Occupational Therapy & Physical Therapy

The Occupational therapy and Physical Therapy are two of the evident and unique health professions nowadays. Occupational therapy is labeled as OT while Physical Therapy is labeled as PT. The fields of Occupational therapy and Physical Therapy usually involved in training patients in improving the abilities of their motor functions. Apparently, most of the people especially the patients undergoing training do not exactly understand the similarities as well as the differences of Occupational therapy and Physical Therapy.

One important similarity of Occupational therapy and Physical Therapy is that both of the job outlooks for these professions were impacted due to managed care issues. However, in the past few years the job markets of these professions were then increased due to the increased of availability in some areas especially in the United States. Another similarity of Occupational therapy and Physical Therapy is that students of these professions should have completed a graduate level in the professional course programs of OT or PT. This is after they have completed a Degree in Bachelor’s Level. Both Occupational therapy and Physical Therapy have 2-3 years of Master of Science degrees. The students of Occupational therapy and Physical Therapy also must able to work with other health care professionals so that they may be able to gain knowledge about other health care areas not only of the Occupational therapy and Physical Therapy. This is one major requirement for any Occupational therapy and Physical Therapy students for easy adaptation on the actual environment. The clients of Occupational therapy and Physical Therapy usually work with multiple health care professionals such as audiologists, speech-language pathologist, social workers, educators, nurses, dentists, and physicians. With this, in Occupational therapy and Physical Therapy you need to understand the other therapies that your client engaged in. Last of the similarities of Occupational therapy and Physical Therapy is that health and rehabilitation professions of these therapies involve assessing the medical history of the clients as well as evaluating their current performances, setting therapeutic goals, developing a plan, and implementing treatments enabling the client to function better.

Aside from the discussed similarities above, there are also some differences between Occupational therapy and Physical Therapy that make each therapy unique from each other. Compared to Physical Therapy, an Occupational therapy is more of a rehabilitation and health profession. There are certified Occupational Therapists who directly works with people of all ages in enhancing their performances on their daily important activities despite of their conditions on injuries, disabilities and illnesses. Also, Occupational Therapists believe that in order for a person to be happy and healthy, he or she must get engaged in wide varieties of occupations both complex and basic. Another difference of an Occupational therapy from Physical Therapy is that it utilizes several strategies and later on become a skilled problem solver that is committed in looking for ways enabling people to lead satisfying, productive and independent lives. Also, Occupational therapy addresses factors concerning environmental, social and psychological. With these unique perspectives, Occupational therapy is definitely one important part of health care programs compared to Physical Therapy.