Occupational physiotherapy and physical therapy are one of the most popular professional choices in Australia. People are very curious about the relationship between occupational therapy (OT) and physical therapy (PT). People often confuse these two majors and even think that they are the same. In fact, there are significant differences between these two majors, and there are many gray areas in their overlapping fields. The following contents will clearly and comprehensively clarify the relationship between occupational therapy and physical therapy.
Occupational therapy
Compared with physical therapy, occupational therapy focuses more on evaluating and improving a person's physical function. Different from physical therapists, occupational therapists usually use manual therapy or acupuncture to treat patients directly. They will help patients rebuild and improve their abilities when they are injured or have physical obstacles, so as to resume normal daily activities.
physiatrics
Physiotherapy majors pay more attention to two aspects: on the one hand, the evaluation and diagnosis of patients' motor dysfunction, on the other hand, the treatment of patients themselves. Occupational therapists usually do diagnostic work, but physical therapists will not only diagnose, but also treat the timing and source of injuries and injured organizations and institutions.
Physiotherapists and occupational therapists are more professional than general practitioners because they have generally accepted the injury and recovery of anatomy and musculoskeletal.
Cross field of OT and PT
Although the two have different emphases. But there are also many intersections between the two.
For example, occupational therapists usually do what physiotherapists do, such as teaching people how to prevent and avoid injuries and teaching them about the treatment process. On the other hand, physical therapists often need education and training to help people improve their ability to complete daily activities, which is often the job of occupational therapists. This interdisciplinary subject plays a very important role in both therapies, and they are both professional technologies in their respective fields.
In many cases, occupational therapy and physical therapy are involved in the process of injury repair.
Which schools offer OT and PT?
La Trobe University, University of South Australia, Curtin University, Newcastle University, Griffith University