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Program InformationThe curriculum in pre-occupational therapy offered by the College of Humanities and Sciences meets the minimum academic requirements for the bachelor of science degree program in occupational therapy offered by the School of Allied Health Professions on the MCV Campus.
This program is accredited by the American Occupational Therapy Association. Students intending to apply to the junior- and senior-year professional program at another institution should consult that institution's bulletin for specific pre-requisite courses.
Admission to and satisfactory completion of the three-year (90 credit) preparatory program offered by the College of Humanities and Sciences does not constitute admission to the junior- and senior-year professional program on the MCV Campus. In the fall of the year preceding the year of desired admission, the student must apply separately to the professional program on the MCV Campus through the School of Graduate Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23284-3051.
Advising InformationStudents in the pre-occupational therapy program at Virginia Commonwealth University prepare for entry into a master’s-level program in occupational therapy. VCU offers an entry-level Master of Science in Occupational Therapy (M.S.O.T.) designed for students entering their senior year of college, with 90 semester credits, or those students with a B.S. degree who wish to become occupational therapists. This professional program includes academic courses, a research project and fieldwork experiences. The program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education. For a complete description of the program, visit the department’s Web site or the online Graduate Bulletin.
The curriculum in pre-occupational therapy offered by the college meets the minimum academic requirements for the Master of Science degree program in occupational therapy offered by the School of Allied Health Professions at VCU. Pre-requisite courses for master’s programs in occupational therapy differ, so students should carefully examine pre-requisites to different programs if they are interested in applying to programs outside VCU. Students intending to apply to the junior- and senior-year professional program at another institution should consult that institution’s bulletin for specific prerequisite courses. Admission to and satisfactory completion of the three-year (90-credit) preparatory program offered by the college does not constitute admission to the professional program at VCU.
Prerequisite courses and program requirements for students entering VCU before fall 2007 Required health care experience Pre-occupational therapy listserve
Pre-requisite courses and program requirements for students entering VCU before fall 2007 Specific VCU required and recommended prerequisites.
Students enter the master’s program in early summer and must have all pre-requisites completed before starting the summer session. Pre-requisite course work for students entering VCU in fall 2007 English – 9 credits (3) UNIV 111 Focused Inquiry I Biology – 12 credits You must have at least six credits in human anatomy and physiology with lab.
If you are a transfer student and the course you have taken is a four-credit anatomy/physiology course, at least two credits must be added. These can be physiology, kinesiology or other courses related to the requirement. Mathematics and statistics – 3 credits One introductory math course (MATH 131 or 141) Psychology – 10 credits PSYC 101 is a prerequisite for any subsequent psychology course offered by the psychology department at VCU.
Three to six credits in developmental or life span development courses.
Many students come more prepared in child development. You may want to consider a course in adult development to supplement your developmental psychology or life span development course if the emphasis was on children/adolescents. Social science – 6 credits Recommended courses Approved electives – minimum 53 credits It is required that students be able to use a computer for word processing, e-mail, online bibliographic searches and internet list-serve discussions.
It also is helpful to be familiar with graphics software for preparing presentations.
It is recommended that students take one or more of these self-paced computer-aided instruction courses.
Time limitation on courses For the following pre-requisite courses, no more than seven years may have lapsed from the course completion to the date of enrollment in the entry-level professional master’s degree program in occupational therapy: Human anatomy and physiology with lab(s).
There is no time limit on how current other pre-requisite courses must be.
These are minimum requirements. Applicants are encouraged to take other liberal arts and science courses to develop intellectual competence, enrich interest areas and promote awareness of a range of social and cultural values.
Rare exceptions to the pre-requisites will be considered based on clearly demonstrated knowledge, skill, and abilities comparable to those described. If you have any questions about courses meeting these criteria, you can fax the description or course syllabus to the Department of Occupational Therapy for review at (804) 828-0782. Electives minimum of 53 hours.
Most occupational therapy programs prefer candidates with broad educational backgrounds. In addition to a strong science background, professional schools require a solid foundation in basic verbal and quantitative skills. Math and verbal are the two main components of the Graduate Record Exams that are evaluated in the admissions process. It also is advisable for students with a concentration in pre-occupational therapy to have more than the minimum number of science courses required for admission.
