<p>My daughter applied and was accepted to colleges with the idea that she wanted to be a psych major and eventually some type of therapist. Spring of Senior year she did a Senior Project in which she shadowed an Occupational Therapist for 60 hours. She loved it. As it turns out, the college she has just started at (and LOVES) does not teach OT. They do have majors and minors in Psychology and in Exercise Science. We're not too concerned about the lack of a BS/BA in OT because it looks like she'd need an MS to actually practice anyway.</p>
<p>My daughter is convinced she needs to change her undergrad major to Exercise Science, which concerns me because hard science isn't really a strength for her. I looked up the pre-reqs for a few MSOT programs, they seem to include 2 semesters of Physiology/Anatomy, and 2 semesters of Psych (to include developmental Psych).</p>
<p>What's your opinion on the relative merits of Psych vs Exercise Science as prep for OT?</p>
<p>(Edit - re my hard sciences comment, she did pretty well in Honors Anatomy in high school, but Honors Biology and Honors Physics were a struggle. Non-honors Chemistry was a joke, she got A's but learned nothing.)</p>
<p>I’m an O.T. - graduated in 1983 and still practice. She should major in whatever she wants as long as she gets the prerequisites for grad school in. I majored in psych. That said, I don’t know how competitive it is to get into the master’s program for OT now, and if she would have a big advantage with certain majors. She’ll get plenty of the necessary sciences, including kinesiology with her prerequisites and the actual OT. program.</p>
<p>My niece just finished up her masters in OT, I thought that was pretty much required to get the advanced degree. Like lovestheheat said, make sure she gets those required prerequesites. And there are some OT programs that are alot easier to get in than others. This is merely info passed on to me, so good luck to her. Sounds like guaranteed employment when you get out, and some employers will even pay off your student loans.</p>
<p>I am an occupational therapist. I graduated in 1976 when you only needed a bachelors degree. I have worked steadily and was able to work part time when my kids were in school. It is an excellent career and pays well. I can’t recommend what major is better but I do suggest getting in touch with the schools that she is interested in and getting their opinion.</p>
<p>I think she should seek out a pre-professional advisor before changing her major. ES seems to be overkill and could hurt her GPA, which will be important for grad school acceptance, while psych often doesn’t have the required sciences…maybe a psych major with an ES minor would work? Or perhaps she could stay in the psych major and simply take the A&P, physics, and any other sciences she’ll need as electives. Does she have an idea of what type of population she’d like to work with eventually? </p>
<p>My D changed her major to OT last year but had been taking pre-health classes, so she only had to make up a few OT-specific classes (ie medical terminology, intro to OT) to be on schedule with her class. Her program requires a minimum of three psych classes - intro, abnormal, and developmental - as well as physics and A&P and that was the case at other schools she looked at. (She opted to transfer into the BS/MS program offered by her school but had considered doing a BS Psych and then applying to grad programs.) Btw, she feels (OT advisor and prof confirmed) that the intro chem and bio classes she took as a freshman are very helpful for understanding physiology so your D may want to consider taking those classes for science electives.</p>
<p>I’m a PT but my school had a sister OT program back in the entry level BS days and we took many courses together. At least back then part of the curriculum in OT was dedicated to psychology and OT’s worked on psychological intervention as part of a psych team. I have not kept up with that aspect of the field but it would be worth it to do some research about psych OT. Having a psych major could be very strong for entry into an OT program. As others have said do check with admissions at several programs about prerequisites and preferred majors but a psych major can be very relevant to OT.</p>
<p>D2 is a pre-OT psych major. She will be starting the graduate OT program her senior year with those classes fulfilling credit requirements for her undergraduate degree. At her school, psychology is the preferred major for students who intend to be OT’s.</p>
<p>I am an OT, and have mentored many new therapists. The other posters are right on target with making sure she get the correct prerequisites for the schools that she will be applying to. Each school is most likely a bit different in their prerequisites. Psychology would be great, as this is an important skill for what we do, and is also an often overlooked area of occupational therapy. One of my friends provides occupational therapy at the state mental hospital here, and I did an internship working with people who had a dual/triple diagnosis of AIDs/substance abuse/mental illness, just as an example of some mental health OT. Taking extra science is great, but I don’t think exercise science is a must. I had a political science degree when I applied, with lots of extra prerequisites. (I would not recommend poly sci; it just took me awhile to realize being a lawyer in real life wasn’t like the show L.A. Law, so luckily I found OT). Most of the OT’s I know majored in psychology or kinesiology. GPA is very important; OT schools have a small enrollment, so it is extra competitive. Also, if she can find a part-time job or volunteer opportunity working as a rehab aide in an outpatient clinic, subacute rehabilitation facility, or rehab hospital, this would be great for her application. There are some required observation hours, but it usually isn’t too many, so anything to make the application meatier would be good.</p>
<p>There is endless opportunities in this field. I have worked in rehab hospitals, school systems, and sub acute rehabilitation facilities (this is mainly geriatrics). I have also done volunteer work for some of Mother Theresa’s homes for children with disabilities in Calcutta and Sri Lanka, worked in Cambodia with children who have been maimed, and have gone down to Cabo the last two spring breaks to share some of our knowledge of pediatric disability in their schools. Whatever your passion is, it will probably fit in some way with OT. Some OT’s provide therapy to their clients utilizing animals such as horses or dolphins. Others work with the visually-impaired, or specialize in something like autism, traumatic brain injury, community-based occupational therapy, or hand therapy. You most likely won’t become rich, but you will always have a job, it is mostly rewarding, and you can live anywhere in the country, and many parts of the world.</p>
