Is getting your Certified Hand Therapy speciality worth the money_
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[00:00:00] Hey there, my name is Hoang With Hand Therapy Secrets, and on this channel here in Hand Therapy Secrets, I help occupational therapists develop their careers in hand therapy. And if you want, you can even become a certified hand therapist. Now, one of the questions that I get most often, Is, um, is getting your certified hand the specialty worth the money.
[00:00:29] So in order to become a certified hand therapist, you have to have, you have to be an occupational therapist or a physical therapist. Now, one of the reasons why is because as a certified hand therapist you have to do a lot of evaluations. And so that really, um, limits, uh, um, OT assistants and PT assistants from becoming certified hand therapists.
[00:00:52] Now you can work in hand therapy. Most of the time you'll, you'll see codas, like OT assistants working in hand therapy versus [00:01:00] PT assistants. But, um, that's just how it is. Out there professionally in the world. But you can, um, if you wanna become a CHT, then you can get the job in hand therapy and then see if that's something worth your while and then you can decide, hey, I want to go back to school so they can become an ot.
[00:01:18] Um, Or PT so I can become a certified hand therapist. Um, I, I've been getting a lot of questions, like, if I'm a massage therapist, can I be one? No, you can't. Um, I didn't make the rules. The hand therapy commission made the rules, and they're the ones who actually, um, issue the, the letters, right? The CHT letters, it's trademarked or whatever.
[00:01:42] And they're the ones who put out the letters and then they're the ones who, um, create and develop the tests, right? So the exam prep program, um, the program that I run helps people to study in a way that helps them pass so, So once you [00:02:00] have your degree, right, you're an OT or pt, you have to have a minimum of three um, years of experience.
[00:02:06] So that just kind of comes just naturally. You don't have to do anything. You're just like, boom, three years passes in two seconds, then you have to have 4,000 hours. And one of the things that I've written about is the myth that people tell about how you get those hours. And if you're kind of like, oh, I don't know if I have the hours yet or what it really takes, then I'm gonna include the link.
[00:02:28] Um, so you can grab the checklist. So I've written out like all, uh, the myths that I hear about and like all the little things that are required in order to sit for the exam and even link the, the websites in there so you can, you know, kind of figure out if you're, you know, if you're in a particular country or you know, different country or what's what.
[00:02:50] Um, or part of the journey you're on, you can look there to get some guidance, right? So I'll include that link. Whether you're watching here on YouTube or you're listening on the [00:03:00] podcast, you can go ahead and grab the checklist and, you know, just get some, some clear. Ideas about, you know, what's required, um, for you even be eligible to sit for the exam.
[00:03:12] So once you're eligible to sit for the exam, what happens is you have to study in order to pass, right? You have to study, you have to actually now do something. Um, because the years and the hours are a little bit on the passive side. And so now what levels someone up into a specialty is that you know, you have to study.
[00:03:33] So if you think about surgeons, Or if you think about just doctors, there's, you know, you can be an MD and you can have a lot of different, there's a lot of different specialties even within medicine. So it is the same for occupational therapy and physical therapy. You can have different specialties and for surgeons what they do is they go and do, um, the residency in the specialty, and then they have to pass their boards.[00:04:00]
[00:04:00] In order to become a nationally board certified X, Y, Z specialty right in the hand therapy world. Sorry. In the occupational therapy world or physical therapy world, we go and we do our internships and that gives us, um, a work experience in order to just start to see what areas we like to work in. So as an occupational therapist, one of the things I loved about being an OT or like was drawn to the field initially was just that I could have options.
[00:04:30] In my career, I could work with kids if I wanted to. I could work with adults. If I wanted to work, I could work in different settings if I wanted to. So that's the, that's the what they tell you in OT school. That's for another story. Right. That's what they tell you. But what happens is in, in each specialty, you have to learn what to do, right?
[00:04:52] So I, I've been an occupational therapist for over 20 years now, and when I first got [00:05:00] started, I got whatever jobs. Um, came to me like that I applied for, and that I qualified for, I guess. And so I was, I worked in a skilled nursing facility. I worked in acute care for a while, and then I transitioned into outpatient.
[00:05:14] So some people. Um, feel like they're lucky because they went into outpatient right away. I actually feel really lucky. I didn't feel it at that time, but I definitely feel lucky that I worked in a skilled nursing. I worked in several different ones that I worked in acute care. I worked in several different hospitals, both big and small, and I feel like that experience really gave me a lot of insight into like how I wanted to.
[00:05:42] Um, be as a therapist and who I wanted to become as a therapist. So, so for me, it definitely was, um, a really good thing that I worked in a lot of different settings before moving into outpatient. So that's just my journey. Everyone has their own journey to go on. And you [00:06:00] might be in a different, in a certain state of your journey, in a certain part of your journey.
