Are there many opportunities for part-time occupational or physical therapist assistants with regular hours?
Asked by Erica R
I'm interested in becoming either a COTA or a PTA. Right now I'm leaning more towards the COTA. However, I would really want to be able to find a part-time job after school. I've been browsing my area to see if there are such positions available and have found some but I was wondering what your experiences were. Do you have regular hours or do you work many on-call, weekend, or holidays hours? Thank you.

Best Answer:
New grads have to take the hours the employers have available, and that usually includes at least one Saturday per month. I know of no setting where Sundays are required unless the therapist has Medicare patients with orders for 6 sessions per week, and the therapist takes a weekday off. That weekday must be made up. Home health agencies and hospitals usually have per diem jobs; some nursing homes, too. OTRs, PTs, PTAs and COTAS are very few and far between, so these employers will want you to work you as much as they can. You can negotiate as many hours as you like, so you can work as much or as little as you want.
I was a speech pathologist and worked with a lot of PT, PTAs, OTRs, and COTAs in my time.
Answered by boogeywoogy