Students are encouraged to work closely with their advisor to determine the best program of elective courses. Some students direct their coursework to a major program and take courses that will fit in that curriculum, should they not be able to begin the master’s program without a bachelor’s degree. Others might choose to complete a minor program before entering the master’s program. Some might be encouraged to take courses in clinical exercise sciences or gerontology programs that help occupational therapists work with their patient populations.
Minimum academic requirements Applicants must have a minimum grade-point average of 2.7 (on a 4.0 scale) for the last 60 hours of college course work and a minimum grade-point average of 3.0 in the pre-requisite courses.
The GRE is required. Scores should be reported directly to VCU.
A grade of “D” in any required pre-requisite course is not acceptable.
Students are required to have all coursework completed prior to matriculation into the master’s program. Students may apply to the program prior to the completion of all the pre-requisites as long as all pre-requisites are completed with a grade of “C” or better before beginning the program. If pre-requisite courses are in progress and you are offered admission, it will be a provisional acceptance contingent upon successful completion of these courses.
Standardized tests Students applying to the occupational therapy program in the School of Allied Health Professions at VCU are required to take the GRE. The GRE General Test is composed of verbal, quantitative and analytical writing sections. There is no minimum score required for admittance to VCU’s OT program. However, the average GRE score for students admitted in 2004 were: verbal – 428 (range 310-600), quantitative – 494 (range 310-690), written analytical – 4.0 (range 2.5-5.5). The test scores must be current within five years. If you have taken it several times within the five-year limit, the highest overall test scores from one testing will be used. We will not combine the best individual sub-test scores from different testing sessions. Information about the GRE and registration can be located at www.gre.org.
Application information In the fall of the year preceding the year of desired admission, the student must apply separately to the VCU professional program. Applicants must complete the application for the VCU Graduate School in addition to the supplemental application for the occupational therapy program. The supplemental application contains the information needed to apply to the entry-level master’s degree program in occupational therapy. All application materials may be obtained from the VCU Graduate School.
Requests for application materials may be mailed to VCU Graduate School, P.O. Box 843051, Richmond, VA 23284-3051. Application materials also may be requested by calling (804) 828-6919, Supplemental applications can be found on the Web at www.sahp.vcu.edu/occu.
Required health care experience Upon application to the program, students are required to have completed a minimum of 60 hours of experience working alongside an occupational therapist. The 60 hours should include working with adults and children. The supplemental application includes paperwork that must be completed to verify the completion of these health care experiences. It is recommended applicants present supervisors with the appropriate paperwork before they begin volunteer work.
Orientation meeting schedule The Department of Occupational Therapy has scheduled orientation meetings for applicants or prospective applicants to the occupational therapy entry-level graduate program. These sessions are designed so students can find out about the master’s program and the admission process. The orientation includes a tour of the department and campus, a presentation about the program and the admission process and a question-and-answer period.
The dates, times and locations of the orientation sessions are posted on the Department of Occupational Therapy’s Web site.
View directions to the VCU Medical Center.
View directions to the VMI Building.
Timeline for admission Entry-level graduate program – applications are due Feb. 1. Students are encouraged to start their application process the summer preceding the desired date of entry.
Pre-occupational therapy listserve The pre-occupational therapy listservere is owned and maintained by the director of pre-health sciences advising. The purpose of the list is to publicize all activities that are relevant to the academic advising and application processes to graduate programs in occupational therapy. All students who have VCU e-mail addresses and have declared pre-occupational therapy majors are automatically added to the list each spring semester. To subscribe to the pre-occupational therapy listserve, send an e-mail to listserv@lists.vcu.edu. In the body of the message, type “subscribe pre-occupational-therapy” and your name.
VCU Department of Occupational Therapy VCU's chapter of Pi Theta Epsilon, the National OT Honor Society American Occupational Therapy Association Virginia Occupational Therapy Association Virginia Department of Health Professions Occupational Therapy Internet World The Council for Exceptional Children Pre-Clinical Laboratory Sciences Pre-Clinical Radiation Sciences Pre-Occupational Therapy Pre-Paramedic and Emergency Medical Services Administration
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Virginia Commonwealth University | University College Hibbs Hall | 900 Park Avenue | P.O. Box 842507 | Richmond, Virginia 23284-9079 Phone: (804) 827-UNIV (8648) | Email: ucollege@vcu.edu Last Revised: 10.01.2008
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