General Admissions & OTCAS Shadow Hours Advice

[dor814]

Hello everyone,



I have been working as a elementary physical education teacher for the past ten years and I am now looking at a career change to OT. I have been following this forum for a while and have found some really helpful information about different aspects of the OT field. I have created an account and I am really excited to hopefully learn more about OT and specifically the process of applying to OT schools from people on here.

I finished my undergrad in Education in my home country of Australia 11 years ago so I am just trying to get my head around all the pre requisites, volunteer hours etc.. that I need to complete in order to build a competitive application for admission. I have yet to complete any of the pre reqs required but I am actually starting 4 summer classes next week followed by 4 more in the fall. I hope to begin applying to programs in the late fall/early spring.

I am looking to schedule some volunteer hours with some OT practices for the summer. I am brand new to the field and I have no connections at all so I am just wondering if anyone has any advice on how I may be able to go about scheduling some volunteer hours somewhere? I am also wondering if anyone has advice on the kinds of places that I should do my hours in order to make my application the most competitive it can be? I am assuming a variation of settings would reflect well (working with child, adults, elderly etc...) but my knowledge on all this is very limited. Although I have worked with children over the past few years I would like to observe a wide range of settings in OT to get a breath of exposure to the field. I am also assuming schools would like to see this?

I live in Orange County in California and if anyone has any advice on how to go about connecting with OTs in the area or just in general that would be extremely helpful.



Thanks so much for your time.



David

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[danidoodle]

I didn't know anyone in the field when I started out either - I just started calling local OT facilities and asking if they had any OTs who took students for observation hours. I was initially most successful with finding hours in outpatient rehabilitation facilities. Hospitals can take longer to get into as an observer, so if that is a setting you are interested in seeing, it is important to begin contacting them as soon as you can. Having contacts in the school system may be a good resource if you can get in touch with a school OT to observe.
The graduate programs don't usually specify which settings they want to see hours in, but they do want to see that you have an understanding of the breadth of the field. Many schools will say that they prefer seeing an applicant who has observed in many OT settings rather than seeing a student with a large amount of hours.

 

[OTsophie]

I live in VA and I also just called around. I made a list of different settings I wanted to observe and then looked at all the places near me in those settings that had an OT and just started writing their emails and phone numbers on my list. I emailed first, but if I didn't a response within a week or two I called their office. This worked for me and I was able to get over 200 hours so far in 7 different settings. My suggestion is to try to get as many different settings as you can, that way schools know you are really interest in the field and the different settings it offers.

 

[dor814]

That is great advice, thanks so much Sophie. May I ask what kind of settings you observed?

Thanks again for your time.

David

 

[dor814]

I didn't know anyone in the field when I started out either - I just started calling local OT facilities and asking if they had any OTs who took students for observation hours. I was initially most successful with finding hours in outpatient rehabilitation facilities. Hospitals can take longer to get into as an observer, so if that is a setting you are interested in seeing, it is important to begin contacting them as soon as you can. Having contacts in the school system may be a good resource if you can get in touch with a school OT to observe.
The graduate programs don't usually specify which settings they want to see hours in, but they do want to see that you have an understanding of the breadth of the field. Many schools will say that they prefer seeing an applicant who has observed in many OT settings rather than seeing a student with a large amount of hours.

Got it, thanks so much. I just want to observe as many settings as possible. I will go ahead and contact some.

I only really know of a handful of settings where OTs may be employed (hospitals, schools, outpatient rehab clinics)

Can anyone give me an idea of other settings I could potentially look at?

Thanks again for your help.

David

 

[proapplicant]

echoing what was said- a lot of phone calls/emails. i was rejected from so many because of limited space so be prepared for that possibility.

you can add hand therapy to your list of settings if you aren't already including it in outpatient.

also check the websites of hospitals around you because they may already have an application posted for you to fill out.

 

[dor814]

echoing what was said- a lot of phone calls/emails. i was rejected from so many because of limited space so be prepared for that possibility.

you can add hand therapy to your list of settings if you aren't already including it in outpatient.

also check the websites of hospitals around you because they may already have an application posted for you to fill out.

Great, thanks so much for your help. I just finished with my summer classes so I am going to try use this weekend to contact some different OT settings. I have a few hours set up working with children but I am now looking to try to get into some different settings also.

Thanks so much for your time.

David

 

[OTgirl785]

I didn't know anyone in the field but called around. I observed Outpatient Peds, Inpatient rehab/skilled nursing and hand therapy. I feel like the variety of settings really helped me get accepted.

 

[OT2BE2017]

Hello everyone,



I have been working as a elementary physical education teacher for the past ten years and I am now looking at a career change to OT. I have been following this forum for a while and have found some really helpful information about different aspects of the OT field. I have created an account and I am really excited to hopefully learn more about OT and specifically the process of applying to OT schools from people on here.

I finished my undergrad in Education in my home country of Australia 11 years ago so I am just trying to get my head around all the pre requisites, volunteer hours etc.. that I need to complete in order to build a competitive application for admission. I have yet to complete any of the pre reqs required but I am actually starting 4 summer classes next week followed by 4 more in the fall. I hope to begin applying to programs in the late fall/early spring.

I am looking to schedule some volunteer hours with some OT practices for the summer. I am brand new to the field and I have no connections at all so I am just wondering if anyone has any advice on how I may be able to go about scheduling some volunteer hours somewhere? I am also wondering if anyone has advice on the kinds of places that I should do my hours in order to make my application the most competitive it can be? I am assuming a variation of settings would reflect well (working with child, adults, elderly etc...) but my knowledge on all this is very limited. Although I have worked with children over the past few years I would like to observe a wide range of settings in OT to get a breath of exposure to the field. I am also assuming schools would like to see this?

I live in Orange County in California and if anyone has any advice on how to go about connecting with OTs in the area or just in general that would be extremely helpful.



Thanks so much for your time.



David

Hey David! I would google "Occupational Therapy clinics" and see what clinics pop-up near your area. You are most likely going to encounter pediatric outpatient clinics. These clinics are typically easier to volunteer/observe at than a hospital. Typically hospitals have long orientation, lots of requirements and sometimes even wait lists to volunteer. Smaller outpatient pediatric clinics are easier to get your foot in the door to volunteer/observe, though many might have wait lists as well! Though it is best to get a wide variety of settings observation, also remember quality over quantity! Look up the schools you are interested in applying and check out if they have any volunteer hours minimum requirements. Once you know the amount of hours you need, cold call/ or email all the outpatient pediatric clinics near you, contact your local skilled nursing facilities for OT volunteer opportunities and look up your local hospitals to see if they have any volunteer programs in the OT department. I hope this helps! Really all you need is good ol' google to help you connect with OT clinics to get you started in finding a place to start your volunteer hours.

**BONUS: if you google "usc occupational therapy volunteer list" you'll find a pdf of a list of places you can observe/volunteer at all over SoCal with contact #s and emails. Just put yourself out there and hustle to find these internships/volunteer/observation places!

 

[dor814]

Oh ok got it, thanks so much for your help. I will definitely do that!

I have been able to get some hours in a peds clinic, hand rehab practice and a SNF so I feel like I have a good range of settings which is what I was looking for.

Thanks again for your help.