Occupational Therapist job description and type of schooling needed?

I worked for an occupational therapist once. It is quite an interesting field. The lady I worked for specialized in designing adaptations of common tools and utensils for people with limited use of their hands. But much of occupational therapy is artsy-craftsy. For example, in a mental hospital, you would help patients to gain confidence in themselves by learning new skills, even ones that frighten them at first. A lady who ran a successful shop for her enameled silver and copper pieces in Philadelphia years ago learned the skill in a hospital occupational therapy setting. You might also help the developmentally disabled with learning routine self-care and housekeeping chores, breaking it down into small steps and teaching with great patience.

In addition to psychology courses, and courses in special education, you would need a lot of courses in the art department, learning the materials and techniques required. There is probably a special department for occupational therapy in most of the larger universities.

I’ve been too long out of the academic world to help you directly, but I’m sure a web search would be a good first start. I would recommend the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, because that is where the Institute for the Study of Mental Retardation and Related Disabilities, where I worked for the occupational therapist I mentioned, was located. Doubtless by now they have changed the name to reflect the fact that “retardation” is no longer the politically correct term.

The pay, like anything else, is so dependant on so many factors that I can only say it cannot be too low, as it requires a bachelor’s degree as a minimum, and so cannot attract the right candidates if they don’t pay decently. Naturally, you will have to do internship work, possibly as work-study, before you are fully qualified. How well you do in that will be a large factor in determining your future salary.

Good luck!