Pre-Occupational Therapy Course Plan
Pre-Occupational Therapy Course Plan
This is a GENERAL course plan for students interested in becoming an occupational therapist and who are completing a BIOLOGY MAJOR at St. Lawrence University. (Students could also complete other majors such as neuroscience or psychology as well.) This plan must be personalized for you through discussions with your advisor, allowing for situations like study abroad. The most common pre-occupational therapy prerequisites are italicized; other listed courses are biology major and general graduation requirements. Some Occupational Therapy master’s degree programs have unique prerequisites; identify 5-6 programs of interest to you and research their pre-requisite requirements.
First-Year
Fall
General Biology with Lab (Environmental Literacy distribution)
General Chemistry with Lab (Natural Science with Lab distribution)
FYP
Intro to Psychology (without Lab)
Spring
General Biology with Lab
General Chemistry with Lab
FYS
100 level Sociology course (Social Science distribution)
Sophomore
Fall
Genetics or Cell Biology
Statistics (Quantitative Reasoning distribution)
Intro to Kinesiology*
Diversity distribution course
Spring
Genetics or Cell Biology or Human Nutrition
Developmental Psychology
English-writing course (Arts distribution)*
Health & Wellness Coaching**
Junior
Fall
Anatomy & Physiology I with Lab
Abnormal Psychology
Public Speaking*
Health Coaching Internship (0.25 unit)**
Spring
Anatomy & Physiology II with Lab
Humanities distribution course
Diversity course
1 courses of your choice***
Senior
Fall
Upper level biology course with Lab****
3 courses of your choice***
Spring
Upper level biology course with Lab****
3 courses of your choice***
* These courses are required by some Occupational Therapy master’s degree programs: Intro to Kinesiology (SSES 115), Public Speaking (PCA 111), English composition (we recommend ENGL 241 or ENGL 243 for this course). Another pre-requisite that is occasionally required is Physics.
** Health & Wellness Coaching is a one unit course offered in the spring semester that is open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Students who complete the course can complete a 0.25 unit internship during the following fall semester, working with a client in the community.
*** Courses of your choice: These slots can be filled with courses to complete a minor, conduct an independent or SYE research project, or to supplement courses in psychology, sociology, or the sciences. Courses of particular interest include: Medical Sociology, What’s So Bad About Aging?, Women’s Health and Aging, Cultural Psychology, Positive Psychology, Social Psychology, Community Psychology, Health Psychology.
**** Potential course options of interest: Introduction to Neuroscience with Lab, Immunology with Lab, Research Methods in Fluorescent and Confocal Microscopy, Research Methods in Molecular Biology, Research Methods in Cell Biology. One semester of SYE could also complete one of these Upper Level Biology with Lab slots.