School of Health Sciences Occupational Therapy

Prerequisites

You must obtain a Baccalaureate degree to be eligible for our program. No preference is given to any specific field of undergraduate study. In addition to the degree, the following prerequisite coursework must be completed prior to entrance into the program. Please see the USD Graduate Catalog for more information.

  • A minimum of seven of the ten prerequisite courses must be complete prior to application
  • Cumulative, prerequisite and science prerequisite GPAs of 3.0 or better based on a 4.0 scale are preferred
    • Grades below a C in prerequisite coursework will not be accepted
    • Grades obtained in repeated courses are averaged into the GPA
  • All prerequisites must be completed by the spring semester prior to entrance
Prerequisite Courses

Course Subject

Semester Credit Hours

Sample of Acceptable Courses at USD

Biology*

6
  • BIOL 151/L-General Biology I w/ Lab
  • BIOL 153/L-General Biology II w/ Lab

Human Anatomy**

3
  • PHGY 220-Integrated Anatomy I
  • PHGY 230-Integrated Anatomy II

Human Physiology**

3
  • See Anatomy Courses Above

General Psychology

3
  • PSYC 101-General Psychology

Lifespan Development

3
  • PSYC 321-Human Development:  Lifespan

Abnormal Psychology

3
  • PSYC 451-Psychology of Abnormal Behavior

Introductory Sociology or Anthropology

3
  • SOC 100-Introduction to Sociology
  • ANTH 210-Cultural Anthropology

Statistics

3
  • STAT 281-Introduction to Statistics
  • PSYC 371-Statistics in Psychological Research
  • BIOL 420-Introduction to Biostatistics & Computational Biology

Medical Terminology

1-3
  • CLHU 101-Medical Terminology
  • HSC 305-Human Relations

Physics

-

Recommended, but not required

  • PHYS 111-Introduction to Physics I

Orientation to Occupational Therapy

-

Recommended, but not required

  • OCTH 211-Introduction to Occupational Therapy

*Does not include survey courses
**If Human Anatomy and Human Physiology are offered in a combined course, two semesters of the course are required.