An occupational therapist engages in rehabilitation therapy to help patients in everyday activities. Examples include helping patients return to normal level of functioning after an injury or helping children with disabilities participate in school and social situations. Education and training is two years.
Explore
Discover whether occupational therapy matches your interests, purpose, abilities and meets your lifestyle expectations:
- Read about OT Careers at the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA)
- Learn the difference between an OT, OTA, and an OT Aide
Prepare
Confirm your interest in OT, prepare academically, and develop the necessary skills and experience:
Academic Prerequisites
Read about the OT Program Admissions Criteria and Formats
This is a general guideline. Please check individual schools for their specific prerequisites.
- One year of biology
- One year of general chemistry
- One year of anatomy and physiology
- One Anatomy Course with Lab
- One Human Physiology Course with Lab
- Alternatively some community colleges teach Anatomy and Physiology combined
- One year of physics with lab
- Statistics
- Psychology
Additional Recommendations
- Art Courses (such ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, music, etc.) either as elective coursework or consider courses available at the UCSD Craft Center or UC San Diego Extended Studies
- Talk to, shadow, or volunteer with an OT. Find them through your network of family and friends, professional associations, Tritons Connect, or Linkedin
- Student Organizations
- PT/OT-related student groups include the following:
- Exercise is Medicine is a UCSD sports medicine organization on campus. Their purpose is to promote healthy lifestyles through exercise, to promote exercise as a means of medicine in standard healthcare practices, and to provide students with the opportunities to learn about fields within sports medicine.
- Speech, Physical and Occupational Therapy (SPOT) provides excellent opportunities to meet other pre-PT or OT students, local therapists, and visiting school deans.
Additional Preparation Information
- Learn more about gaining experience - clinical, service, leadership, and research.
Apply
Applying to OT school occurs in the fall or winter prior to the start of the program. Identify programs that match your interests and complete an application. Some steps take more time to complete than others, so plan ahead!
Schools & Programs
- Consider curriculum, clinical training options, location, and cost
- Find accredited OT schools
Testing
- If required, take the Graduate Record Examination
Applications
- OTCAS: the application service for Participating OT Schools
- Supplemental applications from individual OT schools when required
- Individual school applications to OT schools that do not participate in OTCAS
- OTCAS Personal Essay
- Your personal essay should address why you selected OT as a career and how an Occupational Therapy degree relates to your immediate and long term professional goals. Describe how your personal, educational, and professional background will help you to achieve your goals. (7500 characters or ~1 page)
Gaining Experience
For any successful pre-health path, you will need to demonstrate you have experience. This includes service/volunteering, leadership, research, and/or other experiential learning opportunities.