A Therapeutic Recreation Specialist treats people who are suffering from chronic disabilities, injuries, or illnesses. They often work in medical centers, hospitals, and private rehabilitation facilities.
Here are examples of responsibilities from real therapeutic recreation specialist resumes representing typical tasks they are likely to perform in their roles.
We calculated that 25% of Therapeutic Recreation Specialists are proficient in Patients, CTRS, and Interdisciplinary. They’re also known for soft skills such as Compassion, Listening skills, and Speaking skills.
We break down the percentage of Therapeutic Recreation Specialists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
Performed initial evaluation of patients to determine specific goals for individuals with traumatic brain or spinal cord injury.
Attend meetings including CTRS meetings, Treatment Planning, Hospital Trainings, etc.
Participated in interdisciplinary meetings that reviewed resident care plans and created necessary documentation for follow-up and future review.
Specialized in sports related therapeutic rehabilitation
Created core recreation therapy programs & personal physical fitness plans for chemically dependent adolescents & adults.
Work in a rehab module mental health and substance abuse clinic with economically and socially disadvantage population.
Some of the skills we found on therapeutic recreation specialist resumes included "patients," "ctrs," and "interdisciplinary." We have detailed the most important therapeutic recreation specialist responsibilities below.
See the full list of therapeutic recreation specialist skills.
A Treatment Coordinator is responsible for assisting the doctors and other medical professionals in performing treatment procedures and administering medications for the patients. Treatment Coordinators manage administrative duties, such as scheduling medical appointments, discussing the treatment plans to the patients, updating medical information on the database, and processing payments for the medical procedures. They also coordinate with the insurance agencies to verify the patients' eligibility and information and file documents as necessary. A Treatment Coordinator must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in maintaining databases and ensuring that all medical forms are organized and safely stored.
We looked at the average therapeutic recreation specialist annual salary and compared it with the average of a treatment coordinator. Generally speaking, treatment coordinators receive $4,778 lower pay than therapeutic recreation specialists per year.
Even though therapeutic recreation specialists and treatment coordinators have vast differences in their careers, a few of the skills required to do both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require patients, mental health, and substance abuse in the day-to-day roles.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. A therapeutic recreation specialist responsibility is more likely to require skills like "ctrs," "interdisciplinary," "rehabilitation," and "recreation therapy." Whereas a treatment coordinator requires skills like "customer service," "financial arrangements," "treatment options," and "social work." Just by understanding these different skills you can see how different these careers are.
Treatment coordinators tend to make the most money in the non profits industry by averaging a salary of $42,993. In contrast, therapeutic recreation specialists make the biggest average salary of $53,233 in the manufacturing industry.
On average, treatment coordinators reach higher levels of education than therapeutic recreation specialists. Treatment coordinators are 7.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.9% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.
Now we're going to look at the general activities therapist profession. On average, general activities therapists earn a $3,507 higher salary than therapeutic recreation specialists a year.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, several resumes showed us that therapeutic recreation specialist responsibilities requires skills like "patients," "ctrs," "rehabilitation," and "recreation therapy." But a general activities therapist might use skills, such as, "instructional capacity," "community programs," "physical therapy," and "general recreational."
In general, general activities therapists study at higher levels of education than therapeutic recreation specialists. They're 5.6% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.9% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.
The third profession we take a look at is rehabilitation therapist. On an average scale, these workers bring in higher salaries than therapeutic recreation specialists. In fact, they make a $20,810 higher salary per year.
By looking over several therapeutic recreation specialists and rehabilitation therapists resumes, we found that both roles utilize similar skills, such as "patients," "rehabilitation," and "mental health." But beyond that the careers look very different.
Some important key differences between the two careers are a few of the skills necessary to fulfill responsibilities. Some examples from therapeutic recreation specialist resumes include skills like "ctrs," "interdisciplinary," "recreation therapy," and "leisure education," whereas a rehabilitation therapist might be skilled in "social work," "patient care," "physical therapy," and "art therapy. "
Interestingly enough, rehabilitation therapists earn the most pay in the health care industry, where they command an average salary of $58,523. As mentioned previously, therapeutic recreation specialists highest annual salary comes from the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $53,233.
Rehabilitation therapists typically study at higher levels compared with therapeutic recreation specialists. For example, they're 13.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.
Adventure therapists tend to earn a higher pay than therapeutic recreation specialists by about $7,661 per year.
Each job requires different skills like "patients," "ctrs," "interdisciplinary," and "rehabilitation," which might show up on a therapeutic recreation specialist resume. Whereas adventure therapist might include skills like "acct," "treatment planning," "outcomes research," and "individual therapy sessions."
Adventure therapists reach higher levels of education when compared to therapeutic recreation specialists. The difference is that they're 27.9% more likely to earn a Master's Degree more, and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.
