How does one become an occupational therapist?

Tirza

Tue, Mar 05 2019, 4:17 am

To all the OTs out there:
What is the course of study that is necessary to become a fully certified/licensed OT? What should be your major in college? Is a masters degree required? What about certification/licensing exams? (in NY state)

lech lecha08

Tue, Mar 05 2019, 5:13 am

You need a masters (I don't know how the frum programs work this out). There is a national exam and once you pass, you can register in whatever state you'll be working in. IIRC, there's a fee for that.
Masters programs will tell you what prerequisites you need. I personally majored in psych and took the required anatomy/science classes as well.

amother

Seagreen

Tue, Mar 05 2019, 7:50 am

As pp wrote, you need a master's degree from an accredited OT program. Once you complete your degree you can take a licensing exam. You need to take certain continuing education courses in order to keep your license valid and renew it every few years. OT programs have specific requirements in terms of which undergraduate majors they accept and required courses you must pass at a high enough grade level in order to apply. Look at the programs you're interested in applying to in order to make sure you fulfill those requirements. They also often expect a range of volunteer hours in an OT setting before you apply.

DVOM

Tue, Mar 05 2019, 8:18 am

It's an incredible profession, OP, but the schooling is challenging! My husband is on his last streach of schooling, and it has been a very long road. It's important to bare in mind that the road is about to get even longer. I believe in 2020 you will not be able to practice as an OT without earning a doctorate.

First step: You need a BA. Many major is some sort of science (my husband is in grad school with lots of sports med, bio, and chem majors). DH did a bible studies major through TTI and did his prerequisites through a local community college. Different grad schools have different requirements, but the courses I remember him taking are A&P 1 and 2, physics, medical terminology, and a couple of psych and statistics courses. Most schools require above at 3.7 GPA in prerequisite courses, and practically are not really going to look at your application if you've got less than a 3.8. You also need to do a lot of volunteer hours in OT related fields. The competition to get into grad school is very tough; the school may require 100 volunteer hours, but bear in mind that many of the applicants will have done triple that amount. My husband (and many other people he knows) did not get in the first time he applied, with a prerequisite GPA of 4.0 and lots of other points in his favor, such as the fact that he is a man in a predominantly female field and an adult student. He did a year of volunteer work in lots of different OT settings (in a hand therapy clinic, a hospital acute care ward, a sensory gym, a special ed school, a ranch that specialized in equine therapy) and was a volunteer research assistant for one of his undergrad professors to beef up his resume, and got into about 5 of the 12 schools he applied to second time around. The application process is grueling, with each school requiring 1-3 essays on various topics. Some of these essays could be recycled from school to school with a little bit of change, some needed to be written from scratch (some of the essay topics that come to mind are: Describe an interpersonal conflict and how you solved it, What societal injustice would you like to change, and how would you go about changing it). I don't remember details, but I also remember it being pretty costly to apply to each school.

Step 2 is grad school. You can expect to be in class, working on group projects, doing assignments and studying for about 60 hours a week (this is not my estimate, this is what my husband's school recommends as necessary to pass your courses. In reality, my husband is in class or studying for more like 75 hours a week and is just just squeaking by with a b-/c average). In his school, they anticipate a fourth of the students flunking out after the first semester or two. The course work is really hard. You will be taking classes for 2 1/2 years, summers included, and then doing 6 months of unpaid internships (called level II), for a total of 3 years, start to finish. Then you need to study for and take you boards.

Anything else you'd like to know? I'd be happy to share!

amother

Seagreen

Tue, Mar 05 2019, 8:33 am

New laws will not require already licensed OTs to go back to school for a doctorate. They're always grandfathered in.

amother

Tangerine

Tue, Mar 05 2019, 9:05 am

How much can an OT expect to make? What is job market like? It sounds like a huge commitment of time and money.

amother

Seagreen

Tue, Mar 05 2019, 9:08 am

amother wrote:

How much can an OT expect to make? What is job market like? It sounds like a huge commitment of time and money.

