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

Lauren Santana MA ’16

What brought you to occupational therapy?
After college, I had a series of jobs in different fields. Once I became a yoga instructor, I realized how much I enjoyed interacting with people and working through their injuries and other health concerns. I researched different health careers and occupational therapy was the perfect combination of my interests in the creative and medical related fields. I started to work on my prerequisites, got a job in a related field, applied to OT schools, and now here I am!

What area of practice are you interested in?
Adult Rehab.

What are some of the occupations you engage in?
Yoga, binge watching Netflix, baking cupcakes from the box, and sleeping excessively on the weekends.

If we opened your fridge, what would we see?
Trader Joe salads, wilting celery, half eaten avocados, expired eggs, and super spicy hummus.

What do you think is the greatest invention of mankind?
Since my internal GPS has always been on the fritz, navigation on my phone has been a game changer.

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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.