Q&A: MSOT to OTD

In this podcast, we talk with Tavii El, MSOT ’21, and Mary Zhu, MSOT ‘21, two students currently in the University’s Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) program. They discuss their transition from Salus' Master of Occupational Therapy (MSOT) program to the OTD program, and the benefits of completing it all back to back at Salus University.

Mary Zhu: My name is Mary and I am from Los Angeles. I moved to Pennsylvania, and Philly specifically, for OT school. I graduated in the class of 2021, which was this summer and I will graduate from the OTD program in 2023.

Tavii El: Hi, I'm Tavii from Philadelphia. Similar to Mary, I graduated from the MSOT program in June 2021 and will graduate from the OTD in 2023.

Q: Why did you want to become an OT in the first place and how did you hear about Salus?

El: Originally, I knew I always wanted to help people, so I thought about going into nursing because, usually, you picture nursing with helping people. In high school, my school had this nursing program that I did. I was doing nursing for a while and I was just like, this isn't it. It's very fast-paced and not the interaction with people I thought it was. In college, I started researching more careers and I found PT (Physical Therapy). I was working at a PT clinic and I still was not really feeling PT too much. One of the PTs told me about OT. I went and shadowed at a few places and fell in love with it. I was like, "Oh, these are my kind of people." It was all the hands-on physical stuff, but it was more client-centered. Treatment sessions were more focused on what the client wanted. You were able to spend more time with the client than in nursing, which was very fast-paced and rushed. Then, actually, at one of the places I was shadowing, I was talking about schools I was applying to and someone who graduated from the University of the Sciences was like, "Oh, I think you should apply to Salus. One of my friends graduated there and loved it." I looked up Salus and I was like, "Oh," and it's close to where I lived and seemed like the right fit, so I applied.

Zhu: My story's a little different. I volunteered a lot throughout college. When I was volunteering at a hospital, they put me in the rehab department and from there, I was able to work alongside PTs, OTs, and SLPs (Speech-Language Pathologists). I specifically loved what I was seeing OTs do because they're very creative in trying to find ways to help people get back to what they wanted to do. I actually chose OT over PT because our profession is a lot more creative and we focus more on function, whereas PT focuses more on restoring movement. I heard about Salus through OTCAS (Occupational Therapy Centralized Application Service), which is the application system we used to apply to OT programs. I basically saw Salus on that list because I was looking up schools to apply to. I initially wanted to stay in California, but I wasn't able to apply until February and by then, most of the schools had already stopped accepting applications and Salus was still accepting. That's how I heard about Salus.

Q: Why did you decide to continue into the OTD program after completing the initial MSOT?

El: For one, I've always wanted to continue with academics later in my OT career. I never wanted to just stay as a practitioner, but I didn't think about pursuing the doctorate so soon. However, the current climate of the country made me see the need for more Black OTs and to be in research and to be in academics to help make changes in our community, so I decided the better time is now. My specialty track in the OTD program is health and wellness because, unfortunately, after doing research, you see the health disparities in the Black community. That's why I really wanted to focus on getting that doctorate now. The faster I get it, the better I can help out the community. I thought about the Salus OTD program because they're already doing a great job at the MSOT program so of course, I want to be a part of the OTD program here.

Q: Out of curiosity, are you looking to continue practicing in Philly when you're done with the program?

El: I definitely want to stay in Philly for some time and then possibly move somewhere sunny, maybe LA with Mary.

Q: What are some of the benefits of doing an OTD program directly following the completion of your MSOT program, all at Salus?

Zhu: I wanted to do the OTD directly following the MSOT because I know that it'll be a lot harder for me to get back into the student mode once I start working. I also know that once I settle down and get married and have kids, it'll be really, really hard to have the time and energy to go back to school. Salus has a bridge program, so basically, we can start the OTD program while we are still doing the MSOT so we can graduate sooner. That's probably one of the main reasons why I wanted to do it back-to-back, so I could start earlier and finish earlier.

Q: How have both of Salus's programs prepared you for your future career?

El: I know the MSOT program has definitely prepared me to be a good practitioner with building my interpersonal skills, clinical reasoning and preparing me to work on interdisciplinary teams. We focus on a lot of that at Salus. I feel prepared to step into any setting and be confident that I'll be able to learn, adapt and be flexible to whatever my clients need. In the world of OT, you have to know when to be creative and go with the flow, so I definitely feel prepared for that. Surprisingly, at least to me, I didn't think that I would be prepared for this, but from both of the programs, I feel prepared to step into roles of emerging practice in OT, feeling confident that I can do the research needed to even start my own emergent practice or develop a program in the communities where I see a need. The OTD definitely helps prepare us for that.

Q: Do you guys have any advice to give to prospective students who may be looking to achieve their MSOT and OTD back-to-back?

Zhu: I would say to definitely have a reliable way to keep track of all your deadlines. For the first semester of the OTD, you're basically also doing your second level two fieldwork for the MSOT and it can be a little overwhelming because you have so many deadlines overlapping. I have been using my MacBook's calendar function since college and I have it set so that I get pop-up notifications every week, a day, three hours and one hour before the deadline so I don't forget anything. I would say the first thing you should do when you get your class syllabus is put in every deadline you have in your calendar so you don't forget as the semester progresses.

Q: Do you have anything else you want to add?

El: I definitely agree with what Mary just said about staying organized because it's very important when it comes to balancing school, work and studying for boards. Like Mary was talking about in the bridge program, it can be overwhelming if you let the deadlines get the best of you. I do want to suggest that for anyone who is doing it, to make sure you're scheduling rest breaks because I know at times, I felt like it wasn't enough time to get everything done or even time to relax. It's easy to get caught up in trying to stay on track of everything, but I have definitely learned that self-care is important. Always make time for that because trying to maneuver through stress and anxiety is not going to be beneficial. Definitely take the time out to relax, breathe and practice self-care because it's definitely worth it.