<p>Does any one have any insight on dance or movement therapy? From what I’ve read about it, it sounds like it would be a good direction for my daughter; combining her interests in dance and a desire to work with people. Is it a respected health care profession, or more like a glorified yoga teacher? Not that there’s anything wrong with being a yoga teacher. I’m just not sure I want to spend all that money for college for her to become one.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone for their insights - it looks like my assumptions were correct, and a Psych major with an Exercise Science minor might be a really good way to prepare for an MSOT program. D’s college is one of the few in the country that doesn’t have a med school but DOES have a cadaver lab. They also offer a DPT program, so they must have solid Anat & Phys undergrad classes (I would think). </p>
<p>wrdtrvlr, your experiences sound amazing and your name fit you!<br>
D has a passion for dance, and also enjoys art. I suspect both of those could fit in with OT.</p>
<p>I don’t know anything about dance therapy, but I know a young man with Down Syndrome, and the school used a music therapist who created and taught him a song to help him learn his phone number.</p>
<p>I have nothing to offer as advice but thanks for posting this because now I know what an occupational therapist is. I realized after reading this that I have seen the term “occupational therapy” a lot, but never really new what it was. So I looked it up. </p>
<p>I always sort of jumped to the conclusion that it was like an employment counselor (my own limited interpretation of the word “occupation”). How wrong I was. Wow! That’s really a varied and interesting field.</p>
<p>Gross Anatomy would be a good idea, after she’s had regular Anatomy and Physiology. Is it restricted to DPT majors only? Most schools will only allow specific majors to take it. D’s school, which has DPT and a med school, requires gross anatomy before the professional part of the OT program starts (junior year) but OT’s and ES majors are only allowed to take it during the summer session:(</p>
<p>^ Lafalum84 - That’s pretty good, in school for 3 days before she decider to change her Major. It will likely happen a few more times so just encourage her to explore everything that she thinks will make her happy… I know your new to Elon but trust me they encourage exploration and she will get lots of her questions answered as she explores…In addition to the cadaver lab, they are expanding the DPT program and in the process of starting a PA program. Elon also loves internships so who knows what other resources they have in their back pocket… By the time she knows a little more about what she wants, she will naturally know more about who to ask… The professors have always been a great help to my Son and it’s not uncommon for them to chat about academic subjects that they have an interest in, far beyond whatever class they are teaching…</p>
<p>danceclass: I am not at all familiar with dance therapy at all. I have worked with music therapists who have done amazing work and before going to PT school I considered art therapy as a career. When in PT school one of our classmates was a dancer and she did some work to combine the two in her practice. Go into any of these fields with your eyes open. Employability is largely tied to 3rd party reimbursement and most of these will not reimburse for services that are less mainstream. I know it was more difficult for the music therapists to find work and their pay was significantly less than the PT’s, ST’s and OT’s. This was many years ago but I expect that reimbursement has only gotten worse in recent years. Before going into any of those fields do some research about employablility. These are great fields but in a tough economy the more mainstream therapies are likely to have more job security.</p>
<p>^ sk8rmom - The Elon cadaver lab is not limited to specific majors, just specific classes. </p>
<p>I know that BIO 161 (HUMAN ANATOMY), BIO 343 (CLINICAL ANATOMY) and some of the classes that train students interested in teaching science use the lab. I’m sure they put it to good (and appropriate) use, but i’m not sure exactly how many classes use it.</p>
<p>My wife is an OT with Master’s degree. her first job was on a locked psych unit as an OT. That is where we in fact met over 26 years ago! On thing to note - if you intend on being an OT working with children in a public school, you must realize that in some states you will NOT be a member of a union like teachers, PTs and Speech pathologists currently are. This has big implications in terms of job security and retirement. So if that is the niche where your daughter plans to work, do some research before committing to a career.</p>
<p>Does which school you get your MSOT degree at have much of an impact on your career? USNWR ranks OT programs, and I wonder if there is much of an advantage in going to a top ranked school vs. a lower ranked in-state public school?</p>
<p>The AOTA does not support any rankings of OT programs…they’re all required to maintain certification. Do you know what the basis of the ranking is? There are also rankings of PharmD programs but those are based on research funding, not quality of education. Since OT’s must pass a certicification exam in order to be licesnsed, I’m guessing that the majority of employers are more interested in that credential rather than the name of the school. It’s not like they’re going to pay more for an NYU OT vs. a WVU OT although the regional employers may know and favor certain programs. Btw, it seems that some of the most rigorous OT programs are offered by public schools and admissions are quite competitive!</p>
<p>My D is going the DPT route and what she found is it was tougher to gain admission to some of the public schools, mostly due to significantly less expensive tuition. I don’t know anything about OT programs, but I’d suspect the same is true there.</p>