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Master of Occupational Therapy Admission Requirements

Attention Interested Students

The UMMC Department of Occupational Therapy is completing a teach-out plan for the Master of Occupational Therapy Program. Admission into the MOT program has been discontinued and replaced with a doctoral level degree admission process.  If you are interested in applying to the Doctor of Occupational Therapy Program, visit the new SHRP Doctor of Occupational Therapy website for more information on programmatic accreditation, admission requirements and the curriculum.

The program consists of 36 months of didactic, laboratory, demonstration and clinical course work. Class size is limited and acceptance into the program is on a competitive basis.

Preference is given to Mississippi residents; out-of-state applicants will be considered only if there are positions available after all qualified Mississippi applicants are accepted.

The program does not offer advanced placement or admission based on ability to benefit.

In addition to the admission standards of the institution and the general admission requirements of the School of Health Related Professions, candidates seeking admission to the occupational therapy program, must:

  • Have completed a minimum of 72 semester hours of academic credit from a regionally accredited institution of higher learning;
  • Have a minimum overall cumulative grade point average of 3.00 on a 4.00 scale;
  • Provide evidence of 24 hours of observation in at least two occupational therapy clinical departments or practices within the calendar year preceding the application deadline;
  • Complete an interview with the Occupational Therapy Admissions Committee;
  • Have written confirmation of completion of the Hepatitis B vaccination series or that the Hepatitis B vaccination series has been started at the time of registration; and
  • Successfully complete (a grade of "C" or better) the following prerequisite courses:

Prerequisite Courses

Number of CoursesSemester Hours
English Composition
2
6
Speech
1
3
College Algebra, Quantitative Reasoning, or Higher Mathematics
1
3
Statistics1
1
3
Social or Behavioral Science2
2
6
General Psychology
1
3
Child or Adolescent or Abnormal or Educational Psychology
1
3
Human Growth and Development or Developmental Psychology
1
3
Humanities and Fine Arts3
3
9
Anatomy and Physiology with Lab4 2 8
General Biology I and II, Zoology I and II, or Higher Level Biology with Labs5
2
8
General Chemistry with Lab5
1
4
Physics with Lab5
1
4
Electives6
3
9
Total Prerequisites
22
72

Course choices

1. Statistics may include courses such as Elementary, Behavioral or Introductory. Survey courses are not acceptable.

2. Social and Behavioral sciences include courses such as anthropology, economics, political science, psychology or sociology.

3. Humanities and fine arts include courses such as art history, dance, history, modern languages, music, philosophy, religion or theater.

4. One course of pure human anatomy with lab and one course of pure physiology with lab is equivalent to two A&P courses.

5. Science survey courses designed for non-science majors are not acceptable for a required course.

6. These are not required but might be helpful: medical terminology, trigonometry (prerequisite to physics), additional psychology courses and/or other biological science courses.