occupational therapy assistanttooccupational therapist
A occupational therapy assistant already meets 52% of what the occupational therapist role asks for. The move turns on 31 required skills not yet in the profile.
52%
66.1/ 100
1 Share of the occupational therapist role’s weighted skill requirement already met by the occupational therapy assistant profile. Required skills count in full, supplementary skills at 0.35. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs. 2 Combines what is missing with how specialised it is, so a gap of general skills scores easier than the same number of narrow ones.
Why this move works
A occupational therapist role treats 38 of its required skills as things a occupational therapy assistant already does. These are the ones it depends on most.
- advise healthcare users on occupational health
- apply techniques of occupational therapy
- assist healthcare users achieve autonomy
- communicate in healthcare
- community-based rehabilitation
- create individual treatment programmes
What stands in the way is 31 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 41 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A occupational therapist role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a occupational therapy assistant background worth leading with.
- already held advise healthcare users on occupational health communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held apply techniques of occupational therapy assisting and caring
- already held assist healthcare users achieve autonomy assisting and caring
- already held community-based rehabilitation health and welfare
- already held instruct on the use of special equipment for daily activities communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held occupational science social sciences, journalism and information
All 41 carried skills, including the 38 the occupational therapist role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you would need to learn
The 45 missing skills fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered below in the order worth working in: the areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the supplementary ones.
- required, not held advise on environmental alterations required
- required, not held advise on healthcare users' informed consent required
- required, not held apply context specific clinical competences required
- required, not held encourage healthcare user's self-monitoring required
- required, not held provide nursing advice on healthcare required
- required, not held develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship required
- required, not held educate on the prevention of illness required
- required, not held inform policy makers on health-related challenges required
- required, not held work in a multicultural environment in health care required
- optional, not held use foreign languages for health-related research optional
- optional, not held use foreign languages in patient care optional
- required, not held professional documentation in health care required
- required, not held human anatomy required
- required, not held medical informatics required
- required, not held medical terminology required
- required, not held paediatrics required
- required, not held pathology required
- required, not held psychiatry required
- optional, not held bobath therapy optional
- optional, not held osteopathy optional
- optional, not held public health optional
- required, not held provide assistive technology required
- required, not held comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice required
- required, not held contribute to continuity of health care required
- required, not held comply with legislation related to health care required
- required, not held promote inclusion required
- optional, not held provide early intervention therapy to infants optional
- optional, not held assist children with special needs in education settings optional
- required, not held identify the healthcare user’s personal capacity required
- required, not held assess risks for the elderly required
- required, not held undertake healthcare examination required
- required, not held manage healthcare users' data required
- optional, not held identify research topics optional
- optional, not held use clinical assessment techniques optional
- required, not held psychology required
- required, not held sociology required
- optional, not held neuropsychology optional
- optional, not held disorders affecting self-awareness optional
- optional, not held psychotherapy principles optional
- required, not held use techniques to increase patients' motivation required
- required, not held respond to changing situations in health care required
- optional, not held manage occupational therapy students optional
2 further areas in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a occupational therapist role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 advise on environmental alterations skill · occupation specific
- 02 identify the healthcare user’s personal capacity skill · occupation specific
- 03 provide assistive technology skill · occupation specific
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 41 skills that carry over
- already held advise healthcare users on occupational health skill
- already held apply techniques of occupational therapy skill
- already held assist healthcare users achieve autonomy skill
- already held communicate in healthcare skill
- already held community-based rehabilitation knowledge
- already held create individual treatment programmes skill
- already held deal with emergency care situations skill
- already held develop a rehabilitation programme skill
- already held empathise with the healthcare user skill
- already held ensure safety of healthcare users skill
- already held ergonomics knowledge
- already held follow clinical guidelines skill
- already held general medicine knowledge
- already held geriatrics knowledge
- already held health care legislation knowledge
- already held health care occupation-specific ethics knowledge
- already held human physiology knowledge
- already held hygiene in a health care setting knowledge
- already held instruct on the use of special equipment for daily activities skill
- already held interact with healthcare users skill
- already held monitor patients' progress related to treatment skill
- already held movement techniques knowledge
- already held neurology knowledge
- already held occupational health knowledge
- already held occupational physiology knowledge
- already held occupational science knowledge
- already held occupational therapy theories knowledge
- already held orthopaedics knowledge
- already held perform occupation analyses skill
- already held perform patient activity analyses skill
- already held physical medicine knowledge
- already held provide health education skill
- already held provide stroke rehabilitation services skill
- already held record healthcare users' progress related to treatment skill
- already held remediate healthcare user's occupational performance skill
- already held supervision of persons knowledge
- already held vocational rehabilitation knowledge
- already held work in multidisciplinary health teams skill
- already held assist in performing physical exercises skill
- already held first aid knowledge
- already held mechanotherapy knowledge
The 2 learning areas not shown above
- required, not held use computer programs to improve patients' skills required
- required, not held use e-health and mobile health technologies required
- optional, not held pedagogy optional
14 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held manage occupational therapy students optional
- optional, not held neuropsychology optional
- optional, not held provide early intervention therapy to infants optional
- optional, not held assist children with special needs in education settings optional
- optional, not held bobath therapy optional
- optional, not held disorders affecting self-awareness optional
- optional, not held identify research topics optional
- optional, not held osteopathy optional
- optional, not held use clinical assessment techniques optional
- optional, not held pedagogy optional
- optional, not held psychotherapy principles optional
- optional, not held public health optional
- optional, not held use foreign languages for health-related research optional
- optional, not held use foreign languages in patient care optional
5 held skills the occupational therapist role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role develop therapeutic relationships skill
- not needed by the target role exercise patience skill
- not needed by the target role kinesiology knowledge
- not needed by the target role listen actively skill
- not needed by the target role rehabilitation knowledge
16 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- required, not held professional documentation in health care required
- required, not held human anatomy required
- required, not held medical informatics required
- required, not held medical terminology required
- required, not held paediatrics required
- required, not held pathology required
- required, not held psychiatry required
- required, not held psychology required
- required, not held sociology required
- optional, not held neuropsychology optional
- optional, not held bobath therapy optional
- optional, not held disorders affecting self-awareness optional
- optional, not held osteopathy optional
- optional, not held pedagogy optional
- optional, not held psychotherapy principles optional
- optional, not held public health optional
Other moves recorded from occupational therapy assistant
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.