Occupational therapy is a blend of art and science that helps people participate in activities that are meaningful to them. See why these OT students love studying at SLU.
Doisy College of Health Sciences programs have access to 800 different clinical education sites around the country. Students gain patient care experience in prestigious hospitals such as SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital, Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Missouri Baptist Medical Center and SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital. Along with hospital experience, students have opportunities in private practices, laboratories and high school and professional sports teams.
Saint Louis University's occupational science and occupational therapy program offers a five-year, freshman-entry master’s program. Students earn a Bachelor of Science in Occupational Science (B.S.O.S.) after the completion of four years, including one summer, and then a Master of Occupational Therapy (M.O.T.) degree after successful completion of an additional post-baccalaureate year. Students may also enter the program as transfer students or as post-baccalaureates. The occupational science and occupational therapy program has a focus on interprofessional care and occupational justice.
Occupational therapists work with people of all ages across the entire lifespan to improve the quality of their everyday lives and allow people to live life to its fullest. For an occupational therapist, this means focusing on a person’s “occupations,” including anything a person wants, needs or has to do. Occupational therapists practice in a variety of settings, ranging from the traditional (schools, hospitals, home health, skilled nursing facilities, etc.) to the non-traditional (prisons, homeless shelters, primary care clinics, etc.). Occupational therapists partner with the client to plan interventions that promote health, focusing on activities that are important and meaningful to the individual or the community.
The post-professional doctorate program (O.T.D.) is available for individuals with a bachelor’s or master’s degree in occupational therapy interested in continuing their education.
Saint Louis University Occupational Therapy Program Cost of Attendance
The occupational therapy program at Saint Louis University provides students with the coursework, faculty and resources to graduate as competent and caring health care professionals. Highlights of SLU's program include:
Clinical Fieldwork is an integral and complementary part of the occupational therapy curriculum. Through classroom and fieldwork experiences, students develop the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors that allow for occupation-centered and evidence-driven occupational therapy practice. Occupational science and occupational therapy students participate in several levels of clinical experiences and fieldwork.
Applied Community Service Experiences take place during year 3 and are aligned with students' engagement in occupational science courses. Students are expected to complete a minimum of 20 hours of experiences throughout the fall and spring semesters.
Level I Fieldwork is the applied experience that is coordinated with coursework during the fall and spring semesters of year 4, and the fall semester of year 5 in the program. Level I Fieldwork provides occupational therapy students with opportunities to develop professional behaviors, establish relationships with clients/patients and staff, identify the role of occupational therapy in various treatment settings, formulate goals and objectives in the therapeutic process, and demonstrate emerging occupational therapy skills. Course instructors design assignments to be completed during Level I Fieldwork to assist students with meeting the learning objectives of the fieldwork experience, while also addressing the learning objectives of the course.
Level II Fieldwork takes place during the spring semester and part of the summer of year 5. Level II Fieldwork is the in-depth practical experience in the delivery of occupational therapy services that focuses on the promotion of clinical reasoning and reflective practice skills, the application of the treatment process including evaluation, intervention, and discharge, and professional behavior development with the ultimate goal of preparing our graduates for entry-level occupational therapy practice. Level II Fieldwork can take place in either traditional or emerging practice settings.
Students complete two 12-week Level II Fieldwork experiences following the successful completion of all didactic coursework. Fieldwork objectives for these experiences are collaboratively established by fieldwork sites and the academic program. During each Level II Fieldwork experience, students participate in weekly assignments in order to maintain close contact with the academic program, track the progress of learning and skill development, and assist with the achievement of Level II Fieldwork learning objectives. The M.O.T. program is affiliated with approximately 300 fieldwork sites across the United States.
Regulations require all students to complete a criminal background check and a drug test at least once during the program; either or both of these may be repeated as agency requirements demand. Positive results from the criminal background check or drug tests may result in ineligibility to graduate from the program. A felony conviction may affect a graduate’s eligibility for professional certification and licensure.
Research
Occupational therapy students who choose to pursue a master's project are matched with a faculty member who mentors their development of a comprehensive project that is closely associated with the faculty member's scholarship. Through this process and concurrent applied research seminars, you’ll have opportunities to gain an understanding of the research process in a practice setting or the academic environment.
Upon completion of an accredited educational program and receiving a master’s degree or entry-level clinical doctorate degree in occupational therapy, graduates are required to successfully pass the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) examination. After successfully completing this exam and obtaining licensure, students will be an occupational therapist, registered (OTR).
In most states, practitioners must hold a current license or limited permit in order to work. Typically, therapists must fulfill continuing education requirements in order to maintain certification and/or licensure.
