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Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapists provide purposeful activities to develop independence and restore basic functions to people who have been disabled by physical illness or injury, emotional disorder, aging, or drug abuse. Therapists treat patients in hospitals, schools, and rehabilitation centers.

Students at Iowa State who plan to become occupational therapists spend four years here and earn a degree in a related field as they take the courses that are required to enter a professional program at another university where they earn a master's degree. Most professional programs are two years in length.

The following courses are required by most occupational therapy programs:

• English composition (ENGL 104, 105)
• Biology (BIOL 211, 211L and 212, 212L)
• Chemistry (CHEM 163, 163L and 164, 164L)
• Human physiology and anatomy (BIOL 255, 255L and 256, 256L—biological science majors may prefer to fulfill this requirement by taking ZOOL 335 and 352)
• General, developmental, and abnormal psychology (PSYCH 101, 230, 460)
• Mathematics (3 credits of Math 140 or above)
  
  Other frequently required or recommended courses are:
• Physics (PHYS 101 or 106, as specified by professional program)
• Philosophy (PHIL 230)
• Sociology (SOC 134)
• Anthropology (ANTHR 201)
• Statistics (STAT 104 or 101)
• Arts (ART 108, 109; ARTCD 220, 222, 343, 344; ARTVS 335 and other art courses)
• Speech (SP CM 212)
• Computer Science (COM S 103)
• Medical Terminology (V PTH 401)
• Additional social science and humanities courses are required by certain professional schools.

Professional schools may change their prerequisites. Students are responsible for maintaining direct contact with specific professional schools for current prerequisite guidelines.

Volunteer experience in an occupational therapy department is strongly recommended and may be obtained at hospitals, nursing homes, clinics and other settings.

Career information and a list of accredited programs is available at the AOTA’s (American Occupational Therapy Association) World Wide Web Site at www.aota.org.