What Does a Career in Rehabilitation Therapy Entail?
If you think you might want to become a rehabilitation therapist, a career in rehabilitation therapy first starts with an education in the field. As an undergrad, you can choose between a few options: Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, or Speech Therapy. Once you have decided your specific path in terms of academics, you can pursue your bachelor's and then an advanced master's degree for more specific techniques. Along the way, you will probably need to complete practicums, training, perhaps an internship, and qualify for licensure as a rehabilitation counselor in your state.
Qualifying for licensure will involve passing an examination. Once you are licensed, you must continue to keep your license up to date with regular continuing education courses in order to maintain your license and employment. Each state has its own requirements for this, but you should assume that you will need to take somewhere around thirty hours of continuing education courses in rehabilitation counseling every two years.
Once you have taken care of your license and/or certificate, your career as a rehabilitation therapist can take many different forms. These counselors could work in a hospital office with a regular caseload or for an agency that focuses on one-on-one or group therapy sessions. You might prefer to work with children or adults or have enough training to work with both i a variety of settings. Physical therapists can take clients for real-world experiences working with stair climbing and occupational therapists can spend time in the home of an elderly person who needs help navigating her kitchen or bathroom. Rehabilitation therapists have similar freedoms.
Components of A Successful Career In "Rehabilitation Therapy"
To create a successful career as a rehabilitation therapist, you must first build a strong educational foundation. Your academic background will be immensely important to your long-term success. You should plan on attaining a master's degree before entering the job market. A university may also offer immersive degree programs that you enter as an undergraduate first-year student but graduate with a master's degree, effectively skipping the undergrad diploma.
Your career will benefit from some sort of specialization. Employers want to know that you have specific experience in particular areas. As an occupational therapist, for instance, you can gain focused experience with the elderly population, people with mental health issues, or pediatrics, among others. If graduates wish to solidify their experience in any specialty area, they can augment it with focused continuing education courses. Some states may even allow you to prepare courses for other therapists and qualify that time as part of your own CEU requirements.
Typical Rehabilitation Therapy Degree Requirements
To attain a degree in rehabilitation therapy, you will need to pass certain required courses. Each branch of rehabilitation therapy is likely to have its own requirements, but there are some common to all specialties in health sciences.
Other requirements to enter a rehabilitation therapist program include: a high school diploma or GED, required ACT or SAT scores, application fee, and possibly even letters of recommendation or an interview.
Typical Rehabilitation Therapy Certifications Needed
To practice as a bona fide rehabilitation therapist, you will need state licensure. While each state has its own requirements, general guidelines entail a qualifying degree, satisfactory scores on a standardized examination, adequate supervised hours, and letters of recommendation. The following boards either administer exams or review examination scores for their given fields:
- Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy
- National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy
- National Council for Therapeutic Recreation Certification
- American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
Academic Standards for Online Rehabilitation Therapy Degrees
Rehabilitation therapists tend to need to earn degrees that have high academic standards and requirements. In order to remain in a program, you will likely need to maintain a certain GPA level, often 2.5, but your program may have higher standards.
Some undergraduate rehabilitation therapy programs have their own admission process. You can apply after you've completed your sophomore year. While you should strive to maintain the highest possible GPA, admission standards can be as low as a 2.5. Typically, these programs also require that you have completed certain prerequisite courses prior to admission. Prerequisite courses may be similar to the core curriculum for other majors but be sure to check your school's specific requirements.
Exam/Experience Needed for Rehabilitation Therapy Degrees
As you work through a rehabilitation therapy degree, your program should be grooming you for success on the requirements of the relevant professional examination to come. Depending on your state, your licensure will probably include an experiential requirement. That is, you might need to spend several months working under a professional with the appropriate license.
Your experience, academic transcripts, and satisfactory examination scores will be passed on to your state's licensing board. Once they review and approve your application packet, you should receive your current license.
Important Questions to Ask (FAQ)
How long does it take to earn a Rehabilitation Therapy bachelor's degree online?
If you choose to pursue a rehabilitation therapy bachelor's degree online, try to be diligent and disciplined in your studies. If you keep your nose to the grindstone and put your therapeutic career as top priority, you can probably complete a bachelor's degree in four years or less. If you take a full load of classes and don't take any terms off, this will be easy to achieve.
While you might find that you need to take time away from work to complete your degree in an expedient manner, consider that your future will offer far more opportunities in your work as a rehabilitation therapist. A little sacrifice and struggle will pay off in terms of a stellar career as a rehabilitation therapist.
How much does an Online Rehabilitation Therapy bachelor’s degree cost?
The cost of an online bachelor's degree in rehabilitation therapy can vary depending on your school, and how you approach the degree. For instance, if you take your first two years of classes in a local, inexpensive community college and then transfer to a public university, your costs can be as low as $30,000 for the degree. Other students might desire a private university in a major metropolis. Their degree can cost upwards of $300,000.
Whether your college is at the lower or higher end of that spectrum, search for scholarships or grants to help defray the cost of education.
Does the school have the major(s) you’re considering?
As you seek out a college for your degree, make sure to find one with the precise major you require. For instance, a few colleges have degrees specifically in rehabilitation therapy, while far more offer programs in occupational therapy, recreational therapy, or speech-language-hearing therapy. These all lead to rehabilitation therapist careers, just with a different focus.
Once you've found a school with the exact degree you're seeking, check what degree levels they offer. That is, some occupational therapy departments offer a bachelor's degree, but also an accelerated master's program. A online master's might require only an extra year or so, with no breaks, so consider whether that will help you achieve your long-term career goals.
How many students graduate “on time,” in four years?
Graduating with a bachelor's degree in four years is less and less normal, it seems. When the government studies attrition rates and the time students spend between entry as first-year students and graduation, they now use six years as the baseline measurement.
Studies have shown that students in highly competitive schools tend to graduate on-time in greater percentages. Students in open-enrollment colleges tend to take longer than six years if they ever graduate at all. Therefore, strive to attend the best and most competitive college you can.
What kind of accreditation does the online program hold? How is it regarded in the field?
Accreditation is an issue that all students should heed when researching rehabilitation therapy programs. Essentially, attending a non-accredited program is discouraged. Rather, seek out a program that holds a national or regional accreditation of some sort. For prospective rehabilitation therapists and those looking to enter other health sciences programs, look for accreditation from the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH).
Professional Rehabilitation Therapy Organizations
AOTA
American Occupational Therapy Association
The AOTA was formed in 1917 to help advance the profession and its students. Their goal is to continually improve occupational therapy services through political action as well as setting high standards for education, best practices, and professional conduct. The association facilitates learning with CEUs available through its online portal, referrals to approved educational providers, and its own academic accreditation standards.
APTA
The American Physical Therapy Association
APTA is an association that benefits PTs through offering a strong voice in national and state-level healthcare debates. Their PAC work impacts national and state legislation. Individual PTs are positively impacted through their many networking opportunities, career development resources, and news and information pertinent to the profession.
ATRA
American Therapeutic Recreation Association
Recreational therapists join this association in order to find learning opportunities, information on ever-evolving best-practices, and to support activities on Capitol Hill. Their conferences and continuing education opportunities will provide you with the tools you need to create your absolute best career. ATRA membership will ensure that you not only complete your CEU hours but that you have fun doing it.