Today’s Bloganuary post is very on point for my inspiration for starting my blog which was making the contents of occupational therapy accessible knowledge for potential clients and future aspiring occupational therapists (OT) !
Something that I absolutely love doing is mentoring OT students as a preceptor and this has extended to being connected to high school students who are interested in how to be an occupational therapist and what our field entails!
Before you can truly dive into what the next steps are to become an Occupational therapist, I think it is important to know exactly what you are getting into ! Below are some different posts I have written about what OT is, but feel free to ask any questions in the comments for me to answer!
October is Occupational Therapy Month!
Occupational Therapy… so you’re a physio?
What is the Occupation in Occupational Therapy?
What skills do Occupational Therapists bring to your life?
What colleges have you attended?
As I am a Canadian Occupational therapist, I am not sure if this journey will look exactly the same for everyone, so please take this with a grain of salt!
In Ontario, to become an OT, you have to first complete a four year Bachelor’s degree. As of the day I am writing this (January 3 2024), the same requirements remain as they did when I was a student, and your degree does not need to be in a specific field in order to apply for your Master’s degree in Occupational therapy. Something that is important to note is that doing a college degree in the Occupational therapy assistant/physiotherapy assistant (OTA/PTA) program is NOT part of the path to become an OT. It seems like that would make sense, but at least in Ontario not all OTA/PTA college programs are accredited, and they do not replace having that 4 year bachelor degree (unfortunately).
I completed a 4 year Honours Bachelors of Science in Kinesiology at McMaster University. This degree was very heavily science based compared to some other Kinesiology degrees at other schools, and the only reason I highlight that is because my education was VERY focused on the detailed anatomy and physiology. On top of the anatomy and physiology courses we had to take, it was mandatory for us to take a musculoskeletal anatomy course, in which we had to memorize every single bone and muscle in the body. We had to be able to name the muscle, where it inserts and originates, what it’s functions are, and find it and draw it on the body (yes drawing on each other was part of my course). I highlight this because as an OT you do take an anatomy course, and since I had anatomy already under my belt I felt like I was at a huge advantage. So when I share about my education, I do suggest that prospective students either take anatomy as a course in their undergrad or at least do some self learning before heading to their masters degree.
In my bachelor’s degree I did also take a lot of psychology and social science mental health courses for my personal interest, which ended up being beneficial as there is a lot of mental health components when working as an Occupational therapist! Even if you are working in a physical field, being able to support mental health is really important.
I then completed my Masters degree in Occupational Therapy at Queen’s University. This is a two year program with not only classes but research and placement experiences! The Queens program is very hands on, with a lot of practice in interpersonal skills as you are working very closely with other professionals and need to be a very personable individual in order to connect with your clients. Having volunteered for a long time with different individuals who had different disabilities, were going through challenging times, etc, I had learned a lot of the empathy and connection skills already, and this is a huge piece that is needed as an OT!
Since I graduated from my master’s degree, as you can probably imagine, I have never stopped learning! I have taken mini courses, done lots of reading, watched a lot of videos, listened to podcasts, read blogs, gone to retreats with other nature OTs, participated in research studies etc. that have contributed to that life long learning that you can expect as an OT and health care professional.
If you are interested in becoming an OT and have questions that you are seeking answers to please don’t hesitate to leave them in the comments below!
Be Your Own Sunshine 
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