Employment of occupational therapists is expected to increase by 18% between 2018 and 2028, much faster than the average occupation according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
As of 2015, 66% of occupational therapists worked in hospitals, schools and/or nursing facilities. The remaining 34% worked in a variety of settings including outpatient clinics, home health, academia, early intervention and/or community and mental health. Additional opportunities include consultation to industry, community settings, teaching and research. The salary of an occupational therapist varies based upon geographic location, years of experience and type of employment. The 2018 median annual salary for an occupational therapist was $84,270, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Post-baccalaureate applications are not currently being accepted. Please check back periodically for updates.
Post-baccalaureate applicants to the OT program are required to have completed nine prerequisite courses (listed below), earning a minimum cumulative 3.20 GPA:
All nine prerequisite courses must have been completed within the last 10 years. Grades below a "C" will not be accepted. It is recommended that science courses be taken at a four-year university, but community college coursework will be accepted. Science courses taken online will not be accepted.
All prerequisite coursework must be completed by the application deadline. Transcripts must be submitted to the Centralized Application Service for Occupational Therapy system and will not be accepted by SLU.
Freshmen or undergraduate transfer applicants from the U.S. or abroad can begin the application process online through the SLU Admissions page. SLU also accepts the Common App.
Apply through the Centralized Application Service for Occupational Therapy (OTCAS). The OTCAS is a centralized service that enables prospective occupational therapy students to submit all application materials electronically. Application materials that must be submitted to OTCAS include:
All admission policies and requirements for domestic students apply to international students along with the following:
Students should apply by January 15. The application period for the Occupational Therapy program begins in mid-July. All applications are due by January 15. Interviews will be conducted throughout February and all final decisions will be made and communicated by March 1.
There are two principal ways to help finance a Saint Louis University education:
For priority consideration for merit-based scholarships, applicants should apply for admission by Dec. 1 and complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) by March 1.
For more information, visit the student financial services office online at http://finaid.slu.edu.
Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education, (ACOTE), American Occupational Therapy Association, (AOTA)
6116 Executive Boulevard
Suite 200
North Bethesda, MD 20852-4929
(301) 652-2682
http://www.aota.org
For more information about the SLU Occupational Therapy program outcomes, matriculation rate, graduation rate, certification exam pass rate and employment rate, please see Program Outcomes.
The total number of program graduates, to date, from the Saint Louis University Master of Occupational Therapy (M.O.T.) program during the three-year period of 2016-2018, was 166 with an overall graduation rate of 96.0%.
Graduates of the program will be eligible to sit for the national certification examination for the occupational therapist, administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT). After successful completion of this exam, the graduate will be an Occupational Therapist, Registered (OTR). In addition, most states require licensure to practice; however, state licenses are usually based on the results of the NBCOT certification examination. A felony conviction may affect a graduate's ability to sit for the NBCOT certification examination or attain state licensure.
Bachelor of Science in Occupational Science
Master of Occupational Therapy
Students in Saint Louis University's occupational science major take the following courses.
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
Foundation | ||
ANAT 1000 | Basic Human Anatomy | 3 |
ANAT 4000 | Human Gross Anatomy | 6 |
BIOL 1240 & BIOL 1245 | General Biology: Information Flow and Evolution and Principles of Biology I Laboratory | 4 |
CHEM 1080 & CHEM 1085 | Principles of Chemistry 1 Lecture and Principles of Chemistry 1 Lab | 4 |