[00:06:04] And, um, you might be in a, in a. In a part of your journey where you've had for a long time the idea of becoming a certified hand therapist and you have moved it into the back part of your brain, you're like, ah, I've been thinking about it. Um, it's something I've always wanted, but my, my path moved me into X, Y, and z, you know, pattern.
[00:06:27] And that's okay. That's definitely okay. Um, but if you are still thinking about it, If you're still thinking about it, that might mean because you want to pursue it. So you gotta bring that, the idea from the back of your brain to your front brain and say, you know what, what's required of me to, to become a certified hand therapist?
[00:06:52] Right? What's required of me to become a certified hand therapist? And I would say that it requires you to study. [00:07:00] Right. So it requires you to double down and study, and you have to have that desire. So I often talk about that. You have to know your own personal why. Like it has nothing to do with anyone else, and it actually doesn't even have anything to do with becoming a better practitioner.
[00:07:20] I think it has a little bit to do more personally so that it lights a fire under your ass, right? So one of the things when you're post-degree is that nobody's making you do anything, right? Nobody's making you, um, go get it. Majority of the time, majority of people, Are not gonna lose their job because they didn't become a certified hand therapist.
[00:07:47] What they might have done is they might have promised to become a certified hand therapist, um, in order to get that job right. So I met somebody who, when she took the job [00:08:00] that she was offered, they gave her five years to become a certified hand therapist. And when you give someone five years, they will take five years.
[00:08:10] Or think that they never have to do it. So she just kept dragging it along, dragging it along, and you know, once it became a burning thing, like, holy shit, I might lose my job, then she was all of a sudden like, oh my God, I've got to study for it. But I think once she found out that she didn't, she wasn't gonna lose her job, she really didn't do anything to become a certified hand therapist.
[00:08:36] Right. Um, So I think post-degree wise, we have to be in a certain amount of pain in order to actually take the necessary steps. If you think about it as a practitioner, as a, as a, like, I work with people with hand and arm injuries and neck injuries and back injuries and whatever. Um, [00:09:00] majority of the time people don't come to me because they want to prevent pain.
[00:09:05] They come to me because they have pain. Right. Um, sometimes they, they've known for years that their pain is there in their shoulder, but they don't do anything about it until one day they cannot sleep. One day they're fearful that they're gonna lose their job. One day they wake up and they can't move their fucking arm.
[00:09:24] Right. When the pain sets in is when they take action. And that's just human nature, right? That's just, that's just human nature. Um, There's a small percentage of people who are proactive. Um, but majority of the people wait until the pain sets in before they take action. And so you have to ask yourself if the question is, is it worth it?
[00:09:51] You know, cuz that's the question I get is getting your certified hand therapy worth it? I see that question being posted quite a bit in different forms and stuff like that, and everyone and their mother [00:10:00] has an opinion. Um, And some people are like, it's totally not worth it. You know, I didn't get paid more because they were having an expectation of, you know, more money or whatever.
[00:10:11] Um, and some people are like, yeah, it's totally worth it. You know? I feel so good that you know. Um, my patients get better care or the doctors respect me. Um, but what we can do is we can really talk about like how becoming a certified hand therapist actually is worth the money and how it can be worth the money for you.
[00:10:32] Right? So I'm like, y'all people didn't make more money. It's cuz you didn't. Maybe negotiate, maybe you're not willing to take the risk. Right. I made more money. I continued taking more money as a certified hand therapist, and I think it's just based on like what you're willing to believe is possible for you.
[00:10:52] If you believe you can, you cannot make more money, or you believe you can [00:11:00] make more money, you're right. And you're thinking, well, but, but wait, Huang, you said, if you don't believe, yes, if you sit there and you put, tell yourself I can't make any more money. Nobody's willing to pay me more, blah, blah, blah, then you're gonna do everything to not make more money.
[00:11:21] If you believe that you can make more money, um, and that is worth it for you. To, you know, put in the work study, join a program, buy the books, you know, and study in a way, there are ways to make more money. And let's face it, in this day and age, even though yes, we want the accolades, um, money is important because money makes the world go round, right?
[00:11:50] And so I think that to a certain extent we have to put. A price on some of the things that you want, right? Let's put a price [00:12:00] on some other things that you want. So how can you make more money? It's getting the CHT worth it, you know, worth your money. Absolutely. Right? Absolutely. But you have to, you have to look at, right?
