<p>Hi i'm not sure if tho is the right forum but who really cares</p>
<p>If I am an occupational therapy major will i get a job with a bachelors( while in school for masters) or do i have to wait until i get my masters?</p>
<p>basically how many years does it take to be able to get a job?</p>
<p>THANKS!!!!!!!!!</p>
<p>I’m not an OT but I hope to be in the future. From what I understand you can work with a bachelors and should because it will help you with getting your masters. However, from what I’ve researched, you would most likely end up in an internship while getting your masters. Just my two-cents.</p>
<p>In order to become a licensed Occupational Therapist you must have a Master’s Degree from an accredited program. Once you have the Masters you can sit for the national licensing exam. A bachelor’s degree will only qualify you to be an Occupational Therapy Assistant (which I believe also requires a national licensing exam). So to answer your question, depending on your grad program it is possible that you could work as an OT Assist before or while getting your Masters.</p>
<p>In order to get a Masters in OT you can choose one of two paths: 1) you can apply to a direct entry bachelors/masters program, which takes about 5 - 5 1/2 years, or 2) you can get a bachelor’s degree in OT or something else, then apply to grad school programs, which are usually 2 - 2 1/2 years. If you take the second route, be sure to look at the pre-requisites for the graduate-entry Masters programs - they can be quite specific. Generally they all include Anatomy & Physiology w/lab (at least 2 semesters), Intro to Psychology, Developmental/Lifetime Psychology, Abnormal Psychology, Intro to Sociology, English/writing, and Statistics. Some schools also require additional natural sciences. Many also require that you take the GRE, and most also require a minimum number of hours either interning or shadowing an OT.</p>
<p>You can get good information at the American Occupational Therapy Association website: <a href=“http://www.aota.org”>www.aota.org</a>, which includes a list of all accredited OT programs. From there you can look at particular programs that interest you to see their pre-reqs.</p>
<p>BTW, graduate entry programs in OT are quite competitive. My daughter just went through the grad school application process, and will begin her grad program in the fall (she is currently a senior in college with a psych major and exercise science minor). The programs she applied to all had 160 to 400+ applications for 20 to 42 openings. If you are still in hs and think OT might be the career for you, I’d strongly suggest looking into the 5 1/2 year bachelor/masters combined programs.</p>
<p>I think OT is a great career - emotionally rewarding, decent pay, and very flexible - you can work in a variety of settings (hospital, outpatient, school, nursing home) and part-time positions are also available. The demand for OTs is high and expected to continue to climb. Good luck to you!</p>
<p>Thanks for your help!!! </p>