<p>I am currently a Psychology undergrad and am considering going into Occupational Therapy for my graduate. I was wondering if anyone could give me an idea of what you are mainly dealing with with OT? I've heard from some it is very rewarding and others not so much. I have a couple options of what I want to go to grad school for but haven't decided yet. Thanks!</p>
<p>Disclaimer: I am not an occupational therapist. I only know a little about the process and field because my sister wants to be one.</p>
<p>My sense is that occupational therapists help people recovering from major injuries or medical crises/conditions regain the ability to do basic tasks. They may do therapy with people to help them re-learn how to brush their teeth, button their coat and tie their shoes - generally increasing fine motor skills so they can regain independence. Some OTs work alongside PTs (who generally do more gross motor control stuff like relearning how to walk, getting flexibility and muscle tone in limbs, etc.). OTs are often employed either in hospitals or in rehabilitation clinics. I suppose some may have private practices. I imagine that whether or not its rewarding depends on the personality of the person you’re talking to. Generally it’s pretty financially remunerative, with OTs averaging around $60-70K per year.</p>
<p>My general sense is also that OT programs are pretty competitive. You need an MS to become licensed as an OT, and I think that’s roughly a 2-year program. When I was helping my sister look for programs, generally they wanted at least a 3.0 undergrad GPA and science GPA; there are science prerequisites (stuff like anat & phys). Virtually all of the programs also required that applicants have at least a certain number of hours with direct experience assisting an OT; the most common number I saw was 100, but they ranged from 50-200 IIRC. Most programs announced that the majority of their accepted students had stats that far exceeded these requirements, just like any allied health program.</p>
<p>I chatted with a PT student at my university (the two fields are pretty similar in terms of entry requirements) and she said that the most common way students in her entering class satisfied this requirement was to get certified as a physical therapist’s assistant (PTA) and work for 1-3 years before entering the PT program. A PTA program is usually about 2 years at a technical/vocational college. I suppose you could also satisfy the requirement by volunteering with an OT, but you’ll likely be competing with 2-year or diploma degree-educated health professionals (CNAs, LPNs, OTAs, PTAs, paramedics, EMTs perhaps?) who were able to work directly in the clinics and/or hospitals and made that their full-time job. (I will also add the caveat that I attend a very prestigious university, and so the PT students here are likely to be far more competitive than the ones at the average public university or lower-ranked program.)</p>
<p>It would probably be a good idea for you to try to contact OTs in your area to see if they are open to you shadowing them or volunteering in their office to get a better idea of what the profession is like. If no one in your area is available for something like that, a local OT may be open to having an informational interview or something similar for you to get some of your questions about the profession answered.</p>
<p>Just to add to the other great responses, pertaining to job shadowing/observing, please consider doing so in the various departments that administer OT (or PT, if interested in physical therapist assistant/PTA or physical therapist). Such departments should include a “physical rehabilitation hospital” for patients with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), spinal cord injury/paralysis, stroke (“brain attack”) which is a type of brain injury, Multiple Sclerosis (MS), other neurological disorders, hip/shoulder/knee replacement, amputated limbs or such - <em>pediatric hospital</em> - <em>nursing home/long-term care facility</em> or such.</p>
<p>With regard to PTA, it should be mentioned that it’s not actually a stepping stone to becoming a physical therapist. However, there are some PTAs who continue their education onto getting their doctorate in PT (DPT). The occupational therapist’s schooling is supposed to convert to a doctorate (OTD) by the year 2020, the same as with PT.</p>
<p>My cousin had gone to school for OTA (occupational therapy assistant). The OT & OTA and PT & PTA must get a passing score for the clinical fieldwork placements while under the supervision of a clinical supervisor and having an actual patient caseload.</p>
<p>The OT or PT school must be accredited by the related professional organization. (I’m not sure if we can post the names of the professional organizations on these boards :)</p>
<p>Please also be aware that not all science or math (or other classes) may transfer to other schools or programs. For example, “human anatomy” usually does <em>not</em> transfer to other schools, especially for nursing, allied health or medical students. Instead, most schools prefer that the student have taken “general” anatomy & physiology, so it’s best to check with the individual school(s) beforehand.</p>
<p>Even if a “medical terminology” class is not required for any health-related course, it’s strongly recommended to help with reading patients’ charts and basic overall knowledge. The allied health student may also need to get a BLS (basic life support) certification for “healthcare providers” from a reputable non-profit organization (once again, I’m not sure if I can name it 
</p>
<p>It’s also suggested for OT/OTA and PT/PTA students to take a CNA (certified nursing assistant) class to help reinforce what’s learned in class, especially with “patient transfers”.</p>
<p>My daughter was just accepted to an MSOT program. If you are thinking of going for OT, I strongly suggest you go to the AOTA site ( <a href=“http://www.aota.org/Education-Careers/Find-School.aspx”>http://www.aota.org/Education-Careers/Find-School.aspx</a> ) and check out some of the accredited schools to see what they require as pre-reqs. It is VERY specific.</p>
<p>In order to sit for the national OT licensing exam, you must have earned a Masters degree from an institution accredited by the AOTA. There are about 150 of these schools in the US></p>
<p>All of the Masters in OT programs that my daughter investigated required a number of hours either shadowing or interning with an OT - usually at least 60 hours, in some cases more - prior to applying to the program. In addition, all have pre-reqs that must be completed before you can be accepted. In most cases these include Anatomy and Physiology, both with labs, Develomental/Lifetime Psych, Abnormal Psych, Statistics, and in some cases Intro Sociology. Many also require an additional natural science.</p>
<p>There is a centralized site which many - but not all - OT programs use for applications, called OTCAS. It works similarly to the Common App. Schools that use OTCAS generally request GRE scores.</p>
<p>The top OT schools report receiving 200 - 300 applications per year for 25-40 openings. Other schools simply say they receive more applications than they have openings.</p>
<p>My daughter discovered OT as a career at the end of her senior year in hs, after she’d been accepted ED for undergrad at a school that didn’t offer OT. She knew she’d have to get a masters degree in the field anyway (you cannot sit for the national licensing exam unless you have a masters from an accredited institution) so she used the AOTA site to find colleges that have graduate-entry programs and checked out their pre-reqs. Based on her findings, for undergrad she majored in psychology and minored in Exercise Science. </p>
<p>My daughter has been accepted to Tufts and NYU occupational therapy for fall of 2014. Still waiting to hear back from two schools. She’ll make her decision as soon as she hears back.
She has wanted to be an OT since age 15 as a sophomore in high school. She was a Kinesiology major and Child Development minor and was able to finish a quarter early last month. </p>