Occupational therapy assistant to covid tester
An occupational therapy assistant already meets 27% of what the covid tester role asks for. The move turns on 18 required skills not yet in the profile.
74.6/ 100
1 How much of what a covid tester is expected to do is already part of an occupational therapy assistant’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the covid tester role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A covid tester role treats 7 of its required skills as things an occupational therapy assistant already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- communicate in healthcare
- empathise with the healthcare user
- ensure safety of healthcare users
- follow clinical guidelines
- health care legislation
- hygiene in a health care setting
What stands in the way is 18 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 7 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A covid tester role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of an occupational therapy assistant background worth leading with.
- already held hygiene in a health care setting services
- already held health care legislation business, administration and law
- already held interact with healthcare users communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held empathise with the healthcare user assisting and caring
- already held follow clinical guidelines assisting and caring
- already held communicate in healthcare communication, collaboration and creativity
All 7 carried skills, including the 7 the covid tester role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 21 missing skills fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn communicable diseases required
- still to learn infection control required
- still to learn medical informatics required
- still to learn medical terminology required
- still to learn sterilization techniques required
- optional, not held nursing principles optional
- still to learn ensure safety regulations in dealing with infectious diseases required
- still to learn maintain healthcare user data confidentiality required
- still to learn comply with legislation related to health care required
- still to learn wear appropriate protective gear required
- still to learn collect biological samples from patients required
- still to learn label samples required
- still to learn preserve samples required
- still to learn prevent communicable diseases' outbreaks required
- still to learn interview people required
- optional, not held advise patients on infectious diseases when travelling optional
- still to learn use electronic health records management system required
- still to learn implement data quality processes required
- still to learn perform PCR covid test required
- optional, not held drive vehicles optional
1 further area in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a covid tester role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 ensure safety regulations in dealing with infectious diseases practise this
- 02 perform PCR covid test practise this
- 03 prevent communicable diseases' outbreaks practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 7 skills that carry over
- already held communicate in healthcare skill
- already held empathise with the healthcare user skill
- already held ensure safety of healthcare users skill
- already held follow clinical guidelines skill
- already held health care legislation knowledge
- already held hygiene in a health care setting knowledge
- already held interact with healthcare users skill
The 1 learning area not shown above
- still to learn health records management required
3 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held advise patients on infectious diseases when travelling optional
- optional, not held drive vehicles optional
- optional, not held nursing principles optional
39 held skills the covid tester role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role advise healthcare users on occupational health skill
- not needed by the target role apply techniques of occupational therapy skill
- not needed by the target role assist healthcare users achieve autonomy skill
- not needed by the target role assist in performing physical exercises skill
- not needed by the target role community-based rehabilitation knowledge
- not needed by the target role create individual treatment programmes skill
- not needed by the target role deal with emergency care situations skill
- not needed by the target role develop a rehabilitation programme skill
- not needed by the target role develop therapeutic relationships skill
- not needed by the target role ergonomics knowledge
- not needed by the target role exercise patience skill
- not needed by the target role first aid knowledge
- not needed by the target role general medicine knowledge
- not needed by the target role geriatrics knowledge
- not needed by the target role health care occupation-specific ethics knowledge
- not needed by the target role human physiology knowledge
- not needed by the target role instruct on the use of special equipment for daily activities skill
- not needed by the target role kinesiology knowledge
- not needed by the target role listen actively skill
- not needed by the target role mechanotherapy knowledge
- not needed by the target role monitor patients' progress related to treatment skill
- not needed by the target role movement techniques knowledge
- not needed by the target role neurology knowledge
- not needed by the target role occupational health knowledge
- not needed by the target role occupational physiology knowledge
- not needed by the target role occupational science knowledge
- not needed by the target role occupational therapy theories knowledge
- not needed by the target role orthopaedics knowledge
- not needed by the target role perform occupation analyses skill
- not needed by the target role perform patient activity analyses skill
- not needed by the target role physical medicine knowledge
- not needed by the target role provide health education skill
- not needed by the target role provide stroke rehabilitation services skill
- not needed by the target role record healthcare users' progress related to treatment skill
- not needed by the target role rehabilitation knowledge
- not needed by the target role remediate healthcare user's occupational performance skill
- not needed by the target role supervision of persons knowledge
- not needed by the target role vocational rehabilitation knowledge
- not needed by the target role work in multidisciplinary health teams skill
7 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn health records management required
- still to learn communicable diseases required
- still to learn infection control required
- still to learn medical informatics required
- still to learn medical terminology required
- still to learn sterilization techniques required
- optional, not held nursing principles optional
Other moves recorded from occupational therapy assistant
Common questions about this move
Can an occupational therapy assistant become a covid tester?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. An occupational therapy assistant already covers 27% of what a covid tester is expected to do: 7 skills carry over, 7 of which the covid tester role treats as required.
What skills does an occupational therapy assistant need to become a covid tester?
18 required skills are missing, plus 3 optional ones. They fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by health and welfare. The single most important is ensure safety regulations in dealing with infectious diseases.
How hard is the move from occupational therapy assistant to covid tester?
Its learning distance is 74.6 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
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.