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I am a weekend OT student at MU in a 3 year part-time program and after just finishing my first year, here is some advice I hope is helpful for those applying or waiting to start you first year of OT school. I work part-time and go to class every other weekend with on-line work in between, and it is not easy! The process is difficult, so be prepared to work hard! If you already have a bachelor's, this entry-level Masters degree will be significantly different than your undergrad work and is much more difficult than any old master's degree you may get in humanities or another field. I'm talking about 84 credits vs. 36.
- Make your school work your first priority. Even if you have a job or a family, I'm sure you can tell by looking at admission requirements or by applying that programs are not easy to get into. Even the lowest ranked schools have high expectations, which mirrors the difficulty of the program and the strict expectations they have of their students to be able to pass the NBCOT exam at the end of the program in order for the programs to keep it's accreditation from AOTA.
- Don't expect all A's. Most masters program require students to maintain a 3.0 GPA anyway, but the classes you will take will be significantly more difficult and harder to get good grades in without alot of preparation. This was a big wake-up call for me, as I was a humanities major in my undergrad. Classes like Anatomy and foundation courses are not easy. If you had a high GPA in your undergrad you may find it harder to keep that same GPA in your graduate studies.
- OT is a highly skilled field and in high demand but expect to give up much of your former life for the next 2-3 years. My Functional Anatomy professor made a good point to me this year: While students in other majors have time to party and more free time we are held back by more and tougher school work but think about the big picture, as an OT you will be more in demand and better paid than many other career fields out there.
- Explore the many field options OT has. One of the best things about OT is how many different fields you can go into. You can work anywhere from home health to a school to a hospital and with a variety of different populations (children to older adults). There are also many different specialties such as hand therapy or equine-assisted therapy to name a few. I have my full-time fieldwork coming up in two years and there are a variety of different options for placements we can get into, so start exploring now to get the most out of your education and prepare you for an exciting future!
- OT isn't for everyone. On these forums I read about so many people exploring the field wanting another degree or changing careers. Don't get me wrong, OT is a very good field to go into, but please read and explore other students' advice and experience. Do alot of research into what OT is all about. As I said above, many schools (even the lowest ranks) have difficult admissions processes and high expectations of their students. They don't want just anyone, they want students who want to do what OTs do and will uphold the core values of the OT field. Read about the values of OT at the AOTA site (aota.org). Remember, like other health care professionals we are responsible to be ethical practitioners and keep our clients health, well-being, best interest as our first priority.
- Expect to be an advocate for change. OT is one of those fields that isn't very well understood (and in some cases not highly valued either). But I believe what we do is important, because we help people reach independence and regain their life everyday! Now and in the future, you will probably have to advocate and campaign for our field, many insurance companies make it difficult for health care professionals.
- Be adaptable. Being an OT requires someone who is good at communicating and works well with others, especially being able to communicate with your client and/or their families/caregivers. Remember what you are doing should be a collaboration on the best needs of the client and what they want, whether you have only one session or multiple sessions to work with, this is one of the core values of therapy. Also, prepare to be adaptable, creative, and emotionally ready as this field is full of surprises. Multi-tasking, hard work, and attention to detail are also traits that you should start to develop now, not later!
- Make your school work your first priority. Even if you have a job or a family, I'm sure you can tell by looking at admission requirements or by applying that programs are not easy to get into. Even the lowest ranked schools have high expectations, which mirrors the difficulty of the program and the strict expectations they have of their students to be able to pass the NBCOT exam at the end of the program in order for the programs to keep it's accreditation from AOTA.
- Don't expect all A's. Most masters program require students to maintain a 3.0 GPA anyway, but the classes you will take will be significantly more difficult and harder to get good grades in without alot of preparation. This was a big wake-up call for me, as I was a humanities major in my undergrad. Classes like Anatomy and foundation courses are not easy. If you had a high GPA in your undergrad you may find it harder to keep that same GPA in your graduate studies.
- OT is a highly skilled field and in high demand but expect to give up much of your former life for the next 2-3 years. My Functional Anatomy professor made a good point to me this year: While students in other majors have time to party and more free time we are held back by more and tougher school work but think about the big picture, as an OT you will be more in demand and better paid than many other career fields out there.
- Explore the many field options OT has. One of the best things about OT is how many different fields you can go into. You can work anywhere from home health to a school to a hospital and with a variety of different populations (children to older adults). There are also many different specialties such as hand therapy or equine-assisted therapy to name a few. I have my full-time fieldwork coming up in two years and there are a variety of different options for placements we can get into, so start exploring now to get the most out of your education and prepare you for an exciting future!
- OT isn't for everyone. On these forums I read about so many people exploring the field wanting another degree or changing careers. Don't get me wrong, OT is a very good field to go into, but please read and explore other students' advice and experience. Do alot of research into what OT is all about. As I said above, many schools (even the lowest ranks) have difficult admissions processes and high expectations of their students. They don't want just anyone, they want students who want to do what OTs do and will uphold the core values of the OT field. Read about the values of OT at the AOTA site (aota.org). Remember, like other health care professionals we are responsible to be ethical practitioners and keep our clients health, well-being, best interest as our first priority.
- Expect to be an advocate for change. OT is one of those fields that isn't very well understood (and in some cases not highly valued either). But I believe what we do is important, because we help people reach independence and regain their life everyday! Now and in the future, you will probably have to advocate and campaign for our field, many insurance companies make it difficult for health care professionals.
- Be adaptable. Being an OT requires someone who is good at communicating and works well with others, especially being able to communicate with your client and/or their families/caregivers. Remember what you are doing should be a collaboration on the best needs of the client and what they want, whether you have only one session or multiple sessions to work with, this is one of the core values of therapy. Also, prepare to be adaptable, creative, and emotionally ready as this field is full of surprises. Multi-tasking, hard work, and attention to detail are also traits that you should start to develop now, not later!
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