Can't answer those questions without knowing location. There is a huge range across different practice areas and among different locations. It certainly isn't the most lucrative career out there, unless someone goes the business route and opens multiple clinics/ agencies, but it's very satisfying and rewarding.

amother

Tangerine

Tue, Mar 05 2019, 9:14 am

DVMOM you seem very knowledgeable about the journey. How do you justifu cost of degree and time?

amother

Brunette

Tue, Mar 05 2019, 9:37 am

Hi- my brother is an OT and I am in awe of the work he does... if I wouldnt be so “old” I would go back to school myself for this... so if you can do it- go for it!
You mentioned the money: he went on his own for self paying clients after a while in a clinic so he charges more but theres slow summers, yom tov seasons and insurance.... he’s in this field because he has a passion to help children.
Also keep in mind: besides for tough schooling, I see from my brother- he puts his heart into it and comes home exhausted...
(Edited: not sure who was asking this OP or tangerine)

lech lecha08

Tue, Mar 05 2019, 12:24 pm

Just want to add, some programs do a cadaver dissection as part of the anatomy class. It was very jarring and disturbing to me and I didn't come from a sheltered background at all

amother

cornflower

Tue, Mar 05 2019, 12:37 pm

lech lecha08 wrote:

Just want to add, some programs do a cadaver dissection as part of the anatomy class. It was very jarring and disturbing to me and I didn't come from a sheltered background at all

It is very jarring, but it is so necessary if you want to understand and conceptualize the human body in the best way possible.
I would take gross anatomy again if I was able to.

lech lecha08

Tue, Mar 05 2019, 12:43 pm

amother wrote:

It is very jarring, but it is so necessary if you want to understand and conceptualize the human body in the best way possible.
I would take gross anatomy again if I was able to.

Didn't say it's not important. It's just another thing she should be aware that might not have crossed her mind. To the best of my knowledge not every program does it so she could probably find a cadaver-less program if she felt very strongly.

DVOM

Tue, Mar 05 2019, 5:28 pm

amother wrote:

DVMOM you seem very knowledgeable about the journey. How do you justifu cost of degree and time?

Most things worth doing are costly in terms of time, effort, and money. Start to finish this has been our life for about 6 years. Hopefully, DH will be able to practice for the next 40 years in a field that he is very passionate about, that has flexible hours, and a fairly decent salary (in our state- DH has already been offered 2 jobs!). That's a pretty good return on our investment.

DVOM

Tue, Mar 05 2019, 5:30 pm

lech lecha08 wrote:

Just want to add, some programs do a cadaver dissection as part of the anatomy class. It was very jarring and disturbing to me and I didn't come from a sheltered background at all

My husband loooooved cadaver dissection, so much so that he considered (briefly, thank god!) a career change to become a forensic medical examiner.

DVOM

Tue, Mar 05 2019, 5:31 pm

amother wrote:

It is very jarring, but it is so necessary if you want to understand and conceptualize the human body in the best way possible.
I would take gross anatomy again if I was able to.

I'm with you, amother. I've never taken A&P, but I would really love to.

Tirza

Fri, Mar 08 2019, 3:00 pm

Thank you all so much for your responses. They are so informative! I am not asking for myself, but rather for my daughter. I didn't realize how intense the necessary schooling is. I see now that she has a lot to consider before making this decision.

amother

Jade

Fri, Mar 08 2019, 3:12 pm

I’m a PT, but have many OT friends. Most didn’t consider the schooling to be so intense. You need a BA then the masters is two years same as a social worker or speech. If it changes to a doctorate it might become more intense in the future.

amother

Aubergine

Fri, Mar 08 2019, 3:40 pm

you should be aware that pediatric OT is really not a good field in lakewood and in much of outside the nyc areas it can be hard to get a good job.

mha3484

Fri, Mar 08 2019, 3:43 pm

I work in healthcare recruiting in the Midwest and pediatric clinics always seem to be hiring therapists here. If you enjoy working with children I would not shy away from it based on location alone.

amother

Seagreen

Fri, Mar 08 2019, 3:52 pm

mha3484 wrote:

I work in healthcare recruiting in the Midwest and pediatric clinics always seem to be hiring therapists here. If you enjoy working with children I would not shy away from it based on location alone.

I can't speak for the Midwest specifically, but I have to agree with the amother above that a "good job" is not necessarily easy to find outside of NY. True that there are always clinics hiring therapists, but the pay rate is not great. And many clinic jobs require working after school/ evening hours to accommodate all the kids going to therapy after school. Just something to keep in mind; as I wrote earlier in the thread, compensation varies tremendously depending on location.