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Occupational Therapist

Healthcare

Assess, plan, and organize rehabilitative programs that help build or restore vocational, homemaking, and daily living skills, as well as general independence, to persons with disabilities or developmental delays. Use therapeutic techniques, adapt the individual's environment, teach skills, and modify specific tasks that present barriers to the individual.

Allied Health

What you'd do all day

The tasks that matter most in this job, most important first.

  1. 1Test and evaluate patients' physical and mental abilities and analyze medical data to determine realistic rehabilitation goals for patients.
  2. 2Complete and maintain necessary records.
  3. 3Plan, organize, and conduct occupational therapy programs in hospital, institutional, or community settings to help rehabilitate persons with disabilities because of illness, injury or psychological or developmental problems.
  4. 4Plan and implement programs and social activities to help patients learn work or school skills and adjust to handicaps.
  5. 5Train caregivers in providing for the needs of a patient during and after therapy.
  6. 6Evaluate patients' progress and prepare reports that detail progress.
  7. 7Select activities that will help individuals learn work and life-management skills within limits of their mental or physical capabilities.
  8. 8Lay out materials such as puzzles, scissors and eating utensils for use in therapy, and clean and repair these tools after therapy sessions.
  9. 9Consult with rehabilitation team to select activity programs or coordinate occupational therapy with other therapeutic activities.
  10. 10Design and create, or requisition, special supplies and equipment, such as splints, braces, and computer-aided adaptive equipment.
  11. 11Recommend changes in patients' work or living environments, consistent with their needs and capabilities.
  12. 12Develop and participate in health promotion programs, group activities, or discussions to promote client health, facilitate social adjustment, alleviate stress, and prevent physical or mental disability.
  13. 13Provide training and supervision in therapy techniques and objectives for students or nurses and other medical staff.
  14. 14Help clients improve decision making, abstract reasoning, memory, sequencing, coordination, and perceptual skills, using computer programs.
  15. 15Conduct research in occupational therapy.
  16. 16Advise on health risks in the workplace or on health-related transition to retirement.
  17. 17Provide patients with assistance in locating or holding jobs.

Also known as

What this job is called on JobStreet, LinkedIn and in job ads. Search these too.

  • OT
  • CHT
  • OTR
  • Rehab OT
  • School OT
  • Travel OT
  • Job Trainer
  • Home Care OT
  • Inpatient OT
  • Pediatric OT

How far is this from you?

Roughly how much preparation this job usually takes. In Malaysia your UPU route and the programme's syarat still decide entry, so treat this as a guide, not a gate.

  1. 1

    Entry straight after SPM

  2. 2

    SPM + sijil / short TVET course

  3. 3

    Diploma / TVET (sijil–diploma)

  4. 4

    Degree (ijazah sarjana muda)

  5. Typical entry

    Postgrad (sarjana / PhD) or professional route

Typical educationMaster's degree

Subjects that matter here

The SPM subjects worth your effort for this career, with the reason for each.

BiologyDraws directly on Therapy and Counseling — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).
Sports ScienceDraws directly on Therapy and Counseling — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).
ChemistryDraws directly on Medicine and Dentistry — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).
EnglishDraws directly on English Language — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).
Additional ScienceDraws directly on Biology — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).

What you'd need to know

The subject areas this job leans on most, and the SPM subjects that build them.

  • Therapy and Counseling94%

    BiologySports Science

  • Psychology91%
  • Customer and Personal Service85%
  • Medicine and Dentistry85%

    BiologyChemistry

  • English Language82%

    English

  • Education and Training77%

Tools you'd use

Software and equipment that show up in this job, worth learning early.

Where to learn these, free

Scholarships & funding

What the work feels like

Day-to-day working conditions, so you can tell whether the job suits how you like to work.

  • Face-to-face discussionsEvery day
  • Contact with other peopleConstant contact
  • Dealing with customers or the publicVery high
  • Handling conflict situationsRarely
  • Indoors, air-conditionedEvery day
  • Outdoors, in all weatherAlmost never
  • Noisy environmentAlmost never
  • Time spent sittingA little

Where this job is heading

Newer tasks O*NET has flagged for this occupation, a hint at how the role is changing.

  • Recommend adaptive equipment to individuals to increase independence in daily living activities.

AI and demand for this job

A few real, dated data points — not a single score. AI making some tasks faster usually means a job changes, not that it disappears.

12%

Share of everyday tasks today's AI can already help with (2023)

This estimate is from 2023 — already out of date, since AI moves fast. Treat it as a rough, aging starting point, not the current picture.

Growing role in the US

US Bureau of Labor Statistics data, not Malaysian. Shown because it's the only forward-looking demand estimate we have for this job.

Pay in Malaysia

We don't have a sourced Malaysian salary range for this job yet, and we'd rather show nothing than a number we can't stand behind.

Where to check:

  • JobStreet and Hiredly job ads for this title
  • DOSM Salaries & Wages Survey
  • SSPA scheme tables, if you're aiming for a government post
See pay for a related career: Physiotherapist

Check what you may qualify for

Enter your SPM grades and see which routes and programmes you may qualify for. An estimate to plan with, not an offer.

Check my eligibility Not sure yet? Take the quiz

How to get here

Post-SPM pathways with programmes in this career's fields. Tap one to see real programmes and entry requirements.

Asasi / Foundation

One-year runway into a specific university: public via UPU or private direct entry.

12 months

Diploma

Skill-first qualification. Work after, or enter degree Year 2. Polytechnics keep it affordable.

2.5–3 years

Related careers

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About this information

This describes what the job involves. Pay, demand and entry routes differ in Malaysia, so check the Pathways and Programmes pages for local requirements.

O*NET occupation: Occupational Therapists

Job responsibilities, knowledge areas and work context from O*NET 30.3, US Department of Labor, used under CC BY 4.0. onetcenter.org

Programmes that lead here

Programmes from the official UPU (KPT) and MQA catalogues whose field of study typically leads to this career. Matched by field, not a job guarantee.

Public universities (UPU)

Private institutions (MQA-accredited)

Search the programme catalogue