[00:12:12] So everyone always looks at like, Looks at costs. Well, the money for the books costs a certain amount of costs, a certain amount. The different programs, right? Or or mentorship? Well, the programs I'll put as a mentorship, right? I I e mentorship programs. Let me just talk about my exam prep program. The exam.
[00:12:49] Maybe you take a, maybe you take a review course or something. All right. All of these have a cost and you have to put, [00:13:00] you have to put a dollar amount to them. They have a cost. It's real cost. The books cost 300 bucks. Maybe buy a couple of them, right? Um, like program costs a certain amount of money. You have to decide like, is that money worth it?
[00:13:14] And really at the end of the day, you have to ask yourself, am I worth it? Am I worth the spend? Right. So that's the cost. Now, if you look about like how much money you gotta make, right? Right. So there's, there's, there's a lot of different types of costs and I think, you know, one, you can pre-negotiate, right?
[00:13:43] Two, you can post negotiate. Your salary. Three, you can look at changing jobs, right?
[00:13:56] And then of course there's [00:14:00] opportunities. Opportunities for all right now. Opportunities. You can make more money based on the different opportunities that you get. So if you think about opportunities, And we can think about jobs. Let's put a dollar amount to the setting that you get to work in. How, how important is that for you put a price on that setting?
[00:14:31] Right. I speak to therapists who, you know, they're getting, they, they're getting a little bit older. They're getting. They're getting aches and pains in their body, uh, and they think moving into outpatient is gonna help them. Now it's gonna help you to a certain extent, but, you know, you gotta, you gotta work on getting rid of that pain, right?
[00:14:50] So that you can continue to work, but, you know, put a value to that price, put a value to put a, put a [00:15:00] value amount to, to that setting. Um, your ability to work in the culture, you know? That you want, uh, in the location that you want, put a price on those things because I think that those things have a value amount to them, right?
[00:15:23] They have a value amount to them. So a lot of times people are looking at like, oh, I, I passed to say she and I didn't get more money. Right? That company didn't pay me more. Um, Or they look at, um, yeah, most of the time people are looking at that. They're just looking at one aspect of how you can make more money, but they're not looking at all aspects, right?
[00:15:48] So the easiest thing you can do is pre-negotiate, say hey, Um, I'm interested in becoming a certified hand therapist, uh, Mr. Boss, Mrs. Boss, you know, [00:16:00] would your company be willing to support and sponsor me for that? Maybe they help support pay for books, uh, help. Um, Pay for for your program. I know that there's several people in my program who've taken advantage of employers paying for them to be a part of the program.
[00:16:19] They get X amount of money a year, and since I'm a C E U course, um, it gets covered and paid for. Right? Um, sometimes you present it with to the company and then the company says, yeah, I'm willing to pay for half of it. Like, I actually just met someone. Who the, the owner of the company was like, yeah, we would love to have a C H T as a private business.
[00:16:43] There's, um, there's value in it. That's for another video, but there's value in having a C HT on board. If you understand that value, it makes you a lot more marketable. Right. [00:17:00] But you can go and you can pre-negotiate. You can also go and post negotiate and say, you know, if I get that, you know, what does it look like?
[00:17:07] So I pre and post negotiated my salary when I. When I was going for my C H g I pre and post negotiated my salary. So I don't know everyone's story, but I certainly do know my story and it worked. And, um, I help my students inside my mentorship program and inside my exam prep program essentially do that for themselves as well.
[00:17:34] Um, but you want to put a price tag. You wanna put a price tag on your ability to. You know, move into a different setting the culture if you want to move, how much easier it is, the location, um, and then opportunities, right? So sometimes people are working per diem, they're working part-time, they're working, they're piecing their hours together.
[00:17:57] Sometimes the opportunities in a [00:18:00] full-time position. Sometimes there opportunities are to teach. Sometimes there are opportunities, um, and teaching in various um, settings, right? So you can now teach in a university setting. You can teach in, um, you know, maybe doing the traveling teaching, um, but there's opportunities for it because you have.
[00:18:26] The credentials essentially that, that like help you help show other people how dedicated you are because that's part of the cj, everyone knows how hard it is to pass and so if you pass, you dedicated yourself to passing. So you know somebody who's in my program prior, she became a certified hand therapist and I saw a lot of value in what she was doing and I was.
[00:18:48] Um, I hired her. So now she helps me teach inside my programs. Right? And I'm always looking, I'm always looking for someone who, you know, as I look to, to [00:19:00] grow hand therapy secrets, I am looking for, um, CHDS, right? Majority of the time I'm looking for chds, cuz that's, that's what I do. I, I help OTs become chs and so I am looking for a cht when I think about, you know, expanding how I teach my classes.
