Occupational therapy is a versatile and expanding profession within the health care spectrum of services. Occupation is everything people do to occupy themselves, including looking after themselves and their loved ones, enjoying life doing the things they want to do, and contributing to the social and economic well-being of their neighbors and communities. Occupational therapists use occupation (or the activities and tasks associated with a client's valued occupations) as the method for achieving therapeutic goals.

An expanding body of research has shown that occupation-based interventions are highly effective in motivating clients, have the ability to tap into unconscious motor memory and are ultimately more effective in reaching client goals than are treatments focusing only on motion and/or strength. Increasingly, occupation (or the ability to participate in life's activities) has come to be viewed as the definition of health and well being (the World Health Organization), and therefore a goal of health services agencies.

• Occupational therapists work with various agencies in the community to plan programs or strategies to maximize the ability of community members to live independently and fully participate in the life and amenities of the community.
• Occupational therapists address the needs of a wide variety of clients, both as individuals and as groups: Elderly individuals who suffer a decline in functioning; people with mental illness or substance abuse; those with physical impairments; injured workers; and children with developmental delays, to name a few.

The Department of Occupational Therapy & Community Health offers a post-baccalaureate, entry-level Master of Science in Occupational Therapy. The two-year entry-level program (4 academic semesters and six months internship) includes 62 credit hours of graduate coursework. The program prepares graduates to practice as generalists in the profession of occupational therapy. It requires students to obtain and utilize a broad liberal arts education prior to entry. It prepares students to function in a wide variety of settings utilizing the principles and intervention approaches related to occupation, and to supervise occupational therapy support personnel.

Graduates of the program are expected:

• to adopt the values of ethical practice
• to be effective consumers of research as a basis for practice
• to advocate for the profession and for its clients
• to pursue lifelong learning as a means of keeping current with best professional practice.

The program utilizes technology to enhance the delivery of courses, and students are expected to have sufficient computer skills to fully participate. They must have unrestricted access to a computer. The program also involves clinical placement at various points in the curriculum, and students should be prepared to provide their own transportation to local clinic sites. Level II fieldwork (24 weeks of clinical internship) at the conclusion of the program may involve placement at a distant site. Students are responsible for their own travel and housing for this phase of the program.

Program Accreditation  

The entry-level program in occupational therapy is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association, 4720 Montgomery Lane, Bethesda, Maryland, 20824-1220. Telephone number 301-652-2682.

National Certification Examination Requirements

The National Board for Certification of Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1987 to protect the public from incompetent and unethical occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants. There are two primary mechanisms that the board uses to carry out their mission. One is by requiring that an individual make a minimum passing score on the National Certification Examination for Occupational Therapist. After successfully passing the certification examination, an individual may use the initials OTR (Occupational Therapist Registered) after his/her name. However, in many states with licensure, an individual cannot identify themselves as an OTR unless they are also licensed in the state.

An occupational therapist is certified for five years. After five years, an occupational therapist may apply for recertification by NBCOT.

Specific information regarding the application process for taking the exam will be provided during the final year of the student's program. For more information on the recertification program, please contact NBCOT. Telephone: (301) 990-7979, email: nbcot.org.

IMPORTANT: A felony conviction may affect a graduate's ability to sit for the certification exam required by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy and/or affect the graduate's ability to obtain a license to practice.

Increasing numbers of clinical placement sites are requiring criminal background checks before accepting students for class or fieldwork experiences.  The program therefore requires that accepted students obtain an approved criminal background check prior to beginning classes in the program.  Information regarding criminal background checks can be obtained from the Office Manager, Wanda Smith.