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I am in the midst of applying to a few programs in relation to these career fields. If i were to go for Social Work applying to an MSW program and eventually go for my LCSW. If I go for the OT applying to a few programs and one that would be a PTA to OT program. I already applied to a few nursing programs some rejections and some applications are in the pending stages.
Trying to figure what the next step is for me in my career. Anyone work in any of these three positions love to hear your input, good or bad.
Can't provide any first-hand experience as I have not done any of the above jobs but from what I know, I would recommend nursing since you can find work more or less anywhere in the country. Also, have you considered the PA route?
I am in the midst of applying to a few programs in relation to these career fields. If i were to go for Social Work applying to an MSW program and eventually go for my LCSW. If I go for the OT applying to a few programs and one that would be a PTA to OT program. I already applied to a few nursing programs some rejections and some applications are in the pending stages.
Trying to figure what the next step is for me in my career. Anyone work in any of these three positions love to hear your input, good or bad.
Thanks.
Pretty funny, but those are the three careers I would do if I could do it over. Part of me still wants to, but I have to redo school ... again.
I would volunteer at all of those places to see what its like before you make the commitment to go to school.
Especially nursing. You could easily volunteer there.
I'm an occupational therapist, and I have no regrets about my job choice (I'm grandfathered in with a bachelors though as I graduated before they raised the requirements). First off, I'd say you need to know YOU and your strengths and weaknesses...I'm a good OT, but I would not be a good nurse, as I am not that technically oriented and I would not be comfortable doing delicate, painful things like putting catheters and trachs in people, and I'm not detail-oriented or able to multi-task quickly enough to do a med pass in a decent amount of time and still do it without mistakes.
These fields you are considering are wildly different from each other, and before you decide based on schooling and job prospects, decide what you are good at, and what you're not good at. I will say for all 3 fields, you need excellent people skills..this is most especially true in social work, where conflict resolution and de-escalating upset people are going to be a big part of the job whether you work for a city, a hospital or a nursing home. The social workers in the nursing homes I work in have a TOUGH job, and don't make half what I make.
So what is you want to do, where do you envision yourself working? Do you want to work with kids, old people, spinal cord injuries, poor people, what? What skills do you naturally have, and what are you best suited for? Can you thrive under high pressure? Do you want weekends off? There are many considerations.
I don't understand why you'd want to get a PTA cert only to then go to OT school, it doesn't make sense. PTA is a 2 year, HARD field that will require free labor during your internships, 40 hours a week for several months, in order to complete. You can get an undergrad in psychology, which would fit well with OT and would be much easier, as well as easier to get into.
I will say, OT school is probably the hardest field to get accepted into a school for of all the fields you listed, your undergrad GPA needs to be HIGH or you won't get in (mine was 3.96) so don't take anything so hard you can't get good grades in it for transfer. When they get the applications, the FIRST thing they do is rank them by GPA, everything else comes after that.
I strongly agree to volunteering. We get kids all the time who call and say they are considering OT, PT or Speech, and ask if they can come in and observe our clinic, and we always accommodate. You can go to one hospital and see all 3 professions.
You didn't list it, but Speech therapists are more in demand than any other therapy discipline now, including PT. There is a severe shortage of them, and in nursing homes they are making $70-$80 an hour part-time (in nursing homes they mainly work with people with swallowing difficulties after stroke, etc, but also with speech after stroke, and cognitive re-training.)
I also want to add, a lot of what happens with health care jobs is dependent on what happens politically. If they ever voucherize Medicare like many conservatives are pushing for, health care jobs are going to dry up overnight. I suppose this could be true for many fields, though.
I've done social work in the past and my last job in IT was working for a state mental health agency. I would say social work is not something you get into for the money, because there's not a lot of money in it. You get into it for the love of helping people.
Occupational therapy hands down. Nursing is rough and is saturated in many parts of the country. Some jobs better than others, but ask a nurse whose been one for 20-30 years and you'll get an honest answer, good, bad, etc. Social work I would think could be very taxing. I suppose some jobs better than others, but pay isn't that high for everything they do.
Social Work is a varied field. It sounds like, based on your other two options, that you are looking into the medical world of social work. Hospitals always need social workers. (Heck I am sitting at home on call for one right now). Nursing homes, rehabs, hospices, etc will always need social workers. With the baby boomer population aging the need will only increase.
With that being said, going BSW --> MSW --> LCSW is a long road and while super manageable is a lot of work. Someone also mentioned in another thread to realize that reciprocity is not a thing with social work licenses in many states, so if you plan on relocating at anytime you should check to see if you'd have to test again.
