Career Change to OT

[alpinehigh]

hi all here is the deal,
I am 40 and after working in IT for the last 15 years the idea of continuing another 15+ is something I'm not interested in doing. After some research I find the OT field very interesting with a good future. I have my BS in computer science and interested in changing careers to OT. I understand that a MS entry level is pretty much the way to go. I have looked at Shenandoah U (I live in Colorado) since they offer distance learning course.
What do you think?

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[teacher2PT]

I am changing careers too and considering O.T. I think it's a great field, from everything I've heard. You'll always have a job! I might be wrong, but I think most distance programs are for those already practicing as O.T.s who want to get their transitional master's degrees....the training involved in becoming an O.T. is pretty "hands-on" so I would be surprised if you can get your initial certification through a distance program. Again, I could be wrong! I do know Colorado State Univ. has a program in CO. The pre-req's aren't too bad (generally Anatomy/Physiology and some psych. classes) and you can usually work part-time as you're going through school. Good luck!

 

[CurlyHairedGirl]

This thread is a year old, but I wanted to reply back that I am in an almost identical situation.

Except that I *used* to live in Colorado, am currently in Virginia, and am only 36. I'm sick of the computer industry too.

I'm concerned that as an "older" student I might not be able to handle non-stop studying and lack of sleep.

I'm taking the pre-reqs at a community college while working full time. One class a semester, but I'm wondering if I can bump it up to two classes. 2012 is the earliest I could start. Even if the school I attended had a more moderate number of pre-reqs.

 

[MOTstudent]

curlyhairedgirl,

I'm not an "older" student, but want to assure you that many people come back to switch to OT. I'm in my first year and we have MANY students in my class who are coming back for their second, or even third, career - we have moms, dads, even a grandma! We have people with grown children, and people who are pregnant or currently raising children. All that to say, for anyone, in any situation, going back to school is going to be hard, but it's worth it and completely possible.
If you're not enjoying your career then OF COURSE you should switch to something fulfilling. OT is SOOO much fun. Yeah, its a challenge, but you can do it. We ALL have loans out right now, so if you have to get a loan in order to do school full time, then it's not the end of the world -- you'll be making great money as soon as you graduate.

You absolutely can handle the studying. You DONT have to have a lack of sleep. There's a 50 year old woman in my class who lives in the dorm and goes to sleep at 10pm every night (no roommate, lucky woman!)-- she just makes sure to get the most out of her study time during the day, while the rest of us "young" people study in groups and get off onto different topics all the time.