Has OTR allowed you occasional career breaks? Future of OTA/OTR?

[Lauren91389]

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Hi everyone,
I have poured over these forums and have found them incredibly helpful. I want to become an occupational therapist or an occupational therapist assistant. I have seen a lot of travel jobs. My question is---how flexible is your scheduling BETWEEN assignments? I am young (23) and I am bi-vocational. I plan to be an occupational therapist and continue my work as a human rights activist. I would like to be a travel OTR/COTA and take occasional breaks in between my 13 week assignments to travel abroad and volunteer with NGOs. Is this possible?!?!

Is it possible to work with a travel company and take a break in between assignments? Are short career breaks looked down upon by employers?

What about a career break over summer vacation if I was to have children and wanted to stay at home with them?

Finally people have talked about this before, but which job OTR or COTA is going to have more stability in the future in your opinion? I've read comments that when medicare dries up COTAs pay will get the axe. I've also heard that COTAs will become more valuable because they are more bang for your buck if you are an employer. The BLS predicts that there will be more job openings for COTAs than OTRs. What's the deal? Who's safe? I care more about job security than money. I want my career to be in demand enough that I can pursue volunteer work without worrying about ever getting a job again.

I have a 3.9 GPA so I think I can take either track I want to--I just need some advice as to which is more stable and flexible.

Thank you so much!!

 

[OTfuture]

I am an OT student and interested in travel jobs myself. As far as I can tell from my research, you set your own schedule. I guess it probably depends on the staffing company you contract with but I think you can say you want to take this many weeks off before starting your next assignment and they will find you an assignment start at that time. That's how I understand it at least.

For your second question, there can be no COTAs in a facility without at least 1 OTR, so both jobs are pretty safe. The baby boomers are getting older and need more medical services such as OT. This will create a high demand for both professions in my opinion.

 

[brisa2004]

I work as an OTR/L in a subacute setting (think after people leave the hospital) and also do long term care. I think that while both jobs will continue to be relatively stable, I have noticed that most of my employers have hired more OTRs than COTAs. This is because OTRs do treatments and progress notes but also do all of the evaluations that are necessary to start a person on caseload. Some insurance payers like Med B do not allow a COTA to write a discharge summary. Also, it depends on the setting in which you are interested. A COTA coworker of mine was just saying the other day that she has not been able to get hired in a hospital anymore as they are only hiring OTRs now. I have also seen that myself. So, I would recommend doing the OTR route because aside from the increase pay differential you are able to do anything OT related. Hope that helps!