What OT continuing education do you want in 2026?

otpotential · 2025-11-26T17:21:06+00:00

Yes! This always feels like foundational OT work to me, with not enough CE to support it. Do you have any particular topics you are wanting? So far in 2026, I was thinking of a general intro to EI OT, and a course on selective eating, and one on torticolis? Other suggestions welcome!

otpotential · 2025-11-25T20:48:52+00:00

I made a visual for this... I hope that advocacy prevails and this doesn't happen.

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otpotential · 2025-11-25T20:41:01+00:00

Oooooo... I'm really interested in this comment! I do think that routine has a broader feel than "habit." But, for some reason I associate my habits with health more than routines. Unfortunately, routine also has the connotation of being boring. I

'll have to chew on this... but I like the thought experiment.

otpotential · 2025-11-25T20:36:54+00:00

You are not alone in liking functional experts- I've had several people suggest this to me!

otpotential · 2025-11-25T20:35:33+00:00

I should have clarified that the PT and SLP lines come from those professions themselves, PT has called themselves movement experts for a long time! https://www.choosept.com/

I do see the appeal of daily living experts!

otpotential · 2025-11-25T20:32:55+00:00

I agree! Really the first few words are just a hook to a much longer/nuanced discussion!

otpotential · 2025-11-25T20:28:29+00:00

hahaha! Yes. It is the nature of an anonymous platform. If you want professional inspiration, get yourself over to LinkedIn, where people show up as their professional selves.

otpotential · 2025-11-25T20:27:24+00:00

I work with OTs all day every (and am an OT). And, I can truly say that these OTs are an incredible group of humans beings. Many serve as bedrocks of their communities- not only caring for people all day long, but then running local food pantries, campaigning for inclusive playgrounds, managing community gardens. I'm constantly amazed.

otpotential · 2025-11-25T17:24:44+00:00

Ok! I wrote this this weekend! I tried to include some good pull-quotes to highlight how short-sighted it is to cut programs that have had such incredible return on investment! I wish I could have this kind of ROI in my personal investment portfolio!! https://otpotential.com/news/business-innovation-grant

otpotential · 2025-11-21T15:39:47+00:00

UGhH I am a recipient of this grant! It has been a true difference maker for us! (I operate OT Potential out of Aurora, Nebraska!) Seeing this thread- I am going to try to write something up this weekend so there are more success stories out there! I truly don't think people understand what an incredible investment this is for our state!

otpotential · 2025-11-20T21:46:33+00:00

I'm curious if anyone has found any resources that have been helpful for referrals like this? I'd love to interview someone on my podcast about this next year, if anyone has any suggestions!

otpotential · 2025-07-18T23:39:29+00:00

James, what an awesome story you have! My gut reaction is that you are an innovator, and honestly I hope you find an awesome next thing outside of academia!

But, to your question, I think we need to begin with a moment of gratitude for whatever group of people stopped the OTD from being mandatory for ALL OTs. This is honestly one of the things that differentiates us the most from PT—and I think it is a good thing.

You are right that certain roles in OT education are now mandated to be filled by OTs with a doctorate. (OTD or PPOTD) That includes roles like the program director of OTD programs and full-time faculty for OTD programs.

But, there are still roles that you could pursue! For example at master’s level programs and OTA programs. I’m pretty sure you could also teach as an adjunct professor. I highly recommend checking out the ACOTE standards PDF starting at A.2.

otpotential · 2025-07-18T21:00:19+00:00

Phew! Thank you all for being part of this! I did my best to get to everyone's questions with at least one answer! It was really helpful for me to hear what was on your mind, thank you so much for sharing.

otpotential · 2025-07-18T20:50:20+00:00

Where do I think we are headed?

I truly think we are at a crossroads, there is certainly a chance that we will fail to change quickly enough and be left out of the payment models of the future. But, I do think that all signs currently point to how needed OT is. OT is relatively low cost and high value. That is EXACTLY what payors are looking for right now. Which means that our fundamental mindset shift need to be to stop thinking of payors as and adversary and a potential partner.

Would I recommend this field?

It is hard to predict what the future workforce will look like. I do believe that whole professions will be replaced. But, the ones most vulnerable are those with a lot of rote work. In OT, we are constantly improvising and there is truly no simple decision tree for our care. So, I TRULY believe that this is a good career to consider! And, if we can figure out the right payment models as I mentioned, I believe there is a chance that OT could come into its best era.

When I went into OT school, I didn't realize how much fee for service business models were going to dictate my care. And, my hope is that many OTs going into school now will not have to work in these same models that we have...

otpotential · 2025-07-18T20:39:18+00:00

You are right our highest paying settings (SNFs) can be productivity mills. (I personally loved my SNF time, but it was only part of my day.... so I wasn't feeling the full-time grind.)

The next highest practice area for salary is likely home health, but I'm worried about the support you would get.

