Becoming a NP versus an OT

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ginaw623

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Hello all. I was planning on entering a Master's Program for Occupational Therapy, but recently have been looking into becoming a NP. Not sure what my specialty would be because there are many areas I am interested in. One thing that would be a concern if I decided to switch paths is finding a job. With OT, finding a job is cake after graduation. It is one of the most in demand careers out there. I know that RNs are very in demand as well, but what about NPs? Will I have trouble finding a NP job after graduation? Thanks!
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ginaw623 said:
Hello all. I was planning on entering a Master's Program for Occupational Therapy, but recently have been looking into becoming a NP. Not sure what my specialty would be because there are many areas I am interested in. One thing that would be a concern if I decided to switch paths is finding a job. With OT, finding a job is cake after graduation. It is one of the most in demand careers out there. I know that RNs are very in demand as well, but what about NPs? Will I have trouble finding a NP job after graduation? Thanks!
Click to expand...

Why not consider PA also, if not interested in MD/DO?
 
ginaw623 said:
Hello all. I was planning on entering a Master's Program for Occupational Therapy, but recently have been looking into becoming a NP. Not sure what my specialty would be because there are many areas I am interested in. One thing that would be a concern if I decided to switch paths is finding a job. With OT, finding a job is cake after graduation. It is one of the most in demand careers out there. I know that RNs are very in demand as well, but what about NPs? Will I have trouble finding a NP job after graduation? Thanks!
Click to expand...

Some things you must consider and understand if you want to become an NP. Keep everything I say between me and you. This MUST be kept secret - it cannot become public knowledge.

1) Are you willing to work to convince others for the rest of your life that NP's are superior to physicians in every way?

2) Are you willing to lobby tirelessly for NP's to replace primary care physicians, and ultimately, all physicians?

3) PA training is far superior to NP training, but never admit this. Just like MD's and DO's, PA's are our enemy.

4) Recognize that you will never be competent, even with things like diagnosing strep - way too many zebras running around out there. But never admit this either.

5) Get the longest white lab coat you can find. This serves two very important purposes. First, it fools patients into thinking you are a real doctor. Second, it annoys the heck out of real doctors. Both are extremely important things to do as an NP.

6) As for fooling and confusing patients, also be sure to get a doctorate and refer to yourself as 'doctor.' Patients are not confused when interns, residents, DPT's, OTD's, OD's, psychologists, audiologists, etc. refer to themselves as 'doctor' in the clinical setting, but they are confused when NP's do it, which is what we want - its part of taking over the medical profession.

7) Take great satisfaction in knowing you are part of a powerful international conspiracy. The NP lobby working in partnership with the Trilateral Commission, the Bilderberg Group and the International Monetary Fund is an unstoppable force that will not only allow us to take over medicine, but ultimately the world (insert evil laugh here).

;)
 
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ginaw623 said:
Hello all. I was planning on entering a Master's Program for Occupational Therapy, but recently have been looking into becoming a NP. Not sure what my specialty would be because there are many areas I am interested in. One thing that would be a concern if I decided to switch paths is finding a job. With OT, finding a job is cake after graduation. It is one of the most in demand careers out there. I know that RNs are very in demand as well, but what about NPs? Will I have trouble finding a NP job after graduation? Thanks!
Click to expand...

In all seriousness, if you already have a BS and especially if you have healthcare experience, I would seriously consider going PA instead of NP as it most likely would be a shorter path. As for employability, there's plenty demand for PA's and NP's both in most parts of the country.
 
At least where I live NP/PAs make considerably more money than OTs (20k+). That is if salary plays a factor in your decision.
 
sarjasy said:
Some things you must consider and understand if you want to become an NP. Keep everything I say between me and you. This MUST be kept secret - it cannot become public knowledge.

1) Are you willing to work to convince others for the rest of your life that NP's are superior to physicians in every way?

2) Are you willing to lobby tirelessly for NP's to replace primary care physicians, and ultimately, all physicians?

3) PA training is far superior to NP training, but never admit this. Just like MD's and DO's, PA's are our enemy.

4) Recognize that you will never be competent, even with things like diagnosing strep - way too many zebras running around out there. But never admit this either.

5) Get the longest white lab coat you can find. This serves two very important purposes. First, it fools patients into thinking you are a real doctor. Second, it annoys the heck out of real doctors. Both are extremely important things to do as an NP.

6) As for fooling and confusing patients, also be sure to get a doctorate and refer to yourself as 'doctor.' Patients are not confused when interns, residents, DPT's, OTD's, OD's, psychologists, audiologists, etc. refer to themselves as 'doctor' in the clinical setting, but they are confused when NP's do it, which is what we want - its part of taking over the medical profession.

7) Take great satisfaction in knowing you are part of a powerful international conspiracy. The NP lobby working in partnership with the Trilateral Commission, the Bilderberg Group and the International Monetary Fund is an unstoppable force that will not only allow us to take over medicine, but ultimately the world (insert evil laugh here).

;)
Click to expand...

8) also remember to have your nametag say Dr. smith, not jane smith, dnp. if your hospital forces you to have jane smith, dnp on your ID wear the ID but keep it turned around at all times.

9) when calling consultants always refer to yourself as dr. smith with the xyz dept at the hospital. this way you can get advice from physician specialists and then pretend the ideas were yours all along.

10) never precept anyone except another np student. this keeps the number of md/do/pa rotation slots low while insuring eventual dnp ascendency to control all departments in all hospitals.

:)
 
I don't think there is an actual nursing shortage atm per se...my friends who are rn's still can't find jobs. But maybe its diff for np's.

If it was me...have you considered pt over ot?

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Hey everyone thanks for all your input!

