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 a perfect role for an occupational therapist! Hi Shawnee, Im so glad you enjoyed the article! 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. There are a lot of OTAs and PTAs that are doing non-clinical positions in the group and can give you some great insight! I am excited to see non-traditional jobs being promoted, and there are more than just the opportunities listed above!! Organize lunches and in-services. If you have a knack for writing and can pump out quality articles quickly that are free from errors, this is can be a flexible option that you can do from your own home. This means a time commitmentand, yes, a money commitment. Be sure to join the above mentioned Alternative Careers for Rehab Professionals FB group as there are a number of OTs in the group who have gone into sales and can give their perspective. We can also move into roles where we consult with practices to help them improve their billing and workflow practices. I am considering an alternative career in OT. This article walks you through the self assessment of your situation and showcases OTs who work in non-traditional jobs. The not-so-good news is that you need to be a bit more strategic about pursuing such jobs, at least compared to clinical roles. If you are, be sure to read AOTAs position on OTs role in health promotion for some added insight. My favorite part about my job was being creative, whether it was planned or on the fly, working one-on-one or in small groups, and discerning the level of assistance I should use so as to empower the student rather than inhibit he or she from progressing toward a goal. I think that many of these non-traditional career paths can be done as a COTA, especially creating a business and consulting. The first thing youll need as a writer is to get published online. Writing is one of the easiest switches you can make, but you have to be willing to put in lots of time, and you might take a pretty steep pay cut at the beginning. Liaisons face quotas, so if you hate productivity requirements, you might not enjoy this role. 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. Its not necessary, but its helps you feel committed psychologically when you feel youve truly exhausted all options in clinical care before trying something new. Im also now seeing occupational therapists starting their own chronic pain clinics (which I think is great; I go to a chronic pain OT myself and love her practice). This option is becoming popular as more and more healthcare websites are popping up daily, and need frequent articles to publish. You are also building something that, if profitable, increases in value and could eventually be sold. The main issue is that, even though we have the perfect background for these roles, we are not landing them. Luckily, there are tons of alternative jobs that you can land with your occupational therapy degree. Thank you for reading and any input you may have. Find your favorites, then watch their career pages to see if one of the positions might be for you! I would love to connect with you and chat is there a way to share contact info here? Writing. If youre a writer, designer, usability expert or anything else, once you have your basic skills established, a great place to start is by picking up freelance work. Some roles (especially with rehab tech companies) may enable remote workbut in some cases, youll be expected to work onsite, which might even mean you need to relocate to a pricey city. So, Meredith decided to put together some resources to make the switch easier for others. To get started, Upwork is a great platform that most businesses hire their writers from. As clinicians, we are usually pretty comfortable with our clinical skills, even if we dont know everything. Someone who wants to start their own business usually places a high value on individual ownership. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. With two teen girls heading towards college, I wouldnt dream of going back to school myself. I also have fibromyalgia and joint hypermobility syndrome. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. 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. Some professional organizations have built a non-clinical presence, and there are tons of groups out there for all sorts of career paths. Looking creatively at your career and skill set may enable you to help more people than ever would have been possible in 1:1 therapy. For other mental health settings to look into, check out this post covering a variety of areas to work in: Occupational Therapy in Mental Health: An Overview of 6 Typical Settings Best of luck in your job search! So many interesting ideas here! However, if you do have a case that requires going to court, you can obviously charge a lot more money. Sarah Lyon, OTR/L Sarah wasnt looking to leave patient care, but about five years into her career,realized that she could potentially help more patients by serving occupational therapists through her website, OT Potential. If youre making a sudden jump to a non-traditional role, be aware that you might have a gap in pay while you return to school, job hunt, etc. Its not just young, tech-savvy OTs going into usability design, eithercheck out this inspiring story about a 90-year-old occupational therapist whos helping design products for older adults at IDEO. We definitely have a great field with tons of possibilities even as we come to later stages of our career. Get business cards printed with your OT credentials (and any other special certifications you pursue). Thanks again for sharing! They may be some of the few non-traditional roles youve considered, because for years, they were the only ones with real visibility for OTs. 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. For your own journey into health tech, weve made this post of influential health tech companies for you to look into. Loved this article. 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. Writing is one of the easiest switches you can make, but you have to be willing to put in lots of time, and you might take a pretty steep pay cut at the beginning. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. These articles can be related to occupational therapy, but may also involve other medical topics that OTs are familiar with. Their goals are to promote occupational therapists as leaders in the field of home modifications, develop a lucrative business model for home modification occupational therapists, and increase home modification occupational therapists expertise in home modification techniques, technology, equipment and design.. 