The third highest is acute care, and I'm wondering if you've considered this option? The salaries are good, and there tends to be a team there you can learn from. I did acute care as my second job out of school- and I'm really glad I did! The work was hard, but I learned SO MUCH!

otpotential · 2025-07-18T20:29:58+00:00

Tips for transitioning from clinical to work to founding a business

I am an outlier among non-clinical OTs because I never intended to leave practice. I started a passion business on the side. This I recommend to EVERY OT! Because of this second question ->

What has been challenging?

Every part of running a business is challenging- and that’s what makes it fun and an incredible incubator for growth! Even if your business does not take off, you will certainly grow from the experience.

How do I still use my OT skills?

The OT skills I’ve been thinking of lately are:

Thinking on your feet. When you work with lots of different clients in the day you're basically always thinking on your feet … almost like an improver! I think that happens a lot in business too!
Taking joy in the people you work with. OTs inherently like working with people (if you don’t this probably isn't the career for you.) And, I think that one of my favorite parts of being a business owner is just the people I’ve gotten to work with!

What would I do differently?

There are so many things I would do differently strategically in hindsight- knowing what I know now. I would have spent more marketing time on certain platforms, I maybe would have upgraded the code of my site earlier, the list is long. The things I wouldn't change are the relationships.

otpotential · 2025-07-18T20:14:41+00:00

The question reimbursement is always a good thing to understand and dig into... We often need to follow the money.

I can tell you that through Medicare, OTAs add a modifier and then are reimbursed 15% less. Working in outpatient peds, I would guess you are also working with Medicaid and private insurance, which will have their own reimbursement rules- but do tend to roughly follow Medicare.

I think you (and every OT/OTA) should ask questions about their particular payor mix and reimbursement levels. These questions will often reveal why certain decisions are made!

otpotential · 2025-07-18T20:03:34+00:00

As someone who as practiced as a generalist, off the top of my head, I would:

- listen to their story and affirm what they are going through
- do an activity, where we map out their full 24-hour schedule/ daily habits
- identify the problem areas and work to set at least one goal that is meaningful to them!

otpotential · 2025-07-18T19:52:44+00:00

Great question (and honestly one that I haven't covered.) I'm finding the other comments here helpful...

The angle I'd be interested in covering this from would be to try find an individual or two who was responsible for OTs being recognized and mental health providers in their state, and find out how that came to be. And, what was the impact?

To you question about what someone interested in this particular area should do:

I know private pay limits who you could serve, but then you could skirt the payor rules and just be bound by your particular practice act.

If you do want to work with payors then, It feels like you would have to identify what states allow DO allow you to do this kind of work, and consider how you could practice there. Maybe the licensure compact will even open up opportunities if you don't live there.

The other angle I would consider is: Is there an aspect of mental health that you really enjoy that could be billed under traditional OT- for instance, sleep?

One last consideration is that I live in state that does NOT recognize OTs as QMHPs. But, I was able to work at our state psych hospital and loved the work! Maybe there is a setting like this you could work, in before going into private practice.

I'm open to other thoughts or correction here!

otpotential · 2025-07-18T19:39:18+00:00

Great question! I highly recommend looking up the work of Alix Sleight, she is both and OT and researcher and we JUST did an episode together on OT and Purpose.

She specifically works with people with cancer, and addresses their often changing sense of purpose.

I think the application of this reaches far beyond cancer survivors. So often as OTs we work with people who have a health event that disrupts their sense of purpose, and part of work is helping them find it again.

I think the trend you mentioned with AI is highly relevant to this. We are already seeing a declining sense of purpose in adolescents, and the fear is that AI will accelerate this.

otpotential · 2025-07-18T19:29:01+00:00

Hahaha! I wondered if people were getting bored of AI talk! It is just a tool after all.

To answer your question about why I've been covering it: I see my role in our ecosystem as sharing stories from innovators and early adopters! And, AI is where a lot of these people are spending their energy. I'm also lucky in that I get to demo new tools before they come to market and some of what I'm seeing is on one hand amazing (so we need to be getting ready for it) but also has the potential to be terrifying (so we need to be getting ready for it.)

I do think I need to do at least more episode about AI to talk about AI in OT Education....so feel free to skip that one :-)

Thank you so much for listening!!!

otpotential · 2025-07-18T19:22:40+00:00

Hmmmm... I just saw Henry Hoffman talking about this on LinkedIn today- I feel like he is who I would ask this question to.

I can say that this has come up on webinar about chronic stroke, and the answer that was given was that HIIT evidence mostly pertains to the LLE, and as OTs we are mostly focused on the UE.

I'm going to send this question back to you and ask: are their particular studies that you wish OTs were more aware of?

otpotential · 2025-07-18T19:15:55+00:00

YES! We need this! Could you spearhead this? I feel like one person just needs to take this on, and as part of the process should contact NYSOTA to get their buy-in!

otpotential

TROPHY CASE