Beyond an MOT Degree

As a student in occupational therapy school, I have learned a great deal about the variety of options that occupational therapists have when entering the field, and continuing as a practitioner. From the start of my journey wanting to be an OT, I have been pretty set on pediatrics, and that is still my plan at this point in my education. However, I also realize that there is so much more to pursuing this than simply getting my Master of Occupational Therapy, and I am extremely interested in pursuing other specialty and board certifications, as well as possibly another degree in the future.

In our leadership class, we took a survey that discussed what our strengths were, and are building off of that to promote the idea of teamwork and working with others who have different strengths where we may not. Most of my strengths, according to this survey, focused on my desire to learn and gain information, as well as achieving my goals and feeling responsibility towards others. I think that each of these things will make me a strong practitioner, but I also feel that they are encouraging me to pursue other education opportunities, since I know that I crave knowledge on a daily basis. Because of that, I have looked into a variety of the options available, and want to discuss some that are interesting to me. Who knows, my preferences may change throughout my education and my time as a practitioner, but it will be interesting to see what remains the same.

The board certification that I am most interested in pursuing is offered by the American Occupational Therapy Association, or AOTA, and would be in pediatrics. This BCP would come after I have been a practitioner for a while, and I would need to be practicing within the area of pediatrics. I think that this would be very applicable, though, to my practice as I would like to continue in the field of pediatrics, and possibly even have my own private clinic. There are also some specialty certifications that would be interesting to me, and though I do not know much about them yet, I think could help further my professional development as an occupational therapist. I think that AOTA's specialty certifications in either School Systems, or Feeding, Eating and Swallowing could be very beneficial, but I also think there are others that would help as well. I am extremely interested in the Assistive Technology Professional specialization as well, as it would allow me to help my clients with various modifications that would help them in their occupations. Overall, there are so many interesting and helpful specialties that occupational therapists can take part in, and I'm sure that number will increase throughout my lifetime.

The last thing that interests me in regards to my education is pursuing my doctorate. I know that seems so far off considering I am only about a month into my masters, but I love to learn so much and I want to continue doing so throughout my time as an occupational therapist. As for this, I would like to pursue either my PhD or my OTD post-professionally so that I have more experience in the field and could make the most informed decision on which degree to pursue. The main difference is that a PhD would be researched based and could be in any different field, while an OTD is mostly clinical based. Whatever I choose to pursue, I know that I want to continue on my journey to be the best occupational therapist I can be, and a lifelong learner!