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Designing Your Therapy Career: Comparing Career Models, Risk, and Real-World Practice

Instructor

Kara Welke
OTD, OTR/L CLT

  • CE Hours 1.5
  • Price $40.00
  • Format Live
  • Duration 1.30hr
$40.00

Course Description

Therapists have multiple career pathways available throughout their professional journey, including employment, self-employment, business ownership, investment roles, and hybrid models that integrate multiple income streams. Each structure carries distinct considerations related to financial risk, income potential, workload demands, compliance responsibilities, and professional autonomy. This course compares common therapy career models and examines the real-world practice implications associated with each pathway. Participants will explore how caseload expectations, work hours, documentation demands, access to mentorship, and regulatory responsibilities vary across career structures.
The course also highlights opportunities for professional growth through small-scale private practice initiatives and strategies for advancement within employment settings. Participants will conclude by applying a structured framework to evaluate career pathways based on personal priorities, professional goals, and lifestyle alignment.

Learning Objectives

Participants will be able to:

Differentiate between employee, self-employed, business owner, investor, and hybrid career models within therapy practice.
Compare the risk level, income potential, time demands, caseload expectations, documentation requirements, and compliance responsibilities associated with each career pathway.
Identify strategies for professional growth, including options to start small within private practice models and ways to advance without leaving employment.
Apply a structured decision-making framework to evaluate potential career pathways based on personal priorities, professional goals, and lifestyle alignment.

Completion requirements

Participants have to:

  • Watching the full course to earn credit-attendance for the entire session is required.
  • Complete a formal assessment after watching the entire course:
  • Consisting of 5 questions
  • 80% pass rate
  • Maximum 3 attempts
  • Submit your feedback (available after the course)
  • No partial credits – you must meet all requirements to receive your completion certificate.
  • Submission unlocks only after watching the entire course.

Who is this for

  • Occupational Therapists
  • Speech Language Pathologists
  • Physical Therapists

Time Ordered Agenda:

  • 00:00–00:05

Introduction and Course Objectives

  • 00:05–00:15

Overview of Career Models and Structures

  • 00:15–00:45

Comparative Analysis of Career Structures

  • 00:45–01:05

Private Practice: Advantages and Practical Considerations

  • 01:05–01:20

Strategies for Advancing Within Employment Settings

  • 01:20–01:30

Applying the Career Alignment Framework

Meet The Speaker

Kara Welke

OTD, OTR/L CLT
Kara Welke, OTD, OTR/L, CLT, is an occupational therapist, entrepreneur, and educator with over 25 years of clinical and leadership experience. She is the founder of Home Therapy Solutions, a therapy practice focused on supporting independence in home and community settings, and Next Level Occupational Therapy, which provides education on home and community-based practice models and supports therapists in developing and expanding their professional practices.
Earlier in her career, she developed and directed an Early Head Start program through a federal funding initiative, expanding services for young children and families. She has also served as a fieldwork coordinator and instructor, mentoring future therapists.
Dr. Welke presents nationally on topics related to occupational therapy practice innovation, pediatric and geriatric care, and entrepreneurship.

“Professional Affiliations and Previous Presentations”

  • AOTA, AGS

Disclosures

  • Founder of Next Level Occupational Therapy.
  • The speaker provides consulting services related to practice development.
  • The speaker receives compensation from ReadySetConnect for this presentation.

This event is offered for 1.30 contact hour. 1.5 AOTA CEUs at an Introductory level

No prerequisites required for this course.

This course was launched in October 2026. Upon purchase, access to all course materials is granted for five (5) years from the launch date. Course content will remain accessible through your profile while logged in, until October 2031.

Refund policy

  • Once payment is made, refunds are not available if you decide not to attend the course
  • Full refund or the option for crediting your account will be available should the course be cancelled by ReadySetConnect/speaker for any unforeseen reason

Special Requests

Special accommodations may be requested.

Please email education@readysetconnect.com indicating your special needs and accommodation requests.

Compliance Policy

For any compliance concerns or complaints, please reach out to diana@readysetconnect.com. All submissions will be reviewed and addressed, within two working days. Records will be retained in accordance with our policy.

FAQs

Yes — accredited by AOTA for 1.5 CEUs.
This is a premium course priced at $40.
Yes. All courses work on desktop, tablet, and mobile devices.
Complete the course content and assessment. Your certificate is generated instantly and available for download.

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Contact: education@readysetconnect.com

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