Occupational Therapy Explained
Occupational therapy, or OT as it is commonly known, is a medical practice that empowers clients to engage in occupations by:
- Analyzing how clients interact with their preferred or required environments.
- Providing tools to clients to engage in daily occupations and tasks
- Collaborating with others to provide effective, client-centered care
- Advocating for clients on micro, meso, and macro levels to promote occupational justice
Occupational therapy is for anyone looking to enhance their day-to-day life by honing skills that increase their ability to complete functional tasks within their environment.
Defining Occupations
Occupations are any valuable or meaningful activity that a person chooses to engage with in every day life. The benefits of engaging in these occupations include:
- Uplifted mood and level of happiness
- Promoted feelings of productivity
- Increased sense of purpose
- Provided meaningful life experiences
- Increased societal participation
- Improved quality of life
Purpose and Goals of Occupational Therapy
Path to Becoming an Occupational Therapist
Relevant Interests and Characteristics
Occupational therapists have interests in creative arts, social sciences, and natural sciences. They are known to be flexible, compassionate, and empathetic problem solvers. They provide evidence-based, client-centered, innovative, and collaborative care.
Bachelor’s Degree
Complete a degree in a relevant study such as pre-medicine, psychology, recreational therapy, public health, exercise science, arts, education, sociology, anthropology, engineering, business, and more.
Entry-Level Doctorate Degree
Complete prerequisite courses, observation hours, and applications for a program with a field of study in occupational therapy.
Why Apply to the George Washington University
The George Washington University offers a hybrid occupational therapy program that focuses on new ways of thinking, communicating, and providing care. The curriculum will ensure that graduates demonstrate efficacy in any preferred clinical setting and are also adequately prepared to become agents for social change on a community and global scale.
The program at GW qualifies future scientific leaders in OT, and graduates are expected to emerge from the program with a desire for eliminating health disparities and injustices. With a prime location in Washington, D.C., the program provides highly experienced faculty who aim to change the educational status quo and produce a collaborative teacher-student environment.
The program focuses on underserved and marginalized populations, prioritizes holistic and client-centered approaches, and understands the value of inclusion, diversity, and varied cultural understanding.
Key questions threaded throughout the program include:
- What views, personal experiences, and backgrounds can be considered by occupational therapists to improve client-centered care?
- What can I do as an emerging occupational therapist to improve the ever-changing landscape of modern society?
- Where are opportunities for occupational therapists to provide greater impact, from a community level to a global scale?
- What affects do pre-established systems produce, and how can occupational therapists work to dismantle those systems which are harmful?