Other OT-Related Information Current 2nd year MSOT Student willing to answer questions!

[mbOT626]

Ask away!! I’m in my last semester before I go into my first level 2 fieldwork!

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[eot7]

Hi! Do you think there are ways to prepare for the first year of graduate school? I have some free time working part time now. Is anatomy in undergraduate different from graduate? For example, I did a lot of memorization for weekly quizzes and labs. Did you get a background check with CastleBranch? They are advertising a badge that they say will be useful to show sites that you have had a background check. Not sure if it's worth purchasing.

Thanks for offering to answer qs!

 

[mbOT626]

Hi! Do you think there are ways to prepare for the first year of graduate school? I have some free time working part time now. Is anatomy in undergraduate different from graduate? For example, I did a lot of memorization for weekly quizzes and labs. Did you get a background check with CastleBranch? They are advertising a badge that they say will be useful to show sites that you have had a background check. Not sure if it's worth purchasing.

Thanks for offering to answer qs!

Hi!! Sorry for responding a couple of days late. It's been a busy, hectic week going into finals

For preparation - honestly, I would enjoy your free time! I considered preparing ahead of time as well, and am glad that I didn't! Your program will prepare you well in your first semester, so just enjoy your free time while you have a lot of it! If you really feel the need to prep, I would just look over muscles/bones for anatomy and familiarize yourself with them. Maybe get organized with a planner and a good study space. Explore notetaking options that are quick (I personally cannot handwrite notes fast enough in lectures. I love to use the Microsoft OneNote application!)

For anatomy - my undergrad anatomy included physiology however, my graduate anatomy did not! For my OT program, it was strictly memorization of muscles & bones (think AOINs and anatomical features of the bones). We didn't look at any of the physiological stuff in this portion of my coursework!

Background check - mine was through Advantage Students but only because my school required it for fieldwork placements. I would NOT get a background check ahead of time because it is very likely that the program will require the use of a specific company!! My program did not require us to get a background check prior to interviewing for the program or anything, only after accepting the position and being enrolled in the OT program!

I'm glad I can help in any way!! If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to reach out!

 

[eot7]

Hi!! Sorry for responding a couple of days late. It's been a busy, hectic week going into finals

For preparation - honestly, I would enjoy your free time! I considered preparing ahead of time as well, and am glad that I didn't! Your program will prepare you well in your first semester, so just enjoy your free time while you have a lot of it! If you really feel the need to prep, I would just look over muscles/bones for anatomy and familiarize yourself with them. Maybe get organized with a planner and a good study space. Explore notetaking options that are quick (I personally cannot handwrite notes fast enough in lectures. I love to use the Microsoft OneNote application!)

For anatomy - my undergrad anatomy included physiology however, my graduate anatomy did not! For my OT program, it was strictly memorization of muscles & bones (think AOINs and anatomical features of the bones). We didn't look at any of the physiological stuff in this portion of my coursework!

Background check - mine was through Advantage Students but only because my school required it for fieldwork placements. I would NOT get a background check ahead of time because it is very likely that the program will require the use of a specific company!! My program did not require us to get a background check prior to interviewing for the program or anything, only after accepting the position and being enrolled in the OT program!

I'm glad I can help in any way!! If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to reach out!

No worries! Best of luck for your upcoming finals! Which school are you attending btw?

Sounds good, I'll look over muscles and bones but try to spend most of my time relaxing! My undergrad crammed info into us so it didn't really stick in the long-term.

I just got accepted last week to Downstate and most people are telling me to take it easy lol. My mind's just like let's prep for the next thing haha.

I'm glad you brought up notetaking!! It was one of the most difficult parts of school for me. I handwrote as well for most of undergrad and felt the pressure of writing almost exactly what I heard the profs say. I'll definitely look into Microsoft OneNote. Do you have any advice for taking notes or if there's anything that you learned later in OT school/fieldwork that you wished you knew earlier?

 

[mbOT626]

No worries! Best of luck for your upcoming finals! Which school are you attending btw?

Sounds good, I'll look over muscles and bones but try to spend most of my time relaxing! My undergrad crammed info into us so it didn't really stick in the long-term.

I just got accepted last week to Downstate and most people are telling me to take it easy lol. My mind's just like let's prep for the next thing haha.

I'm glad you brought up notetaking!! It was one of the most difficult parts of school for me. I handwrote as well for most of undergrad and felt the pressure of writing almost exactly what I heard the profs say. I'll definitely look into Microsoft OneNote. Do you have any advice for taking notes or if there's anything that you learned later in OT school/fieldwork that you wished you knew earlier?

I am currently attending Brenau University in their MSOT program!

My personal preference for notetaking is to use the PowerPoints as a guide, highlight the important info on the slide, and take notes underneath. Then I'll copy the important info onto OneNote and make extra notes there. One thing I loved about OneNote was the ability to record lectures easily while taking notes. You can also upload whole powerpoints onto OneNote and write notes off to the side or on the slide itself! Really convenient!!

Hmmm... I wish they told me I didn't need to buy every single book!!! and that it's okay to rent them if it's only for one semester! I did buy some of them and have kept a lot, but I also sold quite a few from the first semester that I didn't really need again. Also, that it's okay to make Bs. Sometimes all A's is really just unrealistic. So lower your expectations, try your hardest, and if you get a B it's totally okay! Another thing maybe is that it's okay to not know everything. You learn sooooo much in OT school, it's impossible to be an expert at all fields in OT. It's okay to be a generalist in the ones you aren't so passionate about but just take in as much as you can (for me it was neuro hahaha)

 

[sfriedler3]

Hi! Thank you for offering your advise!

I was wondering if you recommend living with someone also in your program, or just finding someone of my age in the area? Also, as a current student, do you have any advise about which components of a program are most important? EX: fieldwork set up, school location, class sizes, human cadaver labs, technology, etc? Anything you wish your program had, or anything your program has that you couldn't imagine not having? Thanks for your time!

 

[mbOT626]

Hi! Thank you for offering your advise!

I was wondering if you recommend living with someone also in your program, or just finding someone of my age in the area? Also, as a current student, do you have any advise about which components of a program are most important? EX: fieldwork set up, school location, class sizes, human cadaver labs, technology, etc? Anything you wish your program had, or anything your program has that you couldn't imagine not having? Thanks for your time!

Hi!! I think the living situation comes down to your personal preference mostly! About half of my cohort lived with someone else in the cohort, and most of them had a really great experience from what I can tell! I personally lived with my boyfriend in the area and that was the best choice for me, but we did consider getting another roommate at one point!

For me, fieldwork was one of the most important things to consider. Some schools do not let you choose your fieldwork II placements, or they do it on a lottery system so you just go wherever you are placed which could be many states away. Then they have you cover living expenses as well, which was kind of obsurd to me. My program let me pick the location and they found us a placement there which helped with cost as I was able to live either at home or with family!

Tuition also was a huge component for me when considering in stare vs out of state schools. Also be sure to factor in living expenses!! Honestly - take the cheapest route with accreditation, and one that has most of the qualities you’re looking for. I have never heard of not being hired based on the program you attended

I prefer a smaller class size because I get to know the professors better, and feel like I get better quality learning. Our cohort is 30 people that is split into 2 to 4 groups for classes.

For cadaver labs - I know many people find the cadaver lab very beneficial to their learning. My program did not have one, but I dont feel like my knowledge or learning was impaired or any less valuable than it would have been with a cadaver lab. Our program did an online similation of this for us!

I think this covered most of your question. If you have any more, don’t hesitate to ask 😊