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Occupational therapy helps people of all ages maximize their potential and gain skills to face challenging situations or disabilities. This is done in a unique way by focusing on "occupation."

Occupation is what we do each day in our lives that provides meaning, from the simplest activities of self-care to the complex occupations of an athlete or surgeon. Occupational therapists help individuals whose abilities to engage in occupations are challenged by physical illness or injury, developmental deficits, or psychological or social disability.

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The University of Mary Occupational Therapy Program prepares its graduates to be competent occupational therapy practitioners to meet occupational needs of individuals, groups, and populations. Students will develop adept knowledge of humans as occupational beings, critical-thinking abilities that allow each individual to engage in best practice, commitment to lifelong learning and scholarship, and leadership abilities necessary to effect change. Students are rooted in Benedictine and professional occupational therapy values to provide a foundation from which therapeutic use of self, respect for others, ethical decision-making, and service attitudes are formed and practiced.

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Our philosophy in the Occupational Therapy Program at the University of Mary is based on the belief in a dynamic interaction among all aspects of an individual's life including mind, body, spirit, and varying environmental contexts. Humans influence their own health as a result of active engagement in meaningful occupations influenced by life experiences, roles, interests, age, cultural background, or other factors. We facilitate student learning to develop competent occupational therapists who embody these beliefs by providing learning experiences that involve appropriate levels of challenge and encourage active participation.

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Upon completion of the professional occupational therapy education program at the University of Mary, the graduate will:

• Function autonomously in a variety of roles and practice settings to:
  • Use clinical reasoning based on current evidence to solve problems independently.
  • Use the occupational therapy process in direct roles of assessment and intervention and in indirect roles such as supervisor, researcher, consultant, and educator.<
  • Use effective communication with professionals and consumers via traditional methods and through use of technology to convey information essential for safe, effective service delivery.

• Use servant-leadership skills to:
  • Make ethical decisions.
  • Effect change utilizing best practice.
  • Serve others as a means of demonstrating respect for the human mind, body, and spirit.

• Provide humane and competent occupational therapy services based on knowledge, skills, and attitudes that empower the graduate to:
  • Meet the unique needs of individuals and populations, including those in under-served and rural areas and of diverse cultures and backgrounds.
  • Appreciate, understand and use meaningful occupation that binds mind, body and spirit.
  • Incorporate client-centered practice into the decision-making process.
  • Utilize therapeutic use of self while engaged in professional service delivery

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The University of Mary's professional Occupational Therapy Program fieldwork component is designed to provide students with the opportunity to integrate academic knowledge with clinical practice. Two levels of fieldwork experience are required:

Level I Fieldwork
This fieldwork experience occurs during semesters of the academic program in which course work is directed at study of early life and adult/later life. Level I Fieldwork experiences are designed to enrich didactic course work through directed observation and participation in selected aspects of the OT process. Each Level I Fieldwork experience has a minimum of 40 hours in a practice setting. Level I Fieldwork cannot be substituted for any part of Level II Fieldwork.

Level II Fieldwork
Level II Fieldwork is equivalent to 24 weeks of full-time experience, which requires supervision from an occupational therapist. Level II Fieldwork experiences are designed to promote clinical reasoning and reflective practice, to transmit the values and beliefs that enable the application of ethics related to the profession, to communicate and model professionalism as a developmental process and a career responsibility, and to develop and expand a repertoire of OT assessments and interventions related to human performance.

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Professional-level classes in the master's occupational therapy program are composed of 32 students who are screened and selected for admission in the spring to begin course work in the fall semester of the same year. Applications will be available online after October 1 of each year and accepted until January of the following year for entrance into the fall program. Professional class selection is usually completed by early March of each year.

The Admissions Committee selects candidates based on an objective point system that rates core GPA, interview, references and volunteer activities. Qualified candidates will be invited to campus for an interview and writing sample.

Rolling Admissions
If the class number doesn't reach the limit of 32, rolling admisions goes into effect. Students must meet all criteria previously outlined and participate in the formal interview process. Rolling admissions applications are considered until the first day of class in the fall. Applicants will be reviewed based on the time of submission of a completed application.

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The student is required to complete the following:

1. Pre-requisite courses:
   • Composition
   • Oral Communications
   • Ethics course
   • College Algebra (or higher)
   • Fundamentals of Chemistry (with lab)
   • Anatomy & Physiology I
   • Anatomy & Physiology II
   • General Psychology
   • Lifespan Psychology
   • Medical Terminology
   • Abnormal Psychology (only for students with a Bachelor's degree in a related field or OTA students)
   • Applied Statistics (only for Students with a Bachelor's degree in a related field or OTA students)

2. Community service or volunteer hours:
   • Master of Science in Occupational Therapy or Bachelor of Science in related field to Master of Science in Occupational Therapy:
     • A minimum of 48 hours of volunteer experience and/or community service (16 hours pediatric population, 16 hours adult population, and 16 hours older adult population). One work-related experience may be counted toward volunteer hours at the discretion of the admissions committee.

   • Occupational Therapy Assistant to Master of Science in Occupational Therapy:
     • Ten (10) hours of community service hours in a service related capacity.

3. Three letters of reference

4. A minimum cumulative GPA of 2.75 and a grade of "C" is required in all prerequisite course work. Upon Admission in to the professional program students must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0 in all Occupational Therapy core courses.

5. International students must provide a copy of the score sheet from Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).

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Graduates of the University of Mary Occupational Therapy Program are able to sit for the national examination for occupational therapists administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT). After successful completion of this exam, the individual will be an Occupational Therapist, Registered (OTR).

For the most recent calendar years (2007, 2008, 2009), the performance of the graduates of the Occupational Therapy Program on the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) certification exam was as follows:

• Total number of program graduates: 48.
• Total number of first-time test-takers of the NBCOT certification exam: 46.
• Total number of first-time test-takers who passed the NBCOT certification exam: 36.
• First-time test-taker percentage pass rate: 78 percent.

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The University of Mary Occupational Therapy Program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), located at 4720 Montgomery Lane, P.O. Box 31220, Bethesda, MD 20824-1220. AOTA's phone number is (301) 652-2682.

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