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M.S. DegreeThe CurriculumThe post-professional M.S. degree in the Occupational Therapy curriculum is based on the approved curriculum that has been offered for many years by the SJSU Occupational Therapy program. These courses have been adapted for distance delivery by the same faculty who teach the on-campus courses. The curriculum is planned so that you can complete your degree in four semesters, taking two courses each semester, plus independent study units. The program is a cohort based model, and one class per year is admitted each fall. The cohort proceeds through the curriculum sequentially. The curriculum is intended to provide advanced knowledge of occupational therapy theory and practice, management, education and research. Courses in theory and practice will enable you to reflect on your own clinical reasoning and acquire new ways to think about your practice. Courses in management and education will provide you with an opportunity to examine current health care and education issues and to increase your leadership effectiveness. The research courses will enable you to design and implement clinical outcome studies or to examine other areas of interest. The curriculum is sequenced so that you begin the first semester with courses that provide the context for understanding occupational therapy theory, values and history. The second semester introduces you to research methods and allows you to examine the effect of diversity on health care practice. The third semester expands your understanding of occupational justice as well as management, program development and organizations. The fourth semester provides an opportunity to advance your educational skills and the structure to complete your graduate thesis project. The research portion of the curriculum has been designed so that by the time you are ready to enroll in OCTH 295B (advanced independent study to complete your project), you have acquired basic research skills in OCTH 295A and have defined a topic of research interest in your other classes and through independent study. Since most therapists work in settings that require clinical and program outcome studies, this is expected to be a focus of many of the thesis projects. Other areas of interest such as program development or creation of educational materials may also be pursued. All courses are three credits unless otherwise noted. On-site RequirementsAlthough all coursework is delivered online, there are three short on-site retreats that are required for successful completion of the program. All students must attend the 4-day orientation retreat (in-residence workshop) prior to beginning the program. This retreat is held in mid-August, prior to the beginning of fall semester classes. Students meet their classmates, course instructors, advisor and support staff from the library and technological services and are given a thorough orientation to the program. In addition, they meet returning students and attend the research symposium (poster presentation) and graduation. There are two additional 3 day retreats that are part of the program. The retreat between the first and second year of study is designed to prepare students for the second year courses and the research component of the program. At the final retreat following the second year of study students present their thesis projects at the research symposium and participate in the graduation ceremony. Students can petition to miss the second or third retreats for reasons of undue hardship, and can work with the advisor to design alternative assignments to replace these experiences. Very few people actually take advantage of this option, however, as they find the retreats priceless. All retreats are held in mid-August; students are given the specific dates well in advance in order to facilitate travel planning. |
Department of Occupational Therapy
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