2024-2025 Course Catalog
Master of Occupational Therapy MOT
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 Return to: Degrees and Programs (Graduate and Undergraduate)
Occupational therapy is a vital health care service that uses “occupation,” meaning purposeful activity, as the basis for treatment of people with a wide variety of physical, developmental, and emotional disabilities.
Occupational therapists help individuals with disabilities, of all ages, acquire or regain the skills they need to live independent, productive, and satisfying lives. They work in hospitals, rehabilitation centers, nursing homes, public and private schools, home health agencies and community settings.
Occupational therapists are responsible for evaluating clients and developing treatment plans to assist clients in achieving their goals. They provide functional treatment activities for clients individually and in groups, and they choose or fabricate equipment that helps people function more independently. Occupational therapists supervise certified occupational therapy assistants in carrying out treatment plans and possess skills to work with a variety of allied health professionals.
Students must complete an educational program in occupational therapy at the graduate level to become an occupational therapist.
The graduate degree in occupational therapy includes coursework focusing on theoretical constructs and their application to clinical practice, research, competencies, and professional leadership skills. The degree also includes six to nine months of full-time (40 hours/week) internships in a variety of health care and human service settings.
To ensure continuity of application of academic concepts, all fieldwork must be completed within 24 months following academic preparation and 2 months prior to the NBCOT Certification Examination date.
Educational Learning Outcomes
The Shawnee State University Master of Occupational Therapy program focuses on learning essential concepts and skills to prepare students to enter the occupational therapy profession. It is the mission of the university, program mission, and key documents of the profession (AOTA Vision 2025, OTPF-4, 2018 ACOTE standards) that determine the expectations of knowledge, skills, and abilities that students are to obtain by graduation from the MOT program. Three primary concepts highlight the learning expectations.
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THEMES
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Learner Outcomes
As graduates of SSU’s MOT program, learners will:
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Occupational Nature of Humans:
Students develop the understanding of the profession, through exploration of self as an occupational being, analyzing cases and directly engaging with others to identify persons, groups, and populations as occupational beings. The historical foundation of occupational therapy is a deep understanding of engaging in “interesting work…for the purpose of healing” (Dunlop, 1933, p. 6). More than one-hundred years of education and research of human’s intrinsic need to engage in occupation has been proven to directly influence health and quality of life (Bar & Jarus, 2015; Cruyt et al., 2021; Petruseviciene et al., 2018;). The science behind this understanding has helped us better understand the complexity of humans as an occupational being. The values and desires of persons, groups, and populations must be understood and considered within their context (AOTA, 2020). The interplay between the environment and personal factors influences the ability to participate in meaningful occupations. Occupational performance is influenced by an individual’s habits, routines, roles, and rituals, which are unique to each person, group, and population. The abilities of motor skills, processing skills, and social interaction also influence one’s occupational performance (AOTA, 2020). The belief and understanding of the complexities of humans as occupational beings is the ultimate guide for the occupational therapy profession and the curriculum in the MOT program at SSU.
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develop an understanding of the profession, through exploration of self as an occupational being, analyzing cases and directly engaging with others to identify persons, groups, and populations as occupational beings within their context;
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Evidence-based Practice:
Evidence-based practice in occupational therapy has been the standard expectation of practitioners for over two decades as education requirements continuously evolve (ACOTE, 2020; Hinojosa, 2013; Myers & Lotz, 2017). In considering the identity of occupational therapy, evidence-based practice highlights the occupational nature of humans and how occupations are a means to the therapeutic process and informs occupational therapy services (AOTA, 2020; Hooper et al., 2015; Hooper et al., 2018). As students and professionals, we explore occupations and “formulate new questions, scholarship, and research” (Hooper et al., 2015, p.4). It is the integration of clinical expertise, patient values, and the best research evidence that guides the ability to make informed decisions, which supports the occupational nature of persons, groups, and populations (AOTA, 2020).
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Professionalism:
Professionalism is described as a set of attitudes, values, behaviors, and relationships that hold health professionals responsible in their society Klemenc-Ketis & Vreckom, 2014. This definition reflects the goal of SSU’s MOT program, university, and the profession. Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) standards define professional behavior as the “ability to advocate for social responsibility and equitable services to support health equity and address social determinants of health; commit to engaging in lifelong learning; and evaluate the outcome of services, which include client engagement, judicious health care utilization, and population health” (AOTA, 2018a, p.38). Instilling professional behaviors in students supports the integrity of the profession.
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Accreditation
The Occupational Therapy Program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), located at 7501 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 510E Bethesda, MD 20814. ACOTE’s telephone number, c/o AOTA, is (301) 652-6611, and its web address is www.accred@aota.org.
Graduates of the program are able to sit for the national certification examination for the occupational therapist administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy, Inc. (NBCOT); however, the NBCOT sets its own criteria for taking the exam, which may include questions on the applicant’s criminal history. A felony conviction my affect a graduate’s ability to sit for the NBCOT Certification examination or attain state licensure. For more information on these limitations, you can contact NBCOT at 301.990.7979, and its web address is www.info@nbcot.org. After successful completion of this exam, you are an occupational therapist, registered (OTR). Most states require licensure in order to practice; however, state licenses are usually based on the results of the NBCOT Certification Examination.
Admission Requirements
- University graduate application
- OTCAS application
- Earned bachelor’s degree
- College transcripts
- Minimum 3.2 GPA
- 50th percentile or above in each area on GRE < 3.2 GPA
- 40 hours of volunteer experience
- Essay
- Three letters of reference
Prerequisites
Social and Behavioral Sciences:
(3 or 4 CREDIT course in EACH of the following, beyond introductory level within ten years prior to program admission)
- Developmental Psychology or Human Development (must cover life span)
- Abnormal Psychology
- Sociology or Cultural Anthropology
- Adult Development and Aging
Natural Sciences:
(3 or 4 unit course in each of the following upper division level of physical sciences within five years prior to program admission)
- Biomechanics and Functional Kinesiology
- Neuroanatomy with lab
- Advanced Human Physiology with lab OR Pathophysiology
- Two courses of physical sciences (upper division)
Other Coursework:
(3 or 4 CREDIT course in EACH of the following)
- Medical terminology
- Statistics
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