CMM 1200 | Public Speaking | 3 |
ENGL 1900 | Advanced Strategies of Rhetoric and Research | 3 |
ENGL 4000 | Business and Professional Writing | 3 |
HSCI 2500 | Human Development across the Lifespan | 3 |
HSI 2200 | Medical Terminology | 3 |
IPE 1100 | Introduction to Interprofessional Health Care | 1 |
IPE 3500 | Health Care Systems and Health Promotion | 3 |
IPE 4200 | Applied Decision-Making in Interprofessional Practice | 3 |
IPE 4900 | Interprofessional Community Practicum | 2 |
ORES 2320 | Interprofessional Health Outcomes | 2 |
PHIL 1050 | Introduction to Philosophy: Self and Reality | 3 |
PHYS 1050 | Intro to Physics of Human Body | 3 |
PPY 2540 | Human Physiology | 4 |
PSY 1010 | General Psychology | 3 |
PSY 2050 | Foundations of Research Methods and Statistics | 4 |
PSY 4390 | Abnormal Psychology | 3 |
THEO 1000 | Theological Foundations | 3 |
Anthropology or Sociology Requirement | ||
ANTH 1200 | Introduction to Anthropology | 3 |
or SOC 1100 | Introduction to Sociology | |
Ethics Requirement | ||
PHIL 2050 | Ethics | 3 |
or HCE 2010 | Foundations in Clinical Health Care Ethics | |
Literature Requirement | ||
ENGL 2020-ENGL 2600 or ENGL 3000-ENGL 3950 Literature | 3 | |
Math Requirement | ||
Select one of the following: | 3 | |
College Algebra | ||
Pre-Calculus | ||
Calculus I | ||
Required Occupational Science Courses | ||
OCS 1000 | Seminar in OT Practice | 2 |
OCS 1010 | Introduction to Occupational Science and Therapy | 2 |
OCS 3120 | The Study of Occupation | 3 |
OCS 3220 | Contexts of Occupation | 3 |
OCS 3320 | Development of Humans as Occupational Beings | 3 |
OCS 3520 | Personal and Community Wellness | 3 |
OCS 3620 | Lived Experiences: Disabilities and Chronic Conditions | 3 |
OCS 3720 | Critical Perspectives of Culture, Occupation, & Justice | 3 |
OCS 4620 | Clinical Conditions and Phenomenology | 3 |
Required Occupational Therapy Courses | ||
MOT 5020 | Professional Development I | 1 |
MOT 5030 | Professional Development II | 1 |
MOT 5150 | Kinesiology | 3 |
MOT 5170 | Neuroscience in Occupational Therapy | 4 |
MOT 5300 | Fundamentals of OT Practice | 3 |
MOT 5350 | Theoretical Foundations of Occupational Therapy | 3 |
MOT 5400 | Occupational Therapy for Adults with Physical Dysfunction | 4 |
MOT 5410 | Occupational Therapy in Mental Health | 3 |
MOT 5450 | Occupational Performance & Assessment of Children and Youth | 3 |
MOT 5460 | Occupational Therapy with Aging Adults | 3 |
MOT 5490 | Applied Research I | 1 |
MOT 5500 | Applied Research II | 1 |
Total Credits | 133 |
Required grade point average (GPA) minimum for freshman is 2.70, for sophomores is 2.80, and for juniors is 2.90.
Roadmaps are recommended semester-by-semester plans of study for programs and assume full-time enrollment unless otherwise noted.
Courses and milestones designated as critical (marked with !) must be completed in the semester listed to ensure a timely graduation. Transfer credit may change the roadmap.
This roadmap should not be used in the place of regular academic advising appointments. All students are encouraged to meet with their advisor/mentor each semester. Requirements, course availability and sequencing are subject to change.
Year One | ||
---|---|---|
Fall | Credits | |
BIOL 1240 & BIOL 1245 |
General Biology: Information Flow and Evolution and Principles of Biology I Laboratory |
4 |
ENGL 1900 | Advanced Strategies of Rhetoric and Research | 3 |
IPE 1100 | Introduction to Interprofessional Health Care | 1 |
OCS 1000 or UNIV 1010 |
Seminar in OT Practice or Enhancing First-Year Success |
2 |
PHIL 1050 | Introduction to Philosophy: Self and Reality | 3 |
PSY 1010 | General Psychology | 3 |
Credits | 16 | |
Spring | ||
ANAT 1000 | Basic Human Anatomy | 3 |
HSCI 2500 | Human Development across the Lifespan | 3 |
IPE 3500 | Health Care Systems and Health Promotion | 3 |
MATH 1200 | College Algebra | 3 |
PSY 2050 | Foundations of Research Methods and Statistics | 4 |
Credits | 16 | |
Year Two | ||
Fall | ||
CHEM 1080 & CHEM 1085 |
Principles of Chemistry 1 Lecture and Principles of Chemistry 1 Lab |
4 |
ENGL 4000 | Business and Professional Writing | 3 |
OCS 1010 | Introduction to Occupational Science and Therapy | 2 |
ORES 2320 | Interprofessional Health Outcomes | 2 |
PSY 4390 | Abnormal Psychology | 3 |
SOC 1100 or ANTH 1200 |
Introduction to Sociology or Introduction to Anthropology |
3 |
Credits | 17 | |
Spring | ||
Participation in Study Abroad Optional | ||
