Salary and Outlook

According to the US Department of Labor, there are 131,600 people employed as occupational therapists in the United States. The median annual salary is $86,300. Entry level employees earn approximately $57,330 per year and senior employees earn approximately $122,670 per year.

Estimates do not include other potential benefits such as health insurance, overtime pay, or retirement benefits that may be offered by employers.

Job Duties

• Lay out materials such as puzzles, scissors and eating utensils for use in therapy, and clean and repair these tools after therapy sessions.
• Consult with rehabilitation team to select activity programs or coordinate occupational therapy with other therapeutic activities.
• Design and create, or requisition, special supplies and equipment, such as splints, braces, and computer-aided adaptive equipment.
• Recommend changes in patients' work or living environments, consistent with their needs and capabilities.
• Develop and participate in health promotion programs, group activities, or discussions to promote client health, facilitate social adjustment, alleviate stress, and prevent physical or mental disability.
• Provide training and supervision in therapy techniques and objectives for students or nurses and other medical staff.
• Help clients improve decision making, abstract reasoning, memory, sequencing, coordination, and perceptual skills, using computer programs.
• Conduct research in occupational therapy.
• Advise on health risks in the workplace or on health-related transition to retirement.
• Provide patients with assistance in locating or holding jobs.
• Test and evaluate patients' physical and mental abilities and analyze medical data to determine realistic rehabilitation goals for patients.
• Complete and maintain necessary records.
• Plan, organize, and conduct occupational therapy programs in hospital, institutional, or community settings to help rehabilitate those impaired because of illness, injury or psychological or developmental problems.
• Plan and implement programs and social activities to help patients learn work or school skills and adjust to handicaps.
• Select activities that will help individuals learn work and life-management skills within limits of their mental or physical capabilities.
• Evaluate patients' progress and prepare reports that detail progress.
• Train caregivers in providing for the needs of a patient during and after therapy.

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