The entry level Master’s Program in Occupational Therapy is for college graduates who wish to become occupational therapists. The program is two and a half academic years in length, requires completion of 14.75 units of occupational therapy coursework, and includes a minimum of six months of full-time fieldwork experience.
The MSOT Program is designed to provide students with the skills for becoming an entry level therapist who is able to critically appraise their work, take initiative and respond to the ongoing changes within systems of client care. Contemporary practitioners work in diverse health, social, educational, and other community settings. Demand for evidence-informed practice is stronger than ever, requiring new graduates to have skills in life-long learning and application of evidence into practice. Graduates of Puget Sound’s MSOT program will have exceptionally strong abilities to analyze and verify theoretical foundations and practical techniques of occupational therapy, use current best-practices, articulate their professional reasoning, provide culturally sensitive and unbiased quality care, and critically appraise published literature to inform practice and make clinical decisions.
There are three phases to the Master’s of Occupational Therapy course of study: pre-professional, professional, and fieldwork experience.
- The pre-professional phase occurs prior to enrollment in the program. During this phase, applicants complete Occupational Therapy program prerequisites.
- During the professional phase, students complete the required Occupational Therapy coursework.
- During the fieldwork experience phase students complete at least six months of full-time practice under the supervision of a registered occupational therapist in diverse health, social, educational, and other community settings. Puget Sound has an exceptional track record in securing fieldwork placements for our students.
The entry-level occupational therapy master’s degree 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 is (301) 652-AOTA, and its web address is www.acoteonline.org. Graduates of the program will be able to sit for the national certification examination for the occupational therapist administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT). After successful completion of this exam, the graduate will be an occupational therapist, registered (OTR). In addition, all states require licensure to practice; however, state licenses are usually based on the results of the NBCOT certification examination. A felony conviction may affect a graduate’s ability to sit for the NBCOT certification examination or attain state licensure.
