I’ve asked multiple people and have never gotten a clear answer. They’re always consulted together in the hospital, but I’m sure they have different responsibilities.
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The simplest way to compare is this…
PT addresses physical impairment.
OT addresses functional impairment.
Is there a lot of overlap between those types of impairments? Yes, many physical impairments are directly linked to functional impairments.
Do they have different roles in treating the same patient if their physical and functional impairments are directly linked? Yes, reconciling the difference in theoretical approach (physical vs functional) and the overlap in real-world application has led OTs and PTs to focus on different skills and niches. Some skills are exclusive to one profession, many skills trend strongly towards one profession over the other but are not *exclusive* per se, and some skills have fairly even distribution between both professions.
I’ll address the hospital part of your question specifically, too. Many patients will require both PT/OT, who will collaborate on different treatment goals based on their general scope of practice and specific role on the team. Also, many physicians and nurses often blindly order “OT/PT” because they are too lazy to figure out the most appropriate referral or too ignorant to know the difference.
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