3 answers
Ryley
Student
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Questions
Asked
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How can I make the most Money as an occupational therapist?
Im a senior in hs right now but this job has caught my eye for my future but the ratio of the amount of schooling (6 years) to their pay is scaring me because that's a lot of money in school alone. I was wondering if its worth it and what can I do to make sure I make the most money I can in this area of study?
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3 answers
Camille Anderson, MSOT, OTR/L
Occupational therapist
1
Answer
High Point, North Carolina
Updated
Camille’s Answer
OT here. I’m going to be honest with you. By the time, you graduate from college, all OT programs will be switched to OTD programs. Which means longer schooling and more money you have to pay for tuition. OT schools tuition range from $75-200,000. There has not been any change in our pay with this inflation. And there is no perk for having your OTD compared to MSOT unless you want to do academia. If you get your OTD, you will still come out making about $68,000-80,000 at your first job. So be mindful about that and the choices you make in picking OT school. Top earning OT jobs are travel therapy, home health, skilled nursing facility, and some specialization OT jobs like hand therapy. Everyone says do travel therapy but you gotta understand that you have to be confident in yourself as a professional. Most travel therapy companies or your advisors would recommend you do just one year of work first before you try travel therapy cause you may not get the training or mentorship that you need to feel comfortable with this job. If you truly are interested in OT, I would recommend you ask to shadow or do volunteer work to see if you like the profession and if it’s something you want to do. If your goal is to go college, I would recommend majoring in health science or like biology so you can at least have your prerequisites ready if you want to do OT, PT, or PA. There’s also certified occupational therapy assistants that only requires an associate degree as well so you wouldn’t have to do 6 years of schooling and you wouldn’t have to do evaluations as a therapist. But your pay would range about $45,000-60,000. These are the pros and cons
This helped me sooo much, thanks for your time, I really appreciate it :)
Ryley
From your experience in the medical field, is there any other job that you would really recommend or wish you would have pursued that gives good pay for the amount of schooling?
Ryley
I would’ve done PA, that’s only 3 years and they only require masters right now. There’s a lot of career avenues with becoming a nurse practitioner that no one talks about. If you want to do management, then like healthcare management would be a good option too especially for career growth. With therapy, you either stay a practicing therapist, become a case manager, become a rehab director, or work in academia. That’s about it.
Camille Anderson, MSOT, OTR/L
Thanks so much for taking your time out of your day to respond to me :)
Ryley
Niha D
Physical Therapist
60
Answers
Detroit, Michigan
Updated
Niha’s Answer
I'm not an OT, but I am a PT. We have much of the same issue, with schooling being really expensive and the pay not truly matching. The pay scale will vary from state to state, but the best way to make the most amount of money in this field is to either 1) do travel OT work, which has a higher pay rate because you end up in places that have difficulty finding permanent people, 2) switch jobs every few years and negotiate a higher pay each time, or 3) invent/patent a new technique or item that will help/advance the field.
Thank you for the advice.
Ryley
I will use this advice as I prepare for my career.
Thomas
From your experience in the medical field, is there any other job that you would really recommend or wish you would have pursued that gives good pay for the amount of schooling?
Ryley
I likely would have looked into going into hospital admin, or to become a medical assistant, both of which require the basic 4 years of college to get started and then more schooling to rise in the ranks. But, honestly, that's only if I'm looking at pay and schooling. If I was looking at job satisfaction, physical therapy is really the only medical field I can see myself enjoying for a long time because I get to interact with people for long periods and I get to be pretty active.
Niha D
Thank you for the response! :)
Ryley
Katherine Handy
Occupational therapist
5
Answers
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Updated
Katherine’s Answer
Generally, the highest paid areas within the field of occupational therapy include home healthcare, early intervention services, neonatal intensive care units (NICU), and inpatient rehabilitation centers. However, your geographical location can also influence your earnings. For instance, urban areas usually offer higher pay compared to rural regions.
Thank you so much!
Ryley