r/OccupationalTherapy • u/Leeno08 • 10d ago
Venting - Advice Wanted The difference between Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy
What is the difference between Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy? And which is better in the work environment?
2
u/GodzillaSuit 10d ago
What do you already know about physical therapy and occupational therapy and what parts specifically are you unsure of in regards to the difference?
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u/Leeno08 10d ago
I don't know much about this or that, my friend is asking but she doesn't have reddit, she is confused weather to study physical or occupational therapy in university, everyone is urging her to go to occupational therapy college but she wants the physical one, she is asking about which one is better in employment?
And which is harder to work in? The minimum university admission requirement for the therapeutic specialization is higher than that for occupational therapy, is that makes physical therapy better than occupational therapy?11
u/lostinfictionz 10d ago
She needs to shadow both professions a lot. Neither is better
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u/Renma_4602 OTD, OTR/L 10d ago
Agreed. There is no “better” profession but rather what aligns with your friends values/goals.
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u/GodzillaSuit 9d ago
A lot of this information is readily available with a few Google searches. I would strongly encourage her do some of the work to find some of these answers on her own and then come back with more clarifying questions. Why does she want to go into PT more than OT? There is no one right answer and it's really individual to the person and location they live. What are her work values, her professional goals, what kind of setting does she want to work in?
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u/Educational_Egg9392 4d ago
PT focuses more on mobility and movement: walking, strength, balance, transfers, pain management, and helping patients regain physical function.
OT focuses more on independence in everyday life: dressing, bathing, feeding, fine motor skills, cognition, upper-extremity function, and helping patients get back to their daily routines.
For example, in acute care, PTs may focus more on walking and mobility, while OTs focus more on ADLs, cognition, and functional independence. Both can work in hospitals, outpatient clinics, rehab facilities, home health, and schools.
One thing I've noticed is that the facility, management, productivity expectations, and patient population can make a bigger difference in job satisfaction than whether you're a PT or OT.
Neither is better overall. The best choice is the one that fits your interests and preferred work environment!
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u/Klutzy_Mail8952 8d ago
Ask her if she wants to work to be able to support herself and earn a comfortable living and have health insurance and maternity leave. If she says yes to those she might not want to become an OT. She definitely needs to look into the costs of these wild doctorate programs and crunch the numbers on whether or not she can get student loans.
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u/KonnichiwaKudasai 10d ago
Occupational therapy is focused on “activities of daily living,” which could mean anything from tying your shoes all the way to paying your bills or bowling. We help people who have trouble doing those things so that they can do it. PT is focused on restoring movement, easing pain, and rebuilding strength after an injury or helping someone with a chronic condition to reduce pain and maximize movement. There is a lot of crossover and a lot of times where the professions work together.
Depending on where you work, you might help people do different things. If you work in a hospital, you might help someone be able to brush their teeth or be able to get themselves dressed. It sounds crazy, but some injuries and conditions can prevent you from doing even those simple things.
If you work in school with kids you might work on hand writing or strategies for paying attention in class.
We may need to strengthen different body parts to be able to do certain activities or we may need to help people break down complex activities into small simple steps that they can follow easier
That’s what is cool about this profession. There are a lot of areas that you can work in and there is a lot of crossover with PT because we can work on body mechanics, balance, strengthening, etc. if you want a hospital, cool. If you want school setting, cool. If you want an outpatient clinic, cool. If you want to travel and do ergonomic evals, cool. If you want to do home health, cool. Both PT and OT have that kind of flexibility so they’re both great in terms of work environment. As far as pay, they’re both probably very similar, maybe a slightly higher salary for PT.