Dudes in O.T.

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My sister works as a nurse and they have 3 OT that are women and 1 OT is a man. He did one of my observations and we talked on this topic he said...I made my own career decision to go into a field that is dominated by women that means you have to learn to work with women if you want to be a successful coworker or my other option is to change my career. There are men in the field your not alone but you should take some time to think about it and figure out if OT is for you or not it is for some men and others it doesn't fit.

I'm also a male and share this same concern. I'm entering a program of ~50 students and 5 are males. I generally accept the rule that having roughly equal male/female ratios in the workplace is advantageous for all, but this is simply not the case, obviously. This is why we males need to enter the career and mix it up ! The same movement is happening with nursing now.

Originally Posted by lbsubstylee

I'm also a male and share this same concern. I'm entering a program of ~50 students and 5 are males. I generally accept the rule that having roughly equal male/female ratios in the workplace is advantageous for all, but this is simply not the case, obviously. This is why we males need to enter the career and mix it up ! The same movement is happening with nursing now.

I'm applying to OT and really hope most schools don't have cliques at this stage! I'm a woman and never liked cliques. I'm actually surprised to hear this bc I thought when it comes time to go to grad school students are mature enough but I guess I'll see for myself.

I have 3 guys in my class and I (female) consider them some of my closest friends in the program. I actually find them to be more individualistic than the women in the class. I've been told that a class a few years ahead was extremely cliquey and that is was terrible for their classmates, both male and female. I do think it is rare though.

There is always going to be some degree of cliches, but for the most part people are more mature at this stage, or should be, and you all support each other to make it through the program.

Originally Posted by OTdream

I'm applying to OT and really hope most schools don't have cliques at this stage! I'm a woman and never liked cliques. I'm actually surprised to hear this bc I thought when it comes time to go to grad school students are mature enough but I guess I'll see for myself.

I feel the same way! I went to an all-girls high school, and the clique-ish nature/gossiping was unbearable! I never fit in, and I've always preferred a co-ed environment. While I realize OT is mostly female, I'm hoping that the maturity of graduate level education won't fall back into petty high school type drama! I was assuming it would be fine, but after reading this thread, I'm becoming concerned :/

As a woman I don't want to work with guys who complain about the women all day if you go into it your going into it full aware that your working with a lot of women. The concern should not be the graduate education it's going to pass by guys and be all over before you know it whether they are gossip like or mature the concern should only be if your comfortable working in a profession dominated by women because all that matters is once you get out there and work.

And women are always a little silly clique like when we get together no matter the age! My sister is a nurse and she comes home with full story dramas about her day at work and she's 38 haha.. I'm starting my MOT and I'm 23. I'll graduate with my MOT at 25 years old. Some will be older adults 30s 40s and such and others will be younger. All you guys have to do is not pay attention to the drama, simple!

I went into OT because I would be working with women all day! Okay it wasn't the ONLY reason, but I see it as a positive thing for me. I just finished my first year of my MOT program and yea you see some of the behaviors mentioned, but there is a good mix of young girls, mothers, people of both sexes who are pursuing second careers, etc. It's not even a distraction and it never gets to the extent of the gossip of high school or even undergrad. I would imagine if it did ever get to a point where it was a problem, the older students would intervene, at least in my program. The atmosphere around here is that it is relaxed yet still professional, and I think that is all we can ask for. I'm actually very impressed with the way some of the 22 and 23 year olds in my program carry themselves, they are mature and intelligent and I wasn't like that at all when I was that age. It comes along with coming into a profession where programs are now impacted and the creme of the crop tends to get selected.

I attended St. Kate's and graduated in 2009 from the weekend program. Are you enrolled in the day or weekend program? I loved the weekend program--it was full of a lot of non-traditional students. Most of us all were married/engaged and had families or work commitments and that worked so well for me as I was married and working while I attended. There was a lot more maturity in the weekend program format along with the flexibility regarding how far away you lived: one of my good friends lived in Fargo and commuted down for the 2 weekends a month all 3 years. We didn't have cliques really but we did form study groups to help each other with dividing up the work in preparing for exams or doing projects together. Many of us have remained good friends and served as contacts for finding jobs. I don't know a lot about the day program but it was a lot more "traditional" in nature and there were some cliques according to people who switched from day to weekend. See if you can switch to weekend if you aren't enrolled already in it. While I know that there were males who did fine in either class, you would feel more supported and comfortable in the weekend class. You can message me if you have any other questions.

Hi. I am a guy graduating with my MOT in December. I was 1 of 3 males in a class of 30. If you really hate being around women or feel like you don't do well around them then do something else. It is heavily female. I didn't mind it. Of course you might have to deal with a classmate crying or feeling slighted more quickly than a bunch of guys would but its normal. That got annoying at times because I felt like some of the "problems" some girls had were trivial at times. Just so no one thinks I'm sexist, guys have plenty of baggage or issues too, but I am just giving my opinion to a male so that's why I am focusing on the female aspect. Most girls usually are in a clique but being a guy I noticed that I could sit with any group of girls and they are pretty open and accepting. The guys usually get along really well with the girls because there are so few of us. Its almost like having a bunch of sisters. Sometimes they annoy you or complain about silly things but usually they look out for their brother lol! I think its nice to be a guy in OT. We are in high demand and low supply. You might have to get used to being one of the only or one of the few guys in a class or job but its not really an issue.

Hi there! I'll be starting St. Kate's MAOT weekend program. Are you in the weekend or traditional format? Maybe we'll run into each other for orientation on the 25th.