1. Not sure where youre located, but Center for Community Partnerships in Fort Collins, CO is a great agency for community integration/job retention services. Weve even featured a few OTs here at My OT Spot who have done this themselves, like Paige Hays, OTR/L of Beyond Accessibility and Maria Lindbergh, OTR/L of Stay At Home Solutions, so be sure to check them out. Interesting, how much training did you need for that? Just this week I quit my job from acute care. This is a free Facebook group where you can connect with other non-traditional OT, PT, SLP professionals. A career coach keeps you on track and working toward your goals, while a career counselor will work with you to address underlying fears, roadblocks, and challenges that prevent you from making moves professionally. Take a look at all the interesting ways you can leverage that OT degree, if youre ever ready to try something new! 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. Whether it involves admissions and/or discharges, having experience as an OT can make working as a case manager a perfect fit. In 2011, AOTA identified the low vision specialty as an emerging niche. A big part of the reason for this focus area growing is the fact that the U.S. and many other developed nations are facing a large aging population in the coming decades. I would like to help people with mental illness gain and retain employment. , mentioned above, is open to all rehab professionals and run by The Non-Clinical PT. Hi Jeanne, There have been a lot of courses on this at AOTA conferences recently. Sometimes its accompanied by a picture and short bio. Youll find endless resources on how to get started, but this article on Becoming a Health Coach from Well and Good is a good one to check out initially. A career change can affect more than just you. Thank you so much for this specific post I think as creative as we OTs are its so hard to envision a career outside of direct patient care with the fear of judgment and let down (from others and ourselves). A headshot is an easy way to start establishing your personal brand. Itll help your case! They provide pathways to non-traditional career opportunities for all rehab professionals, including PTs, OTs, SLPs, and assistants. And if youre branched out into another non-clinical career path, please share your experiences in the comments below. For example, sales, business development, and clinical/patient trainer jobs often require you to cover a particular territory, which might be far from where you live. Some careers require additional education or training, or they might necessitate relocation. I hope this post gave you some inspiration and ideas if youre looking for a change. Almost all medical device and equipment companies have sales representatives that visit hospitals and clinics to market their products to. Your email address will not be published. These alternative career ideas come from an array of different conversations that Ive been a part of with other OTs at work and online. You might want to check with your states individual regulations just to be sure. Thanks for the great article . What other alternative careers for occupational therapists and COTAs would you add to this list? However, being an occupational therapist, we are able to effectively decipher other therapists notes and determine the necessity of the treatments being billed. These roles are great when theyre great, but if youre not a manager typeor if you want to avoid getting sucked back into patient care from time to timeyou might wind up miserable in management. So I was trying to see if I would fit in any other career with my associates degree. With the recent change in insurance and the virus and being a new Cota everywhere I apply or look for only wants someone with experience, but how am I able to get experience if I cannot even get a chance to show them my skills. Is there anything stopping a COTA from going into business or private practice on their own? If you were a career changer, any previous leadership or instructing roles are relevant, too! Mental health in OT is a much smaller niche than the typical rehab settings, but if your passion is in mental health, you can start looking on Indeed.com for OT mental health settings (you may need to branch out into other cities as these jobs are typically harder to find). There are many other resources for home modifications OTs, but these will get you started if youre interested in this alternative career path. Youll know if youre one of those people pretty quickly . If youre interested in working with home modifications, be sure to also check out AOTAs Home Modifications page. There are also other holistic avenues you can take when starting your own private practice. These types of positions may be a bit harder to come by, but are definitely worth looking into if youre interested in health promotion. What OT topics are you most interested in? This is especially true for any home health OTs who have so much first-hand experience. Hi, and thank you for writing and posting such an insightful article! Non-Clinical 101 also contains an entire lesson to help you learn how to identify your marketable skills, find clients, and price yourself. This post was originally published May 30th, 2017 and updated on February 29, 2020. Writing is awesome, though. This route may also fall into the category of Business Owner/Entrepreneur as you can certainly start your own Home Modifications business. If there is anything that I can do here on this website or collaborate with evidenced based research or any type of publication to get this good word out, please do let me know!!! Read more about being a case manager from an OT perspective here:Statement: The Occupational Therapist as Case Manager. There are also plenty of in-person events out there. Much thanks Thanks! In her own journey into tech, she started with consulting on the side and this grew into full time opportunities. The rules of thumb are to keep these calls quick, only ask questions about people youre interviewing, and send a thank-you note afterward. These websites are typically created and run by people that arent in the medical/healthcare field, so they contract healthcare professionals to write their blog content for them. For example, most OTs and PTs have a very difficult time selling themselves and their services, and very few are savvy with social media and digital marketing. Wikipedias definition says Case management is a managed care technique within the health care coverage system of the United States.. These are weekend events where youll team up with engineering and business professionals, as well as other clinicians, to tackle big problems in healthcare. AOTA offers a Low Vision certification that you can learn more about here. Best of luck to you with whatever path you choose! The documentation, stress, productivity and inconsistency between supervisors were factored into my decision. Hi Sarah! Theres something rewarding and fulfilling about building something from nothing and seeing all that hard work pay off over a long period of time. If youre interested in technology and the advancing future applications, this may be something to think about pursuing long-term as well. Also, note any experience you have with running insurance or auditing charts. Thank you for your great article. 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