org, 2018).
Cost of plan Course materials like DVDs and books for $25 to $120 from
Therapeutic Services. The cost structure of the course consists
application fees of $ 25 which is non-refundable, a tuition charge of $
2650 for a member and $2875 for a non-member (ndta.org, 2018).
Payment method Depending on the institute whether free or payable.
Realistic
commitment
The plan is realistic as the occupational therapists can decide whether
avail knowledge enhancement trainings by buying DVDs and books
or to attend classes physically. The dual facilities (DVDs or
classroom courses) would be more convenient for OTAs who are
unable to attend physical classes due to distance from reputed
institutes.

7
PROFESSION OF OCCUPATIONAL THERAPISTS
Sources of expenses of the plan:
The occupational therapists can continue their profession to earn the money required to
fund these professional training sessions which would lead to their knowledge and skill
enhancement. Continuing their profession would also enable them to apply newly acquired
knowledge which would enhance their understanding of them.
Realistic aspect of the plan:
The plans of further education shown above are specific to the needs of the OTAs. They
are measureable as per the financial power of the OTAs and can be assigned to them on joining
the training programs. The plan is a realistic commitment because it would allow the
occupational therapists assistants to continue their profession and fund their own training.
Moreover, they would be able to achieve work life balance by managing time between their
professional development and family time (Murray et al., 2015). Hence the training programs are
time bound and have to be achieved within specified time. Thus the training training programs
are realistic as per SMART parameters.

8
PROFESSION OF OCCUPATIONAL THERAPISTS
References:
AOTA Continuing Education Courses. (2018). Aota.org. Retrieved 17 March 2018, from
https://www.aota.org/Education-Careers/Continuing-Education/AOTACE.aspx
Books – Therapeutic Services, Inc.. (2018). Therapeuticservicesinc.com. Retrieved 17 March
2018, from http://therapeuticservicesinc.com/category/books/
Clarke, C., Martin, M., de Visser, R., & Sadlo, G. (2015). Sustaining professional identity in
practice following role-emerging placements: Opportunities and challenges for
occupational therapists. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 78(1), 42-50.
Classes of Membership. (2018). Osot.on.ca. Retrieved 19 March 2018, from
http://www.osot.on.ca/OSOT/Membership/Classes_of_Membership/OSOT/Membership_
Pages/Classes_of_Membership.aspx?hkey=b06768e5-83c9-473d-a60d-480088629d55
Demo, D. H., Fry, D., Devine, N., & Butler, A. (2015). A call for action: advocating for
increased funding for the allied health professions ASAHP Leadership Development
Program. Journal of allied health, 44(1), 57-62.
Murray, C., Turpin, M., Edwards, I., & Jones, M. (2015). A qualitative meta-synthesis about
challenges experienced in occupational therapy practice. British Journal of Occupational
Therapy, 78(9), 534-546.
NDTA™: Neuro-Developmental Treatment Association. (2018). Ndta.org. Retrieved 17 March
2018, from http://www.ndta.org/CI_dashboard/course_splash.php?event_id=209
New York State Occupational Therapy Association. (2018). Nysota.org. Retrieved 17 March
2018, from http://www.nysota.org/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=1045141&group=

9
PROFESSION OF OCCUPATIONAL THERAPISTS
Robinson, L. S., Brown, T., & O'brien, L. (2016). Embracing an occupational perspective:
Occupation‐based interventions in hand therapy practice. Australian occupational
therapy journal, 63(4), 293-296.