[00:19:18] If I'm looking to expand my online program and, uh, you know, have people holding study group, um, calls and, and practice study prac practice questions, and, you know, that kind of stuff. I'm, I am looking for c H G, you know, so I think that the other, I'm not the only like, dude, I'm not the only one looking right.
[00:19:40] Other people are looking and you're gonna. Find those opportunities for you. Your opportunities can be in creating, uh, a business, right, a business for yourself. Um, So I, I have a, I have a business, I have two businesses. I have a [00:20:00] therapy clinic, and I am always looking for someone who I could help to become a certified hand therapist.
[00:20:06] Sometimes I am looking for a certified hand therapist who already is a certified hand therapist. I haven't been that fortunate to, to find someone like that. So I've trained and, and mentored and, and hired people into that, those positions, just like creating your own business. You, you don't have to just be in my business.
[00:20:22] You can create your own business. Right. So I think that when you think about is getting your c h t worth it, you want to put a dollar amount to these. These different items, cuz I often say there's a bank of today and there's, there's a Bank of Tomorrow, right? Bank of today. Bank of today. And then there's a bank of tomorrow, [00:21:00] right?
[00:21:01] Most people are looking at. The bank of today, how much money will I make right now? Will my boss give me a raise right now? And what happens is you're missing. That's just like 10% you're missing. Think of tomorrow, right? Think of tomorrow is where all these opportunities lie because when you become a certified hand therapist, you become a certified hand therapist one time and you keep that shit forever.
[00:21:30] So how is it not worth? I don't care how much money you. Spent if, if you have become a certified hand therapist and you're getting these opportunities and you're happy in where you work, right? Uh, put a dollar of amount to that, right? Somebody put a dollar amount to how happy. You can [00:22:00] be right. Obviously happiness is, is, um, creating cultured within yourself, right?
[00:22:07] Getting your ch ht If you're an unhappy person, getting a c h T won't make you happy. It's just gonna make, yous gonna be an unhappy. If you're unhappy before a c hg, you're can be unhappy after c she, but what? What having the CHG can do is maybe give you different opportunities to put you into settings and positions that can change that around, right, where you can, you know, work in the way you want to work.
[00:22:35] Maybe have your own business. You know, even if you wanna just treat patients on the side, whatever side business people love these side business things now, but like, put a price on your happiness. Put a price on, um, on doing the thing that you want to do. Put a price on. Doing the thing that you say you [00:23:00] want to do so that it essentially builds your self-esteem and your, your confidence, right?
[00:23:05] There is a price of that and to me, when people ask me about is the specialty worth it for the money, uh, they're only looking at the bank of today of a few dollars more. Right. They're looking at a few cents in change for in a raise. Uh, some people, like I worked with a guy, he came into my program and, uh, once he became a cht, he was gonna get a $5,000 bonus.
[00:23:32] So he was already making out like a banded, you know, over 50%, um, profit, if you wanna put it in terms of money, uh, how much money he was gonna get just for passing. He came into the pro program. Six months later he passed. Got the $5,000 bonus, now he can work wherever he wants. He can go and, and make more money basically by going and negotiating at another job at another place, whatever.[00:24:00]
[00:24:00] Right? But everyone's thinking about Bank of Today. And what I hope that this video helps you think about is the Bank of Tomorrow and in other aspects where you don't necessarily see the money, um, from a dollar amount, but that there is a dollar amount too, right? But Bank of Tomorrow is about what you can achieve later, right?
[00:24:26] So I became a chg. Over 15 years ago, and if I only thought about Bank of Today, I would only see it was worth it for that small amount. But if you want to have some foresight into what's possible in the future for you, I knew that getting my C H T. I would be able to, um, you know, have a business, I would gonna be able to move into the different jobs that I wanted.
[00:24:56] Like, I didn't even go out and apply for jobs. I [00:25:00] actually had people come to me with several different jobs all at the same time. And I know that's possible too, not just for myself, but for you, because I've seen it happen for my students. Maybe they don't wanna tell you that they're unhappy in their job, but they are.
[00:25:15] So when they get their cht, they're going to then utilize that to move into a different position. Cuz it's gonna be easier once you have it. You know, maybe no one tells you, but they're not, they're not that happy with. The kind of cases that they're working with. And so once you become a cht, you're gonna get more maybe the kind of cases that you want, more postsurgical, you know, um, or just having those, that, those letters so that you can have it for the longevity of your career.
[00:25:45] Now, I, I speak to people. Who are much older than me who, who want the chg, just because it's always been in the back of their mind and before their career ends, their career ends. They want it. Because [00:26:00] even if you work for a few more years, five years, eight years, 10 years, isn't it worth it to work in the setting that you want to work in versus some shitty setting that you don't want to work in?
