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How does becoming an occupational therapist vary from becoming a physical therapist?

I am a senior in high school that will be attending college in the fall. I am currently trying to decide what career path I want to follow. Right now I am considering occupational therapy or physical therapy. How do they vary and how can I get a better idea of what career I should purse?

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Rebecca’s Answer

I completely agree with Allison's answer - I have worked in many different clinical settings and the breakdown she gave you is accurate. OT can also work in the mental health field more than PT can, if that makes a difference to you. They address emotional regulation and executive functioning in both children and adults living with mental illness.
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Allison’s Answer

Hi Caleb, great question! There are a lot of similarities between OT and PT and it is easy to confuse them. In general, PT is focused on rehabilitating large muscle groups and gross motor movement such as walking, running, jumping, etc, while OT tends to focus on smaller muscle groups and fine motor movements (handwriting, hand rehab, etc). They also focus a lot on activities of daily living (dressing, toileting, etc). It also varies a lot depending on what population you work with. I work in pediatrics and while I focus on walking, crawling, running, jumping, throwing, and catching as well as core stability, arm and leg strengthening, my coworkers in OT may focus more on handwriting, coordination, and sensory needs with our kids. However, we do work on a lot of the same things! In PT, there are many different fields you can go into, such as working in a hospital, working in an outpatient clinic, working with athletes, in a nursing home, in a school, or doing home visits. OTs can work in many of these fields as well, but there may not be as much of a variety, simply because there tends to be more people who are in need of PT versus OT in most fields. So it is really about the type of patients you want to work with and what kind of rehabilitation you would like to perform. Both are very rewarding career choices!! It may be a good idea to shadow in a clinic that offers both OT and PT to see if you can shadow both professions to get a better idea of what each does. Best of luck to you!
Thank you comment icon Thank you for clearing up the differences and sharing some valuable insights. What you shared is helpful and I will use your advice as I continue to look into each of the career options! Caleb
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