Looking for an in-demand, rewarding career with strong employment projections, good work-life balance, and a healthy starting salary?
Consider occupational therapy to start or reinvent your career in health care.
What is Occupational Therapy?
Occupational therapy (OT) is a science-based and client-centered health care profession that enables people of all ages to participate in meaningful daily activities (occupations).
Intervention focuses on any meaningful activity that a person wants or needs to accomplish in any area of life, from self-care, home and family, school, work, and recreation.
Employment Projections = Strong Growth Ahead
Employment for occupational therapists in the United States is expected to grow by eleven percent from 2023 to 2033, significantly faster than the average for all occupations.
Why is OT a growing field? It's partly due to the aging population and a desire to live longer and better. Baby boomers comprise a large segment of a rapidly aging population, aging with a different focus than previous generations.
They're focused on longevity and, more importantly, quality of life, making productive aging a growing and essential practice area for occupational therapy.
Occupational therapy offers a unique and holistic value by focusing on improving health and quality of life by promoting health and facilitating quality of life through participation in meaningful activities.
Common areas that OTs address to promote health and facilitate involvement with older adults include:
- Fall prevention
- Driving
- Work
- Medication management
- Brain health and cognition
- Mental health
As people live longer, the prevalence of chronic conditions increases and the demand for occupational therapy to help people manage chronic conditions also grows.
Occupational therapy supports people with chronic conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and autoimmune diseases by providing education and guidance for goal setting, problem-solving, medication management, and daily living activities.
Occupational therapy practitioners help people stay active, prevent hospitalizations, and achieve or maintain a high quality of life.
Employment Stability
Evidence suggests that supply and demand also affect occupational therapy growth.
Based on current trends, the demand for OT services is expected to exceed the supply of occupational therapy practitioners in the US, and shortages will increase in all fifty states by 2030.
Occupational therapy offers competitive compensation, with the median hourly wage at $44.80 and the median annual wage at $93,180.
There's also plenty of room for advancement, with occupational therapists filling management, leadership, research, and educational roles in business, government, and academic institutions.
High Growth and High Reward
A career in occupational therapy offers high potential for future growth and employment opportunities and is a career choice that will never leave you bored.
Occupational therapists work in various settings and provide services across the entire lifespan. Occupational therapists commonly offer services in:
- Homes
- Schools
- Hospitals
- Outpatient clinics
- Private practice
- Specialty rehabilitation clinics
- Neonatal intensive care untis (NICU)
- Virtual via telehealth
Occupational therapists work with children of all ages (from birth through adolescence) to support maximum participation in meaningful activities.
- Birth to five years: feeding, toileting, sleep, and developmental skills
- Early intervention: developmental skills and early childhood competencies
- Kindergarten through high school: support kids with physical, developmental, and learning disabilities, as well as conditions such as autism spectrum disorder.
- Adolescence through early adulthood: promote independence through transitional and vocational support.
Specialty areas in occupational therapy allow for ongoing professional development and targeted expertise. Common specialty areas include:
- Orthopedics and hand therapy
- Pediatrics
- Mental health
- School-based therapy
- Assistive technology
- Brain injury
- Neurorehabilitation
- Lymphedema
- Burn rehabilitation
- Geriatrics
Occupational therapy is growing in emerging practice areas, such as perinatal care, primary care, diabetes and chronic conditions, and wearable and assistive technology.
It's also worth noting that occupational therapy is ranked among the top ten health care jobs based on wage potential, employment prospects, and work-life balance. From 2022 to 2032, projections indicate that 16,100 new jobs will open in the occupational therapy field.
A Bright Job Outlook for Occupational Therapy
Occupational therapy is an in-demand and growing profession that helps people live independently through participation in meaningful activities.
Occupational therapy practitioners support people in achieving the highest possible quality of life throughout the lifespan. Pursuing a career in occupational therapy, whether entry-level or through a career transition, offers an enriching path where the satisfaction of helping people meets a good work-life balance, a high potential income, secure employment, and unlimited potential for ongoing professional growth.
Suppose you're drawn to a career that blends science, creativity, and compassion with job security and development, where you can impact clients' lives. In that case, occupational therapy is a choice with a bright and thriving future.
