The occupational therapist may have an opportunity to assume the role of an educator in a position such as program director, professor, or instructor. In such a role, the therapist will design courses, teach and counsel students. Most teaching requires an advanced degree, as well as experience in occupational therapy clinical practice. As a researcher, the occupational therapist defines problems for investigation and designs research programs. The research occupational therapist collects and analyzes data, evaluating and publishing the results of his or her research.
Active research is critical to any health profession and offers challenges to the professional.
An occupational therapist may, of course, combine research with other work in the field, and many therapists do, in fact, explore many of these roles in the course of their careers.