Occupational therapy assistant to occupational therapist
An 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.
66.1/ 100
1 How much of what an occupational therapist 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 occupational therapist role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
An occupational therapist role treats 38 of its required skills as things an occupational therapy assistant already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- 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. An occupational therapist 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 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 may need to learn
The 45 missing skills fall into 8 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 advise on environmental alterations required
- still to learn advise on healthcare users' informed consent required
- still to learn apply context specific clinical competences required
- still to learn encourage healthcare user's self-monitoring required
- still to learn provide nursing advice on healthcare required
- still to learn develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship required
- still to learn educate on the prevention of illness required
- still to learn inform policy makers on health-related challenges required
- still to learn 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
- still to learn professional documentation in health care required
- still to learn human anatomy required
- still to learn medical informatics required
- still to learn medical terminology required
- still to learn paediatrics required
- still to learn pathology required
- still to learn psychiatry required
- optional, not held bobath therapy optional
- optional, not held osteopathy optional
- optional, not held public health optional
- still to learn provide assistive technology required
- still to learn comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice required
- still to learn contribute to continuity of health care required
- still to learn comply with legislation related to health care required
- still to learn 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
- still to learn identify the healthcare user’s personal capacity required
- still to learn assess risks for the elderly required
- still to learn undertake healthcare examination required
- still to learn manage healthcare users' data required
- optional, not held identify research topics optional
- optional, not held use clinical assessment techniques optional
- still to learn psychology required
- still to learn sociology required
- optional, not held neuropsychology optional
- optional, not held disorders affecting self-awareness optional
- optional, not held psychotherapy principles optional
- still to learn use techniques to increase patients' motivation required
- still to learn 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 an 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 practise this
- 02 identify the healthcare user’s personal capacity practise this
- 03 provide assistive technology 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 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
- still to learn use computer programs to improve patients' skills required
- still to learn 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.
- still to learn professional documentation in health care required
- still to learn human anatomy required
- still to learn medical informatics required
- still to learn medical terminology required
- still to learn paediatrics required
- still to learn pathology required
- still to learn psychiatry required
- still to learn psychology required
- still to learn 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
Common questions about this move
Can an occupational therapy assistant become an occupational therapist?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. An occupational therapy assistant already covers 52% of what an occupational therapist is expected to do: 41 skills carry over, 38 of which the occupational therapist role treats as required.
What skills does an occupational therapy assistant need to become an occupational therapist?
31 required skills are missing, plus 14 optional ones. They fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is advise on environmental alterations.
How hard is the move from occupational therapy assistant to occupational therapist?
Its learning distance is 66.1 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.