IPE 4200 | Applied Decision-Making in Interprofessional Practice | 3 |
PHIL 2050 or HCE 2010 |
Ethics or Foundations in Clinical Health Care Ethics |
3 |
THEO 1000 | Theological Foundations | 3 |
XXXX | Cultural Analysis Elective | 3 |
XXXX | Personal/Professional Expression Elective | 3 |
Credits | 15 | |
Year Three | ||
Fall | ||
OCS 3120 | The Study of Occupation | 3 |
OCS 3220 | Contexts of Occupation | 3 |
OCS 3320 | Development of Humans as Occupational Beings | 3 |
PPY 2540 | Human Physiology | 4 |
HSI 2200 | Medical Terminology | 3 |
Credits | 16 | |
Spring | ||
IPE 4900 | Interprofessional Community Practicum | 2 |
OCS 3520 | Personal and Community Wellness | 3 |
OCS 3620 | Lived Experiences: Disabilities and Chronic Conditions | 3 |
OCS 3720 | Critical Perspectives of Culture, Occupation, & Justice | 3 |
PHYS 1050 | Intro to Physics of Human Body | 3 |
Credits | 14 | |
Summer | ||
ANAT 4000 | Human Gross Anatomy | 6 |
Credits | 6 | |
Year Four | ||
Fall | ||
MOT 5020 | Professional Development I | 1 |
MOT 5150 | Kinesiology | 3 |
MOT 5170 | Neuroscience in Occupational Therapy | 4 |
MOT 5300 | Fundamentals of OT Practice | 3 |
MOT 5460 | Occupational Therapy with Aging Adults | 3 |
OCS 4620 | Clinical Conditions and Phenomenology | 3 |
Credits | 17 | |
Spring | ||
Bachelor of Occupational Science degree awarded upon completion of this semester | ||
MOT 5030 | Professional Development II | 1 |
MOT 5350 | Theoretical Foundations of Occupational Therapy | 3 |
MOT 5400 | Occupational Therapy for Adults with Physical Dysfunction | 4 |
MOT 5410 | Occupational Therapy in Mental Health | 3 |
MOT 5450 | Occupational Performance & Assessment of Children and Youth | 3 |
MOT 5490 | Applied Research I | 1 |
MOT 5500 | Applied Research II | 1 |
Credits | 16 | |
Year Five | ||
Fall | ||
MOT 5040 | Professional Development III | 1 |
MOT 5250 | Policy & Administration | 2 |
MOT 5260 | Problem-Based Learning in Occupational Therapy | 2 |
MOT 5480 | Occupational Therapy & Upper Extremity Rehabilitation | 2 |
MOT 5550 | Occupational Therapy for Adults with Neurological Dysfunction | 3 |
MOT 5560 | Occupational Therapy and Community Practice | 3 |
MOT 5600 | Occupational Therapy with Infants and Children | 4 |
MOT 5650 | Applied Research III | 1 |
Credits | 18 | |
Spring | ||
MOT 5700 | Advanced Field Work I (12-weeks) | 6 |
MOT 5750 | Advanced Fieldwork II (12-weeks) | 6 |
MOT 5660 | Applied Research IV (Optional Elective) | 1-6 |
Credits | 13-18 | |
Total Credits | 164-169 |
Year One | ||
---|---|---|
Summer | Credits | |
ANAT 4000 | Human Gross Anatomy | 6 |
OCTH 5011 | Fundamentals of Occupational Science | 3 |
Credits | 9 | |
Fall | ||
MOT 5020 | Professional Development I | 1 |
MOT 5150 | Kinesiology | 3 |
MOT 5170 | Neuroscience in Occupational Therapy | 4 |
MOT 5200 | Clinical Conditions & Phenomenology | 3 |
MOT 5300 | Fundamentals of OT Practice | 3 |
MOT 5460 | Occupational Therapy with Aging Adults | 3 |
Credits | 17 | |
Spring | ||
MOT 5030 | Professional Development II | 1 |
MOT 5350 | Theoretical Foundations of Occupational Therapy | 3 |
MOT 5400 | Occupational Therapy for Adults with Physical Dysfunction | 4 |
MOT 5410 | Occupational Therapy in Mental Health | 3 |
MOT 5450 | Occupational Performance & Assessment of Children and Youth | 3 |
MOT 5490 | Applied Research I | 1 |
MOT 5500 | Applied Research II | 1 |
IPE 4900 | Interprofessional Community Practicum | 2 |
Credits | 18 | |
Year Two | ||
Fall | ||
MOT 5040 | Professional Development III | 1 |
MOT 5250 | Policy & Administration | 2 |
MOT 5260 | Problem-Based Learning in Occupational Therapy | 2 |
MOT 5480 | Occupational Therapy & Upper Extremity Rehabilitation | 2 |
MOT 5550 | Occupational Therapy for Adults with Neurological Dysfunction | 3 |
MOT 5560 | Occupational Therapy and Community Practice | 3 |
MOT 5600 | Occupational Therapy with Infants and Children | 4 |
MOT 5650 | Applied Research III | 1 |
Credits | 18 | |
Spring | ||
MOT 5700 | Advanced Field Work I | 6 |
MOT 5750 | Advanced Fieldwork II | 6 |
Applied Research IV (Optional 1-6 Credits) | ||
Credits | 12 | |
Total Credits | 74 |
Please note: Due to the large number of students currently enrolled in our program, we are not currently admitting post-baccalaureate students. Please contact the department to discuss the next possible start date for post-baccalaureate admissions.
For additional admission questions please contact:
Julie Miller
Recruitment Specialist
314-977-2570
dchs@health.slu.edu