[00:26:10] I'm not talking shit about any other setting. It's shitty because you don't wanna work in it. It's not cuz it's a shitty setting. There's, there's tons of therapists who love working in other settings, but you obviously, you're watching hand Therapy Secrets and you're watching this channel because you wanna see if it's possible for you to become a certified hand therapist and have more choices in your career.
[00:26:33] So, um, you will have more choices in your career and you will have both Bank of Today and Bank of Tomorrow if you, um, make a decision that you're worth the work. Because you don't, you don't get this from sitting on your ass and doing nothing. You know, you don't, everything that you want is on the other side of the uncertainty that, that, that sits in front of you.
[00:26:58] Everything that you want is on the other [00:27:00] side of the work that is required of you. Right? And you can become more certain because when you commit to it, right, when you commit to it. To process, to journey, then it's even closer and more possible for you and you'll be able to make more money. Right. If you can keep all of this in mind.
[00:27:24] I, I left, you know, I had a bank of today and then I, the Bank of tomorrow was after I left and went to private practice, my salary increased over 25%. That's the Bake of Tomorrow. Right. Don't be so busy thinking about today. Think a little bit about tomorrow cuz you'll have your C HT for the longevity of your career.
[00:27:50] You only have to do it once. So when people ask me, is it worth it? Is it worth the money? Is it worth the time? Right. Absolutely. [00:28:00] You know, absolutely worth it. Is it worth coming into your exam prep program, Hong, and being able to do, you know, to actually. Do the thing that you say you want to do and to be able to study in a way that is, um, less overwhelming and more fun is, uh, can you do it in half the time?
[00:28:18] How many years have already passed? Think about how the years lost, years lost is costing you. Think about opportunity, opportunity. Costs, right? Very few people will tell you, how many opportunities have you lost? How much has that costed you? How many years have you lost? How much has that costed you in money in real dollars because you didn't get the hours, you didn't get the promotion, you didn't get the job.
[00:28:59] Those are [00:29:00] real costs of you not getting your CHT when you want to get it. Right. There's a cost to that, and I think that cost is more costly than any program that you're sitting on the fence for. So I think that if you want to become a certified hand therapist for all those people who don't want it, don't watch, don't listen.
[00:29:24] This does not apply to you, but if you want it, you come in here watching this video, it's because. You want to become a certified hand therapist? There's something about that's inside of you that says that I want, I want those letters. I want to be recognized as a, as an expert in my area, as an expert in my field.
[00:29:46] I want to be able to work with those patients and know what to say, and know what to do, and actually get results. Right. I want that. And so if that's what you want, is it worth it? Absolutely. 100%. [00:30:00] You gotta believe that it's possible for you, and then you gotta put your money where your mouth is and actually do the work First.
[00:30:07] It takes a commitment and then it takes a consistency, right? You gotta have both to hit your goals. If you commit, but you don't have the consistency, you won't ever hit it. And that's why my exam prep program is so powerful because it requires the commitment and then it, it provides the consistency that you need in order to get to the end goal and get to that, that test date.
[00:30:33] That makes sense. So ask yourself if it's worth it for me, it's been worth it for the people in my program. It's been worth it for everyone who you know has come through and become a certified hand therapist and continue to work and continue to cultivate their career. In the hand therapy world, they say it's worth it.
[00:30:54] So you have to decide. You have to make that decision. Nobody else makes that decision for you. You [00:31:00] make it. I don't care who else has the money to pay for your program. I'm telling you right now, if you don't wanna study, if you don't wanna put the word, I don't care how much money there is in the world, you won't see it worth it.
[00:31:12] If you want it, it's worth it. Right? Take what you need from this video, from this podcast. Take what you need and leave what you don't. That's usually why I say take what you need and leave what you don't. Right? But if you. If this has provided any value to you, if you like it, if you know, hit the like button, subscribe to the videos and for sure, leave me a comment and let me know what you agree with, what you don't agree with.
[00:31:39] All right. I'll see you later. Thank you. Bye.
[00:31:45] Hey, thanks for listening to Hoang's world podcast. If you are brand new to the hand therapy world, head over to my website, www . Hand therapy secrets.com, where you can get started with some of our free guides and paid programs for both OTs and [00:32:00] PTs diving into the world of hand therapy. Or if you've been listening for a while watching on our YouTube channel and you think you could benefit from developing and moving your career further along in hand therapy, reach out to me and my team at info @ Hand therapy.secrets.com and tell us exactly what you're looking for, By the way, if you know someone who could benefit from today's show, please share.
[00:32:22] Thanks. See you on the next episode.
