Home ⟩The People of USC Chan ⟩Meet Our Trojan Family ⟩Entry-Level Doctorate (OTD)

Erin dos Santos MA ’20

What brought you to occupational therapy?
Going into my undergraduate program I was expecting to become an X-ray technician like my father. But the career counselor encouraged all the freshmen to take a career test to be sure that we were in the right program. My career test results had Speech Pathology and Occupational Therapy as the top two. After doing some research and speaking with OTs I fell in love with the field and changed my major to Health Sciences/Pre-Occupational Therapy. One of the best decisions I have ever made!

What area of practice are you interested in?
I am interested in many different areas but I am leaning towards working with adults. I want to learn more about Occupational Therapy with the geriatric population and clients with depression. I am also very interested in learning about Lifestyle Design and Animal Assisted Therapy.

What are some of the occupations you engage in?
Some of my favorite occupations are photography, music, reading, Netflix, cooking/baking, and crafting (anything from sewing to coloring).

Tell us about your favorite memory from the program so far.
The Shared Plates fundraiser. It was wonderful to see people from different cultures sharing how to make their favorite foods for a good cause.

If your childhood had a smell, what would it be?
Sun-ripened tomatoes. My mom grows a garden every summer and she always grows tomatoes. Very few things compare to eating a warm tomato picked right off of the vine.

What song can you sing entirely by heart?
All Too Well by Taylor Swift.

If you could visit any time in history, where would you go and why?
The Revolutionary War period. I graduated with a minor in History and this period has always fascinated me with its way of life and how a few colonies were able to win their freedom from an empire to become the country it is today.

What are some small things that make your day better?
Reading a leisure book on the train and going to bed early.

⋯

USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy
1540 Alcazar Street, CHP 133, Los Angeles, CA 90089-9003

ACOTE accreditation | NBCOT certification

The USC entry-level master’s degree program (cost of attendance) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education® (ACOTE®) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA). The USC entry-level doctorate in occupational therapy (OTD) degree program (cost of attendance) is accredited by ACOTE®. View our program’s ACOTE® standards public data. ACOTE® c/o the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.®, 7501 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 510E, Bethesda, MD 20814, (301) 652-AOTA, www.acoteonline.org.

Professional program graduates are eligible to apply for the national certification examination administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy, Inc.® (NBCOT®), nbcot.org. All states require licensure to practice; a felony conviction may affect a graduate’s ability to sit for the NBCOT® OTR certification examination or attain state licensure. Program results from the NBCOT® can be found online at www.nbcot.org/Educators-Folder/SchoolPerformance.