Preparing for OT school

[Therapist67]

Hey all!
Congrats to everyone who has been accepted to OT school.
I hope everyone is enjoying their summer! ( I know I am)
Fall is just around the corner and OT school will be starting soon for me.

My questions are for the current OT students.

How did you prepare for your first year?
Should I brush up on anything ?(statistics, anatomy, and etc).
What should I expect?
Did you have time to work?
How many hours did you spend in class and outside of class for projects etc?

any other helpful advice or suggestion would be wonderful

thank you

Cheers !

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[speedyy12]

Hi! Congrats! Well for the 1st year it depends what you are taking. Just make sure to stay on top of your work and work with your friends in groups to help with the classes. I am assuming you are taking anatomy and physiology and probably some intro courses. Where are you attending in the fall? Good luck! I'm finishing up my 1st year this week 🙂

 

[qbobdole]

I am graduating in December with my Master of OT and my advice would be review anatomy and physiology (usually you don't need extensive knowledge for school, general body systems, bones, muscles might be helpful), APA citations, general disorders and disease like, dementia, cva's, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, autism, arthritis, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and common chronic conditions. Just what is happening, symptoms, and general info. Don't worry about learning everything, you're gonna have to study in school regardless. You should expect to be challenged and have work to do outside of class. Projects, studying, practicing ROM, MMT, transfers. I worked about 16 hours on the weekends. Some people worked 30 hours and others did a couple hours a week. It really depends on the kind of person you are. Did you work in highschool and/or undergrad and still do well in school? If so, you can handle working a day or 2. I think the biggest thing is to talk to your new classmates, don't form judgements, don't seperate yourself from others by having only 1 or 2 friends. Everyone has their buddies or crew but being open and friendly to everyone is important. You are going to spend the next 2 years with these people and you will get to know many of them very intimately. You might see them more that your significant other or family. You will be working with different people over your schooling on projects, you might want to trade notes, study with people, ect. Its important that you can work well with people and can take healthy criticism. There were people that no one wanted to be in a group with because they wanted things their way only or they were not that hard a worker. Don't be that guy/girl lol. Depending on the day, I did 4-6 hours of class a day with 1 day off for fieldwork. Every class usually has a main paper/project which takes extra time after class. It depends on how much you want to study or how much of a perfectionist you are on projects. Its doable and sometimes quite fun! You will love OT. Study hard, work hard, exercise hard, party light, ask questions, and make sure you schedule in leisure time where you can just unwind🙂 Good luck!

 

[ashellz99]

I am graduating in December with my Master of OT and my advice would be review anatomy and physiology (usually you don't need extensive knowledge for school, general body systems, bones, muscles might be helpful), APA citations, general disorders and disease like, dementia, cva's, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, autism, arthritis, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and common chronic conditions. Just what is happening, symptoms, and general info. Don't worry about learning everything, you're gonna have to study in school regardless. You should expect to be challenged and have work to do outside of class. Projects, studying, practicing ROM, MMT, transfers. I worked about 16 hours on the weekends. Some people worked 30 hours and others did a couple hours a week. It really depends on the kind of person you are. Did you work in highschool and/or undergrad and still do well in school? If so, you can handle working a day or 2. I think the biggest thing is to talk to your new classmates, don't form judgements, don't seperate yourself from others by having only 1 or 2 friends. Everyone has their buddies or crew but being open and friendly to everyone is important. You are going to spend the next 2 years with these people and you will get to know many of them very intimately. You might see them more that your significant other or family. You will be working with different people over your schooling on projects, you might want to trade notes, study with people, ect. Its important that you can work well with people and can take healthy criticism. There were people that no one wanted to be in a group with because they wanted things their way only or they were not that hard a worker. Don't be that guy/girl lol. Depending on the day, I did 4-6 hours of class a day with 1 day off for fieldwork. Every class usually has a main paper/project which takes extra time after class. It depends on how much you want to study or how much of a perfectionist you are on projects. Its doable and sometimes quite fun! You will love OT. Study hard, work hard, exercise hard, party light, ask questions, and make sure you schedule in leisure time where you can just unwind🙂 Good luck!

Thank you so much for this amazing advice! Congratulations on becoming an OT! Hope all is well.