Pre-Occupational Therapy

University of Illinois Chicago

Occupational therapists provide services to maximize the function and satisfaction of persons whose daily life performance has been interrupted and jeopardized by disease, disability, life stress, and other factors. The occupational therapist provides the individual with opportunities for involvement in carefully chosen work, play, or self-care activities. The occupational therapist also uses various methods of mutual problem solving, environmental modification, adaptive devices, technology, and biomechanical and sensorimotor treatment methods to support and enhance performance. Many occupational therapists work within hospital settings, but there is growing emphasis on prevention and treatment of people with disabilities in nonclinical settings. As a result, many new areas of employment are now available. For example, occupational therapists are increasingly employed in school systems where they work with children with disabilities, enhancing their ability to perform as students. Working with in-home health organizations, occupational therapists help individuals and families function more adequately at daily tasks. In industrial settings, they aid workers' with disabilities or injuries return to gainful employment. In addition, occupational therapists have developed private practices. The pre-professional course work listed below prepares students to apply to the professional program in the Department of Occupational Therapy in the College of Applied Health Sciences after completion of the undergraduate degree. Pre-occupational therapy students may choose any major but should work with a pre-professional advisor to plan a course of study that fulfills pre-occupational therapy studies requirements as well as the requirements for the major. The pre-occupational therapy requirements follow and should be completed as part of the undergraduate degree program. The courses listed below must be completed with a grade of C or better.

College of Applied Health Sciences