A pediatric occupational therapist is a health care professional who works directly with children, helping them develop essential skills and lead an active life. Part of their job is to meet with patients to identify their needs through various assessments and examinations, conduct extensive research and analyses, and create treatment plans and strategies to develop the children's cognitive and social skills, motor functions, and other abilities to help them grow healthy. Moreover, a pediatric occupational therapist coordinates with parents or guardians, providing them with the necessary care advice.

Pediatric Occupational Therapist Responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real pediatric occupational therapist resumes representing typical tasks they are likely to perform in their roles.

  • Participate in IEP planning and goal writing for students to help them achieve as much academic success as possible.
  • Train PRN staff on Medicare / Medicaid reimbursement documentation and facility policies.
  • Apply sensory integration approach with children to promote adaptive responses for improve interactions within environments.
  • Create and implement skil occupational therapy services with pediatric patients to promote safety and independence with their occupational performance.
  • Oversee COTA (s) and direct plan of care.
  • Supervise COTA's and students.
  • Design therapies for children with autism and other medical disabilities.
  • Experience in fabrication of splints and serial casting for spasticity.
  • Lead clinical discussion child s performance, therapy goals, and rehabilitation potential.
  • Assess swallowing safety and form dysphagia diagnoses via clinical bedside evaluation and MBS.
  • Perform MBS of dysphagia caseload; mobile radiologic unit and at area hospitals.
  • Work with treatment activities for increase strengthening, fine motor skills, increase ROM.
  • Participate in several treatment teams to establish goals and objectives for IEP's for school age children.
  • Counsele families on best treatment practices and aid as a consultant through the transition period to CPSE.
  • Coordinate, develop, and monitor care plan including preparation for discharge, and implementation of adaptive devices.

Pediatric Occupational Therapist Skills and Personality Traits

We calculated that 21% of Pediatric Occupational Therapists are proficient in Patients, Rehabilitation, and Patient Care. They’re also known for soft skills such as Patience, Communication skills, and Interpersonal skills.

We break down the percentage of Pediatric Occupational Therapists that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Patients, 21%

    Create and implement skilled occupational therapy services with pediatric patients to promote safety and independence with their occupational performance.

  • Rehabilitation, 8%

    Worked in an outpatient rehabilitation clinic serving primarily pediatric population with occasional coverage at local nursing home.

  • Patient Care, 8%

    Prioritize highest need in patient care as well as task management for scheduled procedures.

  • Autism, 8%

    Developed and updated behavioral treatment plans consistent with Medicaid and TriCare standards for children under the Autism Demonstration Project.

  • Home Health, 7%

    Provided pediatric (ages 0 -3) home health occupational therapy to a two county area for DHEC in South Carolina.

  • COTA, 5%

    Level 1 Fieldwork Coordinator for OT and COTA students.

Most pediatric occupational therapists list "patients," "rehabilitation," and "patient care" as skills on their resumes. We go into more details on the most important pediatric occupational therapist responsibilities here:

  • Arguably the most important personality trait for a pediatric occupational therapist to have happens to be patience. An example from a resume said this about the skill, "dealing with injuries, illnesses, and disabilities is frustrating for many people" Additionally, other resumes have pointed out that pediatric occupational therapists can use patience to "obtained good interpersonal skills, patience with great communication skills. "
  • Another commonly found skill for being able to perform pediatric occupational therapist duties is the following: communication skills. According to a pediatric occupational therapist resume, "occupational therapists must listen attentively to what patients tell them and must explain what they want their patients to do." Check out this example of how pediatric occupational therapists use communication skills: "follow individualized aba protocols and utilize augmented communication devices. "
  • Another skill that is quite popular among pediatric occupational therapists is interpersonal skills. This skill is very critical to fulfilling every day responsibilities as is shown in this example from a pediatric occupational therapist resume: "because occupational therapists spend their time teaching and explaining therapies to patients, they need to earn the trust and respect of those patients and their families." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "strengthened interpersonal skills with patients, caregivers, and facility staff members"
  • A thorough review of lots of resumes revealed to us that "compassion" is important to completing pediatric occupational therapist responsibilities. This resume example shows just one way pediatric occupational therapists use this skill: "occupational therapists are usually drawn to the profession by a desire to help people and improve their daily lives" Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical pediatric occupational therapist tasks: "demonstrate competency in providing quality care to patients according to their individualized needs with compassion. "
  • See the full list of pediatric occupational therapist skills.

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    Pediatric Occupational Therapist Resume
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    Pediatric Occupational Therapist Resume
    Pediatric Occupational Therapist Resume
    Pediatric Occupational Therapist Resume
    Pediatric Occupational Therapist Resume
    Pediatric Occupational Therapist Resume
    Pediatric Occupational Therapist Resume
    Pediatric Occupational Therapist Resume
    Pediatric Occupational Therapist Resume
    Pediatric Occupational Therapist Resume
    Pediatric Occupational Therapist Resume
    Pediatric Occupational Therapist Resume
    Pediatric Occupational Therapist Resume
    Pediatric Occupational Therapist Resume

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    What Music Therapy Internships Do

    In a music therapy internship, an intern's duties primarily depend on the directives of a manager or supervising staff. Typically, they are responsible for gaining industry insights and practical experience while performing support tasks such as answering calls and correspondence, preparing and processing documents, conducting research and analysis, setting-up instruments and other devices, and running errands as needed. They may also assist and work with clients under the supervision of a therapist. Moreover, they must understand and adhere to the facility's policies and regulations, including its vision and mission.

