How do I get an occupational therapy internship without being a health major?

Hi everyone!

I’m transferring to Texas State University and changing my major from Kinesiology to Theatre. I plan to complete more than enough prerequisites to apply to OT school, but I’m concerned about clinicials/volunteer hours/internships. For those who major in more common OT majors (kinesiology, exercise science, athletic training, etc.) those requirements are already embedded into their degree plans.

I really want to major in theatre and become an occupational therapist. Does anybody have any tips for me? Any help would be appreciated.

Hey, there! I know this is a couple months late but better late than never.

I also want to be an OT but will not be pre-health.

From what I have gathered from message boards and from OT grad program sites, it doesn’t matter what your major is as long as you take the pre-reqs and have shadowing hours preferably in multiple settings. So that would be my best advice. Contact all the OT’s you can find in your area by email/phone/in-person and tell them you want to be an OT and would like to shadow them. I’m sure you’ll get a leasttttt a few responses, as most of them likely had to do this too! Make sure you document those hours and make good impressions so you can have some letters of recommendation from ze professionals.

Other than that, I’d say do what you’re interested in when it comes to other aspects. Working at summer camps, volunteering for non-profits, or even working as a receptionist somewhere in a medical setting would all give you brownie points so to speak.