Choosing a Major for OT | Springfield College

Contact PMPHS

Dr. Travis M. Gagen
Director of Pre-Health Professions
Location: Locklin Hall 101C
Email:tgagen@springfield.edu

Students generally complete the following requirements to apply to occupational therapy (OT) school.

Requirements vary by program and additional prerequisite courses may be required for some courses on the list.

Common OT program prerequisite courses

Bioscience 1
A&P Concepts 1 & 2
Physics 1, or Physics for Movement Science
Kinesiology
Statistics or Biostatistics
Intro to Psychology
Abnormal Psychology
Developmental Psychology
Intro to Sociology

Additional OT program requirements

GRE exam scores
High overall GPA
High GPA in science courses
Letters of recommendation
Personal statement
Observation hours or clinical hours
Community service and extracurricular activities

Additional course requirements are needed to complete the following majors:

Health Science (12 additional courses), Psychology (7 additional courses), and Sports Biology majors (14 additional courses):

For Health Science

Intro to Health Care
Intro to Public Health
Intro to Health Care Ethics
Human Disease and Chronic Illness
Principles of Epidemiology
Concepts of Assessment in Health Care
Evidence-Based Health Care
Cultural Comp for Health Professionals
Senior Research Practicum
4 Health Science selectives (e.g., EMT 1, EMT 2, Health Psychology, Health Law, etc.)

For Psychology majors

Biological Basis of Behavior selective
Social and Cultural Contexts selective
Applied Psychology selective
2 Psych in the Larger World selectives
PSYC 301 – Research Methods
PSYC 482 – Senior Capstone Seminar

For Sports Biology majors

Bioscience 2
General Chemistry 1 & 2
Physics 2
Psychology of Exercise
Human A&P 1 & 2
Organic Chemistry 1 & 2
4 Biology selectives (e.g., Genetics, Microbiology, Developmental Biology, Biological Chemistry, Immunology, etc.)
Seminar in Biology (BIOL 482)

Resources developed by Sofija Zagarins and Melinda Fowler.