General Admissions & OTCAS What does it take to become an OT?

[fourandtwo]

Hello, I'm posting for my girlfriend here. I'm a newly accepted pre-med student and she is looking to do OT. As a premed, I'm trying to guide her through the process but I know there are some significant differences. So what does it take to be an OT? She's still an undergrad, and has recently signed up to become a clinical care extender. I thought the clinical care extender part was weird because I was one, and I thought those volunteer programs were more geared toward premeds. Anyway, please advise!

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[Tryin2bmsOT]

Hello, I'm posting for my girlfriend here. I'm a newly accepted pre-med student and she is looking to do OT. As a premed, I'm trying to guide her through the process but I know there are some significant differences. So what does it take to be an OT? She's still an undergrad, and has recently signed up to become a clinical care extender. I thought the clinical care extender part was weird because I was one, and I thought those volunteer programs were more geared toward premeds. Anyway, please advise!

Hi there! I just saw this so maybe you are still looking for some insight. I am not an OT, BUT I am currently in the process for applying to OT schools and am waiting to hear back from a few. If she is considering OT she should look into schools that have OT programs whether they are masters or doctorate programs. Look at the prerequisites and make sure to be taking those throughout undergrad. Many schools usually require certain things like- observation hours, volunteering, letter of recs, GRE, etc.
I would say clinical care extender may be a positive when applying. A lot of schools like to see that you have patient care experience (if thats what a clinical care extender does). Even though it is not directly related to OT it still would look good on an application.
Overall I would recommend that she shadow multiple OTs in different settings. There are so many places OTs work, it would help in the long run.

 

[fourandtwo]

Hi there! I just saw this so maybe you are still looking for some insight. I am not an OT, BUT I am currently in the process for applying to OT schools and am waiting to hear back from a few. If she is considering OT she should look into schools that have OT programs whether they are masters or doctorate programs. Look at the prerequisites and make sure to be taking those throughout undergrad. Many schools usually require certain things like- observation hours, volunteering, letter of recs, GRE, etc.
I would say clinical care extender may be a positive when applying. A lot of schools like to see that you have patient care experience (if thats what a clinical care extender does). Even though it is not directly related to OT it still would look good on an application.
Overall I would recommend that she shadow multiple OTs in different settings. There are so many places OTs work, it would help in the long run.

Thank you! This is great. Also, ya'll are so nice here on the OT forum