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- Aug 12, 2019
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Hi everyone! I'm planning to apply to OT schools during the upcoming 2020-2021 cycle and have a quick question regarding observation hours. I made an OTCAS account a while back just to look into the layout of the application and to get a decent understanding of what is needed for each section. I have shadowed in a few different settings in which I was 1-on-1 with therapists. However, I have been working as a rehab tech for about a year now and work with both PTs and OTs. I have a significant number of hours working in this setting but I'm not sure how to log these hours on OTCAS. I split my time between the PTs and the OTs but have gotten really close with the OTs over time and have gotten to observe and help with a lot of treatments. I reached out to a few schools and I've received varying responses regarding how these hours should be expressed in my application. I have been writing down all of my work hours in an Excel spreadsheet so I know the exact dates and hours I have and wanted to ask if it would be appropriate to put these hours under the "Observation Hours" section or if it should only be in the "Experiences" as a Healthcare experience or Employment experience (if I did this instead, I'm not sure which option is more appropriate for a rehab tech job). If I need to put my hours into the "Experiences" section, my only concern is how I should be putting my hours in. My hours have changed quite a bit throughout the year so if I put something like, 15 hours a week on my application, the total number of hours will be drastically lower than the actual total. However, if I put 25 hours a week, the total will be much higher than the actual total. I don't want to lie about my weekly hours but I do want my application to reflect the correct amount of hours I worked overall.
Any advice is appreciated! I'm honestly a little nervous but also very excited to begin applying soon!
Thanks!
Any advice is appreciated! I'm honestly a little nervous but also very excited to begin applying soon!
Thanks!
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