Master of Science in Occupational Therapy
At Sacred Heart University, you’ll benefit from an approach to occupational therapy that’s active and engaging, led by exceptional faculty in state-of-the-art learning environments.
When you earn your Master of Science in Occupational Therapy at SHU, you will learn to address the spiritual, social, emotional, physical, and cognitive needs of your clients, and to design occupation-based interventions that enable clients to meaningfully participate in their own work, school, play, home, society, and community lives.
Through the MS in Occupational Therapy program, you will also:
- Benefit from a unique curriculum design that uses a developmental approach and reflects a philosophy of humanism, service to others, and community-based practice
- Experience an intimate and engaged program culture, with low faculty-student ratios, regular student advisement, mentored small group work, an open door office hour’s policy, and a highly accessible faculty
- Study in state-of-the art laboratories such as occupational therapy sensory integration and pediatric laboratory, human cadaver laboratory, simulation laboratories replicating hospital and ambulatory care settings, a fully-equipped home suite with a room-to-room lift tracking system, and a Drive Safety driving simulator
- Participate in interprofessional education activities and collaborate with SHU’s other College of Health Professions programs such as Physical Therapy, Speech-Language Pathology, Athletic Training and Exercise Science.
- Have opportunities to participate in global service learning trips that provide real-world experience and interprofessional collaboration
- Be eligible to sit for the NBCOT (National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy) exam upon graduation. After successful completion of the exam, you will be an Occupational Therapist, Registered (OTR).
Degree Requirements
The 76-credit program consists of four academic trimesters followed by two 12-week experiences of full-time supervised clinical fieldwork.
Each academic trimester includes courses that span the trimester. Course work during the academic trimesters is completed during the day and evening as a full-time cohort. The supervised clinical fieldwork is full-time with the hours determined by the clinical site.
The full-time program sequence is completed in two calendar years including summers. Successful completion of all course work, level I and II fieldwork, a completed portfolio, and the community-based project, poster presentation and defense are required for graduation.
Level II fieldwork experiences must be successfully completed within 24 months of completion of coursework. Note: A felony conviction may affect a graduate’s ability to sit for the NBCOT certification examination and/or attain state licensure. Some fieldwork sites require students to undergo criminal background and/or substance use checks, and or fingerprinting. The costs for these checks are the student’s responsibility.