RecordMove

Occupational therapy assistant to osteopath

An occupational therapy assistant already meets 36% of what the osteopath role asks for. The move turns on 16 required skills not yet in the profile.

Fig. 1 · Skill transfer ESCO v1.2.1 · directional

From occupational therapy assistant

Distant match

To osteopath

16 You already bring

16 Still to learn

48 Skills in the target role2

Learning distance Substantial retraining

71.3/ 100

adjacentmoderatesubstantialcareer change

1 How much of what an osteopath 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 osteopath role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.

Why

Why this move works

An osteopath role treats 10 of its required skills as things an occupational therapy assistant already does. You would walk in with these on day one.

develop therapeutic relationships
empathise with the healthcare user
ensure safety of healthcare users
health care legislation
health care occupation-specific ethics
listen actively

What stands in the way is 16 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.

Table 2

Table 2 · What you already bring

Of the 16 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. An osteopath 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.

Skill the target role also needs Area

already held monitor patients' progress related to treatment information skills
already held orthopaedics health and welfare
already held develop therapeutic relationships communication, collaboration and creativity
already held neurology health and welfare
already held record healthcare users' progress related to treatment information skills
already held health care occupation-specific ethics arts and humanities

All 16 carried skills, including the 10 the osteopath role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you may need to learn

The 32 missing skills fall into 9 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.

Skill to pick up Tier

01 assisting and caring 6 required, 2 supplementary

still to learn develop osteopathic treatment plans required
still to learn apply person-centred care required
still to learn prescribe treatment for musculoskeletal injuries required
still to learn apply deep tissue massage required
still to learn comply with legislation related to health care required
still to learn contribute to the rehabilitation process required

optional, not held manage trauma through surgical means optional
optional, not held refer healthcare users optional

02 information skills 5 required, 3 supplementary

still to learn conduct gross examination of tissues required
still to learn provide osteopathic diagnosis required
still to learn diagnose musculoskeletal conditions required
still to learn maintain treatment records required
still to learn undertake healthcare examination required

optional, not held collect healthcare user's general data optional
optional, not held conduct physical examinations optional
optional, not held obtain healthcare user's medical status information optional

03 health and welfare 3 required, 4 supplementary

still to learn osteopathy required
still to learn musculoskeletal anatomy required
still to learn therapeutic massage required

optional, not held dietetics optional
optional, not held endocrinology optional
optional, not held human anatomy optional
optional, not held kinetics optional

04 communication, collaboration and creativity 1 required, 1 supplementary

still to learn follow-up on healthcare users' treatment required

optional, not held advise on healthy lifestyles optional

05 education 1 required

still to learn scientific research methodology required

06 management skills 2 supplementary

optional, not held create a diet plan optional
optional, not held promote exercise programmes optional

3 further areas in the appendix

Table 4

Table 4 · Where to start

The 3 entries an osteopath role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.

Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.

Appendix

Appendix · The rest of the record

All 16 skills that carry over

Skill Type

already held develop therapeutic relationships skill
already held empathise with the healthcare user skill
already held ensure safety of healthcare users skill
already held health care legislation knowledge
already held health care occupation-specific ethics knowledge
already held listen actively skill
already held monitor patients' progress related to treatment skill
already held provide health education skill
already held record healthcare users' progress related to treatment skill
already held work in multidisciplinary health teams skill
already held first aid knowledge
already held general medicine knowledge
already held human physiology knowledge
already held interact with healthcare users skill
already held neurology knowledge
already held orthopaedics knowledge

The 3 learning areas not shown above

Skill to pick up Tier

07 natural sciences, mathematics and statistics 2 supplementary

optional, not held biomechanics optional
optional, not held pharmacology optional

08 engineering, manufacturing and construction 1 supplementary

optional, not held food science optional

09 working with machinery and specialised equipment 1 supplementary

optional, not held take and analyse blood pressure optional

16 supplementary skills, helpful but not required

Skill to pick up Tier

optional, not held take and analyse blood pressure optional
optional, not held collect healthcare user's general data optional
optional, not held conduct physical examinations optional
optional, not held create a diet plan optional
optional, not held dietetics optional
optional, not held endocrinology optional
optional, not held food science optional
optional, not held manage trauma through surgical means optional
optional, not held obtain healthcare user's medical status information optional
optional, not held promote exercise programmes optional
optional, not held refer healthcare users optional
optional, not held advise on healthy lifestyles optional
optional, not held biomechanics optional
optional, not held human anatomy optional
optional, not held kinetics optional
optional, not held pharmacology optional

30 held skills the osteopath role does not ask for

Skill Type

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 communicate in healthcare 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 ergonomics knowledge
not needed by the target role exercise patience skill
not needed by the target role follow clinical guidelines skill
not needed by the target role geriatrics knowledge
not needed by the target role hygiene in a health care setting 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 mechanotherapy knowledge
not needed by the target role movement techniques 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 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 stroke rehabilitation services 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

11 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice

Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.

Skill to pick up Tier

still to learn osteopathy required
still to learn musculoskeletal anatomy required
still to learn scientific research methodology required
still to learn therapeutic massage required
optional, not held dietetics optional
optional, not held endocrinology optional
optional, not held food science optional
optional, not held biomechanics optional
optional, not held human anatomy optional
optional, not held kinetics optional
optional, not held pharmacology optional

Index

Other moves recorded from occupational therapy assistant

Full index of moves from occupational therapy assistant

FAQ

Common questions about this move

Can an occupational therapy assistant become an osteopath?

Yes, and it is a substantial move. An occupational therapy assistant already covers 36% of what an osteopath is expected to do: 16 skills carry over, 10 of which the osteopath role treats as required.

What skills does an occupational therapy assistant need to become an osteopath?

16 required skills are missing, plus 16 optional ones. They fall into 9 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by assisting and caring. The single most important is conduct gross examination of tissues.

How hard is the move from occupational therapy assistant to osteopath?

Its learning distance is 71.3 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.

Note

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.