Set out on your OT journey

You want to pursue an OT degree and are exploring the best journey for you. We offer programs and multiple pathways to align with your goals and lifestyle.

• Connect with an Enrollment Advisor: They will help you choose the right path and strengthen your application.
• Guided throughout your admissions journey: Once admitted, your enrollment advisor will help you complete the requirements, keeping you organized and on track so you are ready for day one.

Guided Mentorship

You’ll be paired with a dedicated faculty mentor—someone who you meet with regularly, helps you track your progress and learn with confidence.

• Faculty mentorship: Personalized coaching will guide you through the hard and soft skills you need as an OT.
• Regular check-ins: Always know where you stand with consistent meetings.
• Structured skill development: Stay on track through progress reports and targeted guidance.
• Explore your passion: You can connect with faculty with experience in more than 30 specialty areas to learn more about career options available as an OT.

Practice-Ready Learning

You will step into a one-of-a-kind program that emphasizes hands-on experiences. Right from the start, you’ll turn theory into practice.

• Strong OT foundation: Build essential knowledge, prepare for the NBCOT exam and take advantage of optional micro-credentialing opportunities.
• Early immersive simulations: Practice realistic clinical scenarios, with actors as clients, at the Center for Innovative Clinical Practice (CICP).
• Real-world client interaction: Work with clients in the community and pro bono clinics.
• Community engagement: Volunteer and participate in community learning opportunities to broaden your perspective and impact.
• Interprofessional simulations: Develop team skills through cross-discipline collaboration.

Dynamic Community

You’ll thrive in a supportive learning environment where students and faculty actively uplift each other, share resources and celebrate different perspectives.

• Accessible support: Help is always within reach, from academic tutoring to career guidance.
• Collaborative learning culture: Peer study sessions, interactive labs, interdisciplinary simulations and community volunteering foster teamwork over competition.
• Empowered student voice: Get involved with the Student Occupational Therapy Association (SOTA) and optional Special Interest Groups.
• Expansive alumni network: Connect with a thriving community of over 5,000 OT grads for support and inspiration.

Get To Know Us

Pinning ceremony

The Pinning Ceremony marks a significant milestone, celebrating your hard work, growth and transition from the classroom to clinical fieldwork.

• Didactic milestone: Celebrate the completion of didactic education and the start of fieldwork.
• Continued faculty support: The pin represents faculty support and encouragement beyond the classroom as you step into clinical placements.

Fieldwork

Apply your knowledge in your fieldwork placements, exploring areas of interest, working with diverse populations and preparing for licensure.

• Level I fieldwork: Observe diverse settings and populations, perform non-invasive tasks and learn the basics of documentation, professional behavior and communication while building confidence and clinical insight.
• Level II fieldwork: Develop skills in immersive fieldwork at your clinical placement site, where you will function as a part of the clinical team and gradually take on a caseload under supervision. Learn to make treatment decisions, adapt to clients and settings and manage time, priorities and communication.
• Clinical placement support: USAHS field support teams handle site coordination, contracts and placements based on your interests and preferred locations.

OTD Capstone

If you choose OTD, the doctoral capstone project is the culmination of your journey, bridging the knowledge you’ve gained with your passion for creating meaningful change.

• From exploration to impact: Start with a passion, population or area of interest, and by the end, create something that can make a lasting impact.
• Dedicated mentorship: Regular meetings with your doctoral coordinator and faculty mentor to guide your project.
• Real-world application: Apply OT theories and practices to emerging practice areas or address clinical problems from an OT perspective.

Launch Your Career

Emerge an OT agent of change—a confident, skilled and compassionate practitioner. More than just career-ready, you’ll be equipped to set out on your chosen career path. You’ll advance the profession, adapt to the modern healthcare landscape and serve diverse communities.

• Graduate: Revel in the joy of finishing your program and being ready for what’s next.
• Confidently take the NBCOT exam: Your coursework, knowledge checks, prep sessions with faculty, and comprehensive two-day prep course have helped prepare you for this milestone.
• Begin your professional journey: Our Career Services team provides current and former students lifelong career support.

Are you set to embark on USAHS’ The Journey to Clinical Excellence™? Explore our transformative programs and get started today.