An occupational therapist is a person who is mainly involved with the treatment of people who have various kinds of functional inabilities. There are many patients who seem to have these problems. As the work is going ahead with full speed towards perfection and the achievement of perfection, the people who have various kinds of disabilities are left behind from the mainstream. The occupational therapists are the ones who are helping the affected people in the process of being united with the mainstream by overcoming the various functional problems.

There are various people who would like to become an occupational therapist because it is a rewarding job that deals with helping many people to overcome their problems. The career opportunities are very high and unlimited as far as this profession is concerned. The steps that have to be followed to become occupational therapists are listed here.

1. Education:

The education that has to be undergone to make the grade starts with the post school education. In most countries, the initial college education should be in biology or related subjects. This will help to form the ground work and then the student will be able to get into the occupational therapy education very easily. In some countries, the student will be able to get into occupational therapy courses directly after school, if the person had selected biology in school as the main subject.

2. Occupational therapy course:

Once the basic pre-course qualification and education has been completed, the person can enter into the regular course for occupational therapists that will be for a period of about 4 years. The education deals with various specialties starting from the basics including the anatomy and physiology of the human body. After the basic courses, more specialized education is given to the student.

3. Internship:

Once the basic occupational therapy education is completed, the student is then involved in a period of usually compulsory internship. This is the period in which the individual gets a lot of hands on experience in treating patients who have various kinds of functional inabilities.

Success in the occupational therapy profession

An occupational therapist needs certain basic skills that have to be present for the person to be a success. The first thing that has to be done by the individual is that there needs to be a lot of analyzing skills.

Analysis:

The needs of the patient needs to be analyzed first to make sure that the right kind of treatment is given. The assessment that is done before the treatment helps the person in being able to get this analysis.

Hand skills:

The occupational therapist is usually involved in the process of making various kinds of splints for the patients who need these. This needs a lot of hand skills and the occupational therapist needs to be able to make the right kinds of splints for the patient to use.

Patience:

The occupational therapist needs to be very patient when dealing with the patients because the progression and success in the patients will be very slow and very limited. To make sure that the person is able to treat patients without frustration, patience is very important.

The occupational therapist also needs to talk a lot to the patients other than listening to the physical problems of the patients and this will help them to be successful in their profession as occupational therapists.

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