Professional Health Care Career Path: Occupational Therapy

About this field

This professional health care career path requires an advanced degree beyond the Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences.

An occupational therapist (OT) is an allied health care professional who works with patients across the lifespan to participate in activities that they want and must do in everyday activities. OTs work in the hospital, home, workplace, school, etc. to assess and make recommendations in environmental changes and the use of assistive devices so the patient may perform activities of daily living. The occupational may also work with family members and caregivers to ensure that patients have the assistance they require.

Read more about Job Statistics.

Degree Requirement

Master’s degree in OT or Doctoral degree in OT from an American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc. (ACOTE) accredited program.

Typical Prerequisites Needed for Admissions to an Occupational Therapy Program

• 1-2 Human anatomy courses with labs 
• Physics coursework with labs
• 1 chemistry or general biology course with lab
• 1 statistics course
• 2 Psychology courses (1 general/introductory and 1 abnormal)
• 1 Human growth and development course
• 1 Sociology, ethics, philosophy, or religion course
• 1 Medical terminology course

NOTE: Students are strongly encouraged to determine the exact OT prerequisites for a program by visiting that program’s website.  The link provided below shows all accredited occupational therapy programs.

Athletic Training Accredited Programs.

Why choose Health Sciences as a bachelor’s degree?

In addition to offering a strong background in orthopedic assessment, treatment, and rehabilitation, the Health Sciences degree also provides a great degree of flexibility in course options for the student. Courses with content such as musculoskeletal evaluation, therapeutic interventions, kinesiology, and medical disease and illness provide the student with a strong foundation for the occupational therapy program of study. The degree offers flexibility by allowing the student to take 9 hours outside of the health science area. When combined with core requirements, students should be able to meet all the typical prerequisites of the average occupational therapy degree program.