Indiana Occupational Therapist School

How to Become an Occupational Therapist in Indiana

1. Get a Bachelor's degree in the social sciences, biological sciences, or pre-occupational therapy. Indiana's occupational therapy schools require students to complete prerequisite courses in anatomy, physiology, chemistry, statistics, physics, the behavioral sciences, English, and speech. A Bachelor's degree in psychology, sociology, anthropology, pre-occupational therapy, biology, or any other social or biological science will give students the best academic foundation for their MSOT program.

2. Go through an Occupational Therapy Master's degree program. Occupational Therapists in Indiana must go through a program approved by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy (ACOTE), a division of the American Occupational Therapy Association. Most of Indiana's programs are ACOTE-accredited, meaning that they provide students with appropriate occupational therapy-focused curriculum and enough experience to take the Certification Examination for Occupational Therapy Assistants (CEOTA).

3. Take the NBCOT CEOTA exam. The CEOTA exam is offered through the National Certification Board on Occupational Therapy (NBCOT), which offers the exam twice each year.  When a candidate successfully completes an occupational therapy program and gains two years of fieldwork experience, NBCOT mails them an authorization to take test letter (ATT). The student schedules an appointment to take the test through a Prometric Testing Center, takes the test on the scheduled date, and receives her scores a few weeks later. If the candidate passes the exam, she will be able to apply for State licensure; if she fails the exam, she will have to retake it.

4. Apply for Indiana State licensure. Once a candidate passes the certification exam, she must apply for State licensure. She must supply the Professional Licensing Agency with a $100 application fee, two passport-sized photographs, official transcripts, and a notarized copy of the NBCOT certificate or score report submitted directly from NBCOT.

Through campus based and online programs, aspiring Occupational Therapists in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne and Evansville, Indiana may be able to prepare themselves for the possibility of employment in some of the largest hospitals and healthcare facilities in the state including the Deaconess Hospital, Community Hospital East, and Parkview Hospital.