You're not going to make a lot of money unless you do private practice with an LCSW, but you're also not going to get the promoation without it. If you go into social work you will come to find that it is pretty much necessary to go anywhere in social work.
With that said, hospital RN case managers and social workers work hand in hand and you can come very close to doing the same line of work. With that said, one of my co-workers who does on-call with me is in nursing school as well.
I cannot speak to the OT/PTA assistant route. However, I do know some nurses who have been able to find work way faster than I am as a social worker. (And just for some perspective I graduated with a BA in Spanish in 2007 and started my MSW in 2011 and finished in 2014. I have yet to start my LCSW hours but it's on my radar to start).
With all that being said, I would highly recommend that you look into a university with all these programs available and talk to other students, alumni, and staff to see what you like the most. But of course start with an admissions counselor who would be able to direct you to those people.
A nurse has a lot of potential for growth and income as a nurse practitioner or nurse anesthetist, or a teacher. It is not for everyone, though. A nurse is not just a nurturer, and caregiver, but those who make the big bucks need to excel at the sciences and chemistry, etc.
I could do the nurturing part, but not the chemistry part. It doesn't mean I'm not smart, but its just not my strong point.
OP needs to evaluate which job she is most suited for.
I'm an occupational therapist, and I have no regrets about my job choice (I'm grandfathered in with a bachelors though as I graduated before they raised the requirements). First off, I'd say you need to know YOU and your strengths and weaknesses...I'm a good OT, but I would not be a good nurse, as I am not that technically oriented and I would not be comfortable doing delicate, painful things like putting catheters and trachs in people, and I'm not detail-oriented or able to multi-task quickly enough to do a med pass in a decent amount of time and still do it without mistakes.
These fields you are considering are wildly different from each other, and before you decide based on schooling and job prospects, decide what you are good at, and what you're not good at. I will say for all 3 fields, you need excellent people skills..this is most especially true in social work, where conflict resolution and de-escalating upset people are going to be a big part of the job whether you work for a city, a hospital or a nursing home. The social workers in the nursing homes I work in have a TOUGH job, and don't make half what I make.
So what is you want to do, where do you envision yourself working? Do you want to work with kids, old people, spinal cord injuries, poor people, what? What skills do you naturally have, and what are you best suited for? Can you thrive under high pressure? Do you want weekends off? There are many considerations.
I don't understand why you'd want to get a PTA cert only to then go to OT school, it doesn't make sense. PTA is a 2 year, HARD field that will require free labor during your internships, 40 hours a week for several months, in order to complete. You can get an undergrad in psychology, which would fit well with OT and would be much easier, as well as easier to get into.
I will say, OT school is probably the hardest field to get accepted into a school for of all the fields you listed, your undergrad GPA needs to be HIGH or you won't get in (mine was 3.96) so don't take anything so hard you can't get good grades in it for transfer. When they get the applications, the FIRST thing they do is rank them by GPA, everything else comes after that.
I strongly agree to volunteering. We get kids all the time who call and say they are considering OT, PT or Speech, and ask if they can come in and observe our clinic, and we always accommodate. You can go to one hospital and see all 3 professions.
You didn't list it, but Speech therapists are more in demand than any other therapy discipline now, including PT. There is a severe shortage of them, and in nursing homes they are making $70-$80 an hour part-time (in nursing homes they mainly work with people with swallowing difficulties after stroke, etc, but also with speech after stroke, and cognitive re-training.)
I also want to add, a lot of what happens with health care jobs is dependent on what happens politically. If they ever voucherize Medicare like many conservatives are pushing for, health care jobs are going to dry up overnight. I suppose this could be true for many fields, though.
^^^This. Good advice there. They ARE all very different from one another, and if you're thinking about all 3, you need to do some more thinking, digging and exploring before committing to one field or another.
Love social workers; they are the most resourceful people I know. But they don't make very good money. My nephew is a recent LCSW and he had to spend the obligatory time working for peanuts just to get his hours done. Now he's working on building his own practice, but it takes TIME. Fortunately, he is young enough.
BTW, I am a nurse / nurse practitioner who has worked in subacute and acute rehab, in case you are wondering where my opinions and observations came from. And also BTW, I most admired the OTs I worked with. THEY were the ones who got my brain-injured patients functioning to their highest ability regarding daily activities. My hat is off to the OTs. Until I worked with OTs, I had no clue what they did!
Also second what ocnjgirl said about speech therapists.
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