For those who have been accepted to programs or who are already OT students, I'm curious about ways to prepare for grad school. I'm anticipating a pretty daunting load when my program starts in the fall and I want to be able to hit the ground running. Other than getting financial aid straightened out, I was thinking of finding even more OT settings and facilities to expose myself to, gain knowledge about other related areas of healthcare for greater perspective, or perhaps take additional classes at a community college. On the other hand, maybe I should just try to relax and conserve my energy! Any thoughts would be quite welcome. Thanks!
Preparing for MOT program
- Thread starter OTalchemy
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Interesting topic to raise...I would advise you not to overwhelm yourself. Personally, I'm taking an extra neuroscience class my last quarter of undergrad because I think it will make later studies easier. Assuming I'll enroll in a fall-starting program, I plan to just work over the summer and relax in my spare time before the craziness sets in - I'm the type of person that really needs winter and summer breaks from school to unwind and recharge. Last spring, I volunteered with someone who was starting an OT program over the summer and he started refreshing his knowledge by studying anatomy flashcards in his spare time to prepare for gross anatomy. This is just my opinion, but I think preparation from the academic side would be found more valuable when the program starts than say doing some more observation/volunteering (which would seemingly come into play later, once fieldwork rolls around). Even just refreshing yourself by reading the notes you took in A&P could surely be useful. You could also try downloading an anatomy app on your phone or ipod - anatomy apps/games were a fun way for me to study when I took anatomy and I'm planning on breaking them out again a few weeks before I start my program.
I'll give you my perspective as a second year OT student. I have die-hard tendencies and can be pretty competitive. Once I found out I was accepted, I also bought anatomy muscle and bones cards and studied whenever I could. I also wanted to be ahead of the game. Then school started and I took Anatomy my first semester and needless to say, those flash cards were a joke in retrospect. I can't even describe why other than saying that trying to learn what you don't know what you need to learn is just a waste of time. OT school is tough. You don't have a lot of time once school starts so my best advice is to just enjoy life and free time when you've got it. Believe me, you will be studying your ass off before long. You'll have your time to show you kick ass. Now is not the time. You'll just look like a nerd who wasted your time in vain. Trust me.
Thanks for the great feedback! It's so hard to relax after going through the wash and spin of taking prerequisites and the application cycle. I keep thinking there must be more I should be doing that will surely blindside me later! Yet, I think you both have a point to not be overwhelmed for a change, and to enjoy life a little. Actually, that sounds really therapeutic. 
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WinginIt:
Can you go into more detail on the difficulty of OT school? Is the material they are teaching hard to understand? Is it just way more reading than in undergrad? What is it about OT school that makes it "tough"?
Can you go into more detail on the difficulty of OT school? Is the material they are teaching hard to understand? Is it just way more reading than in undergrad? What is it about OT school that makes it "tough"?
The first year is difficult because of the anatomy and neuroanatomy classes. Of course, some programs may be more or less difficult and some may not even have cadaver labs. On top of studying for those classes, you are learning theories and medical conditions that impact a person's ability to be functional. Then if you are in a program where there's a research emphasis, you have papers and to write and research to perform. It's a combination of a lot of things you have to do and the level of difficulty. The professors told us during orientation to expect to treat the OT program like a 40-hour a week job between classes, labs, projects, papers, presentations, etc.
Sounds very similar to PT school.
WinginIt, If you don't mind me asking, which OT school do you attend? How does it's current rank reflect its actual performance? For example, if it was a lower-ranked school, do you find yourself feeling like you got off "easy" for lack of a better word or does it actually challenge you in a way you weren't expecting based on its ranking. Same goes for if its a top ranked school. Do you find that there are comparable schools out there with just as rigorous of a curriculum and knowledgeable of faculty, but significantly lower ranking? I'm really just curious. I've learned that rankings can be misleading and I don't want to judge a school based on that, especially if I have confirmation that all schools are tough!
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as a 1st year student, you should try and talk to the older students of your program - 2nd years or 3rd years depending. this can help you get an idea of what to expect because all programs are different. going into the first semester i didn't know what to expect and just know it is very very different from undergrad and it is fast pace. just stay on top and review everyday because your first year is all science based. there is a lot of content and you just have to stay organized or you will tank - as bad as that sounds. stay on top of it and use your classmates as resources!