The reason I am not going for PA is because 1) I heard it is SUPER competitive and 2) I don't have a lot of the pre-reqs to apply...you need like 8 credits for chem, 8 for microbiology, 8 for math, etc. I have a good amount of science classes but not near what they are asking for applying so I would have to take them all prior to applying!

I have my Bachelor's Degree in Human Dev/Family Science and have most of the pre-reqs for OT. I do not currently hold a BSN or RN, but there are programs that offer a 1 year accelerated BSN leading to your RN and then 2 years for NP. I have most of the pre-reqs to enter these types of programs. I am not sure how competitive they are but I know applying for a second Bachelor's in Nursing program is not as competitive as applying for a Master's PA program.

As far as my stats go...they are pretty OKAY. I have about a 3.4 cumulative GPA and health experience as a home health aide. I also have hospital volunteer work in rehab. So I am kinda stuck in the middle :-/ .
 
oh and bayarea...I prefer OT to PT because PT is solely based on mobility and physical rehab whereas OT is much broader and covers the well-being of many areas of your life
 
If you are not willing to do the extra work I would advise to not consider medicine, Nursing or Other. There is a lot of work that will probably need to be done to even get close to what your thinking about doing, like becoming an RN first with some experience.

Not trying to be mean, but your posts sound like you are not willing to put in the extra effort needed and just looking for an easy way into a profession IMO.
 
MedPsy- I am absolutely willing to put the work in or else I wouldn't be working so hard to find any possible way to get into a program. Clearly anyone wanting to go through graduate school knows you have to have a work ethic. I currently work 3 jobs, so if anyone knows about putting in work it is me. The only reason the pre-reqs are getting to me is because I have been down this pre-req road with OT for 2 years and it costs a lot of extra money. So if possible, I would rather start a program that admits you and allows you to take pre-reqs DURING the program. But thanks for your friendly advice :). Maybe you should be putting more work into other things than forming opinions about complete strangers who were seeking useful advice and guidance.
 
I would strongly suggest you shadow OTs and NPs before you jump into either field. They are vastly different careers, and different than what you read as well. Which part of OT interests you? Depending on where you work it can become somewhat monotonous. If you are more interested in medicine, acute care affords you the proximity to interesting cases, especially neurology. Keep in mind that you often have to explain your role as many people do not know much about OT,including other providers. Be prepared to answer a lot of calls for "stat showers" or urgent toilet transfers from nurses in inpatient, and subsequently having to explain your role and what constitutes skilled therapy.
 
ginaw623 said:
MedPsy- I am absolutely willing to put the work in or else I wouldn't be working so hard to find any possible way to get into a program. Clearly anyone wanting to go through graduate school knows you have to have a work ethic. I currently work 3 jobs, so if anyone knows about putting in work it is me. The only reason the pre-reqs are getting to me is because I have been down this pre-req road with OT for 2 years and it costs a lot of extra money. So if possible, I would rather start a program that admits you and allows you to take pre-reqs DURING the program. But thanks for your friendly advice :). Maybe you should be putting more work into other things than forming opinions about complete strangers who were seeking useful advice and guidance.
Click to expand...

Personal attacks aside if you will, I am glad you are willing to put the extra work into it. My comment was based on my observation from your previous posts. You did not make it clear that you are willing to put the effort into it, graduate training or not and 3 jobs or not.

If anything I would recommend looking into a Nursing school and see where that might lead. At the same time it might be Cheaper, since you seem to be worried about cost (taken from you post), to just do the extra few prerequisites needed for PA school.

Sorry if I put to much work into my trying to help you :rolleyes:
 
MedPsy- I'm sorry I am just very stressed about this whole process. I have considered OT, PA, and nursing and all have pros and cons. I guess I am just worried that I may put in the extra work for pre-reqs and pay for them all and then change my mind once I start one of the programs or realize I wished I went with one of the other fields. Then I am backtracking again. Ugh! It is quite a process. My bachelor's degree already left me in 60K of debt which is why money is an issue...I don't wanna go way deeper into debt if I can help it! I am positive I want to work in healthcare because that is where my passion and interest is. Also, you are absolutely right about gaining experience as an RN first before pursuing the NP. That is what I would do for sure. Thanks for the help. No hard feelings.
 
You can also go to PA school after working as a nurse, good way to repay loans and great clinical experience.
 
That's a good thought beethousand, thanks :)
 
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ginaw623 said:
I am not sure how competitive they are but I know applying for a second Bachelor's in Nursing program is not as competitive as applying for a Master's PA program.

As far as my stats go...they are pretty OKAY. I have about a 3.4 cumulative GPA and health experience as a home health aide.
Click to expand...

I would check with the schools you are considering. Many (not all) nursing programs are every bit as competitive as PA school if not more so, especially the second bac type. A 3.4 is too low for many nursing schools.
 
I never knew that about pt/ot. Good to know. My coworker is wanting to become a physical therapist, probably going to major in kineseology, and apply to the doctoral program at sac state.

I would look at the occupational outlook handbook, as well as try to shadow. I always thought I was going to become a rn, but one day it hit me that I loved animals, and had never even considered a veterinary career. I have spent time weighing the pros and cons to getting my rvt vs becoming a veterinarian, many times. Putting in the money and time for pre reqs is always hard. But, you'll know in your heart what you're calling is. :)

I also have home health exp ;) 7 years cna/hha for alzheimers and hospice, and also some dialysis tech.

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Hi Gina,
This is my first time posting on here and I know it's been a couple years since this thread was created, but I was wondering which path you ended up going down and if it worked out well for you? I'm also in the same boat where I have a B.S in health care management but am trying to decided now between OT and a post bac RN
 
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