Certified recreational therapist vs specialist

The differences between certified recreational therapists and specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become a certified recreational therapist, becoming a specialist takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a certified recreational therapist has an average salary of $61,472, which is higher than the $58,013 average annual salary of a specialist.

The top three skills for a certified recreational therapist include patients, therapeutic recreation and rehabilitation. The most important skills for a specialist are patients, customer service, and work ethic.

Certified recreational therapist vs specialist overview

	Certified Recreational Therapist	Specialist
Yearly salary	$61,472	$58,013
Hourly rate	$29.55	$27.89
Growth rate	4%	10%
Number of jobs	56,515	358,433
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 82%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Average age	43	42
Years of experience	12	2

Certified recreational therapist vs specialist salary

Certified recreational therapists and specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Certified Recreational Therapist	Specialist
Average salary	$61,472	$58,013
Salary range	Between $41,000 And $92,000	Between $32,000 And $104,000
Highest paying City	-	Jersey City, NJ
Highest paying state	-	New Jersey
Best paying company	-	The Citadel
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between certified recreational therapist and specialist education

There are a few differences between a certified recreational therapist and a specialist in terms of educational background:

	Certified Recreational Therapist	Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 82%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Most common major	Rehabilitation Science	Business
Most common college	California State University - Long Beach	Stanford University

Certified recreational therapist vs specialist demographics

Here are the differences between certified recreational therapists' and specialists' demographics:

	Certified Recreational Therapist	Specialist
Average age	43	42
Gender ratio	Male, 19.6% Female, 80.4%	Male, 47.5% Female, 52.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.5% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 10.2% Asian, 3.3% White, 74.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	Black or African American, 11.4% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 10.5% White, 55.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	9%	11%

Differences between certified recreational therapist and specialist duties and responsibilities

Certified recreational therapist example responsibilities.

Manage ventilator care, intubation, arterial line placement, mechanical ventilation, BIPAP, and CPAP.
Provide instruction and awareness on use of adaptive equipment.
Function as a PRN CTRS for an adult inpatient psychiatric hospital.
Research and purchase adaptive equipment, activity supplies and daily needs for the program.
Lead and co-lead therapeutic psychiatric rehabilitation groups.
Create policy and procedure manual for rehabilitation unit van.

Specialist example responsibilities.

Create, manage, and assist users with SharePoint sites.
Manage an on-site IRB and company good clinical practice (GCP) inspection.
Manage SharePoint sites by creating, editing, and customizing company sites, libraries and security.
Manage the building of accounts, assigning of static IP's, and scheduling of business class installations.
Convert servers from UNIX to Linux, all hardware diagnostics and repair including printers/plotters/desktops etc.
Follow safety procedures such as maintenance of all equipment (Telxon scanners, terminals and ladders).

Certified recreational therapist vs specialist skills

Common certified recreational therapist skills

Patients, 22%
Therapeutic Recreation, 17%
Rehabilitation, 12%
Recreation Therapy, 10%
CTRS, 10%
Interdisciplinary, 8%

Common specialist skills

Patients, 15%
Customer Service, 11%
Work Ethic, 5%
Patient Care, 4%
Exceptional Client, 4%
Troubleshoot, 4%

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Healthcare Practitioner and Technical Industry
Certified Recreational Therapist
Certified Recreational Therapist vs Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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