    In this section, we take a look at the annual salaries of other professions. Take music therapy internship for example. On average, the music therapy interns annual salary is $45,449 lower than what pediatric occupational therapists make on average every year.

    While their salaries may differ, one common ground between pediatric occupational therapists and music therapy interns are a few of the skills required in each craft. In both careers, employees bring forth skills like patients, patient care, and occupational therapy.

    These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. A pediatric occupational therapist responsibility is more likely to require skills like "rehabilitation," "autism," "home health," and "cota." Whereas a music therapy internship requires skills like "mental health," "individual therapy sessions," "group therapy sessions," and "substance abuse." Just by understanding these different skills you can see how different these careers are.

    Music therapy interns tend to reach lower levels of education than pediatric occupational therapists. In fact, music therapy interns are 23.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.0% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

    What Are The Duties Of a Therapist?

    A therapist is responsible for improving the patients' health conditions by evaluating their needs and providing physical and mental support. Therapists are licensed, medical professionals who specialize in different areas to perform treatments and bring relief to patients. Some of their duties include diagnosing patient's problems, performing counseling services, monitoring medication progress, customizing therapy activities for pain management, and consulting other health professionals as needed. Therapists must have extensive knowledge with the medical industry to detect patients' conditions easily and provide effective medications.

    The next role we're going to look at is the therapist profession. Typically, this position earns a lower pay. In fact, they earn a $26,350 lower salary than pediatric occupational therapists per year.

    While the salary may be different for these job positions, there is one similarity and that's a few of the skills needed to perform certain duties. We used info from lots of resumes to find that both pediatric occupational therapists and therapists are known to have skills such as "patients," "rehabilitation," and "patient care. "

    While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, several resumes showed us that pediatric occupational therapist responsibilities requires skills like "home health," "cota," "adaptive," and "occupational therapy." But a therapist might use skills, such as, "social work," "group therapy sessions," "crisis intervention," and "mental health."

    On average, therapists earn a lower salary than pediatric occupational therapists. There are industries that support higher salaries in each profession respectively. Interestingly enough, therapists earn the most pay in the government industry with an average salary of $55,972. Whereas, pediatric occupational therapists have higher paychecks in the internet industry where they earn an average of $81,776.

    On the topic of education, therapists earn similar levels of education than pediatric occupational therapists. In general, they're 1.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

    How a Health Information Specialist Compares

    A health information specialist is in charge of overseeing and developing strategies to optimize information management procedures in hospitals, physicians' offices, and other similar environments. Their responsibilities revolve around gathering and updating medical records, receiving and organizing files, and updating databases according to the appropriate coding systems and procedures. Furthermore, as a health information specialist, it is essential to coordinate with nurses and other staff to ensure accuracy in documentation, all while adhering to the company's policies and regulations.

    The health information specialist profession generally makes a lower amount of money when compared to the average salary of pediatric occupational therapists. The difference in salaries is health information specialists making $48,950 lower than pediatric occupational therapists.

    Using pediatric occupational therapists and health information specialists resumes, we found that both professions have similar skills such as "patients," "patient care," and "home health," but the other skills required are very different.

    There are many key differences between these two careers as shown by resumes from each profession. Some of those differences include the skills required to complete responsibilities within each role. As an example of this, a pediatric occupational therapist is likely to be skilled in "rehabilitation," "autism," "cota," and "adaptive," while a typical health information specialist is skilled in "hipaa," "medical terminology," "excellent organizational," and "cycle management."

    Additionally, health information specialists earn a higher salary in the health care industry compared to other industries. In this industry, they receive an average salary of $33,177. Additionally, pediatric occupational therapists earn an average salary of $81,776 in the internet industry.

    Health information specialists typically study at lower levels compared with pediatric occupational therapists. For example, they're 35.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

    Description Of an Early Intervention Occupational Therapist

    The fourth career we look at typically earns lower pay than pediatric occupational therapists. On average, early intervention occupational therapists earn a difference of $5,002 lower per year.

    While both pediatric occupational therapists and early intervention occupational therapists complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like autism, home health, and adaptive, the two careers also vary in other skills.

    While some skills are shared by these professions, there are some differences to note. "patients," "rehabilitation," "patient care," and "cota" are skills that have shown up on pediatric occupational therapists resumes. Additionally, early intervention occupational therapist uses skills like intervention services, family service plan, ei, and service coordination on their resumes.

    Early intervention occupational therapists reach higher levels of education when compared to pediatric occupational therapists. The difference is that they're 7.8% more likely to earn a Master's Degree more, and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.