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Hi all,
New to this forum but have been lurking for awhile. I've been looking for more information on deciding between OT and PT programs but am still at a standstill so thought I would ask for opinions.
I have my Bachelor's in psychology (2008) and by that point had become interested in health professions and started taking prereqisites. Between changing my mind about which career path to take, and changing jobs a few times since, I have most basic science classes completed but am still not sure which way to go.
I really enjoy the 'hard sciences' and just from looking at various school's curriculum, PT school looks more interesting than OT school. I am definitely a methodical type of person who likes structured approaches to things (example, I loved the accounting class I took, where you use specific, set equations and A+B always equals C, as opposed to writing psych papers for my major). However, I worked at a nursing home/SNF for a year as an aide when i was considering nursing school, and my favorite residents were the dementia patients. I know this is a VERY generalized statement, but it seemed that the short-term, SNF residents mostly did PT for however long their stay before they returned home, whereas the residents who were there 'for good' mostly saw OT. I worked mainly on the long-term care wing, so I am definitely biased towards those type of residents who are there for the long haul (although I did enjoy the rehab patients that i saw when floating to other wings too). That is making me lean towards OT. I really enjoyed forming long-term relationships w/them and being an advocate, etc.
I'm completely stuck as to which path I should choose. Both appeal to me for different reasons and I know both are great careers. I work as an allied health recruiter right now so I'm fairly familiar with both options. For what it's worth, either way I intend to work in both SNF and hospital settings if I can. And for either one I'd be aiming to start in Fall of 2014, although the OT path seems to be slightly more practical as far as logistics (cost, length, prerequsites, etc)
Sorry so lengthy, any advice is REALLY appreciated!!
New to this forum but have been lurking for awhile. I've been looking for more information on deciding between OT and PT programs but am still at a standstill so thought I would ask for opinions.
I have my Bachelor's in psychology (2008) and by that point had become interested in health professions and started taking prereqisites. Between changing my mind about which career path to take, and changing jobs a few times since, I have most basic science classes completed but am still not sure which way to go.
I really enjoy the 'hard sciences' and just from looking at various school's curriculum, PT school looks more interesting than OT school. I am definitely a methodical type of person who likes structured approaches to things (example, I loved the accounting class I took, where you use specific, set equations and A+B always equals C, as opposed to writing psych papers for my major). However, I worked at a nursing home/SNF for a year as an aide when i was considering nursing school, and my favorite residents were the dementia patients. I know this is a VERY generalized statement, but it seemed that the short-term, SNF residents mostly did PT for however long their stay before they returned home, whereas the residents who were there 'for good' mostly saw OT. I worked mainly on the long-term care wing, so I am definitely biased towards those type of residents who are there for the long haul (although I did enjoy the rehab patients that i saw when floating to other wings too). That is making me lean towards OT. I really enjoyed forming long-term relationships w/them and being an advocate, etc.
I'm completely stuck as to which path I should choose. Both appeal to me for different reasons and I know both are great careers. I work as an allied health recruiter right now so I'm fairly familiar with both options. For what it's worth, either way I intend to work in both SNF and hospital settings if I can. And for either one I'd be aiming to start in Fall of 2014, although the OT path seems to be slightly more practical as far as logistics (cost, length, prerequsites, etc)
Sorry so lengthy, any advice is REALLY appreciated!!
