How can I gain a licensure for a rehabilitation therapist or an occupational therapist?

I’d considered going into OT, so here’s some info I’d gathered during my research. You need a bachelor’s degree followed by an occupational therapy master’s degree and pass an exam in order to be an OTR (Occupational Therapist Registered). Up until this year, the minimum requirement for OTs to practice was only a bachelor’s degree. Don’t let this deter you though, because it’s a really rewarding field.

“To obtain a license, applicants must graduate from an accredited educational program and pass a national certification examination. Those who pass the exam are awarded the title “Occupational Therapist Registered (OTR).” Some States have additional requirements for therapists who work in schools or early intervention programs. These requirements may include education-related classes, an education practice certificate, or early intervention certification requirements.”

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos078.htm#training

If you don’t have the prequisites needed for grad school, check to see if your local community college offers them. To give you an idea of a graduate program and its requirements:

http://grad.towson.edu/program/master/octh-ms/ar-octh-ms.asp

http://www.sahp.vcu.edu/occu/programs/entrylevel.htm

To look for other OT grad programs, this is a good place to start:

http://www.gradschools.com/programs/occupational_therapy.html

You can also consider being an occupational therapist assitant or aid while you pursue your master’s degree. If you do it before, it will also give you the OT volunteer or work experience (about 60 hours) required for entrance into any of the grad programs I had looked into in the past. There’s more info on this here:

Careers in occupational therapy:

http://careerplanning.about.com/od/occupations/a/careers_in_ot.htm

Burea of Labor Statistcs information page for Occupational Therapy. It has info on training and qualifications job outlook, etc.

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos078.htm

More info on OT:

http://gradschool.about.com/od/occtherapy/Occupational_Therapy.htm

To get the license you got to register with the state health board.

http://www.fsbpt.org/licensing/index.asp

http://www.nbcot.org/