Pre-Occupational Therapy

Pre-Occupational Therapy

According to the American Occupational Therapy Association, “occupational therapists help people across the lifespan participate in things they want and need to do through the therapeutic use of everyday activities.” To gain employment as an occupational therapist, a Master’s Degree in OT is required. The Pre-Occupational Therapy program at Maryville University is designed to prepare you at the undergraduate level for application to these master’s degree programs.

What is Pre-Occupational Therapy?

Pre-OT is not a major but a program of study designed to provide the academic foundation for additional schooling. Master’s degree programs in OT do not require a particular undergraduate major. Instead, they require a bachelor’s degree and have a list of specific courses in psychology, science, and math that must be completed prior to application.

So what should I major in?

Although you can major in virtually any field as long as you take the required classes for application, we believe that psychology is uniquely suited to prepare you for the academic demands of a graduate program in Occupational Therapy. A number of psychology courses are required by different graduate OT programs throughout the region, including Introduction to Psychology, Abnormal Psychology, Child Psychology, Life-Span Development, and Statistics. As your career goal is to work directly with people, what better major is there than psychology, which is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. 

Why Maryville University?

We have outstanding faculty in both the psychology and natural science programs that will challenge you to achieve your full potential. Upon graduation, you will have a strong academic background to support your application to graduate programs.  

Summary of prerequisites to apply to Master’s OT programs*:

• Abnormal Psychology
• Child Psychology
• Lifespan Development
• Statistics
• Sociology
• Ethics
• One year of Anatomy and Physiology
• One semester of Biology
• One semester of Chemistry
• College Algebra and Trignometery
• Medical Terminology

*because of the variation among OT programs, it is important to work with an advisor to determine the exact set of prerequisites necessary to apply to a specific OT program.